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Earlier this year I published a Who's Who of Scotland football internationalists, so I can probably tell you quite a lot about the working lives of footballers in the Victorian era!  Many Scots were tempted south with the promise of a well-paid job at their trade, together with added money to play football, and a lump sum up front to sign on the dotted line.  Gradually the practice evolved into full-time football as the top clubs realised they needed to have the full attention of their players.

This is the entry for your ancestor:

Hugh Wilson
Born 18 March 1869 Bilboa, Mauchline, Ayrshire
Died 5 April 1940 Kilmarnock Infirmary, Ayrshire
Scotland v Wales 1890, 1902; England 1897; Ireland 1904.
Mauchline; Newmilns; Sunderland 1890-99 (Football League 1892, 1893, 1895); Bedminster 1899-1900; Bristol City 1900-01; Third Lanark 1901-07 (Scottish League 1904; Scottish Cup 1905); Kilmarnock Apr 1907-08.
Wilson won four caps over a 14-year period, gaining his first honour in 1890 at left half while with Newmilns. Later that year he turned professional with Sunderland where he really showed his class and took part in their glory years with three league championships in 1892, 1893 and 1895. Known as ‘Lalty’ he was famous for his long one-handed throw-ins, which apparently were responsible for a revision of the laws in 1895 to insist that throws must be two-handed. He was capped for a second time in Scotland’s impressive 2-1 win over England in 1897. He left Sunderland in 1899, aged 30, for the relative obscurity of the Southern League at Bedminster, which merged with Bristol City a year later. It might have indicated his career was winding down yet he was far from finished, and when he returned to Scotland in 1901 with Third Lanark he found a new lease of life. In six years at Cathkin, he was outstanding and won a Scottish League title, the Scottish Cup, two more Scotland caps and made an appearance for the Scottish League. His career finally ended in 1908 after a season at Kilmarnock, shortly before he turned 40. His son John was a noted left back with Hearts, Dunfermline and Hamilton.

Thank you for giving the information about dates and places.


What happened to James? -

WALKIN James   1883  South Leith

I don't know. The name is too common to research easily, but once the Scotlandspeople centres reopen I should be able to find out.

Thanks for all the comments and suggestions.

In answer to a few queries:

I know that John Walking/Walker b1851 was black through a newspaper report of him in 1884 being convicted of assaulting his wife 'A coloured man named John Walker ...'

However, their son, also John, was well known as a coloured footballer. I have his birth (Walkin) and death (Walker) certificates and loads of info about his life but nothing that sheds any further information on his parents. As a quick summary of his life (albeit with wrong dob) there is a wikipedia page about him: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Walker_(footballer,_born_1878)

The marriage witnesses John and Isabella McMahon (both of Redhall, Bonnington). They were married in 1871 as McMahon-Perry but I don't know what their connection was.

Mary Walkin b1878 died same year, registered as Mary Ann Walker.

As for the possible spellings of Walking and Mannerill, I have indeed tried all sorts of alternatives and asterisks without coming up with any leads. I am currently unable to do much with Scotlandspeople as their search rooms are currently closed, and Walker is too common a name for online browsing.

The original Cumbernauld United was in existence from 1905 to 1924. They played initially in the Stirlingshire Junior League, then the Scottish Junior League from 1910.  Like many smaller clubs they closed down during WW1 and found it hard to get going after the conflict, restarting in 1921 but only managing to keep going for three more years.

I'm not aware of any books that would have a photo of the team.

Football kept going in the town with Cumbernauld Thistle, founded 1925, who played in the Scottish Junior League from 1930-1947 when they too folded.

There is a link to the present Cumbernauld United club, founded in 1964, as all three clubs played at Guy's Meadow.

The player in the middle with arms crossed looks like George Dickie, who played for Forres Mechanics in the 1920s and 1930s. He made his debut in 1922 age 16 (and there is a photo of him in the club's centenary history).

If it is him, and as this is not the senior team, I guess it must be Forres Academy from around 1921.

Incidentally, there is a Wikipedia page about him but, like so many Wikipedia pages it is wildly inaccurate as it confuses him with his brother James.