Charles Meysey-Thompson
Encyclopedia
Revd. Charles Maude Meysey-Thompson (5 December 1849 – 11 September 1881) was an English clergy
man who, as an amateur footballer, won the FA Cup
in 1873 with the Wanderers
. He also played in the 1876 FA Cup Final
for the Old Etonians
and for the Scottish XI in the last representative match
against England in 1872.
as Charles Maude Thompson, he was the son of Sir Harry Meysey-Thompson, 1st Baronet (1809–1874) and Elizabeth Anne Croft. His father was well known as an agriculturalist who helped found the Yorkshire Agricultural Society
in 1837, becoming its President in 1862, and was one of the founders of the Royal Agricultural Society
in 1838. He was also M.P.
for Whitby
from 1859 to 1865. In March 1874, shortly before his death, he was created the First Baronet Meysey-Thompson, of Kirby Hall, in the county of York. "Meysey" was Harry Thompson's grandmother's surname.
His brothers included Henry
(who succeeded to his father's title), Albert and Ernest (who became M.P. for Birmingham Handsworth
from 1906 to 1922).
Thompson was educated at Eton College
before going up to Trinity College, Cambridge
where he matriculated in 1868. He graduated in 1872 with a Bachelor of Arts
degree, and was awarded his Masters degree in 1876. In 1872, he earned an athletics Blue for Cambridge, but was unplaced in throwing the hammer.
to represent Scotland in a match against England on 24 February 1872. It would appear that his only connection with Scotland was that the family owned property "north of the border". His brother Albert represented England who won the match by a single goal.
Thompson followed his brother Albert and joined the Wanderers
, for whom he made his first appearance on 14 February 1872 in a 6–1 victory over the Civil Service. Despite having only played one other match for them, he was selected for the Wanderers in their defence of the FA Cup
in the 1873 FA Cup Final played at Lillie Bridge
on 29 March 1873. In the final, the Wanderers defeated Oxford University
2–0, with goals from Arthur Kinnaird
and Charles Wollaston
.
Thompson played a further four games for the Wanderers at the start of the 1873–74 season and played seven matches for them in total.
He also played for the Old Etonians
and in 1876
he was selected to play alongside his brother in the Cup Final match against his former club, the Wanderers. By now, the family had adopted the name "Meysey-Thompson", although Albert played under the name "Thompson" and Charles under the name "Meysey". Two other pairs of brothers played in this match; Francis
and Hubert Heron
lined up for the Wanderers, while the Etonians' team included Hon. Edward Lyttelton
and his brother Hon. Alfred Lyttelton
. This is the only occasion that two or more pairs of brothers have played in the same FA Cup Final. The match ended in a 1–1 draw and was replayed a week later; neither Charles nor Albert were selected for the replay (Charles being injured) which ended as a 3–0 victory to the full-strength Wanderers side.
priest and became curate
at Whitby
in 1873. In 1875 he became curate at St. Pancras
in London for a year before becoming rector
at Middle Claydon
in Buckinghamshire
in 1876. In 1881, he was visiting Utah
in the United States in the hope of improving his declining health, but he died at Pesa on 11 September aged 31.
In 1874, he married Emily Mary Walker, daughter of Sir James Walker, 1st Baronet, of Sand Hutton
; they had one child, Harold James Meysey-Thompson, born in 1876.
Old Etonians
Clergy
Clergy is the generic term used to describe the formal religious leadership within a given religion. A clergyman, churchman or cleric is a member of the clergy, especially one who is a priest, preacher, pastor, or other religious professional....
man who, as an amateur footballer, won the FA Cup
FA Cup
The Football Association Challenge Cup, commonly known as the FA Cup, is a knockout cup competition in English football and is the oldest association football competition in the world. The "FA Cup" is run by and named after The Football Association and usually refers to the English men's...
in 1873 with the Wanderers
Wanderers F.C.
Wanderers Football Club is an English amateur football club, based in London, that plays in the Surrey South Eastern Combination. Founded as Forest Football Club in 1859, the club changed its name to Wanderers in 1864....
