Tiverton Preedy was born on the 22nd January 1863 in Hunstanton on the north coast of Norfolk, the son of Charles Wolley Preedy and Mary Jane Scrivenor. However, during his early years, the family moved to hitchin in Hertfordshire. In the 1871 census, Tiverton, aged 8, lived in Hitchin with his parents, Charles and Mary, sister Alice aged 7 and brothers Frederick, Age 10 and Walter aged 5. Tiverton's father was a land agent, and they were a relatively wealthy family, employing a cook/domestic servant and a housemaid.
By 1881 Tiverton , aged 18, was found to be a border at the house of Hannah Small at 4 Langton Terrace North in Lambeth, London, where surprisingly he was working as a bank clerk (1881 census record).
In 1885 Tiverton, entered Lincoln Theological College to prepare for ordination. The college had been founded by Edward Benson who had taught at Rugby School - the cathedral of Victorian muscular Christianity. Edward Benson believed that sport could be a force for moral good in the education of young people and Tiverton Preedy came to share this vision. Once ordained in 1887, Tiverton Preedy moved to his first parish in Barnsley where he was the cleric at the church of St Peter.
Before 1887, Barnsley had been a staunch rugby town in the middle of the Sheffield District, where Association Football ruled supreme. The Reverend Tiverton Preedy, decided he wanted to “build a soccer team that the rugbyites would not crush!”. It was believed that part of the reason for this, was that he objected to the rugby club playing games on good friday. A committee was formed and less than two weeks later, Barnsley St Peters Football Club played their first friendly match against Manor House, a team from Worsborough Bridge. Barnsley won 4-0, and wore navy and maroon striped shirts. After 6 years in Barnsley, Tiverton Preedy left the area during the summer of 1893 to move back to London, although his legacy lives on in Barnsley FC over 100 years on.
The first four years in the capital were at at St Clement's, King's Square, Islington. Following this he moved to the All Saints Mission in 1897, where he was to spend most of his time and life at the newly founded Mission House at 90 White Lion Street Clerkenwell, in the parish of St. Silas, in the borough of Finsbury. The Mission House was provided by Captain Charles Penton (the family gave its name to the surrounding district of Pentonville).
Tiverton was a keen amateur boxer, and he set up a boxing ring and billiard tables in the crypt of the mission hall and founded the Ashdown Athletic Club. Although only small in stature at jsut 5 feet 5 inches tall, his stocky build and steely eyes gave him a formidable appearance and none of the neighbourhood toughs would dare raise a finger to him. Whilst the boxing and billiards catered for the boys, he never forget the girls and women who sold flowers on the streets, organising recreation for them at which he accompanied dances on the piano, biretta pushed back on his head. A multi talented person indeed.
In recognition of his great work over 20+ years in the London area, Tiverton Preedy was appointed a Prebendary of St Pauls Cathedral in 1926. He was an exceptionally popular person in the London area and this is shown in a letter from Fulham Palace that was sent to Father Preedy offering him the Prebend. It was a rare distinction for a unbeneficed priest
In the latter years of his life Tiverton suffered from chronic heart disease and on 28th April 1928 he died in his sleep at the age of 65. As a mark of respect the local market was shut on the day of the funeral and thousands of people turned out to pay their respects to a man who had been an integral and well loved member of the local community for 31 years. The funeral was held at the Mission Hall and was conducted by the Bishop of London. Afterwards, the Reverend Tiverton Preedy was interred at Islington Cemetery in North London.
In 1912, Tiverton Preedy briefly returned to Barnsley following Barnsley FC's victory in the FA cup final replay where he was the guest of honour at the post match banquet held at the Clarence Hotel. At this banquet, Tiverton Preedy was presented with the match ball as a tribute by the club to its founder. This was a marvelous tribute to the man who had founded Barnsley FC and had left the town 16 years earlier in 1896.
For many years, it was kept on a stand in his study at the Mission Hall in London. Tiverton Preedy requested that on his death, it would be returned to Barnsley F.C. and Mr John Davies, his executor carried out his wishes and the ball was returned to Barnsley FC in 1928. The ball is still held at Oakwell and is currently on display in the board room at Oakwell. A copy of the letter backnowledging the return of the ball and a guarantee that the ball will be kept in safe custody can be seen in the reated links.
During the 1997 season, two Barnsley Supporters, John Daykin and John Mills located the grave of the Reverend Tiverton Preedy and suggested the idea to restore the grave. Time and vandelism had taken its toll on the memorial. Members of the Preedy family, the local church and the cemetary authorities were contacted and agreement was reached to allow the grave to be restored. The Barnsley FC Supporters club (now the Barnsley FC Supporters Trust) were approached to raise funds to repair the memorial. Following protracted arrangements and the involvement of several individuals who continued to move the process forwards, the grave and memorial restoration was finally completed in 2009. The inscription on the headstone is the same as was on the original headstone. A detailed summary of the work involved in the restoration can be found in the related articles tab..
Below are a series of pictures showing how the memorial looked following his burial, how it was in 1997 and how it looks following the restoration in 2009.
References:
UK Census records 1871, 1881, 1901 and 1911
The Daily Telegraph Football Chronicle (1995)
Barnsley's Sporting Heroes' by Annie Storey (Wharncliffe Publishing 1997)
The Official History of Barnsley Football Club 1887 - 1979 - Grenville Firth
The Times dated Tuesday December 3rd 1901
All Saints, Margaret Street Newsletter
Pall Mall Gazette 1898
An excellant tribute to the Reverend Tiverton Preedy can be found at
http://www.chrishobbs.com/tivertonpreedy.htm