Full Names of 1950s Players (1956 BCF Grading List)

[Jon D'Souza-Eva]

The relatively mysterious "P. J. Unway" is also a BBC player, but appears to be only on one grading list (5b in 1961). He also played for Hertfordshire in the 1960s.

The first port of call for anyone who has an unusual surname and whose initials are known is freebmd as it has some limited support for wildcards. In this case a search for births, marriages or deaths for "p* j unway" comes up with just one match - a Peter John Unway whose death was registered in Wallingford in 1988. His date of birth is given as 29th January, 1912.

Edit: A subsequent search on Ancestry suggests that his original name was Johann Peter Ulanowsky and that he was born in Vienna.

[Gerard Killoran]

Earlier, I found

viewtopic.php?t=12005#p270492

From British Zone Review: A Monthly Review of Activities in the British Zone of Germany, Volumes 2-3

1947 · ‎Snippet view

CHESS COMPETITION In an atmosphere of almost International rivalry the finals of the ... Close behind came Mr. C. Bridle of Flensburg representing Schleswig - Holstein and Mr. P. J. Unway , of Hamburg ...

[Gerard Killoran]

H. W. Calvert (A.C.W.A.) was a Cost Accountant, reported as living at 8 Harewood Drive, Ilford, Essex in 1957 and 1960

[Mick Norris]

H. W. Calvert (A.C.W.A.) was a Cost Accountant, reported as living at 8 Harewood Drive, Ilford, Essex in 1957 and 1960

Ilford 09/10/65 Southend
1 HW Calvert (W) 1 0 David G Cannan
2 J Tiplady 0 1 Peter J Romilly
3 ME Grange 1 0 Arthur A Hammond
4 D Watt 1 0 Ken W Townsend
5 F Farman 1 0 Alan C Howell
6 J Gilderson 0 1 Paul Hershman
7 Alex Fowlie 0 1 David SW Eustace
8 R Bessell 0 1 G Alan Perrin
4 4

[Gerard Killoran]

Although Richard James - above - identified G. E. James, this is how I tracked him down. I think Kent Champion is a bit of a stretch as he was playing for Hastings Seconds in 1924.

G. E. James founder member (1936) of the NALGO Chess Club (Town Clerk's department) (Leicester Evening Mail - Tuesday 29 March 1949 p.7)

and

G. E. James, one - time Kent champion. (Leicester Evening Mail - Monday 25 July 1955 p.13)

Gives us from the 1939 register

Name: George E James
Gender: Male
Marital Status: Married
Birth Date: 31 Aug 1894
Residence Date: 1939
Residence Place:Leicester, Leicestershire, England
Occupation: Leicester Corporation Official

and thus

George Edwin James
from:
David Owen Morris Family Tree
Spouse Rose May Stickland
Birth 31 Aug 1894 Brighton, Sussex, England
Death 5 May 1979 Leicester, Leicestershire, England
Residence 1939 Leicester, Leicestershire, England

[Jon D'Souza-Eva]

H. W. Calvert (A.C.W.A.) was a Cost Accountant, reported as living at 8 Harewood Drive, Ilford, Essex in 1957 and 1960

In that case he probably wasn't the Harold William Calvert whose death was registered in Chelmsford in 1981 (DoB 29th June, 1907), as his occupation in the 1939 register was "Butcher's Accessories Traveller ".

[Richard James]

In this 1948 county match GE James played HW Calvert.

The Leicestershire team, as it usually did in the late 1940s, included three chess pieces: Horsey, Bishop and Castle.

For more on the chess playing Lanspeary family see here.

[Richard James]

Here's a birth announcement from 1951. Ockbrook is between Derby and Long Eaton.

From checking John's birth record we can identify HWC's wife as Joan Kathleen Clifton: they married in Uxbridge in 1943. Joan was born in Watford in 1913 and the London Gazette announcement of her father's death confirms the names Harold William Calvert.

There are other possible children of the marriage, born in Derbyshire: Judith in 1946, and twins Elaine and Olwen in 1948.

There's a record for a Joan K Calvert in Chelmsford in the 2002 Electoral Register.

