Scottish Sport History - devoted to our sporting heritage
  • Home
  • Books for sale
    • The men who made Scotland
    • World's First Foot-Ball Club
    • First Elevens
    • Arthur Kinnaird
    • History of Dunblane Football Club
  • Sports History News and Blog
  • Scottish sports bibilography
    • Scottish sport general
    • Football books
    • Football books (non league)
    • Rugby books
    • Cricket books
    • Athletics books
    • Shinty books
    • Curling books
    • Bowling books
    • Swimming books
    • Hockey books
    • Ice hockey books
    • Tennis books
    • Boxing books
  • Digitised books and articles
  • Scotland v England: the origins
    • England v Scotland 1870
    • Scotland v England 1872
    • England v Scotland 1873
    • Scotland v England 1874
  • Arthur Kinnaird: First Lord of Football
    • Kinnaird's FA Cup
    • Kinnaird blog archive
    • Kinnaird the canoeist
    • Kinnaird family history
    • Rossie Priory
  • Contact / About Me
  • Links

When Bernard became Tommy - the McInally mystery

31/1/2013

10 Comments

 
Picture
One of the problems I find when researching Scotland internationals is that quite often their details don't match previously published material. Sometimes this means a birth is a year out, a Mac becomes a Mc, but occasionally a name changes completely.
   One such case was resolved this week when I was looking for the background to Tommy McInally, a Celtic star forward of the 1920s who also had spells at Third Lanark, Sunderland and a few other clubs. He won two caps in 1926, against Ireland and Wales. Known as a maverick who delighted the fans, he died of alcoholism on 29 December 1955. There were obituaries in the press, and an inscription on his grave at St Conval's Cemetery in Barrhead. But if you check the death registers, Thomas Bruce McInally, as the reference books call him, is nowhere to be seen.
   However, there was indeed a McInally who died that day, but his first name was Bernard. Death certificates give the names of parents, and from there it was simple enough to find the birth certificate of Bernard McInally, born in Main Street, Barrhead on 18 December 1899 to Francis McInally and Anne (maiden name Slaven). By the time of the 1901 census the boy was recorded as Thomas, the youngest of eight children including his older brother Arthur, who also went on to play for Celtic. And, for whatever reasons, he was known throughout his life as Tommy until that final note of his death reverted to his 'official' name.
10 Comments

Discovering Scottish footballers in past census entries

23/1/2013

0 Comments

 
Picture
I'm currently doing a lot of research into early Scotland international footballers, and have invested in a membership of ancestry.com as well as using a variety of other online sources. It's a long slog, following clues and cross-checking details, but I'm making good progress.
   Every now and then I find something that really stands out, and I was particularly taken by the above census return from a household in Liverpool in 1891. Staying with a Mrs Hughes, a widow, at 26 Coniston Street are six young men, all from Scotland, and all described as 'labourers'. But that masks their true vocation: they are all players for Everton Football Club, who would win the Football League championship in 1890/91; three of them were good enough to play for Scotland.  The players are Duncan McLean, Daniel Doyle, James A McMillan (the three internationalists), Daniel Kirkwood, Alexander Brady and Patrick Gordon.  Dan Doyle is perhaps the most famous of them, as after he captained Everton that season to their league title, he moved to Celtic where he won a further four league championships and nine Scotland caps.
   More satisfying for me was that this entry led me to other genealogical records which enabled me to pinpoint McLean and McMillan, two Scotland players who had previously been utterly elusive. Duncan McLean was born on 20 January 1868 in Renton, and died there on 17 November 1941. James Andrew McMillan was born in Bonhill on 11 April 1869, and died in Bootle on 20 February 1937.
   A similar discovery in the city of Liverpool which helped my research was from 1911. Two young Scots, described helpfully as professional footballers with Liverpool FC, are boarding with a tobacconist called William P Dunlop in Walton Breck Road, right outside Anfield. The players are John McConnell and Donald McKinley, and while the former returned north after two seasons, the latter became a Liverpool legend staying for almost two decades, winning two Scotland caps into the bargain. What makes the entry really interesting, however, is the tobacconist.
   William Dunlop had also played for Scotland during  a great Liverpool career, having joined the club in 1894 following spells with various Scottish clubs including Kilmarnock and Abercorn. His age (37) and middle initial (P) did not fit with the usual identification of him as born in 1871 with a middle name of Theodore. A bit of investigation confirmed that he was actually William Peden Dunlop, born in Hurlford on 11 August 1874. He died in Stanhope, County Durham, on 28 November 1941.
0 Comments

When Helensburgh had a Scottish League football team

15/1/2013

0 Comments

 
Picture
At a time of discussion about the future shape of league football in Scotland, and even the possibility of a pyramid to open up the lower reaches to ambitious smaller clubs, I was delighted to come across some vintage material relating to Helensburgh FC.
   This douce west coast resort once hosted a league team, when the Scottish League tried on a previous occasion to expand its reach. For three seasons in the mid 1920s, there were three full divisions in the League, with an extraordinary total of 56 clubs. Among them was Helensburgh, who actually won Division Three in its final season, 1925/26, before financial imperatives saw the end of the experiment. They played at Ardencaple Park in the town, and thanks to the Helensburgh Heritage Trust's photo archive this rare image of the football ground can be seen here along with a host of other local sporting photos. The Heritage Trust also has a good history of the football club in pdf format at this link. 
   As websites go, this is an excellent example of how Scottish sporting heritage can be preserved and presented, as an integral part of a town's essent history.

   NB for regular followers of this blog, apologies for the lack of recent postings. I've been victim of a rather painful back strain which has severely limited my computer time!
0 Comments

    RSS Feed

    Archives

    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    September 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    March 2019
    January 2019
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    August 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012
    May 2012

    Categories

    All

    Author

    All blog posts, unless stated, are written by Andy Mitchell, who is researching Scottish sport on a regular basis.