Harry Wright

[Guest Old Canny Street Kid]

Harry Wright (January 10 1835-October 3 1895) was hailed as the Father of Professional Baseball, and has a lasting place in the US Baseball Hall of Fame. He was the son of Samuel Wright, and his parents took him to America in about 1837, when Samuel, a prominent Sheffield cricketer, accepted a post with a cricket club in New York. The lad was little more than two years old, but he excelled at cricket and baseball from an early age, becoming famous (indeed a legend) in baseball. What Harry Wright achieved in baseball is the subject of a book I have just discovered in the Library. I have been aware of him for a long time, but it is only recently that a book about him has appeared. It is written by Christopher Devine, and is published byMacFarland & Co, Inc, of Jefferson, Carolina.

Wright, who brought at least one American baseball team to England (they played at Bramall Lane in the 1870s and 1880s), certainly deserves a place among the giants of Sheffield sporting history --and he probably merits a plaque outside the Town Hall (if only City Councillors knew their history!).

I think he might also merit some research into his family at this end. It would, for instance, be interesting to know what part of town he came from and more about his father's background.

There may well be some people still in Sheffield who have links with Harry Wright's family but don't know it!

[Guest Old Canny Street Kid]

Harry Wright (January 10 1835-October 3 1895) was hailed as the Father of Professional Baseball, and has a lasting place in the US Baseball Hall of Fame. He was the son of Samuel Wright, and his parents took him to America in about 1837, when Samuel, a prominent Sheffield cricketer, accepted a post with a cricket club in New York. The lad was little more than two years old, but he excelled at cricket and baseball from an early age, becoming famous (indeed a legend) in baseball. What Harry Wright achieved in baseball is the subject of a book I have just discovered in the Library. I have been aware of him for a long time, but it is only recently that a book about him has appeared. It is written by Christopher Devine, and is published byMacFarland & Co, Inc, of Jefferson, Carolina.

Wright, who brought at least one American baseball team to England (they played at Bramall Lane in the 1870s and 1880s), certainly deserves a place among the giants of Sheffield sporting history --and he probably merits a plaque outside the Town Hall (if only City Councillors knew their history!).

I think he might also merit some research into his family at this end. It would, for instance, be interesting to know what part of town he came from and more about his father's background.

There may well be some people still in Sheffield who have links with Harry Wright's family but don't know it!

See also http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harry_Wright for further biographical info.