Last year’s article attempted to unravel the sequence of events in the foundation and early years of the Eton Fives Association. The absence or loss of the first minute book(s) of the Association meant that the only sources of information were newspapers such as The Times, the magazine Squash Rackets,Fives,Lawn Tennis & Rackets Journal during its publication life from 1932-7, a couple of books and any other scraps of evidence. I wrote a year ago that “ My unsubstantiated hunch is that the Eton Fives Association, following the notice of intent in November 1923, dates from the meeting of 24 October 1924 (i) , that it was called ‘The Fives Association’ until the Rugby Fives Association was formed in 1927 and then became the Eton Fives Association.” But, I added, “this interpretation must remain open to question. Any further information would be most welcome.”

Soon after I had finished the article, I did receive some important ‘further information’ (ii) It clarified the origins of the Eton Fives Association and provided some substance to my ‘hunch’. The first document was a copy of the letter that Lionel Alexander, as Chairman of the Fives Association, sent out to all interested fives players inviting them to the meeting on 24 October 1924. It is worth quoting the first two paragraphs of the letter in full:

"FIVES ASSOCIATION
QUEEN’S CLUB
WEST KENSINGTON

September 25th 1924.

Dear Sir,

During the last year a Fives Association has been formed with a view to coordinating the activities of all those interested in the game. At the beginning the game of Eton Fives was the only one considered, but owing to numerous requests from Old Boys’Clubs and private individuals interested in either the Rugby or other forms of the game, it was decided at our last meeting that the Association should embrace all forms of fives. This step has been approved by the Tennis and Rackets Association with which the Fives Association is now incorporated.

In order that the Fives Association may be fully representative it is proposed to hold a General Meeting at Queen’s Club on Wednesday, October 22nd, at 5.30 p.m. and it is hoped that your Club (or School) will send a representative. At this meeting a small executive Committee will be appointed to deal with all future business connected with regulations and competitions. It is hoped to inaugurate certain official fixtures."

The second document was a copy of a brief history of Rugby Fives up to 1939. From the available evidence, it would seem that the Eton Fives Association was indeed originally formed in November 1923. It took the name ‘The Fives Association’. In 1924 it became the umbrella organisation for all fives. There was a small executive committee with Lionel Alexander as Chairman and Dr. Cyriax as Vice Chairman. Within the Fives Association, Eton, Rugby and Winchester Fives were each responsible for running their own affairs. After 3 years, in 1927, the Rugby Fives group seceded. The Rugby Fives Association was set up and the first Annual General Meeting was held at the home of Dr.Cyriax.

After the divorce in 1927, both associations were concerned with determining the dimensions and the nature of the materials to be used in building their own courts. There was no recognised standard court in either Eton or Rugby Fives and the variety of courts added a certain piquancy to the game, as well as often giving a distinct advantage to the home team. It was not until November 1932 that the EFA approved the standard plan for the Eton Fives court, which had been drawn up by David Egerton.(iii) The drawings and measurements of the courts were printed in the Squash Rackets, Fives,Lawn Tennis and Rackets Journalin November 1932, and copies of the diagrams and details could be obtained from the EFA for a small fee.

There is evidence that all was not well with the Eton Fives Association in the years from about 1927 until 1930. There are, as we shall see, the emotive criticisms of “chaos” and “quagmire” as well as more balanced references to the post-1930 “revivication of the Eton Fives Association”. Even in 1934 an article in the Squash Rackets, Fives,Lawn Tennis and Rackets Journal states that “it appears to be a more difficult task to awake the proper authorities.” The impression is of the Eton Fives Association drifting along in those early years without much impetus or vitality. That may have been the context for the Rugby Fives group leaving the Fives Association and branching out on its own.

