Talk:Morton Betts

Birth date?

The linked Cricket Archive articles gives his date of birth as 1847, matching this article, but then goes on to state that the 1881 Census lists him as being 32 years old, which cannot be correct. So either the DOB is wrong, the census was wrong in saying he was 32, or Cricket Archive has misrepresented what the census says....... ChrisTheDude (talk) 08:55, 7 May 2008 (UTC)

In reply: Information on ages given in 19th century Census records may not be cast-iron correct, as the details were given word of mouth to the visiting Census Enumerators, through heads of household who may have been other then the subject of the article. Reference was not always made to birth certificates (only introduced 1837, and which a proportion of the then population could not read.) Children's birthday celebrations did not become usual until the 19th century itself. Given these factors minor additions to or subtractions from real age were likely to happen without intention to deceive.Cloptonson (talk) 20:15, 4 March 2012 (UTC)

Dubious

The article states that Betts played under a pseudonym in the 1872 FA Cup Final to hide the fact that, having been registered with Harrow Chequers at the time of the first round, he was cup-tied and not eligible to play for Wanderers. This cannot be correct, however, as according to Keith Warsop's book "The Early FA Cup Finals and the Southern Amateurs", Cuthbert Ottaway actually played for two different clubs in the 1871-72 FA Cup competition (Marlow in round one and Crystal Palace thereafter). The book also states that in that time period players weren't even required to be formally registered with a club. This therefore suggests that Betts cannot possibly have been cup-tied and therefore his pseudonym must simply have been an affectation or adopted for some other reason -- ChrisTheDude (talk) 08:58, 28 July 2009 (UTC)

- The name A H Chequer was used as a joke. A H Chequer = "A Harrow Chequer," the football club he played for previously. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 91.110.71.159 (talk) 16:21, 2 July 2010 (UTC)

To be honest I'd be amazed to find this was true for several reasons. a) I shouldn't think being cup-tied existed back then as they were all amateur b) Someone would have found out who he was if he was cup tied and demanded a re-match c) Some historian later on would have found out and it would have been a well know fact. I'm going to be bold and delete it. Cls14 (talk) 13:28, 28 July 2010 (UTC)

Education

I note he is described as educated at a Cambridge University College, "citation needed". Where could the writer have obtained such information? He does not appear in Venn's List of Cambridge University alumni covering period 1752 to 1900, although several men with the name "Peto Betts" were listed as attending during 19th century. He was not known as a university graduate to Keith Warsop who includes Betts in his work "The Early F.A. Cup Finals" (published 2004). Could the writer please come forward and account for it?Cloptonson (talk) 20:04, 4 March 2012 (UTC)