Robert George Graham (born

Hinxton Hinxton is a village in South Cambridgeshire, England. The River Cam runs through the village, as does the Cambridge to Liverpool Street station, Liverpool Street railway, though the village has no station. Hinxton parish's southern boundarie ...

, Cambridgeshire, 1 January 1845, died Hampton, Middlesex, 6 April 1922) was a British sportsman and businessman.

Early life

Graham was born on New Year's Day 1845, the son of the Rev. John Graham of

Vicarage, Cambridgeshire. He attended

Cheltenham College Cheltenham College is a public school ( fee-charging boarding and day school for pupils aged 13–18) in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England. The school opened in 1841 as a Church of England foundation and is known for its outstanding linguis ...

between January 1861 and June 1862.

Sportsman

Footballer

Graham played for Barnes Football Club between 1865 and 1869 as a forward, captaining the club in a match against Crystal Palace in January of that year. He also played for the "Surrey and Kent" team in the first inter-county football match under association rules, in November 1867. Graham captained the Surrey team in separate matches against Kent and Middlesex in 1868. In 1869, he also played for Crusaders FC.

Football administrator

Through Barnes FC and the London Rowing Club, Graham came into contact with Robert Willis, who would serve as second secretary of the

Football Association A football association, also known as a football federation, soccer federation, or soccer association, is a governing body for association football. Many of them are members of the sport's regional bodies such as UEFA and CONMEBOL and the world gov ...

from 1866 to 1867. From 1867 to 1870, Graham himself served as both secretary and treasurer of the Football Association. The future for the FA did not look promising at this time: only ten clubs were members, resulting in low attendance at the 1867 annual meeting. During the next year, Graham attempted to increase membership by writing to every known club in the country. This increased membership to thirty by 1868, but did not prevent the association from running out of money, with the officers having to cover expenses out of their own pockets. After his resignation as secretary in 1870, Graham continued to serve on the FA's committee from 1870 to 1871. He also served as secretary of Barnes FC in 1868. An obituary in the '' Athletic News'' described Graham as "one of those gentlemen who tackled the chaos in which football existed and from which the Football Association came into being".

Other sports

Graham was also a keen rower, competing for the London Rowing Club at the

Henley Royal Regatta Henley Royal Regatta (or Henley Regatta, its original name pre-dating Royal patronage) is a Rowing (sport), rowing event held annually on the River Thames by the town of Henley-on-Thames, England. It was established on 26 March 1839. It diffe ...

of 1865. He won the English pole jump championship in 1869. In 1895, he invented a captive golf-ball game, known as "Linka".

Later life

Graham worked as a stockbroker and company director. He was "allowed the office of broker" by the Court of Aldermen of the City of London in March 1869. For the last 36 years of his life, he also served as volunteer captain of the fire brigade of Hampton upon Thames, where he lived. His knowledge of firefighting came from his friend Eyre Massey Shaw, first chief of the

London Fire Brigade The London Fire Brigade (LFB) is the Fire department, fire and rescue service for London, the capital of the United Kingdom. It was formed by the Metropolitan Fire Brigade Act 1865 (28 & 29 Vict. c. 90), under the leadership of superintendent ...

. In 1893, his comedy ''Our Play'' was performed at the Vaudeville Theatre in London's West End, to poor reviews.

Family

Graham married Alice Hackblock on 15 September 1869. The couple had two daughters, the younger of whom was prolific novelist and anti-Mormon campaigner Winifred Graham. After Robert's death, Winifred produced two books supposedly communicated by her father via

automatic writing Automatic writing, also called psychography, is a claimed psychic ability allowing a person to produce written words without consciously writing. Practitioners engage in automatic writing by holding a writing instrument and allowing alleged sp ...

. Graham's elder sister, Helen, married Robert Willis in 1867.

Death

Graham died on 6 April 1922. He was survived by his widow Alice and his two daughters.