West, Richard Bowerman
Richard Bowerman West, one of Exeter's wealthiest and most influential individuals, was president of Exeter United the town's most prominent football club prior to the formation of Exeter City.
Richard Bowerman West, born in 1865, was the son of East India Company 'merchantman' Richard Thornton West who had moved from Streatham, London to land later occupied by Exeter University. The family's residence, named Streatham Hall (and, in time, Reed Hall) was to eventually give its name to the university's main campus. There were also to be two roads - Thornton Hill and West Avenue - named in honour of the older man.
R.B.West, the son, followed in his father's footsteps to become High Sheriff of Devon together with serving as a justice of the peace. Having studied at Christ Church Oxford, he returned to Exeter and - amongst other positions - became president of Exeter Cricket Club having helped revive its fortunes. In 1896 he also accepted the presidency of the new Exeter United football club which was to become the city's leading side until its demise in 1902.
By this time, however, Mr West had died at the age of thirty-five in 1900 and the cricket ground (next to what became the university) had been built in his memory on land that had been owned by the West family.
The fact that he had also been president of Exeter United prior to his death speaks of the rising status of association football in Exeter from the mid-1890s onwards in a way that would have been unthinkable five years earlier. Had he lived, it is tempting to speculate either to what might have happened to the United club or whether he would have been associated with the Exeter City that emerged in the years following his death.
Richard Bowerman West, born in 1865, was the son of East India Company 'merchantman' Richard Thornton West who had moved from Streatham, London to land later occupied by Exeter University. The family's residence, named Streatham Hall (and, in time, Reed Hall) was to eventually give its name to the university's main campus. There were also to be two roads - Thornton Hill and West Avenue - named in honour of the older man.
R.B.West, the son, followed in his father's footsteps to become High Sheriff of Devon together with serving as a justice of the peace. Having studied at Christ Church Oxford, he returned to Exeter and - amongst other positions - became president of Exeter Cricket Club having helped revive its fortunes. In 1896 he also accepted the presidency of the new Exeter United football club which was to become the city's leading side until its demise in 1902.
By this time, however, Mr West had died at the age of thirty-five in 1900 and the cricket ground (next to what became the university) had been built in his memory on land that had been owned by the West family.
The fact that he had also been president of Exeter United prior to his death speaks of the rising status of association football in Exeter from the mid-1890s onwards in a way that would have been unthinkable five years earlier. Had he lived, it is tempting to speculate either to what might have happened to the United club or whether he would have been associated with the Exeter City that emerged in the years following his death.
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