Harold Hardman

(1882-1965)
British Olympic Football Team
In 1904 the Federation of International Football Clubs came into being, and football was still an Olympic event. In the 1908 Olympics, the football events took place in October at the White Stadium in London.
It was here that Harold Payne Hardman excelled himself and came to the public's attention. Born at Kirkmanshulme in April 1882, he played outside-left in the final match against Denmark, the British team having already defeated Sweden 12-1, and Holland 4-0. Hardman had been a delicate child, and was educated in Blackpool High School, where his slight physique forced him to concentrate on speed, agility and fast footwork - all qualities which he had in abundance. He had played for several north-west football clubs before joining Everton in 1903.
Altogether he would play for England four times in international competitions, and gained 10 amateur caps. In 1907 he became a solicitor in Manchester, and played 4 matches for Manchester United during 1908, and by 1912 he played for Stoke City. He was invited to become a director at Manchester United, and remained so for the rest of his life. He was also a Football Association Councillor and President of Lancashire Football Association. He died on 9th June 1965 aged 83.

Source: James W Bancroft Archive

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Sybil Newall

(1854-1929)
National & Olympic Archery Champion
The first National Archery Championships had been convened at York in 1844, when a party of archery enthusiasts set out to raise the bow and arrow from medieval weapons to a skilled modern sport. By 1861, a Grand National Archery Society had been formed and it was included as a legitimate sport in the 1900 Olympic Games.
Sybil Fenton "Queenie" Fenton was one of the world's first female archery champions, winning the Ladies' National Round Archery competition in 1908. She had been born at Calderbrook near Rochdale on 17th October 1954, the eldest daughter to John and Maria Newall, who kept a large estate at Hare Hill (now a National Trust Garden).
Her family traced its ancestry back to the reign of Henry IV in the 14th century, and her grandfather, John Fenton, served 2 terms as Liberal Member of Parliament for Rochdale. Sybil Newall moved to live in Gloucestershire in 1905, and she joined the Cheltenham Archery Club, where, having scored the highest totals in several regional meetings, she qualified and was recruited onto the Olympic Team.
In the 1908 Olympics, she won the Gold Medal by 43 points, beating the legendary Lottie Dodd, her main rival and multiple medal winner. At the age of 53, "Queenie" Newall was the oldest woman ever to win an Olympic title - in any sport. She was to go on to win National Championship titles in 1911 and 1912, and continued to take part in archery contest over the next 20 years. She died at Cheltenham on 24th June 1929, aged seventy-four years.

Source: James W Bancroft Archive

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Douglas Lowe

(1902-1981)
Olympic 800 Metres Champion
Although the 1924 Olympics were immortalised in the film "Chariots of Fire", a notable omission was that of Douglas Lowe, the double Olympic Champion who was born in Manchester. Unfortunately, the film dealt with the more controversial and cinematic background story, and neglected Lowe's achievements on the track.
Born in August 1902, Douglas Lowe attended Highgate School and excelled immediately as a middle distance runner, winning the Public Schools' 880 yards title in 1920. Later, at Pembroke College in Cambridge, he gained blues for football and athletics, winning the 880 yards against Oxford in 1922 and 1923, and both the mile and the quarter-mile race against them in 1924. In the 1924 Olympic Games in Paris, Lowe won the Gold Medal in a new record time of 1 minute 52.4 seconds, beating the favourite, Stallard, who had suffered a leg injury.
Lowe retained individual titles in the 800 yards and the 4 x 400 yards Relay in the 1928 Olympics at Amsterdam (pictured left in the 800 metres). His winning 800 metre run was a personal best performance at 1 minute 51.8 seconds, a full second ahead of any of the world class competitors in the race - his record was not be repeated by another Briton until 1984. He retired from athletics at the end of the 1928 season and took up law at the Inner Temple in London. He became Secretary of the Amateur Athletics Association from 1931 to 1938.
He was made a judge in 1964 after a distinguished legal career, and was made Recorder at the Crown Court. He died in Kent in March 1981 aged 78 years.

