Much has been written about Maurice Turnbull and his magnificent contribution to Glamorgan County Cricket Club and to Welsh sport in general. But what about other members of the Turnbull clan and their legacy to sport ?
The family hailed from Whitby – the port on the North Sea coast between Scarborough and Middlesbrough. It was here during the 19th century that the Turnbull family started to make both their fame and fortune in the boat building industry in the flushing port. Their activities though had a quite humble start, and all because Thomas Turnbull, born in 1749, ran away from his home in Darlington after a row with his stepmother.
Thomas found work in Whitby as an apprentice clockmaker, and in April 1784 married Ann Webster, the daughter of a local seaman. Over the next ten years, he and Ann had seven children, including another Thomas, born in January 1793. On 12 July 1796 Thomas senior dropped dead, leaving his widow with little money, and seven little mouths to feed. A neighbour called Ridganall March, who ran a mast-making business, took pity on Ann and her children with March teaching Thomas junior the rudiments of ship-making. The youngster, however, still held an interest in clockmaking so after completing his apprenticeship, he opened up a clockmaker`s shop in Bridge Street in 1814.
Thomas junior remained friends with the March family and, in particular, their son-in-law William Hunton, who owned an alum mine at Lofthouse, ten miles to the north of Whitby. Thomas junior had a keen eye for a business opportunity, and aware of both the growing demand for alum, and the rising output from Hunton`s mines, he suggested to Hunton that they bought their own boat which could take the products to the other towns on Teesside. Thomas junior duly went into partnership in 1817 with Hunton and purchased a sloop which carried alum, stone and coal to Hartlepool, Stockton, Sunderland, Hull and also London.
In November 1818 Thomas married Mary, the youngest daughter of Ridganall March, his kindly uncle, and over the next few years, he fathered seven children, including another Thomas, born in 1819. Young Thomas also became an apprentice ship builder, before creating a company called Thomas Turnbull and Son. Young Thomas had eleven children, including Maurice’s grandfather Philip, who in together with his brother Lewis, moved to Cardiff and created their own shipping line, using vessels which until 1900 were built by their family in Whitby.
The youngest brother of Philip and Lewis Turnbull was Wilfred Oswald Turnbull. Born in March 1862, he remained in Whitby and worked in the family’s business. In 1929 he also purchased land where Whitby’s football and cricket clubs could play. The area became known as the Turnbull Ground, although in recent years, the football ground has become the Towbar Express Stadium. However, the cricket ground has retained its traditional name in memory of Maurice’s great-uncle Wilfred, who died in 1947.