. He also played in the 1876 FA Cup Final
1876 FA Cup Final
Match rules:90 minutes normal time.30 minutes extra-time if scores are level, at captains' discretion.Replay if scores still level.No substitutes.-Summary:The replay took place one week later at the same venue...
for the Old Etonians
Old Etonians F.C.
The Old Etonians Football Club is an English football club whose players are taken from previous attendees of Eton College, in Eton, Berkshire.-History:...
and for the Scottish XI in the last representative match
England v Scotland representative matches (1870–1872)
Between 1870 and 1872, the Football Association organised five representative association football matches between teams from England and Scotland, all held in London. The first of these matches was held at The Oval on 5 March 1870, and the fifth was on 21 February 1872. The matches, which were...
against England in 1872.
Family and education
Born in YorkYork
York is a walled city, situated at the confluence of the Rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. The city has a rich heritage and has provided the backdrop to major political events throughout much of its two millennia of existence...
as Charles Maude Thompson, he was the son of Sir Harry Meysey-Thompson, 1st Baronet (1809–1874) and Elizabeth Anne Croft. His father was well known as an agriculturalist who helped found the Yorkshire Agricultural Society
Yorkshire Agricultural Society
Yorkshire Agricultural Society is a charity based at the Great Yorkshire Showground, Harrogate, North Yorkshire, England. The society is best known as the organiser of the two annual country events, the Great Yorkshire Show and the Countryside Live. It is committed to working for the...
in 1837, becoming its President in 1862, and was one of the founders of the Royal Agricultural Society
Royal Agricultural Society
The Royal Agricultural Society of England was established in the United Kingdom in 1838 with the motto "Practice with Science". The RASE aim is to promote the scientific development of agriculture. The society received its Royal Charter from Queen Victoria in 1840.From its early days the society...
in 1838. He was also M.P.
Member of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
for Whitby
Whitby (UK Parliament constituency)
Whitby was a parliamentary constituency centred on the town of Whitby in North Yorkshire. It returned one Member of Parliament to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, MP elected by the first past the post system.-History:...
from 1859 to 1865. In March 1874, shortly before his death, he was created the First Baronet Meysey-Thompson, of Kirby Hall, in the county of York. "Meysey" was Harry Thompson's grandmother's surname.
His brothers included Henry
Henry Meysey-Thompson, 1st Baron Knaresborough
Henry Meysey Meysey-Thompson, 1st Baron Knaresborough was a Liberal politician who sat in the House of Commons variously between 1880 and 1905 when he was raised to the peerage as Baron Knaresborough.Meysey-Thompson was born at Kirby Hall, near Great Ouseburn, North Yorkshire, the son of Sir...
(who succeeded to his father's title), Albert and Ernest (who became M.P. for Birmingham Handsworth
Birmingham Handsworth (UK Parliament constituency)
Birmingham Handsworth was a parliamentary constituency centred on the Handsworth district of Birmingham. It returned one Member of Parliament to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom...
from 1906 to 1922).
Thompson was educated at Eton College
Eton College
Eton College, often referred to simply as Eton, is a British independent school for boys aged 13 to 18. It was founded in 1440 by King Henry VI as "The King's College of Our Lady of Eton besides Wyndsor"....
before going up to Trinity College, Cambridge
Trinity College, Cambridge
Trinity College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Trinity has more members than any other college in Cambridge or Oxford, with around 700 undergraduates, 430 graduates, and over 170 Fellows...
where he matriculated in 1868. He graduated in 1872 with a Bachelor of Arts
Bachelor of Arts
A Bachelor of Arts , from the Latin artium baccalaureus, is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate course or program in either the liberal arts, the sciences, or both...
degree, and was awarded his Masters degree in 1876. In 1872, he earned an athletics Blue for Cambridge, but was unplaced in throwing the hammer.
