Grave Sites

As part of a wider project that will perhaps be explained in due course by interested parties, it is time to up the game in terms of what earlyWIGANrugby's vision or quest is when it comes to grave sites of former players.

~ Aim ~

The main Aim for this project is to simply catalogue, research, locate and 'look after' the resting places of our former players here at the Wigan Rugby League Club. Many of us have lost loved ones and have may regularly visit a local cemetery to remember those we have lost. I think that it is important from what I am trying to achieve at eWr to enhance the recognition of the men and women who have had a part to play with the club since our formation.

By finding out where past players, and other interested parties are buried, we can do what we can to remember them and look after their place of rest in a time when many of these graves are long forgot by families and the public. How many times have people walked their dogs in Lancaster Cemetery and walked past James Leytham? Who has ever noticed the inscription at Lower Ince Cemetery (Wigan) highlighting a beloved former President of the Wigan Club? Who has ever spotted Dick Ramsdale's inscription of "England Rugby Forward"? Would it not entice you on the off chance to think what Richard Ramsdale has done? He played in the famous Rorke's Drift Test Match of 1914 and alongside players such as Lance Todd, James Leytham and Nat Silcock.

If there is a way to recognise these locations, I am here to do it. There may be a very good opportunity with the Wigan Warriors Club themselves in the pipeline on a few projects too, but that's a different matter for now.

~ Project ~

I am in need of people who have an interest and a bit of spare time to help me with this. No experience necessary! I don't have any! What I aim to do is have a list of all past players who are no longer with us and map their locations in whichever cemetery they happen to be in. There are plenty of resources out there to help, especially from the tools over at Wigan World and their Cemetery Index pages. You would have open access to a simple spreadsheet where you can input the relevant data too. The more the merrier. For a bit more of an advanced pace, we will be using Genealogy websites such as FindAGrave or Ancestry.co.uk which of course means having an online access login etc (which I aim to sort out at no cost to helpers).

Information that would be needed:

Cemetery (which one)
Name/ Surname
Plot/ Location if known
Religion
Photograph?
Rating (how well is it kept?)
Notes
Death
Age
etc...

As technology is now engrained with us in every day life, I will be using a GPS app named "What3Words" - You can see their website HERE and is a free download on Android, Apple etc and free to use. The app simply divides the whole world into 3m x 3m squares and gives a unique 3-word 'location' for whatever you need. So in our case, for Richard Ramsdale, if you type in 'Caves.Work.Loose', the map will go straight to the location. Or when you find a grave, the app shows what square you are standing in (if you allow it permission) and the words pop up. It's all about ease of access and further down the line clear maps for walks, research and so on...

Charles Cronshaw

Played and Presided: 1879-1891

William France

Played: 1880-1889

Lance Todd

Played: 1908-1913

~ How To Get Involved ~

Simply send an email with your thoughts and opinions to THIS EMAIL (click) and use the title 'Grave Project' and I'll get back to you. Thanks. Marc

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