Bradford, Thomas
Thomas Bradford, together with his wife Elizabeth, was the tenant of what was to eventually become St James' Park from the 1850s to 1904.
Thomas and Elizabeth Bradford, who ran a butcher's shop on Sidwell Street, took over the tenancy of land that was then known as the Parish Field at some stage in the 1850s. Ultimately owned by the Lady Anne Clifford Trust, the land was already hosting travelling shows and in time the site also saw the staging of circuses and manageries. With political rallies and football soon featuring, together with cricket matches played by the St James' club, the now 'Mr Bradford's Field' became a prominent local venue but not without controversy. Not only were there complaints about the general noise and disruption but there was also disquiet about the Bradfords keeping pigs and renting out some of the land for stables.
With a 'syndicate of citizens' eventually offering to better Mr Bradford's annual rent, he lost possession of the land even though the new leaseholders continued to hire out the field for equally noisy and disruptive events which - within a matter of weeks in September 1904 - included the first game played by the newly-named Exeter City. Indeed, just four years later, the lease for St James' Park was to pass to the Exeter City AFC company established to bring professional football to the city, an act which left Mr Bradford increasingly angry about the way he had been treated.
Thomas and Elizabeth Bradford, who ran a butcher's shop on Sidwell Street, took over the tenancy of land that was then known as the Parish Field at some stage in the 1850s. Ultimately owned by the Lady Anne Clifford Trust, the land was already hosting travelling shows and in time the site also saw the staging of circuses and manageries. With political rallies and football soon featuring, together with cricket matches played by the St James' club, the now 'Mr Bradford's Field' became a prominent local venue but not without controversy. Not only were there complaints about the general noise and disruption but there was also disquiet about the Bradfords keeping pigs and renting out some of the land for stables.
With a 'syndicate of citizens' eventually offering to better Mr Bradford's annual rent, he lost possession of the land even though the new leaseholders continued to hire out the field for equally noisy and disruptive events which - within a matter of weeks in September 1904 - included the first game played by the newly-named Exeter City. Indeed, just four years later, the lease for St James' Park was to pass to the Exeter City AFC company established to bring professional football to the city, an act which left Mr Bradford increasingly angry about the way he had been treated.
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