Documents, photos and videos

These primary sources bring stoolball history to life, and they’re great for school history projects. If you know of any old documents or photos of stoolball please let us know.

Getty photographs from the 1930s

Getty Images have photos in their archive from the heyday of stoolball in the 1930s, when there were four times as many clubs in right across England as there are today.

Stoolball Illustrated And How To Play It

Published in 1919, 'Stoolball Illustrated And How To Play It' by Major W W Grantham is both a fascinating primary source from the time of stoolball's revival after the First World War, and also a good summary of this history of the sport.

Girls Just Wanted To Have Fun

Andrew Lusted's second book about stoolball brings together all reports of stoolball from the hundreds of local newspapers held at the British Library.

Annual report of the Stoolball Association for Great Britain 1938

This report of the 1938 season was presented at the AGM of the Stoolball Association for Great Britain. It tells of stoolball being played in London, York, Amsterdam, Sri Lanka, India, New Zealand and even on board an ocean liner.

British Pathe stoolball archive

We need your help. British Pathe has a collection of archive material which shows, among others, stoolball photos and film clips dated 1940 and 1951, which make very interesting viewing. We want to know who is in the clips.

The W W Grantham bat collection

Major W W Grantham was known to have commissioned various bats as he travelled the world on cruise ships. John Price spent five years tracking them down to the Sussex hamlet of Town Littleworth.

Tales of stoolball from the Women's Institute

'West Sussex as seen through the eyes of the WI', has some excellent articles including 'Village Stoolball' by Enid Dunlop from the Funtington and West Stoke Women's Institute (WI).

Historic photographs of stoolball

A collection of photographs of stoolball from the 19th century onward. If you have any photos to add to this page please send them to us, or upload them to our Facebook page.

Stoolball in the British Newspaper Archive

Fascinating reports of stoolball matches and leagues from right across the country, which show clearly that stoolball is not just a Sussex sport.

Sports and Pastimes of the People of England

Joseph Strutt published this book in 1801, and mentions stoolball as a sport still played in the north of England in Chapter 3: ‘Rural Exercises Generally Practised’.