William Webb Ellis is described in the public record as English cleric and alleged inventor of rugby.
William Webb Ellis (24 November 1806 – 24 February 1872) was an English Anglican clergyman who, by tradition, has been credited as the inventor of rugby football while a pupil at Rugby School. According to legend, Webb Ellis picked up the ball and ran with it during a school football match in 1823, thus creating the "rugby" style of play. Although the story has become firmly entrenched in the sport's folklore, it is not supported by first-hand evidence, and is discounted by most rugby historians as an origin myth. The Webb Ellis Cup is presented to the winners of the Rugby World Cup. == Biography == William Webb Ellis was born in Salford, Lancashire, and was the youngest of three sons of James Ellis, a cornet in the 7th Dragoon Guards. The eldest son, James, died aged three, and the second son, named Thomas, was of Dunchurch, Warwickshire, and he became a surgeon.
William Webb Ellis is recorded among the figures by whom historic sport is remembered, and the surviving account of that career is the basis on which the reputation rests.
The codified rules of most modern sports were written between 1850 and 1900, so the first great champions were competing while the games themselves were still being defined.