The only Irish Harold William Calvert I can find was born in Belfast in 1892, emigrating to Canada at some point in the 1920s and dying there in 1943.

[David McAlister]

Here's a birth record from 1951. Ockbrook is between Derby and Long Eaton.

From checking John's birth record we can identify HWC's wife as Joan Kathleen Clifton: they married in Uxbridge in 1943. Joan was born in Watford in 1913 and the London Gazette announcement of her father's death confirms the names Harold William Calvert.

There are other possible children of the marriage, born in Derbyshire: Judith in 1946, and twins Elaine and Olwen in 1948.

There's a record for a Joan K Calvert in Chelmsford in the 2002 Electoral Register.

The only Irish Harold William Calvert I can find was born in Belfast in 1892, emigrating to Canada at some point in the 1920s and dying there in 1943.

Is this in any way helpful?
viewtopic.php?f=27&t=14072&start=105#p307802

[Richard James]

Here's a birth record from 1951. Ockbrook is between Derby and Long Eaton.

From checking John's birth record we can identify HWC's wife as Joan Kathleen Clifton: they married in Uxbridge in 1943. Joan was born in Watford in 1913 and the London Gazette announcement of her father's death confirms the names Harold William Calvert.

There are other possible children of the marriage, born in Derbyshire: Judith in 1946, and twins Elaine and Olwen in 1948.

There's a record for a Joan K Calvert in Chelmsford in the 2002 Electoral Register.

The only Irish Harold William Calvert I can find was born in Belfast in 1892, emigrating to Canada at some point in the 1920s and dying there in 1943.

Is this in any way helpful?
viewtopic.php?f=27&t=14072&start=105#p307802

I had that in front of me while I was trying to research Calvert.

But I also found this, which left me very confused.

Further, we have the 1907 Calvert dying in Chelmsford in 1981, and Joan K Calvert, seemingly his wife, living in Chelmsford in 2002. (I haven't found a death record for her yet.)

[Christopher Kreuzer]

Earlier, I found

viewtopic.php?t=12005#p270492

From British Zone Review: A Monthly Review of Activities in the British Zone of Germany, Volumes 2-3

1947 · ‎Snippet view

CHESS COMPETITION In an atmosphere of almost International rivalry the finals of the ... Close behind came Mr. C. Bridle of Flensburg representing Schleswig - Holstein and Mr. P. J. Unway , of Hamburg ...

I noticed that too. If Jon's find of "Johann Peter Ulanowsky [...] born in Vienna" is the same person, that might be a Free Austrian forces story? Or maybe not.

https://www.ushmm.org/online/hsv/person ... Id=4227602

It looks from that entry in the Holocaust Survivors and Victims Database that Johann Peter Ulanowsky was a victim of the Austrian law changes by the Nazis following Anschluss:

...a decree concerning the Reporting of Jewish assets of April 26, 1938 required all Jewish citizens to report their total domestic and foreign assets, where such assets exceeded 5,000 Reichsmarks, and the Vermögensverkehrstelle was created three weeks later to oversee the transfer of such Jewish assets into Aryan hands; name index includes last name, first name, date of birth and archival file number.

The London Gazette of 26 November 1946 has more:

https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/iss ... 7/data.pdf

Ulanowsky, Peter Johann Theodor; Austria;. Serving Officer in His Majesty's Forces; 58, Pelham Court, Fulham Road, London, S.W.3 24 September 1946

That is from:

LIST of ALIENS to whom Certificates 'of Naturalization have been granted by the Secretary of State, and whose Oaths of Allegiance have been registered in the Home Office during the month of October, 1946. The date shown in each case is the date on which the Oath of Allegiance was taken.

There are a number of online family trees (including the one Jon found) that have included him and noted the change of name, such as this one:

https://www.hohenemsgenealogie.at/getpe ... e=Hohenems

There is also an "ULANOWSKY Nicholas Peter (Unway Nicholas Peter)" listed as a member of the University of Cambridge in a listing that goes up to 1991. Nicholas Peter Ulanowsky was a Huddersfield architect, but I can't work out if they were related.

