I visited the Hastings Chess Club today - wonderful photographs, kind hospitality. The board showing British Boys Champions lists three winners from King Edward's, Birmingham: CHO'D Alexander (1926), MN Barker (1949-51) are familiar names but there is a third - JM Craddock (1931). Is this an error (Craddock is shown as Cardiff HS in 1929,30) or did Craddock actually attend King Edward's Birmingham (for one year?).
(The championship was apparently finished - after 1953 - before AJ Miles had the opportunity to win it - not being born at the time.)
J M Craddock - King Edward's School, Birmingham?
-
Andy Stoker
- Posts: 348
- Joined: Sun Jan 26, 2014 9:23 pm
J M Craddock - King Edward's School, Birmingham?
Last edited by Andy Stoker on Wed Oct 11, 2023 11:20 pm, edited 1 time in total.
-
Jon D'Souza-Eva
- Posts: 161
- Joined: Mon Apr 24, 2023 7:53 am
Re: J M Craddock - King Edward's School, Birmingham?
Earlier this year Gerard posted a newspaper clipping from 1931 describing J M Craddock as a pupil of King Edward's School, Birmingham:
viewtopic.php?t=8166&start=18
viewtopic.php?t=8166&start=18
-
Andy Stoker
- Posts: 348
- Joined: Sun Jan 26, 2014 9:23 pm
Re: J M Craddock - King Edward's School, Birmingham?
Thank you - may be from the same source - having nothing better to do with my life, I have asked the school if they can check - and told them it is not urgent.Jon D'Souza-Eva wrote: ↑Wed Oct 11, 2023 10:57 pmEarlier this year Gerard posted a newspaper clipping from 1931 describing J M Craddock as a pupil of King Edward's School, Birmingham:
viewtopic.php?t=8166&start=18
-
Roger de Coverly
- Posts: 21322
- Joined: Tue Apr 15, 2008 2:51 pm
Re: J M Craddock - King Edward's School, Birmingham?
Later they ran the "British Boys" as part of the British Championship Congress. Britbase has the full archive.Andy Stoker wrote: ↑Wed Oct 11, 2023 10:43 pm(The championship was apparently finished - after 1953 - before AJ Miles had the opportunity to win it - not being born at the time.)
-
John Saunders
- Posts: 1728
- Joined: Thu Apr 19, 2007 3:10 pm
- Location: Kingston-upon-Thames
Re: J M Craddock - King Edward's School, Birmingham?
As Roger says, BritBase has further details. There is a short biog of J M Craddock, mentioning the fact that he attended two different secondary schools.
So far I've collected five of his games from the British Boys Championships of 1929, 1930 and 1931, which I've placed below. (Click on the ellipsis in the grey bar above the diagram to select different game scores.)
So far I've collected five of his games from the British Boys Championships of 1929, 1930 and 1931, which I've placed below. (Click on the ellipsis in the grey bar above the diagram to select different game scores.)
Personal Twitter @johnchess
Britbase https://www.britbase.info
(I prefer email to PM - contact me via this link - https://www.saund.org.uk/email.html)
Britbase https://www.britbase.info
(I prefer email to PM - contact me via this link - https://www.saund.org.uk/email.html)
-
Andy Stoker
- Posts: 348
- Joined: Sun Jan 26, 2014 9:23 pm
Re: J M Craddock - King Edward's School, Birmingham?
Many thanks John - I had not previously been aware of those pen pictures (delighted to see mention of the Coulson twins, just above Craddock). I will be interested to see what the school can offer as firm evidence of him attending King Edward's.
I had also not realised that the U18 was referred to as the "British Boys Championship" after the Hastings event was terminated - thank you, Roger.
I had also not realised that the U18 was referred to as the "British Boys Championship" after the Hastings event was terminated - thank you, Roger.
-
Andy Stoker
- Posts: 348
- Joined: Sun Jan 26, 2014 9:23 pm
Re: J M Craddock - King Edward's School, Birmingham?
To round this off - Craddock was indeed a pupil at King Edward's Birmingham when he won the 1931 British Boys Championship.
I have had a very helpful and prompt response from the school, which was able to send me a potted autobiography written by Craddock in 1991. In this he said:
# His father was a tax inspector and the family relocated several times
# Craddock attended three secondary school: Watford Grammar School, Cardiff High School (where he took O and A levels) and King Edward's Birmingham, where he secured a scholarship at Magdalene College, Cambridge
# Graduated with a double first in Maths
# Worked for the Civil Service - where he met his wife
# Worked as "Senior Principal Scientific Officer" - publishing around 70 scientific papers
# Retired to Pulham Market, Norfolk
I have had a very helpful and prompt response from the school, which was able to send me a potted autobiography written by Craddock in 1991. In this he said:
# His father was a tax inspector and the family relocated several times
# Craddock attended three secondary school: Watford Grammar School, Cardiff High School (where he took O and A levels) and King Edward's Birmingham, where he secured a scholarship at Magdalene College, Cambridge
# Graduated with a double first in Maths
# Worked for the Civil Service - where he met his wife
# Worked as "Senior Principal Scientific Officer" - publishing around 70 scientific papers
# Retired to Pulham Market, Norfolk
-
Christopher Kreuzer
- Posts: 8839
- Joined: Fri Aug 06, 2010 2:34 am
- Location: London
Re: J M Craddock - King Edward's School, Birmingham?
