Sporting Soles

From Harry Watson

This article was published in the August 2018 edition of Soul Search, the journal of The Sole Society

Harry Watson wife of  member Margaret, nee Saul, writes:

One Sunday in June the Scotland cricket team surprised the sporting world by defeating England in a one-day international in Edinburgh. A key member of the Scottish team was Chris Sole, son of the rugby legend David Sole who played prop forward for Bath, the British & Irish Lions, and Scotland, whom he captained to a famous victory over England at Murrayfield in 1990. All four of the Sole children have demonstrated sporting prowess. Chris and his brother Tom both play cricket for Scotland, their brother Jamie is a professional rugby player who has played for Newcastle Falcons, and sister Gemma plays netball for Scotland.

Don Steel, our first Sole Research Co-ordinator, thought that David Sole was: ‘descended from the Cambridgeshire SOWELLS, almost certainly related to the Bottisham Sowells who became Sewells’ although a link has not been proved.

Member Margaret is descended from Yorkshire Sauls.

My wife Susan Margaret Saul grew up in Peterborough. Her father Wilfred was a teacher at Deacon’s School for many years and heavily involved in local rugby and cricket. She is descended from Yorkshire Sauls; her grandfather came from Sheffield, where the Sauls had their own building firm, and earlier generations of male Sauls were bricklayers in Masbrough, Rotherham and Stainforth.