William Webb Ellis was born on the 24 November 1806 in Salford. After the death of his father, his mother moved with her two sons to live in Rugby in Warwickshire in order to get them a good education at the celebrated Rugby School. Ellis attended the school from 1816 to 1825, and was successful in both academic studies and sports. Later, he won an exhibition to Brasenose College, Oxford, which he attended from 1825-1828, and where he gained a Cricket Blue. In adult life he became chaplain of St George's Chapel in Albermale. Ellis's notoriety comes from an event at Rugby School during a football training session in 1823, when, as a 16 year old schoolboy, he caught the round ball and instead of standing still, he ran with it, and that, so the story goes, is how the game of Rugby Football began. In fact, some authorities have it that he might actually have been demonstrating the ancient Irish game of 'caid', which was similar to rugby, and may have been introduced to William by his father who had been stationed as a soldier in Ireland. Many schools at that time played a game similar to rugby and football, which had few rules, many played by their own rules, and touching or holding the ball was not uncommon - what Ellis did differently was that he actually ran with the ball and placed it in the net. An official split between what became Soccer Football and what was to become Rugby Football took place in 1863 when the Football Association was formed. Later, in 1871, representatives from rugby clubs across the country met to form the Rugby Football Union and draw up their own common code of laws. A statue of Ellis as a young boy carrying a football can be found in the grounds of Rugby School. William Web Ellis died on 24 January 1872 in Mentone France and is buried in the cemetery there - it's the most visited tomb in the cemetery of Menton - the reason of the stay of Ellis at Menton and the cause of his death are not known. His tomb was forgotten and rediscovered only in 1958 by the local sports journalist Roger Dries. Apparently the views over the Med from his resting place are breathtaking !