Going back to Peter Johann Theodor, maybe this is a different person to Johann Peter?

I say this because there is another London Gazette entry from 1953 (Volume 2, p.2483) that states:

"Lt. Peter Johann Unway (83942) from Gen. List, Emerg. Commn., to be Lt,. 6th May 1953, and is granted the hon . rank of Capt. Short Serv. Commn."

This Peter Johann consistently uses the order Peter Johann (rather than Johann Peter) and can be found serving in H.M. Forces under both names (Ulanowsky and Unway). The work in communications might fit with the later BBC work. But why did the Theodor middle name get dropped, and is this the Johann Peter born in Vienna?

[Jon D'Souza-Eva]

Further, we have the 1907 Calvert dying in Chelmsford in 1981, and Joan K Calvert, seemingly his wife, living in Chelmsford in 2002. (I haven't found a death record for her yet.)

I don't have a subscription to newspapers.com, but a search on ancestry pointed me to this page, which seems to have a picture of the wedding of Harold William Calvert and Joan Kathleen Clifton in Hillingdon on the 24th April, 1943:
https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/932477407/

I found Joan's death record on the General Registry Office website (free but you have to register, so to speak). She died in 2009 and her death was registered in Uttlesford, Essex. Her probate can be found on the Government's probate search website and gives the date of death - 13th June, 2009.

[Richard James]

The son of Captain and Mrs Calvert of Blackpool, which should be a big clue.

The 1939 Register then leads us to Charles Calvert (b. 1875), a retired Master Mariner, living in 3 Kenwyn Avenue Blackpool with his wife Alice G Calvert (b. 1874). He seems to have been born in Hull. It looks like he married Alice Gertrude Richardson in Sculcoates (a suburb of Hull) in 1897.

We can then check the birth records and identify two likely sons of the marriage, Charles Richardson (b. Sculcoates 1900) and Harold William (b. Hull 1907), who must surely be our man.

I haven't yet managed to locate them in the 1901, 1911 or 1921 census, though.

[David McAlister]

The only Irish Harold William Calvert I can find was born in Belfast in 1892, emigrating to Canada at some point in the 1920s and dying there in 1943.

My candidate, the 1901 Census record for him (Harold W Calvert) shows that he was born in County Down. Mother (a widow) is named Isabella and then 49 years old. 8 of his 9 siblings were also recorded as being born in County Down; the other was born in Belfast. The 1911 Census return (Harold William Calvert), which finds him at an Hotel in Portstewart, also gives County Down as his birthplace. His father was probably Leonard Calvert, an Engineer, aged 50 at the time of his death on 21 July 1899. Informant for the death was his son F(red) C. Calvert.

[Edit on 3 June 2024 - An internet page for Harold William Calvert in ""North Down and Ards War Dead" with detailed family and biographical information clearly indicate that my candidate is the Canadian emigrant (he actually went there in 1912), and therefore not the Northern Ireland chess player H.W. Calvert, who also turns out that he has been a red herring.]

Here must be the proper conclusion for the entirely English H.W. Calvert:

The son of Captain and Mrs Calvert of Blackpool, which should be a big clue.

The 1939 Register then leads us to Charles Calvert (b. 1875), a retired Master Mariner, living in 3 Kenwyn Avenue Blackpool with his wife Alice G Calvert (b. 1874). He seems to have been born in Hull. It looks like he married Alice Gertrude Richardson in Sculcoates (a suburb of Hull) in 1897.

We can then check the birth records and identify two likely sons of the marriage, Charles Richardson (b. Sculcoates 1900) and Harold William (b. Hull 1907), who must surely be our man.

[Jon D'Souza-Eva]

I believe John Saunders has correctly identified J E Smith as Joseph Eric Smith, who played in the 1933 Varsity match for Oxford and subsequently became headmaster of a school in Birmingham:
https://www.saund.co.uk/britbase/pgn/va ... #1933smith

On this site a former pupil of Smith's school (Sheldon Heath) mentions that Smith gave him a lift to Cheltenham where they were both playing in a county chess match:
https://birminghamhistory.co.uk/forum/t ... 914/page-2