William Merriman
Colonel William Merriman
Family and education
Merriman was born at 13 Young Street, Kensington, London on 2 April 1838[1]a, the eighth of nine children of Dr John Merriman (1800–1881) and his wife Caroline née Jones (1800–1870), and was baptised at St Mary Abbots Church, Kensington on 25 May 1838.[2] His father, grandfather John (1774–1839) and uncle James Nathaniel (1806–1854) were all physicians to HM Queen Victoria.[3]
Merriman was educated at Kensington School,[1] before attending Addiscombe Military Seminary (where officers were trained for service with the army of the East India Company) in 1856.[4]
Military career
He joined the East India Company's Royal Engineers with the rank of ensign on 12 December 1856[1] "during the period of his being placed under the command of Colonel Sandham, of the Royal Engineers, at Chatham, for Field Instructions in the art of Sapping and Mining",[5] and was promoted to Lieutenant on 13 August 1858.[6][7] He served as an adjutant at Poona in India from 1858 to 1866, before returning to Chatham as a fieldwork instructor.[1] Merriman was promoted to captain on 31 December 1868[8] and to major on 13 March 1874.[9][10] Between 1875 and 1881, he was District Officer at Colchester.[1]
He was promoted to lieutenant colonel on 1 July 1881,[11] and then saw active service in South Africa, before spending the remainder of his military career in India, where he was involved with the coastal defences in West India from 1882.[1] On 1 July 1885, he was promoted to colonel,[12] becoming chief engineer on the staff of Sir George Greaves, the Commander in Chief at Bombay, in 1892, before retiring the following year.[1]
On 1 January 1890, Merriman was created a Companion of the Order of the Indian Empire (CIE) in the New Year Honours list,[13][14] for "services involving the coast defences in India and Aden".[1]
Sporting career
Merriman was a keen all-round sportsman and participated in athletics, rowing, golf, hunting and shooting as well as cricket and football.[1] He represented the Royal Engineers at cricket, playing regularly between 1869 and 1879.[15]
In India, Merriman was vice-commodore of the
Football career
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/bb/RoyalEngineers1872.jpg/300px-RoyalEngineers1872.jpg)
Merriman represented the Addiscombe Military Seminary at football in 1856, before his service in India. During his period of service in England between 1867 and 1881, he was a regular member of the Royal Engineers football team, generally playing in goal. Contemporaries described him as "the most popular of football chiefs", "as a goalkeeper (he) is never found wanting", "one of the very best goalkeepers of the day, plucky, cool and difficult to pass" and "always doing the right thing at the right time".[1] The Royal Engineers Journal described Merriman as "an uncommonly good goal-keeper, a fact not infrequently mentioned in the records of matches".[16]
In November 1871, the Royal Engineers were among fifteen teams who entered the inaugural FA Cup competition, and were allocated a home match in the first round against Reigate Priory. Reigate Priory, however, withdrew from the competition, sending the Engineers through to the next round on a walkover. In the second round, the Engineers beat Hitchin 5–0 on 10 January 1872.[17][18] At the quarter-final stage, the Engineers beat Hampstead Heathens 3–0, setting up a semi-final against Crystal Palace which was won 3–0 after a replay.[17][18]
Merriman's performance in goal was described by The Field as "perfect".[22] The Sportsman reported that "more than one (attack) would doubtless have been successful but for the extremely efficient goal-keeping of Capt Merriman".[16] The Field further commented that "so resolute was the front offered by Capt Merriman, the goal keeper of the Sappers, and so judicious his defence, that further reverses were averted for his side" and "to him alone was due the preservation of the military fortress from further surrenders".[16]
In
The Engineers reached the FA Cup Final for the third time in four years in
In 1875–76, the Engineers defeated High Wycombe 15–0 in the first round of the cup, before going out 3–1 to Swifts,[18] and in the following year they were eliminated in a fourth round defeat by Cambridge University.[18]
Merriman served on the
Tributes
In the September 1896 edition of The Sapper, a memoir was published praising Merriman's contribution to sport at the Royal Engineers:[1]
Who does not remember the Major Merriman of twenty years ago who was never more delighted than when organizing sports – football, cricket and other matches – for the sapper's pleasure? I can see him now, in winter time, coming out on the Barrack Square with a football under his arm and giving a mighty kick, shouting out for the men to come and join him, and in less time than I can write it, the barracks would be swarming and there would be rare fun.
