William Henry Faulke,or Foulkes, later to be known throughout England as “ Fatty Foulkes” was born in Dawley, Shropshire in 1874. Many Dawley families moved to the new collieries in the Blackwell area during the 1870s as those in Coalbrookdale were worked out. The Faulke family arrived in Blackwell between Williams birth and 1881 when he can be found living at 122 Primrose Hill with his Grandparents James and Jane, 2 uncles, his cousin Thomas Henry and 2 lodgers. In 1891 at 16 years of age he is still there at 122 with his Grandmother, but she is remarried to Joseph Fern. William and Thomas’s mother appears to be estranged from the family; for the next 40 years she is still in Dawley, has 5 more children but remains unmarried. In 1896 William Henry Foulke married Beatrice Ellen Duff , who was living at Primrose Hill Blackwell with her mother Selina and stepfather John Layton.
William Fatty Foulke the footballer
At the age of 19 he was already 6’ 2” and weighed 15 stone when he was discovered by scouts while playing in goal for Blackwell Colliery, in a Derbyshire Cup tie at Ilkeston. He was immediately signed to Sheffield United and made his debut against West Bromwich Albion on September 1st 1894 and helped the team to reach three F.A. Cup finals, two of which they won, and a League championship. The losing final against Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, a non-league team in those days, drew a huge crowd by today’s standards, of over 114,000, attracted in part no doubt by Fouke’s increasing fame.
From Sheffield Foulke moved to Chelsea for a fee of £20. He was regarded as an outstanding goalkeeper with excellent agility for his size and in 1897 he won his first and only England cap playing against Wales in a 4-0 victory. Despite making a huge impression, after only one season Foulke moved to his final club Bradford City in 1898.
William Fatty Foulke the cricketer
Whilst playing for Sheffield in the winter season he made four first class appearances for Derbyshire. His average score was 10.83 with his biggest innings being 53 against Essex at Leyton.
Foulke was buried in Burngreave cemetery, Sheffield. His death certificate gives “cirrhosis” as the major cause of death. He was aged 42.
(Source of information: http://www.dawleyheritage.co.uk)