Roehampton Club

Last updated • 3 min readFrom Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia

The Roehampton Club is a private members’ sports club in Roehampton in southwest London, England. It is set in 100 acres (400,000 m2) of parkland, close to Richmond Park. Originally established in 1901 as an officers’ polo club, the Roehampton Club has sporting and leisure facilities including an 18-hole golf course, 28 tennis courts, 6 squash courts (one for doubles), 4 croquet lawns, indoor and outdoor swimming pools, a gym, a fitness studio, a health and beauty clinic and a bridge room. [1]

Contents

Early history

At the turn of the 19th century there was a tremendous strain on the polo clubs of London to provide for the growing interest in the sport. Clubs existed in the vicinity of the capital but were considered to be too far to travel. It was the initiative of the Miller brothers that began the formation of the Roehampton club to alleviate this problem. Edward Miller had left the 17th Lancers in 1893 to start Rugby Polo Club at his home in Warwickshire. His brothers Ted, Charles (an Olympic polo player) and George had developed one of the largest polo pony supply businesses in Europe. Together they met with the other interested parties and formed a Limited Liability company to create the club. Lord Shrewsbury was appointed as the chairman and Adolphus Cambridge, 1st Marquess of Cambridge was made president.

Charles Darley Miller set out to find the land which needed to be close to the Hurlingham Club and Ranelagh Club for ease of transportation of polo ponies. The original facilities included three polo grounds, a racecourse, a horse show ground, an area where women could practice driving, tilting and jumping and stabling for the members horses. in 1904 a golf course was built with nine holes, this was later expanded to 18.

The Roehampton club opened in April 1902 under the management of Charles Darley Miller. The Roehampton Trophy, donated by Mrs Alison Cunninghame of Craigends, was first played for in this year. The Trophy is now the oldest polo trophy played for in England and the tournament is held at Ham Polo Club in Richmond, London. There were also Junior competitions and a tournament where all the players and teams were selected by ladies. The cups were presented to the ladies who picked the winning team.

In 1913 Olive Hockin started a fire at the club in support of the suffragette movement. Hockin was arrested as she was also suspected of an arson attack on a house at Walton Heath belonging to Lloyd George. Hockin was given a four-month sentence in Holloway Prison. [2]

The first 400 members paid no entrance fee and though the club was considered to be a poor relation to the Hurlingham and Ranelagh clubs this was not the case. Members and regular polo players included Admiral Lord David Beatty, Sir Winston Churchill, the Marques de Villavieja, Lord Hugh Salisbury, the Grand Duke Mikhail Mikhailovich, and the Duke of Westminster. King Alfonso XIII of Spain was so fond of playing at the club he paid for a grandstand to be built on top of the clubhouse for his entourage to use. [3]

Inter-war years

Polo and equestrianism at Roehampton recovered quickly after the First World War. The club was now being managed by Clement Charles Lister who with the assistance of John Arthur Edward Traill and the Miller brothers took a keen interest in the development of newcomers to the sport of polo.

There were a number of key polo players at the club during this time including 10-goal Charles Thomas Irvine Roark, 9-goal Eric Horace Tyrrell-Martin and John Arthur Edward Traill.

Membership

Applicants must be proposed and seconded by their personal friends for membership of Roehampton Club. Candidates are invited to attend a meeting with a Director of the Club who may endorse their application before submitting it to the Board for approval. A week prior to each Board Meeting, a list of prospective members is displayed in the Clubhouse for all Members to see. The waiting list is operated in date order and there is one in-take of new Members each January. The number of resignations received by the end of each year determines the vacancies available the following year. [1]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Polo at the 1908 Summer Olympics</span> Polo at the Olympics

At the 1908 Summer Olympics, a polo tournament was contested. It was the second time the sport had been featured at the Olympics, with 1900 being its first appearance. The venue was the Hurlingham Polo Grounds in London. The Hurlingham Club presented a Challenge Cup to the winner of the tournament, which consisted of three teams. All three teams represented the British Olympic Association, with two from England and one from Ireland. The two English teams played each first, with the winner playing against the Irish team. Roehampton won both games, taking the gold medal, while the other two teams did not face each other to break the tie for second place.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Hurlingham Club</span> Organization

The Hurlingham Club is an exclusive private social and athletic club located in the Fulham area of London, England. Founded in 1869, it has a Georgian-style clubhouse set in 42 acres (17 ha) of grounds. It is a member of the Association of London Clubs.

The Hurlingham Polo Association (HPA) is the governing body for polo in the United Kingdom, Ireland, the United Arab Emirates and many other countries. The Federation of International Polo produces the International Rules of Polo through a cooperative agreement with the Hurlingham Polo Association, the Asociacion Argentina de Polo, and the United States Polo Association.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Charles Stanhope, 8th Earl of Harrington</span>

Charles Augustus Stanhope, 8th Earl of Harrington, known as Viscount Petersham from 1866 to 1881, was a British peer and successful polo player.

