RUGBY

town and borough (district), administrative and historic county of Warwickshire, England. The town of Rugby was not of great importance until the coming of the railways in the 19th century. It then became a railway junction and attracted a wide range of industry, including especially the production of electrical equipment. Rugby School, a famous public (i.e., fee-paying) school, was founded for boys in 1567 by Laurence Sheriff, a local resident, and was endowed with sundry estates including Sheriff's own house. The school flourished under the headship of Thomas Arnold between 1828 and 1842 and became, under his rule, a model of the British public school for following generations. It was the scene of Tom Brown's School Days (1857) by Thomas Hughes and the founding place of rugby football. The borough includes a mainly rural area surrounding the town. Area 137 square miles (356 square km). Pop. (1991) town, 61,106; (1998 est.) borough, 87,800. Additional reading U.A. Titley and Ross McWhirter, Centenary History of the Rugby Football Union (1970), is an illustrated history of the Rugby Union game in England; and Eric Dunning and Kenneth Sheard, Barbarians, Gentlemen, and Players: A Sociological Study of the Development of Rugby Football (1979), examines the game from its origins to the 1970s. A.M.C. Thorburn, The Scottish Rugby Union: Official History (1985); and David Smith and Gareth Williams, Fields of Praise: The Official History of the Welsh Rugby Union, 18811981 (1980), complete the coverage of Great Britain. Gordon Slatter, On the Ball: The Centennial Book of New Zealand Rugby (1970), is another history. John Huxley and David Howes (comps.), Encyclopaedia of Rugby League Football, 2nd ed. (1980), is a comprehensive reference work. For current information, see The Rugby Football League Official Guide (annual); and Rothmans Rugby League Yearbook (annual). David B.J. Frost