Rev. G.A. MacDonnell

[John Townsend]

I see that Tim Harding has posted an account of the MacDonnell v. Wisker match, 1874. I wonder what frame of mind MacDonnell was in following the episode which Philip W. Sergeant described in A Century of British Chess as having caused him great upset (footnote to pages 157-8). Acting as curate of Lower Norwood, Surrey - apparently, without full authority - he had married a couple who were the "guilty parties" in a divorce case. Rev. J.E. Kempe, whose church in Piccadilly was chosen for the service, reported him to the Bishop and he was barred from further activity. MacDonnell unsuccessfully sued Kempe for libel. One of his two counsels is named in some reports as "F.J. Lewis", but it may have been another chess player, "F.H. Lewis", as the name is printed in other accounts.

The press considered the case extraordinary and covered the trial so fully - including a good account in The Times of 5 August 1872 (page 9) - that it is doubtful whether there would be much mileage in looking for the assize records. Has anyone already done that? One error in Sergeant’s short account is his remark that the case was heard at "Guildhall, London" - in fact, it was at the Summer Assizes, Guildford, Surrey.

MacDonnell had previously been curate at Bethnal Green.

[Gordon Cadden]

You will find an extensive obituary on the Reverend George Alcock MacDonnell, in the BCM, 1899 volume. p. 287-291. The obituarist uses the initials J.G.C., which I believe is James G. Cunningham, who was a correspondent for several newspapers, and the International Chess Magazine.
What is particularly interesting in this obituary, is that J.G.C. refers to the opponent of De La Bourdonnais, as MacDonnell. Even more astonishing, so does G.A. MacDonnell.
Someone once joked to him about the two MacDonnells, saying chess had only one Steinitz, and one Zukertort, and asking why it should have two MacDonnells. "Ah!" he replied, "You can't have too much of a good thing, and two MacDonnells are better than one Steinitz."

[Tim Harding]

Interesting point in John Townsend's posting, that it may have been F. H. Lewis who represented MacDonnell; thanks for that. I don't think, though, that a case in 1872 could explain MacDonnell's poor showing in a match two years later; after all MacDonnell did beat Wisker in their short match of 1873.

When I have time, I will revise that article at chessmail.com to include the 1873 match also.

In my book 'Eminent Victorian Chess Players' I refer to the Kempe case briefly on page 146 and mention an earlier case arising from a domestic incident at Christmas 1862 which led to the breakup of MacDonnell's marriage. (Details of that can be found in a Chess Cafe article 'The Last Homecoming of Mars' which I wrote some years ago).

MacDonnell was first married in 1853, later divorced and remarried in 1870. He had three children by the first marriage. I am still investigating for a future article.

Undoubtedly his sympathy for the remarrying couple in the Kempe case arose from the fact that he himself had been remarried (in church, and signing himself Bachelor not Divorcee).

In the divorce petition Thomas Hewitt represented MacDonnell and at the second marriage S. S. Boden was one of the witnesses, both leading amateurs on the London chess scene at the time. I have a suspicion that the second marriage broke up fairly quickly.

Somewhere I think MacDonnell mentions a grandson. Does anyone know the reference? (Surname would probably not be MacDonnell as the boy would probably have been the son of Ada, the only one of MacDonnell's children shown in the 1861 census.)

[John Townsend]

Thanks to Tim Harding for his contribution. He commented:

I don't think, though, that a case in 1872 could explain MacDonnell's poor showing in a match two years later; after all MacDonnell did beat Wisker in
their short match of 1873.

Point taken. However, it wasn't just any case: he had lost his job and income and was unable to obtain another curacy. It seems likely to have changed his life profoundly. Sergeant said it "affected MacDonnell greatly".

Two years sounds a long time, but who can tell whether it affected his frame of mind then? It may have been a factor. Wisker may have improved since the 1873 match.

[Tim Harding]

Wisker won the BCA Challenge Cup in 1870 and 1872 (after playoffs) and made an only slight minus score over a long series of matches with Bird in 1873/4 so I don't think he was stronger in 1874 than in 1873, no. If anything he was somewhat weaker in 1874.
See Professor Rod Edwards's figures at http://www.edochess.ca/players/p300.html which show 1872 as Wisker's peak year and a decline thereafter. MacDonnell's rating for 1874 also declined but that was chiefly because of the Wisker match.
Probably Wisker did not take the 1873 match with MacDonnell seriously enough and it looks as if it may have been arranged at short notice in Clifton, or just before.
As I say in my article Wisker sometimes handicapped himself by playing the Evans Gambit which did not suit his style (0/1 in 1873 and 1/3 in 1874). In 1874 MacDonnell also made some unwise opening choices (Dutch Defence and Bird's Opening, yielding two draws and a loss) but the disimprovement in his endgame play was noticeable.

Yes it is usually said MacDonnell lost his curacy after the 1872 Kempe case but maybe it was only temporary and he was reinstated? Unfortunately I don't have access to Crockfords Clerical Directories today and have not seen 1871-1875. Perhaps somebody can look these up in a library?
According to my notes made some years ago, the 1876 Crockfords (which would have been compiled the previous autumn) says the entry for MacDonnell still said he was Curate of St Andrews, Bethnal Green (as in 1870).
Maybe the Vicar/Rector at Bethnal Green was lazy about sending in updates but you would think if MacDonnell was in such disgrace, efforts would have been made to have the entry changed.
The 1880 Crockfords says MacDonnell had been Curate of Old St Pancras since 1876; the 1885 Crockfords says the same, and the 1890 edition shows he was Vicar of Bisbrooke, near Uppingham, since 1887 (patron: Duke of Rutland).
Certainly there is some mystery about MacDonnell's circumstances in the period 1870-1875.

[John Townsend]

Perhaps I should have said Wisker may have played better in the second match.

The Manchester Courier of 9 March 1876 (page 8) carries a note of his obtaining a licence to a curacy at Old St. Pancras.

[Tim Harding]

Perhaps I should have said Wisker may have played better in the second match.

The Manchester Courier of 9 March 1876 (page carries a note of his obtaining a licence to a curacy at Old St. Pancras.

Thanks for that. I have now expanded my article at http://www.chessmail.com/ and added a reference to the case mentioned by John earlier. Also Hans Renette (a Belgian master who is working on a Bird biography) pointed me towards the missing games from the 1873 match so my article now includes those too and a CBV file has all the games I have so far found between MacDonnell and Wisker.

I hope to post a new article at Chess Mail next Tuesday evening and expect Kibitzer to be back at the Chess Cafe in May.