With the Women's Rugby World Cup starting in Dublin on Wednesday, John Birch tells us more on our quest to uncover the hidden history of women's rugby.
John explores the discovery of the earliest record of a female playing rugby, the Irish-born Emily Valentine who played rugby as a girl in 1887.
What do we know so far?
In 1884, Portora Royal School in Enniskillen, was going through a difficult period. Student numbers were low and Mr. Steele the aged headmaster passed on the effective running of the school to Classics master and Assistant Head teacher William Valentine, who had joined the school in 1883.
Valentine had at least three children of school age including William, John and Emily Frances (born c1878, possibly earlier), all of whom attended the school. In 1887 as Emily's memoirs tell us, the three children began to play rugby with several friends and she joined in one game, scoring a try in the process.
The school had previously had a rugby team in the 1870s, but with a loss of pupils the sport had disappeared and to begin with, its reintroduction was not supported by the school, who denied them access to the main school field. However they still practiced and played intra-school matches every Saturday and matches against Enniskillen RFC are recorded in 1887.
School records, and letters from Emily (later Mrs. Galwey) to the school in 1951, show that she took part in the practices and intra-school games, and some records and some of her statements including how she played as a wing when they were short of a man tell us that despite her age she played in some of the external games as well. Several sources say at times that the entire three-quarter line was made up of Valentines, including Emily.
William Valentine (snr) would appear to have left the school in about 1891 when a new head was appointed. Both William (jnr) and John went to Trinity College, Dublin. Emily married and, after a period in India, settled in England with her husband, Major John Galwey OBE. Her granddaughter eventually moved to Twickenham, where her husband still lives. She has eight great-grandchildren and died in 1967.
Why is this important for women’s rugby?
Emily’s story is remarkable because there are no other records at all of any other female rugby players in the nineteenth century. Although there is some vague suggestions that women’s rugby teams may have been played in France, and possibly New Zealand, in the 1890s it is not until 1917 that we know of another female player; 16 year-old Mary Eley who played for Cardiff Ladies (a team formed from women working at a local brewery). They beat Newport Ladies 6-0 at Cardiff Arms Park on 16th December 1917. Mary died in 2007 at the age of 106 - one of the sports oldest players (though, being a woman, she is unlikely to appear in any record books).
After that, a handful of photographs, and less than two minutes of film, shows that women’s rugby was played in France, Australia and New Zealand in the 1920s and 1930s, but there are no records of who played and how popular it was. These pioneering attempts ended with the War, after which there are no records of any women playing rugby until the 1960s, when the game began to be played in the UK, North America and France. Women’s clubs began to appear in these countries and New Zealand 1970s, and the first international was played in 1982.
But it was not until 1990, over 100 years after Miss Valentine fought to get her school team started, that Ireland’s first women’s club was formed.
Why does this matter?
In practice, it is unlikely that Emily or Mary and her (unknown) team-mates - are unique, but it is an indication of the difficulties that women’s sport suffered from, that for so long women either felt they had to play anonymously, behind closed doors, or that their attempts to play were stifled or ignored. The research that produced Emily’s story stems from the remarkable discovery, only three years ago, that no-one had kept a record of women’s international matches. In 2007 the 25th anniversary of the first women’s international passed by almost unrecognised, even by the nations taking part.
The history of women’s rugby (and much of women’s sport in general) is a hidden history with stories like those of Emily and Mary that have remained untold. Too many people still believe that sport is not for women. Every generation starts again, without heroes, being told that they are strange because they want to play too.
The truth is, of course, very different. Women’s cricket has been played for over 250 years, women’s football goes back at least 100 years and, we now know, even women’s rugby has a long history too. What we want to do is to uncover this proud, hidden, and forgotten story of the game!
Tickets for the final stages of the Women's Rugby World Cup in Belfast are still on sale. Visit ticketmaster.co.uk/wrwc2017 to purchase.
John explores the discovery of the earliest record of a female playing rugby, the Irish-born Emily Valentine who played rugby as a girl in 1887.
What do we know so far?
In 1884, Portora Royal School in Enniskillen, was going through a difficult period. Student numbers were low and Mr. Steele the aged headmaster passed on the effective running of the school to Classics master and Assistant Head teacher William Valentine, who had joined the school in 1883.
Valentine had at least three children of school age including William, John and Emily Frances (born c1878, possibly earlier), all of whom attended the school. In 1887 as Emily's memoirs tell us, the three children began to play rugby with several friends and she joined in one game, scoring a try in the process.
The school had previously had a rugby team in the 1870s, but with a loss of pupils the sport had disappeared and to begin with, its reintroduction was not supported by the school, who denied them access to the main school field. However they still practiced and played intra-school matches every Saturday and matches against Enniskillen RFC are recorded in 1887.
School records, and letters from Emily (later Mrs. Galwey) to the school in 1951, show that she took part in the practices and intra-school games, and some records and some of her statements including how she played as a wing when they were short of a man tell us that despite her age she played in some of the external games as well. Several sources say at times that the entire three-quarter line was made up of Valentines, including Emily.
William Valentine (snr) would appear to have left the school in about 1891 when a new head was appointed. Both William (jnr) and John went to Trinity College, Dublin. Emily married and, after a period in India, settled in England with her husband, Major John Galwey OBE. Her granddaughter eventually moved to Twickenham, where her husband still lives. She has eight great-grandchildren and died in 1967.
Why is this important for women’s rugby?
Emily’s story is remarkable because there are no other records at all of any other female rugby players in the nineteenth century. Although there is some vague suggestions that women’s rugby teams may have been played in France, and possibly New Zealand, in the 1890s it is not until 1917 that we know of another female player; 16 year-old Mary Eley who played for Cardiff Ladies (a team formed from women working at a local brewery). They beat Newport Ladies 6-0 at Cardiff Arms Park on 16th December 1917. Mary died in 2007 at the age of 106 - one of the sports oldest players (though, being a woman, she is unlikely to appear in any record books).
After that, a handful of photographs, and less than two minutes of film, shows that women’s rugby was played in France, Australia and New Zealand in the 1920s and 1930s, but there are no records of who played and how popular it was. These pioneering attempts ended with the War, after which there are no records of any women playing rugby until the 1960s, when the game began to be played in the UK, North America and France. Women’s clubs began to appear in these countries and New Zealand 1970s, and the first international was played in 1982.
But it was not until 1990, over 100 years after Miss Valentine fought to get her school team started, that Ireland’s first women’s club was formed.
Why does this matter?
In practice, it is unlikely that Emily or Mary and her (unknown) team-mates - are unique, but it is an indication of the difficulties that women’s sport suffered from, that for so long women either felt they had to play anonymously, behind closed doors, or that their attempts to play were stifled or ignored. The research that produced Emily’s story stems from the remarkable discovery, only three years ago, that no-one had kept a record of women’s international matches. In 2007 the 25th anniversary of the first women’s international passed by almost unrecognised, even by the nations taking part.
The history of women’s rugby (and much of women’s sport in general) is a hidden history with stories like those of Emily and Mary that have remained untold. Too many people still believe that sport is not for women. Every generation starts again, without heroes, being told that they are strange because they want to play too.
The truth is, of course, very different. Women’s cricket has been played for over 250 years, women’s football goes back at least 100 years and, we now know, even women’s rugby has a long history too. What we want to do is to uncover this proud, hidden, and forgotten story of the game!
Tickets for the final stages of the Women's Rugby World Cup in Belfast are still on sale. Visit ticketmaster.co.uk/wrwc2017 to purchase.