News Reports - 2018
Mystery of why Rams legend Steve Bloomer died a man of modest
means, after his late wife left a small fortune to another man.
means, after his late wife left a small fortune to another man.
By Anton Rippon
Contibutor: Paul Topliff
Contibutor: Paul Topliff
Every Derby County supporter knows the name of Steve Bloomer. He is celebrated in song before each home game, his likeness stands pitch-side at Pride Park, and if they are shopping in the Market Hall, then Rams fans will probably have passed the memorial in the Lock-up Yard. There is also the blue plaque recently unveiled on Bloomer’s former school building, in Portland Street. Yet all this still tells only part of his story.Evidence has come to light to show that, despite earning worldwide commercial endorsements during his playing career, the “David Beckham of his day” died a man of modest means after his late wife left a small fortune to another man.
Bloomer’s statistics illustrate a remarkable talent: 332 goals in 527 appearances for the Rams between 1892 and 1914; a further 62 goals in 160 games for Middlesbrough – there was uproar in Derby when the Rams sold Bloomer to Boro in 1906, and a brass band welcomed him back in 1910; and 30 goals in 24 England appearances if one factors in an unofficial international match. He was also an accomplished cricketer, baseball player, sprinter and cribbage player. His image adorned a mural on the Queen Mary when she made her maiden voyage, and his name appears in a novel by PG Wodehouse, of Bertie Wooster fame.
Steve Bloomer expert Paul Topliff, who runs an amazingly detailed website dedicated to the greatest name in Derby County’s history, says: “Bloomer’s name was associated with promotional campaigns on an international scale. He was associated with clothing, footwear, books, magazines, tonics, tobacco and photography. "He was used to endorse ‘Phosphoric Tonic – the Remedy of Kings’. He appeared on 19 different cigarette cards and had his own Steve Bloomer-endorsed ‘Lucky Striker’ football boots, as well as ‘Perfegrippe’, renowned for being the first moulded-stud boot, still being sold the world over more than 40 years after his death.” Although players’ wages themselves were capped, and not much more than the industrial average of the times, Mr Topliff says that Steve Bloomer was “truly the David Beckham of his day: an inspirational icon.”
Now, however, Mr Topliff has uncovered fascinating detail about Steve Bloomer’s wife, Sarah Walker, which he says throws intriguing new light on the life of one of the game’s greatest stars. He explains: “Sarah’s father, Herbert, was the cobbler who repaired Derby County player's boots, so that is probably how they met. For decades her family lived at 42 Litchurch Street, and before she married Steve, at the age of 21, she worked as a warehouse girl. Oddly, on their marriage certificate Steve gave his occupation as ‘blacksmith’, despite the fact that he was an established football star who had already been capped four times by England.” As her husband became a national household name, Sarah led a full life locally. She was heavily involved in St. Thomas’ Church, close to the Baseball Ground, and in women’s organisations such as the Mothers’ Union. Although Steve was a staunch Liberal, his wife was an active member of Normanton Ward Women’s Conservative and Unionist Association.
Bloomer’s statistics illustrate a remarkable talent: 332 goals in 527 appearances for the Rams between 1892 and 1914; a further 62 goals in 160 games for Middlesbrough – there was uproar in Derby when the Rams sold Bloomer to Boro in 1906, and a brass band welcomed him back in 1910; and 30 goals in 24 England appearances if one factors in an unofficial international match. He was also an accomplished cricketer, baseball player, sprinter and cribbage player. His image adorned a mural on the Queen Mary when she made her maiden voyage, and his name appears in a novel by PG Wodehouse, of Bertie Wooster fame.
