Wigan Album

I believe Thomas was born in Wigan around 1894. He was Wigan RL’s trainer in the 1920’s, the nature of that training would be dramatically different compared to today’s almost scientific approach. Nevertheless, by the standards of the day he seemed qualified to do the job. His CV is, to say the least, “wide-ranging”.
Apart from his weightlifting and wrestling, his “jobs” included being a circus acrobat, a marionette show proprietor, a member of a minstrel group, an Instructor in the Navy, a soldier and a miner.
One further job earned him the distinction of being the first person in Wigan ever to operate a cinema reel. Over and above all that, he was also awarded the DCM at Gallipoli in WW1 rising to the rank of Company Sergeant Major. Gallipoli was a “hell hole” and one of our great disasters of WW1. And to think that some of today’s 20+ something “celebrities” are busy “publishing” their autobiographies!
A photograph of him alongside the 1929 Wigan squad was recently posted by Ron Hunt. My own father who signed for Wigan RL in 1938 remembered Thomas well, I believe he was referred to as “Tom ‘Carty”, by the 30’s I think he may have been Wigan’s “Skipman”.