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Spring. A draughts competition was instituted by the Worcestershire Union of Working Men's Clubs and Institutes. There were 5 competitors. Mr Raymond of the Kidderminster Club won first prize. Runner-up was W.H. Gibson of Bromsgrove Institute.
Sat 30 April at Redditch. Redditch Chess Club played a chess and draughts match with St George's (Birmingham).
Mon 18 Feb at the Coffee Tavern, Bromsgrove. Bromsgrove DC easily beat Stourbridge DC by 45½ to 4½.
Points | BROMSGROVE | STOURBRIDGE | Points |
---|---|---|---|
5 | J. White | W. Jones | 0 |
4 | J. Wall | J. Chamberlain | 1 |
5 | J. Harbidge | A. Austin | 0 |
5 | M. Nokes | J. Timmins | 0 |
4 | G. Jones | J. Courtney | 1 |
4 | H. James | W. Chamberlain | 1 |
5 | J. James | J. S. Lotton | 0 |
5 | A. Steele | W. Lewis | 0 |
4 | W. J. Leadbetter | W. S. Lotton | 1 |
4½ | B. Juggins | W. Peploe | 0½ |
45½ | 4½ |
Mon 18 April at Stourbridge. Bromsgrove DC beat Stourbridge DC by 31½ -18½.
Points | STOURBRIDGE | BROMSGROVE | Points |
---|---|---|---|
1 | H. Kingdon | J. James | 4 |
1 | George Holmes | M. Nokes | 4 |
2 | W. Tarry | J. Harbidge | 3 |
1½ | A. Allbutt | A. Steele | 3½ |
0 | H. Shacklock | J. White | 5 |
1 | C. Jackson | H. James | 4 |
0 | W. Chamberlain | George Jones | 5 |
3 | J. Baker | B. Juggins | 2 |
4½ | J. Smith | T. Humphries | 0½ |
4½ | W. Shotton | George Humphries | 0½ |
18½ | 31½ |
Sat 18 Oct at Bromsgrove. Bromsgrove played Kidderminster Coffee Tavern DC (8-a-side). The visitors won by 27½ -12½.
Points | BROMSGROVE | KIDDERMINSTER | Points |
---|---|---|---|
1 | J. White | C. Edwards | 4 |
1½ | W. Nokes | R. Taylor | 3½ |
3 | B. Juggins | Allen | 2 |
0 | J.Harbidge | H. Parker | 5 |
2 | J.W. Leadbetter | W. French | 3 |
1 | G. Jones | E. Smith | 4 |
4 | A. Steel | N. Perks | 1 |
0 | J. Wall | W. Morby | 5 |
12½ | 27½ |
Sat 24 Jan at St George's Chess Club, Birmingham. Birmingham beat the Cafe Club, Northampton, by 33-16 and 8 draws. Afterwards it was decided to form a Birmingham Draughts Club since the game was so popular in the town.
Wins | BIRMINGHAM | Draws | NORTHAMPTON | Wins |
---|---|---|---|---|
2 | Oliver | 1 | W. Matthews | 3 |
2 | Hess | 3 | Whitney | 1 |
4 | Lord | 0 | Rawlings | 1 |
4 | James | 0 | Purvis | 2 |
2 | Harris | 2 | Middleton | 2 |
4 | Macbeth | 1 | T. Matthews | 1 |
5 | Silverman | 0 | C. Wood | 1 |
2 | Matthews | 1 | A. Gibbs | 3 |
3 | Smeed | 0 | Morgan | 1 |
5 | Bodfish | 0 | Shirley | 1 |
33 | 8 | 16 |
Feb. At Hamstead Institute various games were supplied. A draughts tournament was won by Mr J. Connop [sic]
Tue 19 May at Langley Temperance Hall. Langley Club and Institute beat Halesowen Institute by 27-10 and 11 draws.
Wins | LANGLEY | Draws | HALESOWEN | Wins |
---|---|---|---|---|
2 | S. Griffiths | 3 | J. Hicton | 1 |
3 | H. Garbett | 2 | R. Jones | 1 |
6 | A. E. Cross | 0 | E. Shilvock | 0 |
3 | T. Marriott | 1 | W. Hicton | 2 |
4 | W. Vance | 0 | J. Hollis | 2 |
2 | J. Read | 2 | J. Russell | 2 |
3 | J. G. Coxen | 1 | H. Brettell | 2 |
4 | W. A. Round | 2 | S. Powell | 0 |
27 | 11 | 10 |
Mon 5 Oct. at the Coffee Tavern, Stourbridge. The home side beat the Kidderminster Coffee Tavern by 33½ to 21½.
