Lewis "Lew" Bradley (1889 – 20 June 1918) was an English

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In it ...

and professional

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as just rugby league and sometimes football, footy, rugby or league, is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular field measuring 68 metres (75 yards) wide and 11 ...

footballer who played in the 1900s and 1910s. He played club level rugby union for

Cinderford R.F.C. Cinderford RFC is a rugby union club based in the town of Cinderford, Gloucestershire. The first team play in the National League 1, third tier of the English rugby union system, English league system following promotion as champions of Nationa ...

, Lydney RFC and

Pontypool RFC Pontypool Rugby Football Club is a Welsh rugby union team based in the town of Pontypool, which plays in the WRU Championship (known as the SWALEC Championship for sponsorship purposes). Due to the regionalisation of Welsh rugby in 2003, Pontyp ...

, and club level rugby league for

Wigan Wigan ( ) is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, on the River Douglas. The town is midway between the two cities of Manchester, to the south-east, and Liverpool, to the south-west. Bolton lies to the north-east and Warrington t ...

as a winger.

Background

Lewis Bradley was born in 1889 in

Ruardean Ruardean is a village in the Forest of Dean, Gloucestershire, England, to the North West of Cinderford. It is situated on a hillside with views west towards the mountains of South Wales. Little now remains of the village's industrial history, but ...

Gloucestershire Gloucestershire ( abbreviated Glos) is a county in South West England. The county comprises part of the Cotswold Hills, part of the flat fertile valley of the River Severn and the entire Forest of Dean. The county town is the city of Gl ...

, England. He was the youngest of four brothers and two sisters born to John George and Ann Bradley. He lived with his family at The Roebuck Inn (now closed and occupied by a residential development called Roebuck Meadows).

Rugby career

Rugby union

Bradley began playing rugby with his local club,

, and represented

at county level for the first time in 1908. He went on to play for Lydney RFC before moving to

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...

to play for

. While playing rugby at Pontypool, Bradley also worked as a

butcher A butcher is a person who may slaughter animals, dress their flesh, sell their meat, or participate within any combination of these three tasks. They may prepare standard cuts of meat and poultry for sale in retail or wholesale food establishm ...

Rugby league

Bradley changed

rugby football Rugby football is the collective name for the team sports of rugby union and rugby league. Canadian football and, to a lesser extent, American football were once considered forms of rugby football, but are seldom now referred to as such. The ...

codes from

on 1 December 1911, signing a professional contract with

. He made his début on the following day in a 17–15 victory over

Wakefield Trinity Wakefield Trinity is a professional rugby league club in Wakefield, West Yorkshire, England, that plays in the Super League. One of the original twenty-two clubs that formed the Northern Rugby Football Union in 1895, between 1999 and 2016 the ...

Central Park Central Park is an urban park in New York City located between the Upper West and Upper East Sides of Manhattan. It is the fifth-largest park in the city, covering . It is the most visited urban park in the United States, with an estimated ...

. Scoring a try on his début, he was described by the Wigan Observer and District Advertiser as being ''"Quick off the mark he was often past his opposing threequarter before the latter realised Bradley had the ball. Shall we ever forget this speedy wing threequarter at Central Park? He was the idol of the crowd and it only seems like yesterday that he was dashing down the touchline, his long flowing hair blowing in the wind, those long raking strides, and that final natural swerve"''. At the end of his first season with the club, he played and scored a

try Try or TRY may refer to: Music Albums * ''Try!'', an album by the John Mayer Trio * ''Try'' (Bebo Norman album) (2014) Songs * "Try" (Blue Rodeo song) (1987) * "Try" (Colbie Caillat song) (2014) * "Try" (Nelly Furtado song) (2004) * " Try (Ju ...

against

Huddersfield Huddersfield is a market town in the Kirklees district in West Yorkshire, England. It is the administrative centre and largest settlement in the Kirklees district. The town is in the foothills of the Pennines. The River Holme's confluence into ...

in the

Championship In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this system ...

Final during at

Thrum Hall Thrum Hall was a rugby league stadium on Hanson Lane in Halifax, West Yorkshire, England. It was the home of Halifax for 112 years. The site on which the ground stood is now occupied by a supermarket. History In 1878, Halifax, who had just w ...

, Halifax on Saturday 4 May 1912, but Wigan went on to lose the match 5–13. During the 1912–13 season, Bradley played and scored two tries in Wigan's 21–5 victory over

Rochdale Hornets The Rochdale Hornets are a professional rugby league club from Rochdale, Greater Manchester, England, competing in the Championship, the second tier of European rugby league. The Rochdale Hornets are one of the original twenty-two rugby clubs ...

in the 1912–13 Lancashire Cup Final at Weaste,

Salford Salford () is a city and the largest settlement in the City of Salford metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. In 2011, Salford had a population of 103,886. It is also the second and only other city in the metropolitan county afte ...

, on Wednesday 11 December 1912, in front of a crowd of 6,000. On Saturday 3 May 1913, he played in the

Final for the second season in a row, this time held at Belle Vue,

Wakefield Wakefield is a cathedral city in West Yorkshire, England located on the River Calder. The city had a population of 99,251 in the 2011 census.https://www.nomisweb.co.uk/census/2011/ks101ew Census 2011 table KS101EW Usual resident population, ...

, but the team once again lost to Huddersfield. Before the suspension of all competitive fixtures due to

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

at the end of the 1914–15 season, Bradley had scored an average of over one try per match (118 tries in 105 appearances), helping the team win the Lancashire League for four consecutive seasons. He also finished as the club's top try scorer in 1912–13 and 1913–14, with a total of 37 and 40 tries respectively.

First World War

Bradley joined the Army in 1915, but continued to play rugby for Wigan while training, and also appeared for

Leeds Leeds () is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the third-largest settlement (by popula ...

as a guest. He made his final appearance for Wigan in February 1918, finishing his career with a total of 136 tries in 123 games. During the war, Bradley served as a Driver in the Royal Field Artillery regiment 96th Brigade unit. On 18 June 1918, he sustained multiple

shrapnel Shrapnel may refer to: Military * Shrapnel shell, explosive artillery munitions, generally for anti-personnel use * Shrapnel (fragment), a hard loose material Popular culture * ''Shrapnel'' (Radical Comics) * ''Shrapnel'', a game by Adam C ...

wounds while in action on the Western Front in France. Bradley later died from his wounds on 20 June 1918. He is buried in the Vignacourt British Cemetery in France, and he his honoured at the Wigan Cenotaph.

References

External links

Search for "Bradley" at rugbyleagueproject.orgDetails at forest-of-dean.netDetails at wiganworld.co.ukSearch for "Lewis Bradley" at britishnewspaperarchive.co.ukSearch for "Lew Bradley" at britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bradley, Lewis 1889 births 1918 deaths British Army personnel of World War I British military personnel killed in World War I English rugby league players English rugby union players People from Westbury-on-Severn Pontypool RFC players Royal Field Artillery soldiers Rugby league players from Gloucestershire Rugby league wingers Rugby union players from Gloucestershire Rugby union wings Wigan Warriors players