| William was born in Manchester the son of James Ellis, an officer in the Dragoon Guards and Ann Webb whom he married in Exeter in 1804. After James was killed at the Battle of Albuera in 1812, Mrs Ellis decided to move to Rugby, Warwickshire so that Willaim and his older brother Thomas could receive a good education at Rugby School with no cost as a local foundationer (i.e. a pupil living within a radius of 10 miles of the Rugby Clock Tower). William attended the school from 1816 to 1825 and he was noted as a good scholar and a good cricketer. After leaving Rugby he went to Oxford University where he played cricket for Brasenose College, Oxford. He entered the Church and became chaplain of St George's, Albemarle Street, London and then rector of St Clement Danes in the Strand. In 1855 he became rector of Laver Magdalen in Essex and a picture of him (the only known portrait) appeared in the Illustrated London Post after he gave a particularly stirring sermon on the subject of the Crimean War.
He died in the south of France in 1872 and his grave at Menton was rediscovered by Ross McWhirter in 1958 and has since been renovated.
The story of how he founded the game of rugby football is apocryphal. Nevertheless his name is firmly established in the lore of Rugby football and he has become immortalised by the 'William Webb Ellis Trophy' presented to the winners of the Rugby Union World Cup.
Even if Ellis can be credited with introducing handling of the ball this was not the action that split football into two codes (Rugby and Association). That split occurred later over the issue of hacking, meaning to tackle a player by kicking him in the shins. The founders of Association football (soccer) decided to ban the practice and were considered unmanly by the traditionalists. In the modern codes of play neither side allows hacking although it probably occurs more often in soccer. |
Great Britain