Born in the little Yorkshire mining village of South Kirby, near Featherstone, on July 11, 1885, I suppose I was cradled and nurtured in much the same way as all the little "imps of mischief" in this or any other mining village.
Taken pretty early from school, for, one presumes, the double purpose of eking out the family income and preventing me from inculcating habits of idleness, I had a pretty early introduction to the dangerous—and, in those days, badly paid—occupation of coal-mining.
In this I was merely following my father's footsteps, and perhaps I was more fortunate than some pit boys inasmuch as I came under immediate parental control, the pit chosen for me being that in which to this day my father holds a more or less responsible position. The art of coal-mining was about the only legacy I have inherited. There were no sporting traditions in our family, and certainly no encouragement extended in the direction of billiard playing. Still, I was happy enough in my own way, fond of running and jumping and rambling over the beautiful country adjacent to my home, for, despite the unsightly pitheads obtruding here and there all over the place, the country round about was, and is, very charming.
To get back to the immediate subject of this article, I may say that I never had a billiard cue in my hand until I was seventeen years of age. Then Fate led me into the billiard room attached to the Jubilee Club in our village.
The game fascinated me, and I took to it pretty much as a duck does to water. I practised most assiduously, and with such (to me) gratifying success that I made a hundred break in six months from the day I first took up a cue. I was in the seventh heaven of delight when a few members of the club, wildly enthusiastic over what was considered a wonderful performance, subscribed for and presented me with a gold medal as a souvenir of the occasion. That gold medal is amongst my most cherished possessions.
Turning things over in my mind, I came to the conclusion that I possessed, perhaps, some natural aptitude for the game, and from that period coal-mining lost its attraction for me.
However, I did not make the plunge until a few years later, when my billiard playing having developed a certain amount of proficiency with seemingly unusual rapidity, I eventually"burned my boats"and for good or ill decided on billiards as a career. Just at first it seemed to be for ill, because the livelihood obtained from playing matches, at infrequent intervals, in clubs and institutes in the North and Midlands of England, was very precarious.
I did not, however, regret my choice, and when I migrated to the West of England some fourteen or fifteen years ago the sun began to shine a little for me. Making Newport (Mon.) my headquarters, I found a good deal of more or less lucrative work in the vicinity, and what was more important to me I was making my 100, 200, and 300 breaks (and an occasional 400) with a fair amount of regularity, and soon became to be recognised as champion of the West of England. But it was on coming to London in 1912 to take part in a tournament organized by Messrs. Burroughes & Watts that I really began to be sure that billiards was my forte. A fortunate engagement as tutor at Thurston's followed, and what the newspapers described as excellent displays against Stevenson and Reece in the season 1913-14 inspired me with somewhat sanguine hope for the future.
Since then I may say, without boasting, that I have come on with some rapidity, and last year I had the great good fortune to play in a memorable final for the championship. I never had a lesson in billiards in my life, so I suppose I must be one of those very" rare birds"—a natural billiard player, and in that respect count myself a somewhat fortunate individual.
My best break is 870; the world's record of 157 consecutive cannons is mine, and to my credit stands a break of 335 compiled in 14 minutes. I owe a big debt to the public for the encouragement they have given me. I shall always be trying to discharge a little of it by giving in all my matches the best that I am capable of.