Francis Maule Campbell (c. 1844 – 30 December 1920) was a significant figure in the history of
association
Association may refer to:
*Club (organization), an association of two or more people united by a common interest or goal
*Trade association, an organization founded and funded by businesses that operate in a specific industry
*Voluntary associatio ...
and
rugby
Rugby may refer to:
Sport
* Rugby football in many forms:
** Rugby league: 13 players per side
*** Masters Rugby League
*** Mod league
*** Rugby league nines
*** Rugby league sevens
*** Touch (sport)
*** Wheelchair rugby league
** Rugby union: 1 ...
football.
Early life
Campbell was born in
Blackheath, Kent to Dawson Campbell, a wine merchant, and his wife Jane née Sutton.
[ Curry and Dunning (2015), p. 125] His father Dawson died after a short illness on 4 March 1844. Campbell attended
Blackheath Proprietary School
The Blackheath Proprietary School was an educational establishment founded in 1830. In the 19th century, it had a profound influence on the game of football, in both Association and Rugby codes. In 1863, the school became one of the founders of T ...
from 1851 to 1859,
[ Curry and Dunning (2015), p. 136]
Sportsman
A year later he was playing for the School's old boys team, the Old Blackheathens Football Club. The Old Blackheathens in 1862, unable to be a truly old boys’ side, changed their name to
Blackheath FC
Blackheath Football Club is a rugby union club based in Well Hall, Eltham in south-east London.
The club was founded in Blackheath in 1858, and is the fourth-oldest rugby club in continuous existence in the world, after Dublin University Fo ...
, Campbell becoming its treasurer and secretary. He played for the Club until 1866. He was also a member of the Old Blackheathens, the society of old boys from the Proprietary School, from 1885 until at least 1892. It is believed that, at some point, he moved to Wales where he continued in the wine trade as his father had done.
Campbell as treasurer, together with club captain F.H. Moore, were the two appointees from Blackheath FC, representing their club at the
historic meetings at the Freemasons’ Tavern, Great Queen Street, WC2 (now the site of the
Freemasons’ Hall). The purpose of the meetings, started on 26 October 1863, were as the proposition from Barnes stated:
It had always been Blackheath's intention to adopt for the new association, a form of the ''
Rugby Rules''. When at the fifth meeting on 1 December 1863, it was proposed to adopt the alternative ''
Cambridge Rules'' Campbell strongly objected. The difference revolved around rules 9, 10 and 14 which involved tripping up and shinning known as
hacking. Campbell suggested an adjournment of the meeting "until the vacation so that the representatives of the schools who were members of the Association may be enabled to attend". Campbell's motion was defeated by 13 votes to 4 and the original proposal to expunge rules 9 and 10 was carried. At the sixth and final meeting on 8 December 1863, with the formation of the Football Association agreed, and with the election of A. Pember as President, E.C. Morley as secretary, and F.M. Campbell as treasurer, the meeting was concluded. At this point, Campbell informed those present, that although Blackheath FC approved the objects of the Association, it could not agree to play under the new rules which eliminated hacking, and so was withdrawing from the Association. Campbell was keen for the Association to succeed and continued to be its treasurer. From that moment football divided forever, the meetings forming part of the history of
the Football Association
The Football Association (also known as The FA) is the governing body of association football in England and the Crown Dependencies of Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man. Formed in 1863, it is the oldest football association in the world a ...
. The unintended side effect was that the meetings also became part of the
history of Rugby Union
The history of rugby union follows from various football games long before the 19th century, but it was not until the middle of that century that the rules were formulated and codified. The code of football later known as rugby union can be tra ...
.
Blackheath FC
Blackheath Football Club is a rugby union club based in Well Hall, Eltham in south-east London.
The club was founded in Blackheath in 1858, and is the fourth-oldest rugby club in continuous existence in the world, after Dublin University Fo ...
went its own way and continued to play other clubs under its own rules, which were first published in 1862. Also, because Blackheath played to its own laws and never experimented with the Association Rules as some other clubs had, Blackheath FC is able to lay claim to being the oldest surviving open Rugby Club. Ironically, three years later in December 1866, following an abandoned match between Blackheath and Richmond, both clubs decided to remove hacking from their game. Blackheath understood the need for some code of practice within the game of rugby and so it was inevitable that they were one of the founder members of the
Rugby Football Union in 1871. Campbell had become one of those instrumental in the formation of both the Football Association and the Rugby Union.
Later life
Campbell pursued a career as a wine merchant, following in the footsteps of his parents. Census records show Campbell living as a bachelor with his widowed mother Jane up until 1891. During the 1890s, Campbell moved away from his mother's residence at
Hoddesdon
Hoddesdon () is a town in the Borough of Broxbourne, Hertfordshire, lying entirely within the London Metropolitan Area and Greater London Urban Area. The area is on the River Lea and the Lee Navigation along with the New River.
Hoddesdon ...
, Hertfordshire to Bryn Llwydwyn,
Machynlleth
Machynlleth () is a market town, community and electoral ward in Powys, Wales and within the historic boundaries of Montgomeryshire. It is in the Dyfi Valley at the intersection of the A487 and the A489 roads. At the 2001 Census it had a pop ...
, Wales. Three years after Jane's death in 1899, Campbell married Maria Louisa, widow of E. W. Yeeles of Bathford, Somerset and daughter of the late H. B. Walmsley of Acton. The married couple lived in Wales until Maria's death on 15 September 1918.
In late 1920, Campbell married Maude Beatrice Dunkerley.
[England & Wales marriages, fourth quarter, 1920, 1A/339]
Death
Campbell died on 30 December 1920 at his home in
South Nutfield, Surrey.
He was survived by his widow Maude Beatrice.
Notes
References
*Rob Cavallini, ''The Wanderers F.C.: five time F.A. Cup winners, Rob Cavallini, 2005 ,
*
External links
Gravestone
{{DEFAULTSORT:Campbell, Francis Maule
1844 births
1920 deaths
People from Blackheath, London
People educated at Blackheath Proprietary School