Steve Bloomer expert Paul Topliff, who runs an amazingly detailed website dedicated to the greatest name in Derby County’s history, says: “Bloomer’s name was associated with promotional campaigns on an international scale. He was associated with clothing, footwear, books, magazines, tonics, tobacco and photography. "He was used to endorse ‘Phosphoric Tonic – the Remedy of Kings’. He appeared on 19 different cigarette cards and had his own Steve Bloomer-endorsed ‘Lucky Striker’ football boots, as well as ‘Perfegrippe’, renowned for being the first moulded-stud boot, still being sold the world over more than 40 years after his death.” Although players’ wages themselves were capped, and not much more than the industrial average of the times, Mr Topliff says that Steve Bloomer was “truly the David Beckham of his day: an inspirational icon.”
Now, however, Mr Topliff has uncovered fascinating detail about Steve Bloomer’s wife, Sarah Walker, which he says throws intriguing new light on the life of one of the game’s greatest stars. He explains: “Sarah’s father, Herbert, was the cobbler who repaired Derby County player's boots, so that is probably how they met. For decades her family lived at 42 Litchurch Street, and before she married Steve, at the age of 21, she worked as a warehouse girl. Oddly, on their marriage certificate Steve gave his occupation as ‘blacksmith’, despite the fact that he was an established football star who had already been capped four times by England.” As her husband became a national household name, Sarah led a full life locally. She was heavily involved in St. Thomas’ Church, close to the Baseball Ground, and in women’s organisations such as the Mothers’ Union. Although Steve was a staunch Liberal, his wife was an active member of Normanton Ward Women’s Conservative and Unionist Association.
Mr Topliff said: “Sarah was busy, not least because Steve spent much of his time away from home travelling with his clubs and with the England team. After his playing days were over he went to coach in Germany, where he was interned for the duration of the First World War. In 1922 he was off on his travels again, first taking a four-month coaching job in Montreal, and then a two-year contract with the Spanish club, Real Union de Irun. He always went on his own.” Sarah, meanwhile, continued to live in their home in Portland Street, although when she died in 1936, at the age of 61, it was at the house of another of their daughters, Hetty, in Cheshire. She had gone there three weeks earlier in the hope of recovering from illness but suffered a relapse. Sarah was buried at Nottingham Road Cemetery in Derby, in the same grave as Violet, their daughter who was 17 when she died while her father was a prisoner in Germany. Two years later, Steve would be buried with them. At Sarah’s funeral Jimmy Methven, the former Rams player and manager, said: “Without doubt the finest partner Steve ever had was Mrs Steve Bloomer.”
According to Mr Topliff, though, there is an unanswered question: “What I find puzzling is that in her will Sarah left £979 to one Frederick Wallis, a retired turner. It was a great deal of money, according to some sources worth over £62,000 at today’s values, but I think probably much more as in 1936 it would have bought you three houses in Litchurch or a four-bedroom detached house in Littleover. But she left nothing at all to her husband. Steve doesn’t appear in her probate record. It is most odd.”
According to Mr Topliff, though, there is an unanswered question: “What I find puzzling is that in her will Sarah left £979 to one Frederick Wallis, a retired turner. It was a great deal of money, according to some sources worth over £62,000 at today’s values, but I think probably much more as in 1936 it would have bought you three houses in Litchurch or a four-bedroom detached house in Littleover. But she left nothing at all to her husband. Steve doesn’t appear in her probate record. It is most odd.”
After Sarah died, Steve Bloomer, now himself suffering ill health, went to live with his daughter, Doris, and her family at the Great Northern Inn in Junction Street, off Uttoxeter Road. In 1938 it was the Rams directors that raised the money to send him on what it was hoped would be a recuperative cruise to Australia and New Zealand.Says Mr Topliff: “So presumably, despite all those commercial endorsements over the years, he had no money to speak of. Yet two years earlier Sarah had made that handsome bequest to Frederick Wallis. So far it has not been possible to identify him. At least three men of that name were living in Derby at the time, and the list of people, published in the Derby Telegraph, who sent wreaths to Sarah’s funeral does not include anyone called Wallis.”
On April 16, 1938, just three weeks after returning from his cruise, Steve Bloomer, the footballer whose reputation had reached out across the globe, the game’s first superstar, drew his last breath in a room above a back-street Derby pub.