Claire Janet Tomlinson was an English polo player and pony breeder. She was the highest-rated female polo player and coached the English national team she once captained.

The Campeonato Argentino Abierto de Polo is an international polo championship at club level, organised every year since 1893 at the Campo Argentino de Polo of Palermo, Buenos Aires.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hurlingham Club (Argentina)</span> Argentine sports and social club

Asociación Civil Hurlingham Club, simply known as "Hurlingham Club" is an Argentine sports and social club located in the city of Hurlingham, Buenos Aires. It is named after the Hurlingham Club in London and was set up in 1888 by the local Anglo-Argentine community. The town of Hurlingham and Hurlingham Partido grew up around the club, taking its name.

Charles Darley Miller was a British polo player who competed in the 1908 Summer Olympics as a member of the British polo team Roehampton, which won the gold medal.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rosslyn Park F.C.</span> English rugby union club, based in London

Rosslyn Park Football Club is a rugby union club based in south west London.

The International Polo Cup, also called the Newport Cup and the Westchester Cup, is a trophy in polo that was created in 1886 and is played for by teams from the United States and England. Matches were conducted 12 times between 1886 and 1939, suspended during World War II, and not revived until 1992 due to changing times and interests. Originally contested as a best-of-three series, single-game matches have been held since the event was revived. The most recent match was held in March 2023 at the National Polo Center in Wellington, Florida, won by the English team.

Ham Polo Club is a Hurlingham Polo Association polo club situated in Richmond in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, south-west London, England. It is one of the oldest polo clubs in the United Kingdom and the last surviving club in London. The club occupies a location between Richmond Park and the River Thames overlooked by Ham House, eight miles from Hyde Park Corner. The club's facilities include three polo fields, a stick and ball field, an exercise track, livery service, coaching and a members' clubhouse with a restaurant and bar which is managed by Blue Strawberry Group. Polo is played at Ham Polo Club between May and September. The club has around 70 playing members and several hundred social members.

The Roehampton trophy is the oldest polo trophy in the United Kingdom. The trophy was first played for at the Roehampton Club in 1902 and was won by Buccaneers. Today it is played for at the Ham Polo Club, the tournament is played for at an 6-goal level and the finals are held in August.

William Francis Walsh (1907–1992) was an Irish polo player. He is regarded as one of the three key figures in the post war revival of the sport of polo in the United Kingdom. He single-handedly restarted Ham Polo Club in 1946.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Johnny Traill</span> Irish–Argentine polo player

John Arthur Edward Traill (1882–1958) was the first Irish–Argentine 10-goal polo player.

Richmond Park Golf Course, a public, daily fee golf course comprising two 18-hole courses, is located in Richmond Park in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames and is home to Richmond Park Golf Club, Putney Park Golf Club and White Lodge Golf Club.

The Ranelagh Club was a polo club located at Barn Elms in south west London, England. It was founded in 1878 as a split-off from the Hurlingham Club and by 1894 was the largest polo club in the world. The club had approximately 3000 members in 1913, including many prominent military figures and members of different royal families.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Oxford University Polo Club</span>

The Oxford University Polo Club is the Discretionary Full Blue sports club for competitive polo at Oxford University. Founded in 1874, it is one of the four oldest continuing polo clubs worldwide. Its annual Varsity Match against Cambridge University Polo Club, established in 1878, is the second oldest continuing polo fixture in the Western world. It is played at Guards Polo Club, England, usually at the beginning of June.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cecil Patteson Nickalls</span> English polo player

Cecil Patteson Nickalls, D.S.O. was a Colonel in the Royal Field Artillery. He was a champion polo player, and a champion rugby player, who killed himself with a gun on 7 April 1925.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Royal County of Berkshire Polo Club</span>

The Royal County of Berkshire Polo Club is a polo club located near Windsor, Berkshire and home to the Prince of Wales tournament - one of the most coveted high goal trophies in Polo. It is set in a 230-acre estate, one mile from Ascot Racecourse, and comprises six polo fields, an arena, clubhouse and a polo school. The club is also home to The Arena Gold Cup, the most prestigious winter season tournament and The Arena Polo Masters, currently the highest goal game played in the winter.

The Cambridge University Polo Club is the Discretionary Full Blue sports club for competitive polo at the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1873, it is the oldest surviving polo club in Europe and the second oldest in the world. Its annual Varsity Match against Oxford, established in 1878, is the oldest continuing polo fixture in the world.

References

  1. 1 2 The Roehampton Club Official Website
  2. "Strong Willed & Courageous … Margaret Schencke – A Woman of Fortitude". Women's History Network. 8 February 2015. Retrieved 5 May 2018.
  3. Horace A. Laffaye (2009). The Evolution of Polo. McFarland & Company. ISBN   978-0-7864-3814-3.

51°27′48.08″N0°14′45.1″W / 51.4633556°N 0.245861°W / 51.4633556; -0.245861