Reverend William Baker Pitt (18 January 1856 – 21 November 1936) was the founder of Swindon Town Football Club and also curate of Christ Church, Swindon until 1881 and rector of Liddington from then on. Early life Pitt was born in Exeter, England. His father, Thomas, was a grocer of some standing in his local community. In 1861 the family employed a servant and also a governess for William, who was five years old at the time. He chose to become an Anglican clergyman, rather than a grocer as his father had suggested, and attended the London College of Divinity in 1879. He was ordained as a deacon of the Church of England in 1879, with his first post as curate of Christchurch, Swindon. Lodgings in the town were provided in Bellevue Road by Frederick Osman, a grocer and business associate of his father. Now 23 years old, Pitt moved into a parish in turbulent times, with the Swindon Advertiser reporting on 29 March 1879 "The circumstances attending the leaving of curate after curate are too vividly remembered in the town to need recapitulation". In the same article, Charles Ellicot, the Bishop of Gloucester and Bristol, regarded Christchurch as "the one black spot" in his diocese. The vicar of Christchurch, Henry Bailly, was outspoken and frequently denounced powerful figures in the community. Amongst the vicar's enemies were Member of Parliament and Lord of the Manor Ambrose Lethbridge Goddard, and the editor of the Swindon Advertiser, William Morris. Pitt settled into his new parish. H established a working relationship with Bailly and became a popular figure in the town, especially amongst younger members of the church through his involvement with the YMCA. Football After the arrival of the Great Western Railway in Swindon in the 1830s, Swindon's population soared from 1,200 to 19,000. This was divided between the communities of Old and New Swindon, with the majority in New Swindon where the GWR Works were located. Pitt used the formation of a football team to attempt to unite the communities. Whilst curate of Christ Church, the high church of Swindon, he was recorded as being the captain of Swindon Association Football Club in 1879. Pitt had formed this club to provide recreation for the young men of his parish, part of the diocese of Clifton, which was a theme for the creation of many football clubs founded in this period with