Points | STOURBRIDGE | KIDDERMINSTER | Points |
---|---|---|---|
3½ | Devlin | Parker | 1½ |
3 | Kean | Harrison | 2 |
2 | Wood | Miles | 3 |
3 | Woodhouse | Smith | 2 |
2½ | Bullock | Case | 2½ |
4 | Wilson | Bury | 1 |
1½ | Homes | Vale | 3½ |
3 | Lamberth | Allen | 2 |
4½ | Baker | Silvester | ½ |
4 | Wall | Weaver | 1 |
2½ | Smith | Morris | 2½ |
33½ | 21½ |
Sat 31 Oct. Birmingham Draughts Club was opened.
[From The Draught-Payers' Weekly Magazine, Vol 2 No 15, 7 Nov 1885]
14 Nov. West Birmingham Draughts and Chess Club was publicly opened.
[Above: from DPWM Vol 2 No 16, 14 Nov 1885]
[Below: from DPWM Vol 2 No 18, 28 Nov 1885]
Thurs 19 Nov. Walsall Star DC was formally opened by Mr Entwistle of Liverpool DC. J. A. Wilcox played 10 games simultaneously -7 wins, 2 losses and 1 draw.
Sat 28 Feb at the Abington Square Cafe Club. Northampton lost to Birmingham by 29½ to 36½ . A "good number" of games were drawn.
Points | NORTHAMPTON | BIRMINGHAM | Points |
---|---|---|---|
2½ | Whitney | Stephenson | ½ |
5½ | W. Matthews | Gilbert | ½ |
3 | C. Purvis | Bodfish | 3 |
1 | T. Middleton | Baker | 5 |
2½ | E. Wright | Matthews | 3½ |
0 | Morgan | Griffiths | 6 |
1½ | Gibbs | Mousley | 4½ |
2½ | J. Dumayne | Pennington | 2½ |
2 | Davies | Chapman | 2 |
2½ | Shirley | Hayden | 3½ |
1 | Nathaniel Smith | Mounsey | 5 |
5½ | Wills | Ross | ½ |
29½ | 36½ |
13 March. Kidderminster lost to Birmingham DC by 6-58 and 6 draws at Vicar Street Coffee Tavern, Kidderminster. The Birmingham club had 72 members and a silver cup had been offered for competition among them.
April. Birmingham DC requested matches with other English clubs, with teams of up to 12 per side.
27 April (Easter Tuesday). Return match. Birmingham DC beat Kidderminster by 49½ -19½ [Details of wins unknown]; at 63 Snow Hill, Birmingham. Home team: W. Smeed (captain), E. S. Stephenson, T. Gilbert, A. W. Griffiths, W. Moseley, A.W. Pennington, C. W. Hayden, J. Davidson, H. Clews, H. Wilson, H. Ros and F. Chapman. (Not their strongest team.)
April. West Birmingham lost to Birmingham DC 3rd team by 24½ to 39½ [Details of wins unknown]; at Mr Rowe’s Coffee House, 57, Parade.
May. Birmingham. Stephenson beat Jones by 5-4 and 7 draws.
[From DPWM Vol 3 No 22, 29 May 1886]
Sat 29 May. West Birmingham DC beat Walsall Star DC by 26-16 and 12 draws at Rowe’s Coffee House.
[From DPWM Vol 3 No 24, 12 June 1886]
June. A third Birmingham club was due to be formed, at the Warwick Arms, Bradford Street.
Mon 4 Oct. A match was arranged between Liverpool and Birmingham, to be played in Liverpool.[Did this take place?]
Jan. Birmingham DC took the initiative in trying to form a Midland Counties Association. Birmingham DC, whilst being one the youngest clubs in England, had the reputation of being one of the most successful and enterprising. Northampton, Nottingham, Hanley, Walsall, etc were described as centres of considerable strength. Clubs within a 50 mile radius of Birmingham were invited to join by applying to the secretary, T. J. Baker, at 63 Snow Hill. It seems that nothing came of this.
Sat 8 Jan at 63,Snow Hill, Birmingham. In the return match Birmingham DC beat Walsall Star DC by 20-4 and 4 draws. Four of the visitors' strongest players were unavailable.