Thank you for posting the details of Craddock's potted autobiography, Andy.
From the earlier thread, linked by Jon D'Souza Eva, there is some other info that is worth flagging up (if you were not already aware):
viewtopic.php?f=27&t=8166#p297240
Brian Valentine said:
The retirement year was 1975: "James Marston Craddock retired from the Meteorological Office after 33 years' service. For the previous 16 years he had been a Special Merit Senior Principal Scientific Officer concerned with the application of statistics and..." (from The Meteorological Magazine - Volume 104 - Page 220, 1975).
Jon mentioned Craddock's mother's role of "bee expert for the Surrey agricultural committee". Does Cradddock mention that in his autobiography by any chance? (What were the names of his father, mother and wife?)
The Cardiff High School connection is mentioned in a paragraph on Craddock over at the Cardiff Chess Club history webpage:
Poking around his Met Office career details online (more offline, obviously), I noticed that he was part of the "Climatic Research Unit, School of Environmental Sciences, University of East Anglia" in its early years in the 1970s (the CRU was founded in 1972). He appears to have been active there towards the end of and after his retirement from the Met Office and published a number of papers on climate change research and computational and other methods.
Does his "potted autobiography" say much about that, by any chance?
From the earlier thread, linked by Jon D'Souza Eva, there is some other info that is worth flagging up (if you were not already aware):
viewtopic.php?f=27&t=8166#p297240
Brian Valentine said:
And later, Brian added:When I played my first adult league match, Craddock was the top board for my team.
I wonder if Brian or his contemporaries have any other memories of Craddock? I think he retired from the Met Office soon after this date, if I have my timings right.I was playing for the Met Office where Craddock was very senior. At the time the Met Office was building its early computer forecasts. A Google search brings up several papers he had published. The MO team amalgamated with another company team around 1969 and was soon subsumed into Bracknell Industries. So consistent with Jon's timeline.
The retirement year was 1975: "James Marston Craddock retired from the Meteorological Office after 33 years' service. For the previous 16 years he had been a Special Merit Senior Principal Scientific Officer concerned with the application of statistics and..." (from The Meteorological Magazine - Volume 104 - Page 220, 1975).
Jon mentioned Craddock's mother's role of "bee expert for the Surrey agricultural committee". Does Cradddock mention that in his autobiography by any chance? (What were the names of his father, mother and wife?)
The Cardiff High School connection is mentioned in a paragraph on Craddock over at the Cardiff Chess Club history webpage:
Does anyone know exactly which counties he played for?Junior chess was beginning to make its mark in these inter-war years. In 1925 Cardiff High School was awarded a Schools Shield by the British Chess Federation. Their club nurtured the rare talent of James Marston Craddock (1913-2001) who won the British Boys Championship – the Ginner Cup – (Under 18) in 1929, 1930 and 1931. The last of these successes was as a pupil of King Edward School, Birmingham.
He was that rarity, a teenager who played for the county team in 1929. He played top board for Cambridge in the 1935 inter-varsity match and in one university match beat Sultan Khan. He took part in the British Championship in 1937. Later in life he represented many counties in the south of England, playing top board for Bedfordshire.
Poking around his Met Office career details online (more offline, obviously), I noticed that he was part of the "Climatic Research Unit, School of Environmental Sciences, University of East Anglia" in its early years in the 1970s (the CRU was founded in 1972). He appears to have been active there towards the end of and after his retirement from the Met Office and published a number of papers on climate change research and computational and other methods.
Does his "potted autobiography" say much about that, by any chance?
-
Jon D'Souza-Eva
- Posts: 161
- Joined: Mon Apr 24, 2023 7:53 am
Re: J M Craddock - King Edward's School, Birmingham?
Names of James' parents, wife and brother have all been added here:(What were the names of his father, mother and wife?)
https://www.familysearch.org/tree/perso ... s/G2FT-N7T
-
Andy Stoker
- Posts: 348
- Joined: Sun Jan 26, 2014 9:23 pm
Re: J M Craddock - King Edward's School, Birmingham?
Thank you, Christopher and Jon, for the interest. Craddock writes the following as part of his short autobiography:
"... in 1935,1 graduated with a double First in Mathematics. Later I entered for the First Division of the Civil Service, and was successful at the second attempt. However, the work was not to my liking, and this phase was uneventful, except that it led to my meeting my wife. Eveline Horton was a LCC music scholar, who studied for nine years at the North London Collegiate School. Her father could not support her at university, and she was an Executive Officer in the Civil Service when we met and married in 1941.
