CACrown ArchivesThe cinema collection
Menu
Research dossier · People & Ideas

Fred Dewhurst

English footballer (1863-1895)

Correspondence, annotated notebooks and portrait silhouettes prepared for research
People and ideasInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionOct 24, 2025
Entity authorityQ5494996
Source-derived summary

Frederick Dewhurst (16 December 1863 – 21 April 1895) was an English professional footballer, who played as an inside forward for Preston North End in the late 19th century.

Dewhurst was the first North End player to play representative football for Lancashire when he took part in the game against London for the benefit of the Moorfield Colliery Relief Fund. He was a schoolmaster at Preston Catholic College and one of its first secretaries. As a player, he was renowned for testing his physical prowess against rival goalkeepers. Prior to the inauguration of the Football League, North End were anxious to prove their worth against the Corinthians. Preston won 3–1 at Kennington Oval and then 4–3 at Deepdale with Dewhurst netting a hat-trick.

Dewhurst made his international debut in the 1885–86 British Home Championship match against Ireland and scored in a 6–1 win on 27 February 1886. He scored on 29 March 1886 in a 3–1 win against Wales. He played in all three 1886–87 British Home Championship matches against Ireland, Scotland and Wales. Dewhurst scored two goals against Scotland and one against Ireland.

Editorial summary

The public source identifies “Fred Dewhurst” as english footballer (1863-1895). This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Fred, Dewhurst and English.

Editorial reviewA productive starting point for separating a subject’s documented career from later reputation and commemoration. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1863, 1895, 1885, 1886—that can be checked directly. The linked authority record independently contributes the date 1863-12-16. Its value is orientation rather than verdict, with Fred, Dewhurst and English providing the first useful test.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

A short description can identify a subject without explaining its stakes. For “Fred Dewhurst”, the useful work is to connect “english footballer (1863-1895)” to the records capable of establishing context and consequence.

Evidence profile

Chronology provides the most reliable spine for this subject; interpretation should follow only after identities and dates are secure. The source revision retrieved here is dated Oct 24, 2025. The linked authority identifier is Q5494996. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1863, 1895, 1885 and 1886.

Critical limits

Public reputation and documentary evidence do not always develop together; absence from a summary is not evidence of historical absence. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Read biographical claims against dates, named institutions and the cited references. Distinguish a subject’s later reputation from evidence produced during their lifetime.

Best used for
  • Establishing names and roles
  • Building a first chronology
  • Locating cited institutions
Verify next

Personal papers, civil or court records, institutional files and the scholarship cited by the source.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “Fred Dewhurst”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow Fred Dewhurst primary sources, Fred Dewhurst archive and Fred research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Fred Dewhurst”?
  2. How has the subject’s reputation changed across later accounts?
  3. Which claims depend on a single source or contested interpretation?
Subject index

Search terms from this dossier

Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from Fred Dewhurst” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.