A HISTORY OF MIDDLESEX 



C. J. Arkle, G. L. Jeffery, G. C. Lindsay, 

 E. S. McEwen, C. Collier, T. Riddell, and 

 A. S. Johnson. 



In 1888, the year before the County 

 Championship was officially recognized, Mid- 

 dlesex was without question the strongest 

 Rugby team of the season. 



Since the initiation of the County Cham- 

 pionship Middlesex has competed each year, 

 and though the county team has never headed 

 the competition, it has generally given a good 

 account of itself. In 1904 in the final Mid- 

 dlesex were only just beaten by Durham by 

 the bare margin of a point. In the season 

 of 1907-8 the county team, as champions 

 of the South-Eastern Division, met Cornwall 

 in the semi-final to decide who should meet 

 Durham for the championship. Cornwall, 

 however, who subsequently defeated Durham 

 in the final, proved the stronger. 



Many prominent international players have 

 been associated with Middlesex football ; 

 notably E. T. Gurdon, who captained the 

 team for many years, and his brother Charles ; 

 the late Alan Rotherham, the most correct 

 half-back of his own or any time, who suc- 

 ceeded Gurdon in the captaincy ; C. G. Wade, 

 now Premier of New South Wales ; the Hon. 

 H. A. Lawrence ; the late John Hammond, 

 who though Yorkshire born, by residence 

 played for the metropolitan county throughout 

 his long career ; C. J. B. Marriott, A. E. 

 Stoddart, G. L. Jeffery, and others. Up to 

 1907 the county received very material assist- 

 ance from such famous international players 

 as W. E. Maclagan, the late G. C. Lindsay, 

 J. G. McMillan, A. J. Gould, A. F. Harding, 



and G. Campbell. In the year mentioned 

 it was thought that the non-inclusion of such 

 players would the better stimulate native 

 talent and the following rule was passed : 

 ' No man possessing an Irish, Scotch, or Welsh 

 International Cap shall be eligible to play in 

 a county championship match.' At the present 

 time Middlesex has more clubs affiliated to the 

 Rugby Union than any other county, and 

 consequently is entitled to two seats in the 

 executive. The present representatives are 



E. Prescott and W. Williams. 



To two Middlesex men, the late Arthur 

 Budd and the late R. S. Whalley, credit is 

 due for the inception of the useful London 

 Referees' Society for supplying referees to all 

 clubs belonging to the society. 



Nor have the schools in the county been 

 behind hand in training a considerable number 

 of international players, as the subjoined list 

 will show. Harrow for instance, though 

 still adhering to rules peculiarly its own, has 

 supplied A. N. Hornby, W. E. Openshaw, 



F. E. Pease, J.T. Gowans, and John Hopley ; 

 Mill Hill J. H. Dewhurst, A. F. Todd, and 

 T. W. Pearson ; Christ's College Finchley 

 C. R. Cleveland, C. H. Coates, the late 

 H. G. Fuller, president of Cambridge Uni- 

 versity F.C., H. M. Jordan, and W. C. 

 Hutchinson. From St. Paul's School came 

 R. O. Schwarz ; from St. John's Wood, 

 A. E. Stoddart, G. L. Jeffery, and J. G. An- 

 derson. Christ's Hospital produced S. Rey- 

 nolds, and Isleworth College, A. Allport and 

 H. Huth. From Merchant Taylors' came 

 N. C. Fletcher, A. S. and H. H. Taylor ; 

 and from the Godolphin School G. Fraser. 



GOLF 



Golf was first introduced into Middlesex in 

 1 890 by the formation of the Stainesand West 

 Middlesex Clubs, which was followed in 1891 

 by that of the Northwood Club, and during 

 the eighteen years that have since elapsed the 

 game has made rapid progress. The Hilling- 

 don and Finchley Clubs were established in 

 1892, and the Enfield, Stanmore, Hampstead, 

 and Neasden Clubs in the following year ; and 

 the number of clubs in existence, which in 1 900 

 had risen to twenty, is now fifty-one, 1 only 

 four short of that in Surrey, which ranks first 

 among the Home Counties in this respect. 



The development of golf in Middlesex has, 

 like that of other sports, been greatly influenced 

 by the growth of London ; and this influence, 

 which in the case of field sports has been 

 wholly destructive, has been in the main 

 beneficial to the royal and ancient game. Only 

 eight of the fifty-one clubs above mentioned 

 are recruited from the county, and the remain- 

 ing forty-three are London clubs, the establish- 

 ment of which has not only promoted a taste 

 for the game amongst Londoners, but by the 

 creation of the links connected with them 

 has also helped to preserve ' open spaces ' 



1 This is exclusive of ladies' clubs, of which there but the Chiswick Golf Club, instituted in 1902, 



are in all twelve, two belonging to the county has now succumbed to the long threatened invasion 



and twelve London clubs, as to which see post, of the builders ; see Golfing Tear Bk. 1905, p. 358, 



Until 1907 the total number of clubs was fifty-two; and 1907, p. 393. 



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