Yet, in those years two new Eton Fives contests were inaugurated. The first Oxford and Cambridge contest was staged in 1928. The 6 pairs included 5 Old Etonians and 4 Old Harrovians. Cambridge won. The Public Schools Handicap competition began in the following year of 1929, with Harrow winning 4 times in the first 5 years and only Uppingham in 1932 breaking the winning sequence. In addition, the Kinnaird Cup became established as an annual event with the following successes:

1927-8 R.G.de Quetteville and R.A.Redhead (Old Etonians)
1928-9 K.C.Gander-Dower and G.R.McConnell (Old Harrovians)
1929-30 A.H.Fabian and J.Aguirre (iv) (Old Cholmeleian & Highgate School)
1930-1 W.M.Welch and R.G.de Grey Warter (Old Harrovians)
1931-2 K.C.Gander-Dower (v) and G.R.McConnell (Old Harrovians)

From 1930 the momentum of activity increased. The first matches of the Wyverns were reported in November 1930.(vi) On 13 March 1931 The Times announced the reorganisation of the Eton Fives Association, “to keep alive the interest in Eton Fives in the schools, among old boys and at the universities. A letter has been issued by the Eton Fives Association and the Wyverns Eton Fives Club to all interested in the game.” The Association had been reorganised for administrative purposes, but there is no clue what that entailed. Schools, Old Boys’ clubs abd universities were invited to affiliate to the Eton Fives Association. The same article provided more information about the Wyverns Club which was to be run as a branch of the Association. “A high standard of play is not essential. Fixtures are to be organised in all the holidays for those at Public Schools”, and it was hoped that at least 80 fixtures would be arranged between October 1931 and April 1932. The rules for the Kinnaird competition were revised in 1932 and the formal title became the ‘Amateur Championship for the Kinnaird Cup’. Again, in 1932, a new competition for Old Boys’ clubs was introduced which was called the ‘The Queen’s Club Competition’. It was to be confined to pairs from Old Boy clubs with one pair to represent each of the nine clubs expected to enter. The competition would be managed by J.H.Beale, “the very capable secretary of the Old Citizens Fives Club.” (vii) Three weeks later, in November 1932, there was an announcement that “ D.G.Egerton would be interested to know whether an inter Old Boy knock out competition would be popular” (viii) but there is no information about the response.

The impetus for this increased activity between 1930 and 1933 was coming from David Egerton. Who was this young man? He was born in 1911. He went to Lancing College in September 1925 and left after taking Higher Certificate in 1928. He was at Lancing when the school changed from Rugby to Eton Fives. He played in the school team in the first two years of Eton Fives and gained his school colours for Eton Fives, though I would doubt whether the standard was more than basic. Guy Butler (ix) was a member of the staff there until he left in 1927 after a nervous breakdown and may well have taught Egerton to play Eton Fives (x). Egerton went up to Magdalen College, Cambridge in 1929 where he studied Modern and Medieval Languages and got a third in both Spanish Part I (1931) and in Latin Part II (1932).

It was whilst he was an undergraduate at Cambridge that he must have become Secretary of the EFA, probably in 1930. He claimed to have founded the Wyverns. The writer in the Squash Rackets,Fives, Lawn Tennis, Rackets Journal edition of October 1933 supported that claim. It is said that the Wyverns originated at Cambridge University and the first fixtures are reported in November 1930. At that time, Egerton was an undergraduate at Cambridge, almost certainly not a good enough player to gain a ‘half blue’, and wanting more opportunities for players of his sort of standard to play matches. The Wyverns would provide such an opportunity. If, as seems very probable, he had taken over as Secretary of the EFA sometime in 1930, it was also about the same time that the Wyverns were launched and he was well placed to promote the ambitious programme of 80 fixtures. It would also seem that his claim to have “founded” the Wyverns was valid.(xi) Certainly an announcement in the Squash Rackets, Fives Lawn Tennis Rackets Journal in October 1932 referred to “D.G.Egerton, the Eton Fives Association and Wyverns energetic Secretary.” (xii) It became quite a flourishing club. The Squash Rackets Journal reported on 12 November 1932 that there was a big increase in the number of candidates for election to the Wyverns and its subscriptions had been reduced for both ordinary members and the school members. There was even a proposal to organise a tournament for the members of the club and to hold an annual dinner in March or April [1933], which presumably came to nothing.