Football career
Thompson played football (as a forward) at Eton College and Cambridge University. Whilst at the University, he was selected as a late replacement for Henry PrimroseHenry Primrose
Sir Henry William Primrose K.C.B., C.S.I., I.S.O., P.C. was a Scottish civil servant. He joined the Treasury in 1869, served as private secretary to the Viceroy of India from 1880 to 1884 and to Gladstone in 1886. He was secretary of the Office of Works from 1887 to 1895...
to represent Scotland in a match against England on 24 February 1872. It would appear that his only connection with Scotland was that the family owned property "north of the border". His brother Albert represented England who won the match by a single goal.
Thompson followed his brother Albert and joined the Wanderers
Wanderers F.C.
Wanderers Football Club is an English amateur football club, based in London, that plays in the Surrey South Eastern Combination. Founded as Forest Football Club in 1859, the club changed its name to Wanderers in 1864....
, for whom he made his first appearance on 14 February 1872 in a 6–1 victory over the Civil Service. Despite having only played one other match for them, he was selected for the Wanderers in their defence of the FA Cup
FA Cup
The Football Association Challenge Cup, commonly known as the FA Cup, is a knockout cup competition in English football and is the oldest association football competition in the world. The "FA Cup" is run by and named after The Football Association and usually refers to the English men's...
in the 1873 FA Cup Final played at Lillie Bridge
Lillie Bridge Grounds
The Lillie Bridge Grounds was a sports ground in London near to present day Stamford Bridge, opened around 1867. The ground started to fall into disuse after the opening of Stamford Bridge, and after a riot on September 18, 1887 which destroyed the track and grandstand, it finally closed in...
on 29 March 1873. In the final, the Wanderers defeated Oxford University
Oxford University A.F.C.
Oxford University Association Football Club is an English football club representing the University of Oxford.-History:Formed in 1872, the club was a giant of the 1870s, winning the FA Cup 2-0 against Royal Engineers in 1874 and finishing the competition as runners up in 1873, 1877 and 1880, the...
2–0, with goals from Arthur Kinnaird
Arthur Kinnaird, 11th Lord Kinnaird
Arthur Fitzgerald Kinnaird, 11th Lord Kinnaird KT was a principal of The Football Association and a leading footballer....
and Charles Wollaston
Charles Wollaston
Charles Henry Reynolds Wollaston was an English footballer for Wanderers F.C. and England.Wollaston played for Wanderers in the first FA Cup Final in 1872 and scored in the second final of 1873. In all he won five winner's medals, the first player to achieve this feat.He earned four caps for...
.
Thompson played a further four games for the Wanderers at the start of the 1873–74 season and played seven matches for them in total.
He also played for the Old Etonians
Old Etonians F.C.
The Old Etonians Football Club is an English football club whose players are taken from previous attendees of Eton College, in Eton, Berkshire.-History:...
and in 1876
1876 FA Cup Final
Match rules:90 minutes normal time.30 minutes extra-time if scores are level, at captains' discretion.Replay if scores still level.No substitutes.-Summary:The replay took place one week later at the same venue...
he was selected to play alongside his brother in the Cup Final match against his former club, the Wanderers. By now, the family had adopted the name "Meysey-Thompson", although Albert played under the name "Thompson" and Charles under the name "Meysey". Two other pairs of brothers played in this match; Francis
Francis Heron
Charles Francis William Heron was an English footballer who made one appearance as a forward for England and was a member of the Wanderers side that won the FA Cup in 1876.-Playing career:...
and Hubert Heron
Hubert Heron
George Hubert Hugh Heron was an English footballer who made five appearances as a forward for England in the 1870s and won three FA Cup winners' medals.-Playing career:...
lined up for the Wanderers, while the Etonians' team included Hon. Edward Lyttelton
Edward Lyttelton
Rev. Hon. Edward Lyttelton was an English sportsman, schoolmaster and clergyman. He played first-class cricket for Cambridge University and Middlesex as well as representing the England national football team.-Life:...
and his brother Hon. Alfred Lyttelton
Alfred Lyttelton
Alfred Lyttelton QC was a British politician and sportsman who excelled at both football and cricket. During his time at university he participated in Varsity Matches in five sports: cricket , football , athletics , rackets and real tennis , displaying an ability that made him...
