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Biliard and Snooker Balls
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Billiard Rules Maces etc
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Billiard Table Cushions
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Billiard Table Development
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Billiard Table Lighting
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Billy Mitchell
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E Diggle
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H W Stevenson
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J P Mannock
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John Roberts Junior
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John Roberts Senior
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Joseph Bennett
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Kentfield and Carr
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Mace to Billiard Cue
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Magnus Billiard Tables
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More Unusual Billiard Tables
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Origin of Billiards
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Taylor and North
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W J Peall
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William Cook Senior
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William Dufton
Norman Clare Retrospective
Cues n Views is proud to present the Norman Clare Retrospective section as a tribute to the noted Billiards & Snooker Historian.
Thurston, current copyright holders, has kindly granted permission to Cues n Views to present the articles written by Norman Clare and originally published in Cue World in the nineteen eighties.
Navigate the articles using the Menu to the left to go to the item of your choice, or scroll down for a brief description of each article.
Past Masters
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Billy Mitchell
This time’s Past Master is William Mitchell (known to his friends as Billy). Another “Northerner” who was for a time known as the “Sheffielder”, although he was in fact born Berkinlee in Derbyshire which is some 12 miles from Sheffield.
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E Diggle
According to Riso Levi – in his book entitled “Billiards in the 20th Century” Mr Edward Diggle was nicknamed “The Mechanical Methodical Mancunian” having been born in Manchester in January 1864.
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H W Stevenson
Stevenson, was a North country-man, being born at Hull on 15th July 1874, although he moved South and spent much of his time at the Hotel Metropole, in Brighton, where at the age of 16 years he made his first century break.
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J P Mannock
J P as he was frequently called. was born in London. Very little is recorded of his boyhood but we know he spent many years as a billiard coach with Messers Burroughes and Watts Limited. and played in the B & W tournaments at The “Royal Aquarium” making a name for himself with a break…
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John Roberts Junior
John Roberts Junior’s skill can be traced back to his father’s Billiard Room in the George Hotel, where after school he would “knock the balls about”, and in the absence of his father would play against John Herst
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John Roberts Senior
John Roberts was born in Manchester about the year 1815 and evidently began to play billiards at the early age of 9 years, at which time he was not tall enough to reach the table properly and it is recorded that he gained his first experience by playing on an early table with a wooden…
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Joseph Bennett
Joseph Bennett learnt the game at an early age. His father had left the Excise Department to take the Billiard Room at the Eagle Hotel in City Road, which gave him the opportunity to play and so he rapidly improved and decided to be a professional.
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Kentfield and Carr
The first player who can be looked upon as the Professional Billiards Champion must be Edwin (sometimes also called Johnathan) Kentfield . . . , Mr John (better known as Jack) Carr who some might consider a Professional player
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Taylor and North
During the 75 years from 1825 to the end of the century, there were only two “runners up”, who never ultimately gained the title themselves, namely T Taylor, who was defeated by a margin of only 90 points in 1,000 up by Joseph Bennett in 1881, and J North, who was beaten by nearly half…
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W J Peall
W J Peall, who lived to become the “grand Old Man”, of the game was born in St Pancras, London, on 31st December 1854, and was 98 years of age when he died in June 1952. He was some six years older than the famous John Roberts Junior, but almost exactly the same age as…
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William Cook Senior
W J Peall, who lived to become the “grand Old Man”, of the game was born in St Pancras, London, on 31st December 1854, and was 98 years of age when he died in June 1952. He was some six years older than the famous John Roberts Junior, but almost exactly the same age as…
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William Dufton
William Dufton was without doubt one of the great players of the Victorian era and a contemporary of John Roberts Senior
Days of Old
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Origin of Billiards
The origin of the game of Billiards is very obscure, although many efforts have been made to trace its history, always without success. There are in existence a number of “theories” or “anecdotes”
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Billiard Rules Maces etc
Last time I mentioned a rule book dating from 1779 and some of the rules in it may be of interest so I quote a few of them here . . .
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Billiard Table Development
At this time too, billiard tables were always specially made to order by cabinetmakers. Mr Gillow was the earliest known maker of these custom built tables and he originally made his tables in Lancaster, during the late 1700s.
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Billiard Table Cushions
The first type of cushion as previously described was just padding around the wooden rim of the table, it was probably the obvious thing to do to reduce the noisy impact of the balls. This type of protective padding was improved and the cushion known as the “List Cushion” was used in conjunction with the wooden bed tables.
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Biliard and Snooker Balls
Originally only two balls were required for the game of billiards. According to John Roberts Senior in his book “Roberts on Billiards”, published in 1868, he states that within the memory of several distinguished players still living the red ball was introduced, and in the same book he later states that the red ball came into use . . . “shortly before the opening of…
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Billiard Table Lighting
From the earliest times, man has employed artificial illumination to utilize the hours of darkness. Until the first electric light became available late in the 19th century, all artificial light was produced by fire or flame. Wax candles are said to be of Phoenician origin, oval cup type oil lamps of stone or clay with a wick, using animal oils had their origin several thousand…
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Magnus Billiard Tables
Mr George Eugene Magnus who was born in 1801, he spent some time in the Potteries area of Staffordshire and married Mary Boyle, the daughter of an earthenware manufacturer. So it was that he evidently learned something of the art of decorating, glazing and firing pottery. A skill he later used to decorate the underframes of billiard tables which he made entirely of slate. In…
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More Unusual Billiard Tables
During the entire known history of the game of billiards there have always been enthusiasts who have tried to invent and introduce variations in the design of tables. In fact some variations which have been recently reported as new ideas are in fact very, very old.
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Mace to Billiard Cue
The further back we research into the history and development of the game of Billiards, the tables and the accessories, the more interesting it becomes. This article in the “Days of Old” series, looks at the development of the Billiard Cue. Many present day players of snooker, will probably be surprised to learn that 500 years ago, the game was played on the ground, out…
