Fifty Years of Progress 1880-1930

SIR MONTAGUE SHEARMAN A FAMOUS SPORTSMAN THE death on January 6th, 1930, of the Right Hon. Sir Montague Shearman, P .C., until recently a Judge of the King's Bench Division, and at the time of his death, the President of the Amateur Athletic Association, was a tremendous loss to the Association, and the athletic world in which he had taken the keenest interest throughout his life. Words are inadequate in which to describe the solid work of Sir Montague Shearman for the welfare of athletics, and the respect and genuine affection which his colleagues in the Amateur Athletic Association and every one else felt for him. It was, we think, something which we all felt, but could not perhaps convey to those who did not know our late President. No platitudes or conventional phrases could describe one who might be called, briefly and truly, " the leader of the athletic world." It is natural that we should deal first with his career as an athlete and administrator. Leaving Merchant Taylors' School, with a scholarship at St. John's College, Oxford, he won the 100 yards at the Oxford and Cambridge Sports in I 876, in rot sec. It was stated at the time" Mon– tague Shearman roused unrestrained enthusiasm by beating his field in the 100 yards, and the classic perfection of the winner's style made the spectacle of the race attractive." In 1878 he was elected President of the O.U.A.C., but was defeated in the quarter, and in I 879, owing to injury, was not selected for either the 100 yards or quarter. But greater honours had been, and were to be, gained by the Oxford sprinter. In 1876, before the formation of the Amateur Athletic Association, he had won the 100 Yards Championship, open to all amateurs, in ro¼ sec., and in 1880 he won the Quarter-Mile Championship in 52½ sec. Our late President obtained his " Blue" for Rugby football, playing for his University on two occasions. He was described as" a big man," and once when he was tackled at three-quarter back, the result was dis– astrous to both players. Many will be surprised to hear that he swam the Niagara River, below the Falls, at the age of twenty-four, rowed in his College boat, and was a good boxer. But it is in connection with the Amateur Athletic Association that Sir Montague will be chiefly remembered with gratitude by sportsmen. He was one of the founders of the Association, and details of the first meeting at Oxford, in I 880, appear in this publication. We also give a verbatim report of a memorable speech which he made at an Annual General Meeting of the Association, in which he gave an illumi- 22