Mr Topliff said: “Today, we look back and see only the star footballer with the world at his feet. But there is clearly much more to his story than that. Why did Sarah leave her money to someone else? Who was Frederick Wallis?”
Maybe someone reading this can provide the answer.
On April 16, 1938, just three weeks after returning from his cruise, Steve Bloomer, the footballer whose reputation had reached out across the globe, the game’s first superstar, drew his last breath in a room above a back-street Derby pub.
Mr Topliff said: “Today, we look back and see only the star footballer with the world at his feet. But there is clearly much more to his story than that. Why did Sarah leave her money to someone else? Who was Frederick Wallis?”
Maybe someone reading this can provide the answer.
After Sarah died, Steve Bloomer, now himself suffering ill health, went to live with his daughter, Doris, and her family at the Great Northern Inn in Junction Street, off Uttoxeter Road. In 1938 it was the Rams directors that raised the money to send him on what it was hoped would be a recuperative cruise to Australia and New Zealand.Says Mr Topliff: “So presumably, despite all those commercial endorsements over the years, he had no money to speak of. Yet two years earlier Sarah had made that handsome bequest to Frederick Wallis. So far it has not been possible to identify him. At least three men of that name were living in Derby at the time, and the list of people, published in the Derby Telegraph, who sent wreaths to Sarah’s funeral does not include anyone called Wallis.”
On April 16, 1938, just three weeks after returning from his cruise, Steve Bloomer, the footballer whose reputation had reached out across the globe, the game’s first superstar, drew his last breath in a room above a back-street Derby pub.
Mr Topliff said: “Today, we look back and see only the star footballer with the world at his feet. But there is clearly much more to his story than that. Why did Sarah leave her money to someone else? Who was Frederick Wallis?”
Maybe someone reading this can provide the answer.
On April 16, 1938, just three weeks after returning from his cruise, Steve Bloomer, the footballer whose reputation had reached out across the globe, the game’s first superstar, drew his last breath in a room above a back-street Derby pub.
Mr Topliff said: “Today, we look back and see only the star footballer with the world at his feet. But there is clearly much more to his story than that. Why did Sarah leave her money to someone else? Who was Frederick Wallis?”
Maybe someone reading this can provide the answer.
Derby Telegraph
15th July 2018
15th July 2018
NOTE: by Paul Topliff
18th August 2018
Pursuant to the above article, which provoked quite a response, it appears that the said Frederick Wallis was in fact the Executor of Sarah's Last Will and Testament. Well known Derby historian and author of the book, 'Steve Bloomer - The Story of Football's First Superstar', Peter Seddon, spoke to Derby County historical expert Anton Rippon about the article. Having seen the Will in question, Mr Seddon said that Sarah bequeathed sums from her estate to her husband Steve, as well as their two daughters.
The mystery of Steve Bloomer's wife's will is solved
By Anton Rippon
Contibutor: Peter Seddon
Contibutor: Peter Seddon
The mystery of Steve Bloomer's wife and his inheritance has been solved.
Derby County fan Paul Topliff, who runs a website dedicated to the life and times of the greatest name in the Rams' history, was puzzled to find that when Bloomer's wife, Sarah, died in 1936 she had apparently left almost £1,000 to one Frederick Wallis, a retired Turner, but nothing to Steve, who died two years later, so hard up that the Rams' Directors had paid for him to go on what it was hoped would be a recuperative cruise.
Mr Topliff said: "Bloomer's name was associated with promotional campaigns on an international scale ...he was the David Beckham of his day: an inspirational icon. "Yet presumably, despite all those commercial endorsements over the years, he had no money to speak of. Yet two years earlier, Sarah, had made a handsome bequest to Frederick Wallis. "It was a great deal of money at the time. It would have bought you a four-bedroom detached house in Littleover, so you could equate it to a quarter of a million pounds or more today".
