Felix Gordon Hoadley

This is the first of what I hope will be many posts about the club's history.  To begin with, I thought it would be fun to go all the way back to the beginning and the first secretary of the club.

Felix Gordon Hoadley was born in Brighton in 1888 and when he was 25 years old he emigrated to New Zealand, but in that short period of adulthood, Private F. G. Hoadley made a big impact on shooting in Portsmouth.  He was the secretary and, for five years before emigrating, the captain of the newly established Borough of Portsmouth Rifle Club (as our club was previously known).

Hoadley was an exceptional shot who represented Portsmouth at Bisley.  In 1912, at the age of 24, he was within seven points of the King's Prize, achieving second place.  In that same year, the members of the club presented Hoadley with a B.S.A. rifle on the occasion of his marriage to Maud Smith.  It was only a year later that the club would say goodbye to their captain, secretary and cornerstone of their A team.  So important and well-liked was he that a 'smoking concert' was held in his honour at the "Cobden" Hotel on Arundel St (likely the Cobden Arms) attended not only by members of the Borough Rifle Club but by members of other clubs in the district as well.  It was at this event that he was presented with a silver watch with the following engraving:

"presented to F. G. Hoadley by the members of the Borough of Portsmouth Rifle Club, as a mark of esteem, June 1913"

On top of this, a purse of gold was presented for Hoadley's son, born that same month (Portsmouth Evening News, 26th June, 1913).

Felix Gordon Hoadley's farewell was well documented in the Portsmouth Evening News (26th June 1913, p. 5)

The Cobden Arms on Arundel St, Portsmouth (circa 1970, awaiting demolition)

Hoadley emigrated with his new family to the Dominion of New Zealand, a part of the British Empire, but still had every intention of returning to Bisley in the future to represent his new adopted homeland.  Unfortunately, with the advent of war the following year, it is unlikely he was able to do so.  He nonetheless maintained his shooting status, being described as "one of the finest marksmen in New Zealand" (New Zealand Evening Post, 18th October, 1917).  Sadly, his new life in the Antipodes was not long lived and Hoadley died of pneumonia in 1917 at the age of 29.

Hoadley's obituary (New Zealand Evening Post, 18th October 1917)

It's humbling to think that the organisations, clubs and teams we are involved with setting up and fostering in their early years may potentially live on as much as a century after we're gone.  Certainly, a number of individuals have made enormous contributions to our rifle club over the last century, but from what can be gleaned from the archives, F. G. Hoadley's efforts at the beginning were important in getting it all started.  Thanks, Felix!

F. G. Hoadley's final resting place, Sydenham Cemetary, Christchurch, New Zealand (from BillionGraves.com).

Promotional Video

What is the Arthur Lee Cup?

Last Thursday saw the first round of the Arthur Lee Challenge Cup (we won!).  This is an annual knock out competition where clubs in the 'Portsmouth & District' and 'Southampton & District' Rifle Associations battle it out to represent their association in a Portsmouth vs Southampton final.

Each club puts together a 6-person team where all six shooters' scores count (known as '6 to shoot, 6 to count').  This differs from our other shoulder-to-shoulder matches where the P&D league follows the rule of '8 to shoot, 5 to count', where the best 5 scores of each team of 8 are selected (see examples of this here).

1st Viscount Lee of Fareham

The cup was donated by Arthur Lee, an MP for Fareham at the turn of the 20th century who went on to become 1st Viscount Lee of Fareham.  Lee was a man of some historical note being knighted, a peer of the realm, holding the office of First Lord of the Admiralty after the First World War (a position later held by Winston Churchill during the first year of World War II), and donating the Chequers estate in Buckinghamshire to the nation for use as the official residence of the British Prime Minister.

Arthur Lee's various titles and positions mean that, while the trophy is now known as the 'Arthur Lee Challenge Cup', it has in the past been referred to as the 'Lord Lee Cup' or simply the 'Lee Cup'.

The cup is currently held by Sarisbury.  However, Portsmouth City Rifle Club, in its various forms, has won the cup several times, the first time being all the way back in 1911 when the club was called the Borough of Portsmouth Rifle Club.  In fact, during Portsmouth City's domination of shooting in Hampshire from after World War II up to the mid 1960s, our club won the cup 12 times!

This photo (from the Portsmouth & District Smallbore Rifle & Pistol Association website) shows the cup with its 1914 winners, the 6th Hants Regiment Rifle Team.  Their captain, Charles A. Sandell was an important member of Portsmouth's Main VIII rifle team before the outbreak of war in 1914 and again throughout the 1920s.

Hopefully we'll be able to post a photo of the cup at some point as well as a complete list of winners which then answers the all important question... who's won it more often, Portsmouth or Southampton?