Sheffield Wednesday FC - The Unusual Death of Walter Holbem (1884 - 1930)

I am not certain regarding Walter's life before he started playing for Sheffield Wednesday. There is an entry in the GRO registers for the December quarter of 1884 (Ecclesall Bierlow) noting the birth of a WALTER HOLBEM, and another in the 1901 UK Census for a 16 year old table knife grinder living in the Heeley area of Sheffield.  The 1891 Census though places WALTER with his family living in the Heeley district of Sheffield

Dwelling  203 Gleadless Road, Heeley Sheffield (GRO reference RG12/3812Folio 65 Page1)

I can however be more certain of his career at Sheffield Wednesday. He started his career as a halfback with a local team Heeley Friends and joined Wednesday in 1905. The transfer fee was £10.00. His first season was played solely in the reserves and the following two he made just a few appearances mainly due to injuries to the regular half back Tommy Crawshaw. Walter made his debut in the 1-0 away defeat at Preston North End on 26th January 1907 and went on to make a further five appearances that season. The following season he played in a further eight games. However the 1908 - 1909 season seems to be the season when Walter finally established himself in the Wednesday first team. The reason for this was his switch to left back position where he was in direct competition with Harry Burton. He appeared 26 times for the Owls that season and recorded the same number of appearances the following season. Some of the games he played at right back. He was a regular in the 1909- 1910 season, the "highlight" of which was his sending off in the 1910 March local derby match with Sheffield United.

 His last season at Hillsborough was in 1910 - 1911 when he made 20 appearances. His last game was on 11th February 1911 in the 3 - 0 away defeat at Liverpool. "The Wednesday Boys" by Jason Dickinson and John Brodie, reveal that Walter's career ended in dispute with the club. Walter demanded that his benefit game be played before Christmas 1910 instead of after as was the custom at the time. (a game after Xmas always meant smaller crowds).

During his time there, he recorded a total of 89 appearances but did not score a single goal. Of the 89 games, Wednesday won 31 of them, drew 19 and lost 39.

After leaving Sheffield Wednesday, he was transferred to Everton for £500. Walter made 11 appearances for Everton in the 1911 - 1912 season and a further 7 the following season, again without scoring. His appearances were restricted due to a series of knee injuries. After Everton he went to the Scottish club St Mirren. but returned to England shortly after as his wife could not settle in Scotland  . The last reference I came across was a brief mention in the Xmas Day edition of The Scotsman newspaper dated Thursday, 25th December 1913 page 9

He finished his playing career with Preston North End and Southport Central in 1915. After he left the game Walter became a racecourse bookmaker and it was as a result of this that Walter met his death

In the Times dated June 20th 1930, there is a report of an Inquest that was held the previous evening (19th June 1930)

The Daily Herald dated 19th June 1930 however gives a fuller account of the events of the day. It appears that it was the second day of the Royal meeting and the thunderstorm broke just as The Macnab (owner Mr J.A.Dewar) crossed the line in the Royal Hunt Cup, one of the meetings main races. The front page of the Herald gave full prominence to the scenes that followed. It was the first time in over two hundred years that the day's programme was abandoned

Looking at the headline now, it is amusing to note that the paper was more concerned with "terror stricken women" and their ruined frocks than with Walter's death. This is confirmed in an adjacent column when the Herald's "Woman Correspondent" gives a stunning description of events

"In some of the tents women fainted. Four collapsed together in one small tent. Word sped that a man had been hilled by lightening in Tattersall's. The real terror showed then. Men went pale. Women gazed at the storm with fascinated horror, deadly white. Gradually the density of the rain became less. The air became lighter, the thunder less like the crash of a battery of guns. The frigid stare of terror, incongruous in painted eyes, melted. Women pinned up their frocks in the manner of charwomen and trooped out. It was almost impossible to find their motor cars. Once smart men and women jostled, ran, searched. Those who set off down the tunnel to the station found two feet of water. They went across the field  ankle deep in mud. Their clothes? They were past caring for them"

Quite what the Duke of Norfolk thought of women pinning up " their frocks in the manner of charwomen" is not recorded.!!

The aftermath of the storm

NOTE:

• Lightning fatalities have been recorded on death certificates in England and Wales since 1852. Analyses indicate that the annual average number of fatalities each half century in England and Wales has fallen from 19 for the period 1852 to 1899, through 12 for the period from 1900 to 1949, to five for the period 1950 to 1999.

• The other five HOLBEM'S living in the Heeley area of Sheffield in the 1901 Census are WILLIAM (50) BERTHA (45) WILLIE (26) TOM (19) and ANNIE (14). William, Willie and Tom are Table Knife grinders whilst Annie is working in a pen and pocket knife warehouse. The assumption is that they are Walter's family

• In July 1955 at a Thursday race meeting at Ascot, there was a violent thunderstorm. The rain started at around the time of the 3.45 race, the Gold Vase, and was torrential. The ferocity of the rain was soon accompanied by the deafening roar of thunder. Suddenly there were three flashes of lightning which went to ground on a metal fence near to where the bulk of the crowd were sheltering. Race-goers dropped to the ground with many experiencing temporary blackouts. Witnesses later used phrases like "as if mown down", "toppled like dominoes" and "like a pack of cards" to describe the chaotic scenes in the enclosure. 42 people were injured with 18 being detained in hospital at Windsor. But the even greater tragedy was that two people died of the injuries they sustained in the storm. One was the wife of an electrical engineer from Reading who was pregnant with their first child AND an evangelist from the London Open Air Mission who was believe it or not was from SHEFFIELD. I don't know the full details of the evangelist and so if anyone can help please contact me.   

The tragedy of the events was compounded by the fact that the meeting was moved to July from its customary mid-June dates due to a rail strike. The two days prior the storm were "insufferable" due to the heat and when the storm broke the rain was absolutely torrential - a deluge. It is interesting to note that the lightening struck the wire fence surrounding the cheap course enclosure and not the Royal Enclosure. Who said "God protects the toffs!" Funnily enough racing continued until is was found that a female racegoer (Mrs, Barbara Batt) had died and then the meeting was abandoned

• Divorcees were banned from the Royal Enclosure until 1955, when the divorce laws were changed. This was the first year that divorcees were permitted into the Royal Enclosure

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Notes:

 The Times dated June 20th 1930

The Scotsman  Thursday, 25th December 1913

Daily Herald dated 19th June 1930

The Wednesday Boys by Jason Dickinson and John Brodie

Daily Herald dated 15th July 1955

The Sheffield Wednesday Archive

Wednesday 1867 - 1987 - The Complete Record by Keith Farnsworth

Back Page Racing - George Plumtree

This page was last updated on 07/01/08 13:20