The Squash Racquets Fives Lawn Tennis Rackets Journal of October 1933 provides further intriguing insight into the events of those three years of 1930-3 and the activities of Egerton, in an article under the title ‘Something Solemn on Eton Fives’. The anonymous author, “Sportsman”, introduced his article by explaining the origin of his article:

“Your pompous old ass of an editor (he must be 85 if he’s a day) detailed me off to write “something solemn on Eton Fives” as his sources of information on that game are hopelessly unreliable. But in fact there is something solemn to report from the Eton Fives world.”

“It was only two or three years ago, though it seems much longer that a superman arose from the chaos that was Eton Fives. Gathering up the tangled threads with deft capable strokes, he quickly placed himself at the helm and brought law and order out of the quagmire. I refer to the amazing, the incredible, the stupendous Secretary of the Eton Fives Association. For three years, the man was in the limelight, the star, the actor manager, the producer……” (xiii)

‘Sportsman’ continued:

“In one year he founded the Wyverns Eton Fives Club, he casually arranged no less than 80 fixtures for it and roped in heavens knows how many players.”

“ At the same time, as secretary of the Eton Fives association, he affiliates all the existing clubs, revises and standardises the rules of the game, organises the Kinniard Cup competition, instigates the Queens Cup Competition and generally gives one to think that Eton Fives is the ‘be all and end all’ of his bright young life.”

“Incidently he invented a new type of fives glove which resounded loudly to his credit every time they struck the ball and also brought out an ‘everlasting’ fives ball (later to become the direct inspiration of the ‘googly’ ball).” (xiv)

Reading this article, I did just wonder whether Egerton himself is the ‘Sportsman’ but on balance I think not. He was capable of a somewhat facetious style of writing as the following excerpt shows, and there are two other rather bizarre articles written by him which are intended to be amusing, but 70 years later fall flat. Under the title of ‘Eton Fives is looking up’, Egerton wrote:

“First a weekly journal [ Squash Rackets,Fives,Lawn Tennis and Rackets Journal started in October 1932] of which the hundredth part is to be devoted exclusively to its sluggardly activities, and now a new competition [Queen’s Club Competition]. The time is drawing nigh when Eton Fives results will displace Association Football and Horse Racing in the 6.15 news bulletin…..Failing this, the Eton Fives Association might establish its own broadcasting station in France – Radio Aiton Feefs ( I am full of schemes for the welfare of the Eton Fives Association..)” Egerton continued: “It has often been suggested that Eton Fives lacks any means of expansion, and one of the difficulties in the way of expansion has been the obstruction caused by a few first class players who remark that, personally speaking, they consider that there is enough Eton Fives played already: that is to say, speaking more personally, they themselves manage to get as much fives as they wish. The less expert players cannot get so much”. (xv)

The comments of another correspondent corroborates some of the developments mentioned above. They occur in an article published at the end of December 1932 on ‘The Growth of Eton Fives since the War’ written by W.E.Gerrish, who founded the Old Westminsters Fives Society in 1924. After writing about the growth of the Old Boy Clubs, he refers to the variation of rules depending on which court one played until the laws were published in September 1931.

“All these little points [i.e. the variety in the rules before September 1931] emphasise the enormous good done to the game by the formation of the Wyverns and through them the revivification of the Eton Fives Association.

During the last two or three years great strides have been made – more courts built or covered in, matches are easy to arrange, players demanding selection rather than bribed to appear by a promise of dinner after the game as was sometimes the case ten years ago”.(xvi)

The initial success of the Queens Court Competition for the Old Boys Clubs echoes these comments. It was reported that this new competition “..must be regarded as having been fairly successful in its purpose. …..Its popularity with club members would appear to be shown by the increasing demand for evening fives, over 60 players having taken part in the matches.” There was even a profit of £2.15s.0d [£2.75p] which had been handed over to the EFA. It was decided to continue the competition for a further year with one or two amendments. It would run from the beginning of October 1933 and finish by mid-December, so as to keep clear of the Kinnaird. (xvii)

At the beginning of 1933, the prospects for Eton Fives were full of promise. But the bubble burst. ‘Sportsman’ in his article ‘Something solemn on Eton Fives’ in the edition of October 1933 and mentioned above, tells of the denouement. “Unfortunately for Eton Fives, towards the end of last March [1933], David Egerton suddenly ‘went out of circulation’. Letters remained unanswered and accumulated. For “Eton Fives seems to have lost its leader. Just for a handful of silver he left us for just a handful of miserable prep.school boys.”