Wins | BIRMINGHAM | Draws | WALSALL | Wins |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Gilbert | 2 | Wilcox | 1 |
4 | Stevenson | 0 | Rutter | 0 |
3 | Church | 0 | Williams | 1 |
3 | Bodfish | 1 | Tipton | 0 |
1 | Matthews | 1 | Reynolds | 2 |
4 | Griffiths | 0 | Kendrick | 0 |
4 | Haydon | 0 | Brandrick | 0 |
20 | 4 | 4 |
Thurs 20 Jan. Annual soiree of Birmingham DC.
Some of the leading players in the Birmingham area were arranging individual matches, including J. A. Willcox of Walsall vs Jones, captain of West Birmingham Club. The winner to play T. Gilbert, a rising young player of the Birmingham Club.
Sat 7 May at the Cafe, Snow Hill, Birmingham. Birmingham DC beat Abington Square Chess and Draughts Club of Northampton by 36½ - 8½. Northampton were not well represented.
Points | BIRMINGHAM | NORTHAMPTON | Points |
---|---|---|---|
½ | Stevenson | G. Whitney | 1½ |
1½ | Gilbert | F. Rawlings | ½ |
5½ | Bodfish | T. Middleton | ½ |
4 | Church | T. Matthews | 0 |
1 | Chapman | E. Wright | 1 |
4 | Griffiths | F. Chambers | 2 |
5½ | Barker | S. Bates | ½ |
6 | Matthews | W. Thompson | 0 |
4½ | Hayden | E. Cook | 1½ |
4 | Clews | A. Tinkler | 1 |
36½ | 8½ |
July. Death of E. Stephenson in Birmingham, aged 37. He worked hard for Birmingham DC, encouraging young players, and was twice elected captain.
Sat 26 Nov at the Abington Square Cafe, Northampton. The visiting Birmingham DC won by 33½-18½ .
Points | NORTHAMPTON | BIRMINGHAM | Points |
---|---|---|---|
2 | W. Matthews | Gilbert | 0 |
2 | G. Whitney | Bodfish | 4 |
2 | F. Rawlings | T. Baker | 1 |
1½ | C. Purvis | Harden | 4½ |
2½ | E. Wright | Matthews | 3½ |
1 | T. Middleton | Baker | 5 |
3 | J. Davies | Pennington | 2 |
1½ | T. Matthews | Clews | 4½ |
½ | A. Gibbs | Kean | 5½ |
2½ | F. Pugh | W. A. Baker | 3½ |
18½ | 33½ |
Tue 29 Nov at Kidderminster Coffee Tavern. The home team beat Stourbridge, who were poorly represented, by 37-13.
Points | KIDDERMINSTER | STOURBRIDGE | Points |
---|---|---|---|
6 | Harrison | Priest | 0 |
3 | Varney | Clewes Jnr | 0 |
6 | Giles | Peploe | 0 |
3 | Hodgkiss | Biddle | 2 |
2 | Sylvester | Owen | 4 |
5 | Poole | Dawson | 1 |
3 | Hinton | Clewes | 3 |
4½ | Morris | Pope | 1½ |
4½ | Mowle | Webb | 1½ |
37 | 13 |
Thurs 26 Jan at the Coffee Tavern, Stourbridge. Stourbridge lost to Kidderminster by 18 points to 41 in the third match between these teams. Stourbridge team: Morris, Pope, Tarry, Langstone, Clewes Jnr, Biddle, Owen, Veal, Dawson and Clewes Snr. Kidderminster: Harrrison, Parker, Vale, Taylor, Giles, Fredericks, Poole, Sylvester, Bennett and Saunders.
Thurs 2 Feb at Central Coffee Tavern, Stourbridge. Social evening at Stourbridge DC HQ. A substantial dinner was followed by a friendly match.
Sat 25 Feb at 63 Snow Hill, Birmingham. The home team beat Kettering by 27-11 and 6 draws.
