William Bray and the True Discovery of Baseball in 1755

William Bray's Diary Entry (3/31/1755)

The discovery of baseball has always been a controversial topic. Many believed that America’s great national pastime was a sport that originated in America sometime around the 18^th century. While others believed that it originated in a European country, taking after sports like la soule (France) and rounders (Great Britain). While there was no physical evidence, it was just widely accepted that baseball originated in North America because the sport is so prominent in our culture and history.

Things changed in 2008 when Tricia St. John Barry found what she thought was an “exercise book written by a child” in her cottage in England. Well it turned out that it was no exercise book at all, it was Sir William Bray’s 1754-1755 diary entries.

Bray wrote the diary as a routine daily transaction, accounting for all the events he participated in. And his entry on Easter Sunday, 1755 contained the first written account of a game referred to as "base ball" being played. His diary entry for that day read:

Went to Stoke church this morn.- After dinner, went to Miss Jeale's to play at base ball with her the 3 Miss Whiteheads, Miss Billinghurst, Miss Molly Flutter, Mr. Chandler, Mr. Ford and H. Parsons. Drank tea and stayed til 8. –William Bray (March, 31, 1755)

Evidence that the sport being played was "base ball"