In the following month, November 1933, Egerton replied,‘Mr Egerton Replies to his Critics.’ He admitted that the “present state of inactivity is my fault. In bygone days I was able to devote to Eton Fives much time that should have been spent in the lecture room or otherwise studying but I have to spend all my days at work and no slack afternoons or free weekends come my way.” The most he could spend on the administration of the game was at the most one hour a day, but he felt that that would be sufficient “if I had the full and active support of all Eton Fives players. Apart from G.M.Butler and J.H.Beale, “ Eton Fives players are a lazy race.” He goes on to comment on the apathy he faced. Committee meetings of the EFA, with three or more weeks notice, was attended only by the Secretary [himself] and in the case of the Wyverns by only the Treasurer as well. He had found it “one of the world’s more complicated tasks” to get players to play their ties in the Kinnaird Cup in time (that is not an entirely unfamiliar cry!) “and last year’s Kinnaird [1932-3] is still unfinished.” (xviii) Many of the matches of the Wyverns were scratched, “ match managers presumably being too lazy to set about raising the teams early enough.” He decided that “midway between January and April [1933]” to sit on his haunches and wait and see like Mr.Asquith.

Egerton had been appointed to a teaching post at a preparatory school, Sidcup Place. The school had been founded in 1919 at Sidcup Place, Kent, by the Reverend John Blencowe, but in 1933 he moved it from Sidcup to Brambletye, East Grinstead and it was there that Egerton started teaching. He may have stayed there for two years or so (xix) , but then the trail goes dead. Egerton seems to have had nothing more to do with Fives.

1934-1939.

From about March in 1933 it would appear that the central direction from the EFA disintegrated for about a year. There is no indication who was the President or Chairman or when Lionel Alexander resigned or retired. The evidence suggests that J.H.Beale continued to organise the Queens Club competition, and other fives matches organised by the Old Boy Clubs and the schools were maintained. Egerton in the excerpt above picked out Beale and Butler as two supporters, and it may be that there were one or two others who held matters together. Again, we can follow the events in the Squash Rackets, Fives, Lawn Tennis and Rackets Journal, and note the comment about ‘the proper authorities’:

“It is splendid news to hear at last to hear that someone in the world of Eton Fives has undertaken to do some work in connection with that game. Entries for the Kinnaird Cup have been undertaken by Mr.H.G.Crabtree and it is hoped that he and his supporters will be able to run a thoroughly good competition in which rounds will be played at the proper times. Everyone who has the interests of Eton Fives at heart should do all they can to help these new leaders for it appears to be a more difficult task to awake the proper authorities. There has not been a meeting of the Association for over a year nor any communication issued to its members. Two years ago, with a pilot at the helm, it looked as if the organisation of Eton Fives would soon rival that of any other game. New Laws (not Rules) were made and subscriptions demanded from all sides. The Wyverns came into being and then without warning, just as the ship was sailing on an even keel, the pilot was lost at sea and the EFA and the Wyverns disappeared into thin air…..The Pilot had all his eggs in one basket, invested all power in himself and when the ship went down no one else so much as knew where the bank account was kept. The work of the pilot was of the greatest value if only he had built on some foundations. Now everything will have to be started all over again.” (xx)

The relaunching of the Eton Fives Association started on 1 February 1934 which is the date of the first committee meeting recorded in the oldest surviving minute book and the first meeting since 1932. These committee meetings of 1934 make interesting reading in the context of the events dealt with above. The first business of the first meeting was the election by the 5 members of Guy Butler as Secretary in place of D.Egerton “who had resigned owing to ill-health.” “G.R.McConnell consented to continue as Treasurer.” The role of McConnell is intriguing. The writer above comments that “no one …….knew where the bank account was kept.” What was McConnell doing for three years? There is a story that Egerton had absconded with the assets of the EFA. Whether there was any truth in that story we shall never know. But what is odd is the further action of the committee of sending out a circular letter informing schools and clubs what the role of the EFA was and requesting that the subscriptions for the season 1933/4 should be sent to the Treasurer. Clearly, there had been a failure on the part of the Treasurer to keep a grip on the finances of the Association, and maybe the money that Egerton had been handling. McConnell continued as Treasurer only until October by which time a replacement had been found.