. This is the only occasion that two or more pairs of brothers have played in the same FA Cup Final. The match ended in a 1–1 draw and was replayed a week later; neither Charles nor Albert were selected for the replay (Charles being injured) which ended as a 3–0 victory to the full-strength Wanderers side.
Later career
Thompson was ordained as a Church of EnglandChurch of England
The Church of England is the officially established Christian church in England and the Mother Church of the worldwide Anglican Communion. The church considers itself within the tradition of Western Christianity and dates its formal establishment principally to the mission to England by St...
priest and became curate
Curate
A curate is a person who is invested with the care or cure of souls of a parish. In this sense "curate" correctly means a parish priest but in English-speaking countries a curate is an assistant to the parish priest...
at Whitby
Whitby
Whitby is a seaside town, port and civil parish in the Scarborough borough of North Yorkshire, England. Situated on the east coast of Yorkshire at the mouth of the River Esk, Whitby has a combined maritime, mineral and tourist heritage, and is home to the ruins of Whitby Abbey where Caedmon, the...
in 1873. In 1875 he became curate at St. Pancras
St Pancras, London
St Pancras is an area of London. For many centuries the name has been used for various officially-designated areas, but now is used informally and rarely having been largely superseded by several other names for overlapping districts.-Ancient parish:...
in London for a year before becoming rector
Rector
The word rector has a number of different meanings; it is widely used to refer to an academic, religious or political administrator...
at Middle Claydon
Middle Claydon
Middle Claydon is a village and also a civil parish within Aylesbury Vale district in Buckinghamshire, England. It is located about five miles south of Buckingham and three miles west of Winslow....
in Buckinghamshire
Buckinghamshire
Buckinghamshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan home county in South East England. The county town is Aylesbury, the largest town in the ceremonial county is Milton Keynes and largest town in the non-metropolitan county is High Wycombe....
in 1876. In 1881, he was visiting Utah
Utah
Utah is a state in the Western United States. It was the 45th state to join the Union, on January 4, 1896. Approximately 80% of Utah's 2,763,885 people live along the Wasatch Front, centering on Salt Lake City. This leaves vast expanses of the state nearly uninhabited, making the population the...
in the United States in the hope of improving his declining health, but he died at Pesa on 11 September aged 31.
In 1874, he married Emily Mary Walker, daughter of Sir James Walker, 1st Baronet, of Sand Hutton
Sand Hutton
Sand Hutton is a village and civil parish in the Ryedale district of North Yorkshire, England, about north-east of York.Part of the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs's Food and Environment Research Agency is sited at Sand Hutton....
; they had one child, Harold James Meysey-Thompson, born in 1876.
Honours
WanderersWanderers F.C.
Wanderers Football Club is an English amateur football club, based in London, that plays in the Surrey South Eastern Combination. Founded as Forest Football Club in 1859, the club changed its name to Wanderers in 1864....
- FA CupFA CupThe Football Association Challenge Cup, commonly known as the FA Cup, is a knockout cup competition in English football and is the oldest association football competition in the world. The "FA Cup" is run by and named after The Football Association and usually refers to the English men's...
winners: 1873
Old Etonians
Old Etonians F.C.
The Old Etonians Football Club is an English football club whose players are taken from previous attendees of Eton College, in Eton, Berkshire.-History:...
- FA CupFA CupThe Football Association Challenge Cup, commonly known as the FA Cup, is a knockout cup competition in English football and is the oldest association football competition in the world. The "FA Cup" is run by and named after The Football Association and usually refers to the English men's...
finalists: 18761876 FA Cup FinalMatch rules:90 minutes normal time.30 minutes extra-time if scores are level, at captains' discretion.Replay if scores still level.No substitutes.-Summary:The replay took place one week later at the same venue...