Wins | BIRMINGHAM | Draws | KETTERING | Wins |
---|---|---|---|---|
2 | H. Bodfish | 0 | A. Bailey | 1 |
5 | B. Church | 0 | H.G. Ginns | 1 |
3 | T.J. Baker | 1 | A.G. Denny | 2 |
2 | G.W. Griffiths | 1 | F. Ginns | 2 |
4 | D. Barker | 1 | W. Bailey | 1 |
2 | C.W. Hayden | 2 | A. Bird | 2 |
5 | H. Clews | 1 | F. Smith | 0 |
4 | W. Turvey | 0 | H. Abrahams | 2 |
27 | 6 | 11 |
E. Horton played J. A. Wilcox in the "Star and Garter" Coffee House, Walsall.
Feb. Annual fixture: Kidderminster lost to Birmingham DC by 10-38, 10 draws. Birmingham team: T.J. Baker, G.W. Griffiths, C. Haydon, D. Barker, H. Clews, S. Foster, W. Turvey, Wareing, H. Radford, Bryden.
First match between Nottingham and Birmingham. Nottingham beat Birmingham DC by 23-14, 10 draws. Birmingham team: Baker(captain), F. Garrett, Bodfish, H. Chapman, Haydon, Griffiths, Matthews, D. Barker, Clews, F. Chapman, Turvey, Radford, Briden.
May. In the return match Birmingham beat Kidderminster by 44-15, 12 draws. Birmingham team: Church, T.J. Baker, G. W. Griffiths, D. Barker, Clews, Hayden, Turvey, Waring, Downes, Briden, Hancox, Miller.
J.A. Kear Snr and Jnr and H.G. Osborne visited Birmingham and local players.
Sept. Another new club was started - South Birmingham DC. HQ: “Lord Nelson”, Pershore Street.
[From The Draughts Players Quarterly Review , Vol 1 No 1, Sept 1888]
Sat 29 Dec at Pershore Working Men's Club. The visitors for a match at bagatelle and draughts were Evesham WMC. 6-a-side. Evesham won at draughts by 10-6 and 2 draws.
Sat 2? Feb at Birmingham. The home side beat Northampton by 5 games.
Sat 9 Feb. Return match at Central Coffee House, Corporation Street, Birmingham. The match began after a "substantial knife and fork tea" at 5 pm and was completed by 9 pm. The home side lost to Nottingham by 14-31, 11 draws. This was the second match between these clubs.
Wins | BIRMINGHAM | Draws | NOTTINGHAM | Wins |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Bodfish | 0 | Mitchell | 3 |
1 | Chapman | 0 | Linney | 3 |
1 | Baker | 1 | Hewitt | 2 |
1 | Griffiths | 0 | Birchenough | 3 |
1 | Hayden | 1 | Langley | 2 |
1 | Turvey | 1 | Riley | 2 |
2 | Clews | 2 | Thorpe | 0 |
0 | Waring | 2 | Brown | 2 |
2 | Hopkins | 1 | Hutchinson | 1 |
1 | Sedgeley | 1 | Johnstone | 2 |
1 | Chance | 0 | Rhodes | 3 |
0 | Doyle | 0 | Suffolk | 4 |
1 | Milward | 1 | Whittington | 2 |
1 | Radford | 1 | Osborne | 2 |
14 | 11 | 31 |
Sat 20 July at Northampton. Abington Square Cafe DC played West Birmingham DC in a return match - an "excellent meat tea" being provided beforehand. After several attempts to beat a Birmingham team, Northampton finally managed to win, by 18-15 and 8 draws.
Wins | NORTHAMPTON | Draws | BIRMINGHAM | Wins |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | G. Whitney | 2 | W. Jones | 2 |
2 | J. Hilliard | 1 | G. W. Griffiths | 3 |
3 | F. A. Pugh | 2 | W. M. Perry | 1 |
0 | T. Middleton | 0 | A. Withers | 6 |
3 | T. G. Hollowell | 0 | J. Desmond | 3 |
4 | A. Gibbs | 2 | J. Payne | 0 |
5 | S. Bates | 1 | T. R. Thomas | 0 |
18 | 8 | 15 |
Sat 26 Oct at Birmingham. West Birmingham Chess and Draughts Club beat Redditch easily, this being the visitors' initial match at draughts. They won by 7-3 and 0 draws at chess, and by 29-0 and 1 draw at draughts.
Wins | WEST BIRMINGHAM | Draws | REDDITCH | Wins |
---|---|---|---|---|
6 | Griffiths | 0 | Wright | 0 |
6 | Jones | 0 | Harris | 0 |
6 | Withers | 0 | Sandland | 0 |
6 | Hadley | 0 | Morris | 0 |
5 | Desmond | 1 | Dickenson | 0 |
29 | 1 | 0 |
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