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Bishopsgate Institute

Eton Manor Boys' Club

IDENTITY STATEMENT

Reference code(s): GB 0372 ETON MANOR

Held at: Bishopsgate Institute

Title: Eton Manor Boys' Club

Date(s): 1911-1980

Level of description: Collection

Extent: 12 Boxes

Name of creator(s): Eton Manor Boys' Club

CONTEXT

Administrative/Biographical history:

Eton Manor Boys' Club was founded in 1909 and its magnificent clubhouse in Riseholme Street, Hackney Wick was opened in 1913, on the site of the Manor Dairy Farm. The Club was funded and run by four Old Etonians (Arthur Villiers, Gerald Wellesley, Alfred Wagg and Sir Edward Cadogan) until it closed in 1967.
The clubhouse, together with its nearby sports ground (The Wilderness), provided first-class sports and social facilities for boys aged 14-18, and who subsequently became members of the Old Boys' Club. Eton Manor Boys' Club boasts many former members who became international sportsmen, including European Welterweight Boxing Champion Nicky Gargano and Olympic gold medallist Harry Mallin. The boys received coaching from many leading sportsmen over the years, including Sir Alf Ramsey and England cricket captain Douglas Jardine.
The running track used at Wembley for the 1948 Olympics was purchased by Arthur Villiers and re-laid at the Eton Manor sports ground for the boys to use. A neat historical coincidence is that the former Eton Manor Boys' Club site will form part of the 2012 Olympic site.
Membership of the Boys' Club was a key formative experience for its members, who benefited not only from the sports training, but also from meeting prominent visitors brought to the Club by the four philanthropists who founded it - including military leaders, statesmen, city bankers and aristocrats.

CONTENT

Scope and content/abstract:

Papers of the Eton Manor Boys' Club (1911-1980), including: minute books of the Eton Manor Boys' Club, 1911-1951; photographs and photograph albums of Eton Manor Boys' Club grounds (including Riseholme Street and the 'Wilderness'), sporting teams and activities, special events, Eton Manor Old Boys' events and several framed items, 1911-1980; copies of Chin-wag, the magazine of the Eton Manor Boys' Club (incomplete), 1913-1966; books, many signed with dedications, from the Eton Manor Boys' Club library, n.d.

ACCESS AND USE

Language/scripts of material: English

System of arrangement:

No further arrangement at present

Conditions governing access:

OPEN

Conditions governing reproduction:

Documents cannot be photocopied at present. Digital photography (without flash) is permitted for research purposes on completion of the Library's Copyright Declaration form and with respect to current UK copyright law.

Physical characteristics:

Finding aids:

No further finding aids at present.

ARCHIVAL INFORMATION

Appraisal, destruction and scheduling information:

Accruals:

Archival history:

Immediate source of acquisition:

Deposited at Bishopsgate Institute by the Villiers Park Educational Trust in July 2006.

ALLIED MATERIALS

Existence and location of originals:

Existence and location of copies:

Related material:

Publication note:

DESCRIPTION NOTES

Note:

Archivist's note: Entry compiled by Stefan Dickers.