John Randolph Brame, born on 19th June 1884, was admitted to King Edward’s School in September 1895. His father was a banker, and the family lived at Tennal Road (and later at St Peter’s Road), Harborne. At the time of the 1911 Census, John lived with his widowed mother Alice, seven siblings and one niece.
While at School, John was an active gymnast: in June 1901 he won the “best-contested competition” for his work on the horizontal bar and high jump. He also narrowly lost the “most exciting match in the round” of fives in July of the same year during the House competitions. The Chronicle tells us that, “he is more conspicuous for his trickiness than for his hard hitting, and often shows good judgement in placing the ball.”
Upon the outbreak of war, John enlisted as a Private Soldier in the Royal Fusiliers. He was killed on 28th September 1916 at Flers, aged thirty-two. He is buried in St Sever Cemetery, Rouen.