I was in the City Centre yesterday and decided to do some research at the Local Studies Library.
I was trying to locate the grave location of England International Football Player John ‘Jack’ Robinson.
John William “Jack” Robinson (1870-1931), was born in Derby and played for Derby County from 1891 to 1897.
He also played baseball for Derby Baseball Club in the National League of Baseball of Great Britain during 1890 and helped them win two British championships.
Robinson was noted, during his playing career, for his reliability and was, according to author Francis Hodgson, among the first goalkeepers to dive full length to make saves.
Touring eastern Europe with Southampton, Robinson played a notable role in introducing modern goalkeeping techniques to Austria and Hungary. In Prague, Southampton beat local Slavia 3–0 and Robinson’s novel goalkeeping style of diving saves gave rise to the Czech term, “robinsonáda”.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Robinson_(footballer,_born_1870)
A pioneering goalkeeper in the early days of Football in England.
…
Whilst at the Studies Library, with assistance from staff. I was able to pinpoint just where he was buried.
Peter Seddon (Steve Bloomer’s Biographer) and heritage experts at Southampton Football Club had already found press cuttings that proved to me that he died in Derby in 1931 and was buried at Nottingham Road Cemetery, Derby.
Steve Bloomer was also present at his funeral service.
It has been a hard slog to try and track him down. There was not much information online, other than to say he died in Derby.
From yesterday’s discoveries it has been found that he is buried at Nottingham Road Cemetery with two of his young children who both sadly died in very early infancy. His wife is also named on the grave but not buried with them.
For whatever reason the record books have not been transferred properly online to show where he is now buried.
I will rectify that in time.
He is also buried not too far from Steve Bloomer and Dan Allsopp. Two of his Derby County Baseball Club Teammates.
Kalwinder Singh Dhindsa - @khalsir 🦋 