Source: James W Bancroft Archive

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Billy Dean

(1887-1949)
England International Water Polo Player
Born on 6th February 1887 in Moston, Billy Dean was the nephew of Herbert Dean, whom many authorities claim to have actually drawn up the first rules of Water Polo. Billy attended Manchester Central High School and was active in playing cricket, football and hockey, and was a member of the Ancoats Lads' Club. By the age of 10 he was already and accomplished swimmer, frequenting Victoria Baths, and being awarded the Royal Humane Medal for diving into a swollen river, fully clothed, to save a drowning boy.
By 14 he was in the England Boys' Open Championships, and by 1902 was a major player in the Manchester Swan Polo Team, based at Arwick Baths. He worked as an apprentice for the Manchester Electric Company, and became chief engineer at the Planters Margarine Works in Hyde.
Billy Dean went on to represent England 18 times, six as team captain. He also played for Salford Swimming Club and for Eccles Borough Football Club (1907-08). In 1909 he moved to Hyde and joined the famous Hyde Seals. He was also an apprentice goalkeeper for Manchester United Football Club for 2 seasons.
In 1920 he set up in business with a partner to found Dean & Noble Limited in Market Street, Hyde. The enterprise was very successful, to such an extent that the pressure of business forced Billy to retire from water polo in that year.
In 1949, after returning from the Wembley Cup Final, where his favourite team, Manchester United, had just beaten Blackpool, he fell ill. He was taken to Christie Hospital in Manchester with acute appendicitis, and died on the operating table on the 2nd May, at the age of 62. Billy Dean is buried in Hyde Cemetery.

Source: James W Bancroft Archive

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Ben Jones

(1882-?)
British Olympic Cycling Champion
Born in 1882, Benjamin Jones, a Wigan collier, was the most successful British cyclist to date in international competition. He was a member of the Wigan Bicycle Club and was holder of the National Record and Title over 5 miles. He was part of the 1908 Olympic British Pursuit Team squad which also included Leon Meredith, Ernest Payne and Clarence Kingbury.
Payne also played on 2 occasions for Manchester United Football Club. Over 5 competitions, Jones was to win a total of one silver and two gold medals at the White City Stadium. He was a notable cycle sprint competitor, a runner up to Germany in 1908, but he regained his 5 Miles Title in 1910 in Berlin.
He later moved to the Salford Harriers Cycling Team and raced for them at Manchester's Belle Vue track, and with whom he had 4 wins in the South African Championships from 1911 to 1914. Eventually he moved to live in London and rode for the Southwark and for the Putney Cycle Club teams.

Source: James W Bancroft Archive

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John Henry Osborne

(1878-1938)
Champion Swimmer & Water Polo Player
Born in Manchester on 29th November 1878, John Osborne is rated as one of the best swimmers ever to emerge from the city. "Rob" as he was known won 10 English swimming titles between 1898 and 1904 including six wins in the 100 yards freestyle - still a record today. He was the first Englishman to complete the distance in under a minute, and was capped nine times as an England water polo player, and captained the national team in 1898. He later won a Bronze Medal as part of the 4 x 250 metres relay team in the interim Athens Olympics of 1906, and a second Olympic title in London in 1908 as well as other freestyle swimming honours in the 1912 Olympics. In 1908, Osborne's father was appointed Head of the Victoria Baths in Hathersage Road, Manchester, and later Rob followed in his father's footsteps top become Manager at Old Trafford Baths. He went on to Manage the Lime Grove Baths in London where he founded the Penguin Swimming Club which became national champions. Osborne was appointed Manager to the British Olympic Swimming Team for the 1928 Amsterdam and the 1936 Berlin Olympics. John Osborne died at Forge Baslow in Derbyshire on 30th July 1938 at the age of 59 and is buried in Stretford Cemetery.

Source: James W Bancroft Archive

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Henry Taylor

(1885-1951)
Champion Swimmer & Water Polo Player
Henry Taylor was born in Hollinwood on St Patrick's Day 1885, though he was orphaned at a very young age and was effectively raised by his brother, William. From the age of 7 he frequented Chadderton Baths in Oldham, where he won a Silver Medal for swimming, and took part in many swimming galas. He was employed at a local cotton mill, but practised swimming in the nearby Hollinwood Canal (now gone) during his lunchtimes and at Alexandra Park boating lake in the evenings. He joined the Chadderton Swimming Club and was selected for the Interim Olympic Games in Athens in 1906, and although not rated as a medal winner, he actually won a Gold Medal in the 1 mile freestyle competition. Also in 1906 he won the world record for the 880 yards. In the 1908 Olympics he set other world records and won gold medals in the 400 metres, the 4 x 200 metres relay, the 1500 metres - honours which earned him the title of "Britain's Greatest Amateur Swimmer". Subsequent Olympic Games saw many more medals accumulated, as well as many Amateur Swimming Association records. He was also a regular swimmer in the 13 mile Morecambe Bay Race for over 20 years and won it on 8 occasions. Unfortunately, his life was dogged by financial difficulties which forced his selling of many of his 35 trophies and over 300 medals. He retried from competition in 1926 and bought the "Nudger" Pub in Dobcross, near Oldham, but this venture failed miserably and he took work as senior attendant at Chadderton baths. Henry Taylor died, a bachelor at Greenacres in Oldham on 28th February 1951, at the age of 65. His trophies were subsequently gathered together and were on display at Chadderton Baths for many years.

Source: James W Bancroft Archive

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