Charlton James Blackwell Monypenny (4 November 1867 – 11 March 1947) was an English-born businessman, and the 27th

Laird Laird () is a Scottish word for minor lord (or landlord) and is a designation that applies to an owner of a large, long-established Scotland, Scottish estate. In the traditional Scottish order of precedence, a laird ranked below a Baronage of ...

of the Scottish estate of

Pitmilly Pitmilly is the site of a former estate located five miles south-east of St Andrews, Scotland. Its historical significance is threefold. It has been inhabited from ancient times; artifacts continue to be recovered from the Neolithic, Bronze and Ir ...

. As a youth he was a sportsman of some renown who played

rugby union Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...

for several teams including

Cambridge University The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...

and the

Barbarians A barbarian is a person or tribe of people that is perceived to be primitive, savage and warlike. Many cultures have referred to other cultures as barbarians, sometimes out of misunderstanding and sometimes out of prejudice. A "barbarian" may ...

. He was president of Cambridge University Athletics Club, for a period was the World Record holder for the 150-yard dash and was one of the fastest men in the world over

100 metres The 100 metres, or 100-meter dash, is a sprint race in track and field competitions. The shortest common outdoor running distance, the dash is one of the most popular and prestigious events in the sport of athletics. It has been contested at ...

Personal history

Monypenny was born in

Hampstead Hampstead () is an area in London, England, which lies northwest of Charing Cross, located mainly in the London Borough of Camden, with a small part in the London Borough of Barnet. It borders Highgate and Golders Green to the north, Belsiz ...

, London in 1867 to James Robert Blackwell Monypenny, 26th Laird of Pitmilly and Mary Elizabeth Lane. He was educated at

Fettes College Fettes College () is a co-educational private boarding and day school in Craigleith, Edinburgh, Scotland, with over two-thirds of its pupils in residence on campus. The school was originally a boarding school for boys only and became co-ed in ...

before matriculating to

Jesus College, Cambridge Jesus College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Jesus College was established in 1496 on the site of the twelfth-century Benedictine nunnery of St Radegund's Priory, Cambridge, St ...

in October 1889. Monypenny threw himself into sporting life at Cambridge and received three sporting '

Blues Blues is a music genre and musical form that originated among African Americans in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues has incorporated spiritual (music), spirituals, work songs, field hollers, Ring shout, shouts, cha ...

' for athletics between 1890 and 1892 in the

100 100 or one hundred (Roman numeral: C) is the natural number following 99 and preceding 101. In mathematics 100 is the square of 10 (in scientific notation it is written as 102). The standard SI prefix for a hundred is " hecto-". 100 is the b ...

and 440 yards, taking the 440 yards title and setting a Varsity record in the 1892 meet. While at Cambridge he achieved two running records, the World Record for the 150-yard dash (14.8 secs) and the Cambridge quarter of a mile track record (49.5 secs) which stood until 1931. In 1891 Monypenny was recognised as the seconded fastest man in the world behind American Luther Cary, recording a time of 10.8 seconds in the 100-metre sprint on 22 July. The next year, although recording an identical time of 10.8 seconds, he was judged the joint fastest men in the world that year, along with American athlete Cecil Lee. Jesus College rugby XV 1889

As well as athletics, Monypenny also joined the Cambridge University rugby team. Although never achieving a 'Blue' for facing Oxford in the Varsity Match, he retained his connection with the sport after leaving university, joining

Bath Bath may refer to: * Bathing, immersion in a fluid ** Bathtub, a large open container for water, in which a person may wash their body ** Public bathing, a public place where people bathe * Thermae, ancient Roman public bathing facilities Plac ...

In the 1891–92 season Monypenny accepted an invitation to play for newly formed touring team the Barbarians and he also turned out for Scottish exiles team London Scottish. His younger brother,

Douglas Douglas may refer to: People * Douglas (given name) * Douglas (surname) Animals * Douglas (parrot), macaw that starred as the parrot ''Rosalinda'' in Pippi Longstocking * Douglas the camel, a camel in the Confederate Army in the American Civil ...

, also played for London Scottish and was capped three times for the

Scotland national rugby union team The Scotland national rugby union team represents the Scottish Rugby Union in men's international rugby union. The team takes part in the annual Six Nations Championship, where they are the current Doddie Weir Cup holders. They also participa ...

. Monypenny married Emila Sybil Wetenhall, daughter of Cecil Algernon Salisbury Wetenhall from Northampton. They had a daughter, Phoebe who became the heiress of Monypenny of Pitmilly. Sometime after leaving Cambridge Monypenny became involved with a brewing firm in

Macclesfield Macclesfield () is a market town and civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire East, Cheshire, England. It is sited on the River Bollin and the edge of the Cheshire Plain, with Macclesfield Forest to its east; the town lies south of Ma ...

, before immigrating to British Guiana in 1902 as a cotton and tobacco grower. While in South America he remarried and had another four children from this second marriage. He remained in British Guiana until 1912 when he moved to Barbados. Monypenny remained in the Caribbean until 1922 when he returned to Britain living in

Finchampstead Finchampstead is a village and civil parish in the Wokingham Borough in the shire of Berkshire, England. Bordering northeastern Hampshire to the south, its northern extremity is south of Wokingham, west of Bracknell, south-east of Reading, ...

. He remained there until 1930 when he moved to

Caversham Heights Caversham Heights is a residential area within Caversham in the borough of Reading in Berkshire, England, located to the east of the centre of Caversham. Until 1911, Caversham was part of Oxfordshire, and it remains a part of the historic cou ...

in Reading; remaining there until his death in 1947.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Monypenny, Charlton 1867 births 1947 deaths Alumni of Jesus College, Cambridge Barbarian F.C. players Bath Rugby players British male sprinters English male sprinters Cambridge University R.U.F.C. players English people of Scottish descent English rugby union players London Scottish F.C. players People educated at Fettes College Rugby union locks Rugby union players from the London Borough of Camden People from Hampstead