William Webb Ellis and the Rugby School legend

Background. William Webb Ellis was an English Anglican clergyman credited as the inventor of rugby football. His mother moved to Rugby, Warwickshire, so that William and his brother Thomas could be educated at Rugby School without cost as local foundationers, and he attended the school from 1816 to 1825. According to the legend, during a football match in 1823 he caught the ball and ran with it, an action that was not allowed under the rules then in force.

Disputed Historicity. The origin story relies on accounts by Matthew Bloxam, who wrote to The Meteor in 1876. The Old Rugbeian Society investigated the claim in 1895, producing a report in 1897 that supported Bloxam's account. However, Thomas Hughes noted the story had not survived into his time, and Gordon Rayner suggests Bloxam may have transferred credit from Jem Mackie to Ellis.

Commemoration. The legend of William Webb Ellis and the origin of the game is commemorated by a plaque on the school grounds. Following its 1897 report, the Old Rugbeian Society placed a plaque on the Close in 1900 stating that Ellis's actions originated the game's distinctive feature in 1823. A bronze statue depicting a young Ellis running with a ball stands on the corner of Dunchurch Road, outside Rugby School.