I was seconded to the Meteorological Office in 1942, originally for the duration of the war, but within a week of my joining, I knew that I was wasting my time in administration, and that my natural bent lay in scientific research. I arranged for permanent transfer, and several professional prizes, and promotions out of turn, proved my instinct was correct. I was in a personal post of Senior Principal Scientific Officer from 1959 until I left the Civil Service in 1975, and then worked for three years at the University of East Anglia before going on to pension.
In all, about 70 of my papers are published in various scientific journals.
Eveline and I were agreed that we wanted a real family, larger than two children fashionable in the 1930s and in the event we have four daughters and a son..."
"... in 1935,1 graduated with a double First in Mathematics. Later I entered for the First Division of the Civil Service, and was successful at the second attempt. However, the work was not to my liking, and this phase was uneventful, except that it led to my meeting my wife. Eveline Horton was a LCC music scholar, who studied for nine years at the North London Collegiate School. Her father could not support her at university, and she was an Executive Officer in the Civil Service when we met and married in 1941.
I was seconded to the Meteorological Office in 1942, originally for the duration of the war, but within a week of my joining, I knew that I was wasting my time in administration, and that my natural bent lay in scientific research. I arranged for permanent transfer, and several professional prizes, and promotions out of turn, proved my instinct was correct. I was in a personal post of Senior Principal Scientific Officer from 1959 until I left the Civil Service in 1975, and then worked for three years at the University of East Anglia before going on to pension.
In all, about 70 of my papers are published in various scientific journals.
Eveline and I were agreed that we wanted a real family, larger than two children fashionable in the 1930s and in the event we have four daughters and a son..."
Last edited by Andy Stoker on Mon Oct 16, 2023 10:57 pm, edited 1 time in total.
-
NickFaulks
- Posts: 8475
- Joined: Sat Jan 02, 2010 1:28 pm
Re: J M Craddock - King Edward's School, Birmingham?
I presume that Eveline was then forced to resign. In the 1970s I had the privilege of working with two lady lawyers, following their previous careers as senior civil servants, who had families but had never officially married for that reason.Andy Stoker wrote: ↑Sun Oct 15, 2023 9:00 pmand she was an Executive Officer in the Civil Service when we met and married in 1941.
If you want a picture of the future, imagine a QR code stamped on a human face — forever.
-
Brian Valentine
- Posts: 577
- Joined: Fri Apr 03, 2009 1:30 pm
Re: J M Craddock - King Edward's School, Birmingham?
There is not much more I can add. I cannot recollect ever talking to Craddock, me being a schoolboy knowing my place. The Met Office was based in Dunstable from 1940 to 1960. The sccu bulletin 1958 -1 has him winning on top board for Bedfordshire v Suffolk. The county archivist is looking into earlier records.Christopher Kreuzer wrote: ↑Sun Oct 15, 2023 6:56 pmI wonder if Brian or his contemporaries have any other memories of Craddock? I think he retired from the Met Office soon after this date, if I have my timings right.
After 1960 he would be based in Bracknell and I can recollect him being on a top, if not top, board for Berkshire when I got selected for the county in 1969 and a bit after.
-
Colin Patterson
- Posts: 332
- Joined: Mon Oct 11, 2010 12:27 am
Re: J M Craddock - King Edward's School, Birmingham?
I was browsing the December 1948 CHESS Magazine yesterday and spotted that he played board one for Bedfordshire on October 30th 1948, defeating Leonard Illingworth, who was representing Cambridgeshire.
-
John Saunders
- Posts: 1728
- Joined: Thu Apr 19, 2007 3:10 pm
- Location: Kingston-upon-Thames
Re: J M Craddock - King Edward's School, Birmingham?
I noted some time ago that Craddock's father George was also a chess player, though not as strong as his son, judging from this game sent me by Gerard Killoran 18 months ago:
Personal Twitter @johnchess
Britbase https://www.britbase.info
(I prefer email to PM - contact me via this link - https://www.saund.org.uk/email.html)
Britbase https://www.britbase.info
(I prefer email to PM - contact me via this link - https://www.saund.org.uk/email.html)
-
GrahamStuart
- Posts: 42
- Joined: Wed Dec 15, 2021 11:04 am
Re: J M Craddock - King Edward's School, Birmingham?
From the HCA records he played for Surrey and Berkshire, although a big gap between the two (I am assuming these are the same player?). The 1940's and 50's are ones where match records are sparse though.Does anyone know exactly which counties he played for?
The Berkshire ones would have been taken from the SCCU Archives.
You do not have the required permissions to view the files attached to this post.
https://www.hampshirechesshistory.co.uk
@HCAChessHistory
@HCAChessHistory