Article Menu
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Albert W Gamage and Cue
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A W Chick
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Four Little Snookers
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Kingsley Kennerley cues
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Frank Lupton Cue Plates
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Billiard Match Tickets 1905
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The Shadowless Billiards Shade
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Billiards Expounded and the Valet
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Maurice Tate Brighton
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Sidney Smith Billiards Champion
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H J Davis
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What is a snooker?
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Kent & Co
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Burnley Billiard Works Enquiry
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Norval & Sons
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William Sykes
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Frederick Mortlock
Peter Ainsworth
This is the start of a series of articles looking at the historical areas of Billiards and Snooker.
Cues n Views Historian, Peter Ainsworth is an avid collector and researcher. He has published a number of on-line books, some of which are to be excerpted here.
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.
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Frederick Mortlock
Frederick Herbert Mortlock (1852-1897) was born in Clare, Suffolk, where he learned his trade as cabinet maker before moving to London and taking employment with Burroughes & Watts.
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William Sykes
Henry Osborne Sykes (1875-1939) and William Oates Sykes (1883-1935) who both became involved with the business, and the introduction of billiards to the range of products seems to coincide with the start of their influence. The first definite reference to…
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Norval & Sons
In 1878 they opened a works and showroom at 42 Argyle street, Glasgow, and began the trade as ‘Norval & Wilson’. They remained at this address until 1882, when they opened separate workshops at 57 Argyle Street, with the showroom…
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Burnley Billiard Works Enquiry
Dave, North Wales enquired about his machine spliced cue and shared an image of it in September 2025, Cues n Views historian, Peter Ainsworth replied as follows. Your cue was made by Willie Holt (Burnley) Ltd., between the wars.
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Kent & Co
In 1913, Leonard Kent was joined in partnership by Edward Cleal who, having taken over the factory of the Bonzoline Ball Co in Queen Street, London, was involved with the manufacture and sale of composition billiard balls.
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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
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H J Davis
Although he claimed that his business had been established in 1896, the first reference to him trading independently comes in 1902, shortly after his arrival in the Kentish town of Old Brompton. Here he took over the premises of a…
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Sidney Smith Billiards Champion
This Sidney Smith Champion cue was made to commemorate Sidney Smith’s award of the United Kingdom Billiards Championships in 1947 and 1948. Smith won this tournament less times than he received the trophy. He was awarded it twice but won…
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Maurice Tate Brighton
The words “Maurice Tate, Brighton” may sound familiar to cricket lovers, and a cue carrying this inscription appeared at Lawrence’s, Bletchingley, on Tuesday, 30th November 2021.
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Billiards Expounded and the Valet
J P Mannock told a good self deprecating story about this book which ran something like this: Mannock had many distinguished pupils and one day he called at the house of Sir Thomas Lipton at Southgate to give a lesson,
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The Shadowless Billiards Shade
Another useless item I’ve just acquired from eBay is a little flyer giving warning of a patent infringement. It wasn’t surprising that I was the only bidder as it has barely any value other than the story behind it.
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Billiard Match Tickets 1905
Old and worthless ephemera, can sometimes tell a story. Here are a couple of tickets to watch a billiard match in 1905, which the original buyer couldn’t bear to throw away
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Frank Lupton Cue Plates
Silver presentation cue plates are always interesting to find, and this pair had a special attraction for me, having originated from Hartlepool, which is quite close to where I currently live
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Kingsley Kennerley cues
More: Kennerley cues Kingsley Kennerley was probably most famous as an amateur immediately before the war, when he was just about unbeatable, at least in England, winning the billiards championship for four years in succession and making a world record…
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Four Little Snookers
It is a little known fact that the first edition of Billiards by Major General A W Drayson (1889) contains the first published rules of Snooker.
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A W Chick
Before entering the trade, A W Chick was doing the rounds in the Midlands as a professional billiard player of some note, being the professional champion of Birmingham in 1896.
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Albert W Gamage and Cue
Albert Gamage was an interesting character and if not exactly a “rags-to-riches” story, he certainly started from modest beginnings.