Now local author Peter Seddon, who wrote Steve Bloomer: Football's First Superstar, which is accepted as the standard work on the player, has cleared up the mystery. Mr Seddon explained: "Bloomer was not mentioned in the probate record simply because he was not an executor of his wife's will. "There has been a misunderstanding of the distinction between an executor and a beneficiary. "I've seen Sarah Bloomer's will, and both Steve and their daughters were beneficiaries. Frederick Wallis was an executor, not Steve, presumably because she felt that Steve didn't have a head for legal or financial matters. Despite what has been concluded here, there is no potential scandal regarding the Bloomers. That the great footballer whose name was associated with so many commercial brands, and who was indeed left money by his wife, should have had to rely on the charity of his former club's directors before ending his days in a room over a back-street Derby pub, is still surprising. His marriage, however, appears to have always been a happy one.
Steve Bloomer was buried in the same grave at Nottingham Road cemetery as his wife and their daughter Violet, who died in 1917, and so perhaps the story should end with the words of Jimmy Methven, the former Rams player and manager, who at Sarah's funeral said: "Without doubt the finest partner Steve ever had was Mrs Steve Bloomer".
Derby County fan Paul Topliff, who runs a website dedicated to the life and times of the greatest name in the Rams' history, was puzzled to find that when Bloomer's wife, Sarah, died in 1936 she had apparently left almost £1,000 to one Frederick Wallis, a retired Turner, but nothing to Steve, who died two years later, so hard up that the Rams' Directors had paid for him to go on what it was hoped would be a recuperative cruise.
Mr Topliff said: "Bloomer's name was associated with promotional campaigns on an international scale ...he was the David Beckham of his day: an inspirational icon. "Yet presumably, despite all those commercial endorsements over the years, he had no money to speak of. Yet two years earlier, Sarah, had made a handsome bequest to Frederick Wallis. "It was a great deal of money at the time. It would have bought you a four-bedroom detached house in Littleover, so you could equate it to a quarter of a million pounds or more today".
Now local author Peter Seddon, who wrote Steve Bloomer: Football's First Superstar, which is accepted as the standard work on the player, has cleared up the mystery. Mr Seddon explained: "Bloomer was not mentioned in the probate record simply because he was not an executor of his wife's will. "There has been a misunderstanding of the distinction between an executor and a beneficiary. "I've seen Sarah Bloomer's will, and both Steve and their daughters were beneficiaries. Frederick Wallis was an executor, not Steve, presumably because she felt that Steve didn't have a head for legal or financial matters. Despite what has been concluded here, there is no potential scandal regarding the Bloomers. That the great footballer whose name was associated with so many commercial brands, and who was indeed left money by his wife, should have had to rely on the charity of his former club's directors before ending his days in a room over a back-street Derby pub, is still surprising. His marriage, however, appears to have always been a happy one.
Steve Bloomer was buried in the same grave at Nottingham Road cemetery as his wife and their daughter Violet, who died in 1917, and so perhaps the story should end with the words of Jimmy Methven, the former Rams player and manager, who at Sarah's funeral said: "Without doubt the finest partner Steve ever had was Mrs Steve Bloomer".
Derby Telegraph
21st August 2018
21st August 2018
NOTE: by Paul Topliff
21st August 2018
Reply to the quote... "There has been a misunderstanding of the distinction between an executor and a beneficiary"
'An executor (male) or executrix (female) is the person named in a will to perform these duties. An administrator (male) or administratrix (female) is the person appointed by the probate court to complete these tasks when there is no will or no executor or executrix has been named in the will'.
On many occasions there are details of whom the Administrator is in a probate record online, but never any mention of whom the Executor or Executrix is. As only the details of the probate record per-se were published online, it was implausible to assume that any funding was bequeathed upon Steve at that juncture by Sarah, his wife, which is why questions were rightly asked. It's not that the difference between Executor(trix) [the disher] and Beneficiary [the getter] is not understood. it's all about asking the right questions to provoke the right answers, which I feel we have achieved.
Splendid response from Peter Seddon, and likewise, reporting by the maestro Anton Rippon.
Many Thanks.