Personal life
Merriman married Emily Jane Anna Elizabeth Somerset (1851–1923) at
- Ethel Fitzroy Merriman (1873–1960)
- Arthur Drummond Nairne Merriman (1876–1966)
- Blanche Merriman (1878–1968)
- Dorothy Gladys Merriman (1880–1968)
William Merriman died at the family home at Creffield House, Gray Road, Colchester, Essex on 11 March 1917, aged 78.[34]
Note
- ^a The family home at 13 Young Street, Kensington was later the home of the novelist, William Makepeace Thackeray and the poet, G. B. O'Neill.[35][36]
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Warsop 2004, p. 106.
- ^ "William Merriman in the London, England, Births and Baptisms, 1813–1906". ancestry.co.uk. Retrieved 19 January 2015.
- ^ Goodwin, Gordon (1894). Lee, Sidney (ed.). Dictionary of National Biography. Vol. 37. London: Smith, Elder & Co. . In
- ^ Vibart, Col Henry Meredith (1894). "Addiscombe: Its Heroes and Men of Note". p. 657. Retrieved 19 January 2015.
- ^ "No. 21987". The London Gazette. 10 April 1857. p. 1300.
- ^ "No. 22173". The London Gazette. 13 August 1858. p. 3789.
- ^ "No. 22621". The London Gazette. 29 April 1862. p. 2241.
- ^ "No. 23465". The London Gazette. 5 February 1869. p. 598.
- ^ "No. 24082". The London Gazette. 31 March 1874. p. 1923.
- ^ "No. 24094". The London Gazette. 12 May 1874. p. 2507.
- ^ "No. 25089". The London Gazette. 28 March 1882. p. 1414.
- ^ "No. 25489". The London Gazette. 10 July 1885. p. 3183.
- ^ "No. 26008". The London Gazette. 1 January 1890. p. 1.
- ^ Harrison 1905, p. 146.
- ^ "Miscellaneous Matches Played by William Merriman". Cricket Archive. Retrieved 20 January 2015.
- ^ a b c Warsop 2004, p. 11.
- ^ a b "England FA Challenge Cup 1871–72". Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. 27 January 2001. Retrieved 20 January 2015.
- ^ a b c d e f g Collett 2003, pp. 527–528.
- ^ Warsop 2004, p. 40.
- ^ Gibbons 2001, pp. 35–36.
- ^ "1872 FA Cup Final: Wanderers vs Royal Engineers". www.fa-cupfinals.co.uk. Retrieved 20 January 2015.
- ^ Warsop 2004, p. 11, 106.
- ^ "FA Cup Final: 1874: Oxford University 2 Royal Engineers 0". www.fa-cupfinals.co.uk. Retrieved 20 January 2015.
- ^ a b c Warsop 2004, p. 31.
- ^ "FA Cup Final: 1875: Royal Engineers 2 Old Etonians 0 (First leg: 1–1)". www.fa-cupfinals.co.uk. Retrieved 20 January 2015.
- ^ Warsop 2004, p. 32.
- ^ Warsop 2004, p. 43.
- ^ Warsop 2004, p. 44.
- ^ Gibbons 2001, pp. 44–45.
- ^ "William Merriman in the London, England, Marriages and Banns, 1754–1921". ancestry.co.uk. Retrieved 21 January 2015.
- ^ "Emily Jane Anna Elizabeth Somerset". thepeerage.com. 16 February 2008. Retrieved 21 January 2015.
- ^ "Arthur Somerset". Cricket Archive. Retrieved 21 January 2015.
- ^ "Emily J. A. E. Merriman in the 1881 England Census". ancestry.co.uk. Retrieved 21 January 2015.
- ^ "England & Wales, National Probate Calendar (Index of Wills and Administrations), 1858–1966 for William Merriman". ancestry.co.uk. Retrieved 21 January 2015.
- ^ "Young Street, London". www.library.upenn.edu. Raymond Biswanger Slide Collection. Retrieved 21 January 2015.
- ^ "Kensington Square and environs: Young Street, Thackeray Street and South End". British History Online. Retrieved 21 January 2015.
Bibliography
- Collett, Mike (2003). The Complete Record of the FA Cup. Sports Books. ISBN 1-899807-19-5.
- Gibbons, Philip (2001). Association Football in Victorian England – A History of the Game from 1863 to 1900. Upfront Publishing. ISBN 1-84426-035-6.
- Harrison (1905). The India List and India Office List.
- Warsop, Keith (2004). The Early F.A. Cup Finals and the Southern Amateurs. Soccer Data. ISBN 1-899468-78-1.