AS the rugby club looks towards its 150th Birthday, it is after all only eight years away, it is interesting to look back at the contributions made by various families in the town and in particular the Boddy family.

In fact, looking through the history of the Club, there has hardly been a season when a Boddy family member has not been involved in one way or another.

It all began with the marriage of Samuel Boddy and Mary Park in 1819, the wedding was of little significance to anyone other than their immediate families and friends.

Samuel, a woolcarder by trade, was born in 1795. No doubt Samuel and Mary had never heard of rugby football for indeed the game had not been "invented".

The wedding took place four years prior to the alleged "running with the ball story" inspired by William Webb-Ellis.

The two incidents are of course not directly related although it has to be said that the history of rugby in Crediton would in part, be significantly influenced by the marriage.

Samuel and Mary had 10 children and the oldest son William who, although born too early to have played rugby, did leave a legacy that would have a huge influence on rugby in the town. His marriage to Eliza Upright produced five children, William, Emma, Edwin, Eliza and Elizabeth.

Edwin, born in 1855 was the first of the Boddy family to play rugby for Crediton, making his debut on February 17, 1883, in the 3-0 victory over Isca, a relatively late introduction to the game at the age of 28.

He continued to play regularly for the First XV until 1888 when he retired from playing, some thought rather prematurely because he was considered a quick threequarter and indeed in his final season he was the top try scorer.

However, he became a keen member of the Committee and was also the landlord of The Kings Arms Pub in Park Street. He died in 1936 aged 80.

Edwin and his wife, Jessie Congdon, had four children, the oldest being Wilfred Congdon Boddy, who began his rugby playing career with the Club.

Edwin Boddy in 1909, continuing until 1922 and also served on the committee after his playing days had ended.

Edwin’s older brother, William Henry, and his wife Ann Raymond, produced four rugby playing sons, Edward, Edgar, Stanley and Percy.

Edward played between 1895-1899, Edgar from 1907-1909 and then continued on the Committee and was Club Chairman from 1935-1947.

Stanley played from 1909 until 1924 whilst Percy started playing in 1907 but was sadly killed in action in France in 1917, the end of a promising career at the age of 27. Like many other family members, Stanley joined the Committee when he hung up his boots.

Edgar married Eva Lucy Elston and they had two daughters Mona and Eileen and thus it seemed that one strand of the Boddy line would come to an end.

It did but in name only as Eileen married Fred (Gifty) Steer, himself a player from 1930 until 1950 and their son Roger took up the baton through to the late 1960’s.

Their daughter Hilary married Paul Harris and again the Boddy line continued with another name change when Jay Harris played in the Juniors from 1985 onwards and then into senior rugby through until 2010, Captaining the Club from 2002-05 and again in 2009.

He is now serving on the Committee as well as coaching in the Juniors. Jay and his wife Kate Ilsley have two sons, Ben (age 15) and Oliver (age 11) both of whom are continuing the line of rugby players and currently in the Crediton Junior section and bringing up-to-date one strand of the Boddy line.

Stanley Boddy and his wife Mary had a son, Leonard David born in 1920 and who was playing just prior to the outbreak of World War Two, finishing his playing days in the early 1960’s.

Including being a member of the 1946-47 Devon Junior Cup winning team. Leonard continued to serve on the Club Committee for many years and was elected onto the Committee of the Devon Rugby Football Union in 1973.

He became the County President from 1987-89. However, Leonard and wife Mary also had a rugby playing son, John who wore the Club colours from 1963-1976.

Edward married Emma Kimmins, the sister of another Crediton player, Fred Kimmins and they had a son Reginald, born in 1912 but sadly, Emma passed away the same year.

It left Edward with six children to look after. Emma’s sister Louisa had married Edward’s brother Walter and they were a childless couple and so adopted Reginald.

Reg as he became known, was a powerful man, a good forward who played between 1930 and 1938. He served in the RAF during the war and was stationed in Malta where he was awarded the B.E.M for his bravery. He was Club Captain in 1934-35.

Returning to the children of Samuel and Mary, amongst the other sons was George who married Ellen Beer and they had four sons and four daughters.

Of the sons, three played rugby for Crediton, William (yes another one) between 1888-1897, Charles 1890-1909 and George 1886-1893.

George was a particularly tragic case, he was another very powerful forward and prolific try scorer.

He played for Devon on six occasions, scoring two tries and undoubtedly would have had many more County Caps had he survived.

He captained the Club in 1892-93 but within a year he sadly died.

It transpired that he was taken ill with what seemed to be a cold after playing for the Club at Paignton and within two weeks he was dead.

He was in his first season as Captain and such was his popularity throughout the County, that many Clubs held special matches to support the relief fund for his family.

The oldest, William was a regular First XV player for 10 years whilst the youngest, Charles also featured in the First XV on many occasions.

A memorable date for the three brothers was April 11, 1891, the final game of the season against Torquay and, for the first time they all played in the First XV together.

The first time that three brothers have featured in the First XV at the same time and a feat that has not been repeated since, although William and George had often played for the First XV together.

Charles and his wife Ellen had three sons, George, Archie and Leslie.

There is no record of George and Leslie having played for the Club but certainly Archie had a long playing career from 1921 to 1934, captaining the Club in 1928-29. Like most of the Boddy family, he too continued to serve on the Committee for many years.

There have been references to a few other Boddy’s and which have been difficult to verify, C. Boddy playing in 1922, unlikely to be the previously mentioned Charles as he would have been 50 years old at the time.

Also an H. Boddy but again, whilst there are some H. Boddy’s in the family, none seem to fit the timeline.

However, there are at least 15 with the name Boddy who have had long playing associations with Crediton RFC throughout its history.

Between 1882 and 1939, there were only four seasons when a Boddy did not appear on a team sheet (1901-04), although the family was represented on the Committee during that time.

There are of course many families whose names have cropped up regularly during the 142 years that the Club has been in existence.

The names Burridge, Elston, Grant, Labbett, Lane, Lee, Sprague, Setter and Steer to name a few and, of course, I would be delighted to hear from any readers who have information on ancestors that would help update the history of Crediton RFC.

Paul Harris