PATRICKCASEY

The land that the Memorial Ground was built on has been the home for six rugby clubs, Clifton 1893-1896, Bristol Welsh 1900, Bristol 1921-2014, Bristol Supporters 1939-1945, Bishopston 1949-1950 and Gloucester 2015. Other clubs have used the ground for one off matches. It is now home to Bristol Rovers Football Club

 

The first rugby match was played on the land known as Buffalo Bills Field on 23rd September 1893 when Clifton played Bristol watched by nearly 4,000 people. The match featured one England International, Edwin Field, and two players who would go on to play for England, Charles Hooper and Wallace Jarman. One player, who played for Clifton and once for Bristol would be the first rugby player from Bristol to be killed in World War 1, and so he played in the first match on the ground and would later be one of the players it was dedicated to. He was Edward Martin Panter-Downes

 

The book is the history of the ground and the rugby players of Bristol it was dedicated to. The criteria used was

• Listed by the CWGC as a casualty of war

• Played senior rugby (no Schoolboys)

• Have a Bristol connection (Born, Lived, Worked, Died)

 

This project started in December 2014 and is the first time it has been attempted to established who the Memorial Ground was dedicated to. The Memorial Scrolls that contained these names have been long lost.

 

It is estimated that there are over 400 names. This number is derived from the 1919 Memorial Servivce held at St Mary Redcliffe when the vicar said that just over 300 players had been killed in World War 1. The number killed during World War 2 is less certain as it has never been revealed but estimated.

 

This has been a long journey through thousands of newspapers, books and articles. On the right are some of the players