Rugby, market town and par., Warwickshire, on river Avon, 15 miles NE. of Warwick, 30 SE. of Birmingham, and 83 NW. of London by rail, 2190 ac., pop. 9891; P.O., T.O, 2 Banks, 3 newspapers. Market-day, Saturday. Rugby is an ancient place, but it first came into prominent notice in the 18th century in connection with its school, which was founded in 1567 by Lawrence Sheriff, a native of the neighbouring village of Brownsover, and which has risen under a series of able headmasters, including Dr Arnold, to be one of the first public schools in England. The school occupies a splendid range of buildings in the Elizabethan style, possesses an endowment estimated at from £5000 to £6000 a year, and has usually from 400 to 500 boys; it induces many wealthy families to settle in the place. Rugby has become an important railway centre, and has consequently a very extensive transit trade. It has no mfrs. of note, but it has large fairs for horses, cattle, and sheep.

(John Bartholomew, Gazetteer of the British Isles (1887))