What is a snooker?

It is generally accepted that the term “Snooker” as applied to the game, came from a name given to a first-year cadet at the Royal Academy at Woolwich. This would appear to have been in use in the early 1870s, Chamberlain having first been made aware of it in 1875. But where did this term actually originate? Dictionaries tell us that the use of the phrase “Cock a Snook” first appeared in print as early as 1791 and it has been suggested that the novice recruits earned their name by their habit of cheekily “cocking a snook” at their non-commissioned officers. This “carry-on” image of military training at this time hardy bears scrutiny.

**‘The Shop’ – The Royal Military Academy, Woolwich**

Another offering was made by Lt-Col. G L H Howell, late R.A. who stated in a letter to the ‘Billiard Player’ published in 1939 that the term was: “time’s corruption of the original word for a newly-joined cadet, which was ‘Neux’.” A rational deduction perhaps, but there is also an intriguing, and certainly more colourful alternative.

In the 1850s there was a comedy duo called “Hooker and Snooker” who were performing in the London theatres during the earliest days of the Music Hall variety acts. Could it be that Mr Snooker’s character was sufficiently inept that his persona was sarcastically applied by one of the older cadets to a hapless junior at Woolwich, and the name stuck? Unfortunately, this can be little more than guesswork, as extensive enquiries reveal nothing more about Messrs. Hooker and Snooker (real names Messrs. Widdicombe and Shepherd) other than a few newspaper reviews. Still, there remains the faintest chance that these now forgotten thespians gave the world a legacy which far transcends the fame achieved in their own lifetime.

Peter Ainsworth

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