Blackpool 1937

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Gerard Killoran
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Blackpool 1937

Post by Gerard Killoran » Sun Nov 28, 2021 6:52 pm

Another bumper crop from the BNA.

I have found a forename for Miss K. Austin. The Middlesex County Times - Saturday 11 January 1936 p.18 has her on board 3 for John Lewis in the London Commercial League. The 1939 England and Wales Register has...

Name: Katharine Austin [Katharine Sugden]
Gender: Female
Marital Status: Single
Birth Date: 12 Jul 1910
Residence Date: 1939
Residence Place: St Marylebone, London, England
Occupation: Head Staff Supervisor

...at Flat 14, 19a Cavendish Square, which was is where John Lewis is located.

Can it be a coincidence that another resident (at Flat 15!) was chess player, Eric Coad-Pryor?










The only L. Mullen in East London/Essex who fits the bill is...

Name: Laurence Mullen
Gender: Male
Marital Status: Single
Birth Date: 2 Nov 1914
Residence Date: 1939
Address: 63 Folkestone Road
Residence Place: East Ham, Essex, England
Occupation: Senior Order Clerk Knitting Wool

His opponent, C. H. Taylor was...

Name: Charles H Taylor
Gender: Male
Marital Status: Single
Birth Date: 10 Jun 1874
Residence Date: 1939
Address: Ash Lane Wyke Miller
Residence Place: Wells, Somerset, England
Occupation: School Master ??

From the Wells Journal - Friday 11 March 1960 p.5

Well-known Chess player: Death of Mr. C. H. Taylor

The death occurred on Tuesday of Mr. Charles Henry Taylor, formerly of "Wyke Wilber." Ash lane, He was 85 and had been in failing health for some time.

A native of Newton Abbot he joined the teaching profession in the Devon town and for some years was Head Master at Broad Windsor, Dorset. he resigned that appointment to take up a teaching post under the London County Council.

On his retirement he came to Wells with his sister. Miss Jessie Taylor who was also a member of the teaching profession and was for many years Headmistress of St. John's School, Glastonbury. She died in January of last year, aged 86.

Mr. Taylor was well-known in chess circles and had much to do with the formation of the Wells Chess Club. He was a player of national repute. Until his illness he was a regular attendant at the Cathedral and a member of the Confraternity of St. Andrew. For some years he acted as secretary and treasurer of the "Diocesan Gazette." He was also a member of the Wells Archaeological Society.

The funeral takes place this Friday. A service will be held at the Cathedral at 11.30 a.m., followed by interment at Glastonbury Cemetery.

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John Saunders
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Re: Blackpool 1937

Post by John Saunders » Sun Nov 28, 2021 7:07 pm

Superb work, Gerard. I'll add them to the BritBase.info file for this tournament.
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John Saunders
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Re: Blackpool 1937

Post by John Saunders » Sun Nov 28, 2021 7:24 pm

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Kevin Thurlow
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Re: Blackpool 1937

Post by Kevin Thurlow » Sun Nov 28, 2021 10:13 pm

"Eric Coad-Pryor"

Or sometimes he used Coad as a forename. He married the daughter of the Director of NPL (Richard Glazebrook) in 1919, which sounds like a good career move, so it is interesting that he had changed jobs by 1921.

Jessie Taylor's school in Glastonbury carries on, under the intriguing title of "Saint John's Church of England Voluntary Controlled Infants School". I don't know if the pupils or the school are "voluntary controlled".

Wells Chess Club is still going strong.

And I wonder if Audrey Poupard were related to HJ Poupard, a junior in 1929, but playing for Government Chemists 50 years later.

Gerard strikes gold again.

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John Saunders
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Re: Blackpool 1937

Post by John Saunders » Mon Nov 29, 2021 2:36 am

I've now updated the 1937 British Championship page on BritBase to include the new games and details.

It turns out that there is a transcription error in the digitised 1939 Census for Katharine Austin and that she was born in 1901, not 1910.

I found a more detailed entry for her on Ancestry and have included it here on BritBase.

For ease of reference... full name Katharine Tate Austin, born 12 July 1901, Melbourne, Australia, died 3 October 1983, Kendal, Westmorland, England. occ. Head Staff Supervisor (presumably at John Lewis's), Holborn in 1939 (resid. Flat 14, 19a Cavendish Square, in the next flat to Eric Coad-Pryor who also worked for John Lewis's). Katharine married Frank Kay Sugden (1909-67) in 1960, Holborn, London. Her husband seems to have been a keen climber (hence their migration to the Lake District) but, as far as I can see so far, no mention of him being a chess player.
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Roger de Coverly
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Re: Blackpool 1937

Post by Roger de Coverly » Mon Nov 29, 2021 11:46 am

Gerard Killoran wrote:
Sun Nov 28, 2021 6:52 pm
Name: Laurence Mullen
Gender: Male
Marital Status: Single
Birth Date: 2 Nov 1914
Very likely the same Laurence Mullen who lived in Wooburn Green, Bucks and played at and for the local Bourne End club in the 1970s. From memory, he would have then been around 140 standard. The age more or less fits.

Paul Habershon
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Re: Blackpool 1937

Post by Paul Habershon » Tue Nov 30, 2021 8:42 am

John Saunders wrote:
Mon Nov 29, 2021 2:36 am


For ease of reference... full name Katharine Tate Austin, born 12 July 1901, Melbourne, Australia, died 3 October 1983, Kendal, Westmorland, England. occ. Head Staff Supervisor (presumably at John Lewis's), Holborn in 1939 (resid. Flat 14, 19a Cavendish Square, in the next flat to Eric Coad-Pryor who also worked for John Lewis's). Katharine married Frank Kay Sugden (1909-67) in 1960, Holborn, London. Her husband seems to have been a keen climber (hence their migration to the Lake District) but, as far as I can see so far, no mention of him being a chess player.
Sugden? It would be nice to hear of a connection with John N Sugden, well known tournament player and contemporary of RDK at Dulwich College and Cambridge (I think).

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