William Gilbert (Rugby)

William Gilbert (Rugby)

William Gilbert (1799-1877) established Gilbert (sports equipment) in 1823. Gilbert had a boot and shoemakers shop in the high street next to Rugby School and started making balls for the school out of hand stitched, four-panel, leather casings and real pigs’ bladders.

It is the shape of the pig’s bladder that is reputed to have given the rugby ball its distinctive oval shape although balls of those days were more plum shaped than oval. The balls varied in size in the beginning depending upon how large the pig’s bladder was and in those early days William's nephew James who was famed for his extraordinary lung power,Oliver Price. [http://observer.guardian.co.uk/osm/story/0,,1699545,00.html Blood, mud and aftershave] in The Observer Sunday February 5, 2006, Section "B is for Ball" ] inflated the balls. It was not a job that was sought after, the pig’s bladder would be blown up while still in its very smelly ‘green state’, solely by lungpower, down the stem of a clay pipe which was inserted into the opening of the bladder.

If the pig was diseased, it was possible to develop lung diseases from blowing up the balls. The wife of Richard Lindon, another man who also made balls for Rugby School, died from an infection caught from an infected pigs bladder. This spurred Lindon in the mid 1860's to pioneer the "rubber bladder", the Brass Hand pump inflator and finally the advent of shape standardisation.

When William died his nephew James succeeded him.

References


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Нужно сделать НИР?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • William Gilbert (rugby) — Para otros usos de este término, véase William Gilbert (desambiguación). William Gilbert (1799 1877) fue un empresario inglés que fundó la empresa de equipamiento deportivo Gilbert en 1823. Gilbert tenía una zapatería al lado de Rugby School y… …   Wikipedia Español

  • William Gilbert (disambiguation) — William Gilbert may refer to:*William Gilbert (1544 1603), English physicist *William Gilbert (Rugby) (1799 1877), British cobbler rugby ball maker *William Gilbert (author) (1804 1890), English novelist surgeon (and father of W. S. Gilbert) *W.… …   Wikipedia

  • William Gilbert (desambiguación) — William Gilbert puede referirse a: William Gilbert, médico inglés; William Gilbert (rugby), empresario británico, fundador de la marca deportiva Gilbert; William Gilbert (autor), escritor británico. Esta página de desambiguación cataloga… …   Wikipedia Español

  • Gilbert (équipementier) — Gilbert (entreprise) Logo de Gilbert Fondateur(s) William Gilbert Personnages clés famille Gilbert …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Rugby (Warwickshire) — Rugby Rugby Market Place Koordinaten …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Rugby Union in Polen — Rugby Union zählt neben Fußball, Handball, Basketball und Eishockey zu den beliebtesten Mannschaftssportarten in Polen. Der Anfang des 19. Jahrhunderts erfundene Rugbysport wird dort allerdings erst seit 1921 praktiziert. Die polnische… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Gilbert (equipamiento deportivo) — Gilbert es una marca de equipamiento deportivo. Fabrican las pelotas oficiales para la Copa del Mundo de Rugby y para la International Federation of Netball Associations. Gilbert fue fundada en 1823 por William Gilbert. En 2002, luego de… …   Wikipedia Español

  • Gilbert (sports equipment) — Gilbert is a sports equipment company. They are the official ball suppliers of the Rugby World Cup and the International Federation of Netball Associations. Gilbert was established by William Gilbert in 1823 [ [http://www.gilbertrugby.com/history …   Wikipedia

  • Gilbert (entreprise) — Pour les articles homonymes, voir Gilbert. Logo de Gilbert (entreprise) …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Gilbert (surname) — Family name name = Gilbert imagesize= caption= pronunciation = meaning = region = British Isles origin = Norman French, Old Germanic related names = Gilbart, Gilbertson footnotes = [ [http://www.behindthename.com/name/gilbert Meaning and origin… …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”