The Story of the Wolves
SIR Alfred Hickman was born in July 1830 to George Rushbury Hickman, of Tipton, and Mary Haden.
George was the owner of the Moat Colliery in Tipton and in time Alfred became a colliery owner and ironmaster himself. He was chairman of the Staffordshire Railway and Canal Freighter’s Association and in
1882 formed the Staffordshire Steel Ingot & Iron Company Ltd to produce steel.
Knighted
Hickman stood for parliament for the Conservatives at Wolverhampton in 1880 but was defeated. Five years later he was elected Member of Parliament for Wolverhampton West, losing the seat in 1886, regaining it in 1892 and holding it until 1906.
Hickman was knighted in 1891 and created a baronet in 1903. He was President of the British Iron Trades Council and President of Wolverhampton Chamber of Commerce. In July 1902 he was given the honorary freedom of the borough of Wolverhampton. In 1906 he became Chairman of the newly formed Tarmac Limited.
Sir Alfred was also President of Wolverhampton Wanderers from 1879 until his death on 11 March 1910. He was a keen cricketer and part of a team called the ‘Wanderers’ that played on a field off Dudley Road. John Brodie and Jack Baynton had approached him for sponsorship as early as 1875, and in August 1879 their St Luke’s team amalgamated
with the cricket team to become known as the ‘Wanderers Football & Cricket Club’ – the prefix ‘ Wolverhampton’ being added to its name soon afterwards, according to historian Patrick Quirke.
It is reputed that Wolves never suffered a defeat when watched by Hickman. Indeed, the FA Cup final defeat to Preston North End in 1889 would almost certainly never have happened had Sir Alfred’s carriage not been involved in an accident on the way to The Oval, which prevented his attendance.
However, the spell was well and truly broken on 27 January 1894 when the Wanderers lost 4-2 away to Aston Villa in the first round of the cup. This was in spite of the fact that the president had given up a day’s hunting to be there.
Final
Steve Gordos reminds me that Sir Alfred Hickman was present at the 1893 cup final win at Fallowfield when Everton protested after the game that members of the record crowd had lined the touchline and some encroached on the field of play.
Sir Alfred was instrumental in ensuring that FA officials rejected their appeal for a replay. Wolves travelled home by train after the game and at the reception at the Victoria Hotel mentioned in Part 8 of this story, Hickman proclaimed: “We have won the English Cup. It has been won by an English team in an honest straightforward English manner.”
Two years before his death Sir Alfred was present to see Wolves win the cup for a second time.