There was also a discussion at the first meeting on the functions and composition of the Association and it was unanimously decided that the Association and the Wyverns or any other club should be separate. That decision did not stop Butler being Secretary of both the EFA and the Wyverns, precisely as Egerton had been!

Until the Annual General Meeting on November 1934, the composition of the committee seems to have been very fluid apart from de Quetteville (President and Chairman) and Guy Butler (Secretary). J.Burnet and R.Straus (one of the founders of the EFA) resigned early on. Gandar Dower and Hazelrigg were “unable to attend” the first meeting, but never appeared again in Committee. J.M.Peterson attended the first two meetings, but no more. J.H.Beale, who was running the Queens Club Competition attended only the March meeting. In November 1934, five new committee members were elected to replace Egerton, Burnet, McConnell, Peterson and R.Straus. T.G.C.Lund became Treasurer and was still in office at the first Annual General Meeting after the war in November 1947, when P.C.Curtis took over.

The striking feature from 1934 onwards was the use of special committees , as they were called and usually comprising three people, to run the various affairs of the Association, a reaction no doubt to the period of enlightened autocracy by Egerton. Eight such committees were set up over four years. The most important sub committee was that set up in March 1934 to consider the whole function, composition and finances of the Eton Fives Association. It comprised J.H.Beale (who had been running the Kinnaird Cup), H.B.Crabtree (who took over from him) T.G.C.Lund (later to become Treasurer) and Butler ( the new Secretary). It was responsible for the new draft of the Rules of the Eton Fives Association, which were approved at the AGM in November 1934 and a copy into the new minute book. As a result of their recommendation, it was agreed to have the accounts for 1934-5 audited, by Lionel K.Lund (brother of the Treasurer?) and he was retained as the auditor for the Association.

Only Butler was a member of the Committee at the time this first special committee was established, and over the next few years the E.F.A.Committee recruited the services of non committee members to assist on these special committees. I calculate that 18 different people took part in these groups, half of whom were not currently on the general Committee. In this way, the responsibilities for running the Association became more widely dispersed.

The range of the briefs of the sub committees illustrate the main concerns of the pre war E.F.A. Three Special committees were more or less permanently set up to organise the Kinnaird or Open Championship Competition as it was called, the handicapping for the Public Schools competition, and to organise the Queen’s Club competition. In 1936 another similar special committee was set up to organise a new Inter-Club Knock Out competition, which attracted 11 entries and was considered well worth continuing. The three other special committees had a more temporary status. At the beginning of 1937, there was one appointed to carry through the negotiations for the use of the courts at Queen’s Club, leading to a formal agreement between the Club and the Association, in which de Quetteville himself took part. Another organised an exhibition match for the opening of the newly reconditioned, covered and lit second court at Queens in October 1937. A third group group was asked to considering methods of publicity to attract more people to Fives.

Other matters dealt with in these years included the printing and dispatch of the Rules and Laws of the Game to schools, with a printed card to display at the courts. A few months later in February 1936, each member of the EFA received a copy. Before each season, an allocation of the use of the Queens Club courts in the evenings was discussed and agreed.

Throughout this period from 1934 to 1938, de Quetteville as President, Lund as Treasurer and Butler as Secretary had provided an overall stability of the administration of the Association. The last Committee meeting took place on Tuesday, 25th October 1938. The last prewar meeting of the Association, the Annual General Meeting, was held, perhaps appropriately at the War Office, on Wednesday, 23 November 1938. The President reported on the successful organisation of the four competitions, but the proposal to hold another Public Schools Championship, without any handicapping, had been dropped in the face of opposition from the Headmaster’s Conference. A resolution to reduce the length of a game from 15 points to 12 was passed by 7 votes to 4 and the Secretary was instructed to write to clubs and schools to report back to him at the end of the 1938-9 season on how the change had worked. All the existing officers and committee were re-elected for the coming season. After the A.G.M., a brief Committee meeting voted that £10 should be paid to the Secretary, G.M.Butler, for ‘Secretarial Assistance for the ensuing year.’

Nine years elapsed before the next recorded meeting. It was the Annual General Meeting held on Tuesday, 4 November 1947, to which there had been a general invitation to the members and “any individuals who were interested in the game and in reviving the activities of the Association.” 23 people attended. The meeting was chaired by R.G.de Quetteville, once again elected as President. The pre-war Treasurer, T.G.C.Lund, was also present and had carefully tended the finances during the intervening nine years. He reported that the balance in hand in 1938 had been £ 59: it stood at £ 119 in 1947 as a result of his investing sums in National Savings Certificates, “ a better financial position than the Association had ever known before.” There is no mention of the previous secretary, G.M.Butler. H.Le Bas was elected to succeed him and P.C.Curtis took over as Treasurer.

A new era had begun and the rebuilding of Eton Fives started once again.

R.B.

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(i) That should have read ’22 October’.
(ii) I am very grateful to David Barnes for the information in the form of a copy of Lionel Alexancder’s letter and a copy of a brief history of Rugby Fives from 1919 to 1939.
(iii) Squash Rackets, Fives, Lawn Tennis and Rackets Journal (henceforth abbreviated to SRFLTR 29 November 1932.
(iv) Aguirre was still a pupil at Highgate School when he partnered Fabian. He was from the Basque country and played pelota. He died in the Spanish Civil War.
(v) Gander Dower was the first winner of the Rugby Fives Singles Championship in 1932 for a cup presented by the Jesters Club. So he won the premier compeition in both Eton and Rugby Fives in the same year.
(vi) The Times 12th.,13th. and 28th. November 1930.
(vii) SRFLTR Vol. 1, no.1, Saturday 22 October 1932. This was the first copy of the magazine which was initially issued every week, but soon became a monthly edition.
(viii) SRFLTR Vol.1, no. 4, Staurday 12 November 1932.
(ix) Guy Butler (1899-1981) was an outstanding athlete at Harrow School and then went on to trinity College, Cambridge. He represented Britain in the Olympic Games of 1920 and 1924, winning a gold, a silver and two bronze medals for the 400 metres and the 4 x 400 metres. H e tuaght at lancing from 1922-7, and succeeded Egerton as Secretary of the EFA in 1934.
(x) The information on Egerton comes largely from the Lancing College Magazines Dec 1925, Nov. 1925, Mar.1927 and Apr. 1928. I am grateful to Mrs Margaret Stankiewicz, the Acting Archivist at Lancing College for this information.
(xi) This claim is stated in the Lancing College Register.
(xii) SRFLTR Vol.1, no.1, 22 October 1932.
(xiii) SRFLTR October 1933.
(xiv) The definition of a googly is a cricket ball bowled so as to bounce in an unexpected direction. This presumably was the fate of Egerton’s ‘everlasting’ fives ball. Both Eton and Rugby Fives were dependent on the sole supplier of Mr.E.Bailey, trading as Jefferies Malings. The cost of a new ball was 4 1/2d. and a recovered one 3 1/4d.
(xv) SRFLTR Vol.1, no . 1, 22October 1932
(xvi) SRFLTR Vol.1, no.10, 24 December 1932
(xvii) SRFLTR Vol 1, no.13, March 1933. The amendments incuded the best of 3 games (instead of 5) so as to finish in reasonable time, and matches would start at 6.15 pm instead of 6 pm to ‘benefit city workers….’
(xviii) It was eventually played on Sunday 29 October 1933, about six months late. W.M.Welch & H.G.de Grey Warter beat D.M.Backhouse & A.T.Barber, 15-13,13-15,11-15,15-11,15-11. (SRFLTR Vol.2, no.3, December 1933).
(xix) An old boy of the school recalled that Egerton probably arrived in 1933 and left in 1935. He taught Maths. Another old boy who came to Brambletye School in 1936 does not rccall him at all. I am grateful to Mr Peter Blencowe, son of the founder, for this information.
(xx) SRFLTR Vol. 2, No. 5 February 1934 p.98.

Delving into the Past by Roger Beament
Created 26th March 2007 by Mike Fenn
efa@etonfives.co.uk

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