Conrad Stanbury ( 1898–April 1973) was a Canadian professional

snooker Snooker (pronounced , ) is a cue sport played on a rectangular Billiard table#Snooker and English billiards tables, billiards table covered with a green cloth called baize, with six Billiard table#Pockets 2, pockets: one at each corner and ...

player. He was the first player to make an officially-recognised

century break In snooker, a century break (also century, sometimes called a ton) is a of 100 points or more, compiled in one to the table. A century break requires potting at least 25 consecutive balls, and the ability to score centuries is regarded as a m ...

at snooker. In 1935, he became the first player from outside the

British Isles The British Isles are an archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean off the north-western coast of continental Europe, consisting of the islands of Great Britain, Ireland, the Isle of Man, the Inner Hebrides, Inner and Outer Hebr ...

to compete in the

World Snooker Championship The World Snooker Championship, or simply known as the World Championship, is the longest-running and most prestigious tournament in professional snooker. It is also the richest event to date with a total prize money of £2,395,000, including ...

Career

Con Stanbury was born in about 1898. In 1922, he compiled a of 113, recognised as the first snooker

. He won the 1932 national snooker championship of Canada, known as the Dominion Championship, by defeating A. Corteau 10–1 in the final. A few weeks later, he defeated Tom Newman 4–3 in a challenge match. In 1934, it was announced that funds were being raised to send Stanbury to compete in the

. Newman wrote in the ''

News of the World The ''News of the World'' was a weekly national "Tabloid journalism#Red tops, red top" Tabloid (newspaper format), tabloid newspaper published every Sunday in the United Kingdom from 1843 to 2011. It was at one time the world's highest-selling ...

'' that he regarded Stanbury as "the most likely man I know" to defeat champion

Joe Davis Joseph Davis (15 April 190110 July 1978) was an English professional snooker and English billiards player. He was the dominant figure in snooker from the 1920s to the 1950s, and has been credited with inventing aspects of the way the game is ...

, and praised Stanbury's play, particularly his ability with shots. Stanbury travelled to England for the

1935 World Snooker Championship The 1935 World Snooker Championship was a snooker tournament held at Thurston's Hall in London, England from 8 to 27 April 1935. It was the first edition of the Championship to incorporate "world" in its name, being called the World's Profession ...

, and was the first player from outside the

to compete in the World Championship. He lost in the of his first match, 12–13 to Willie Smith in a quarter-final. In the 1936 Championship he defeated Alec Mann before being eliminated by Alec Brown in the quarter-finals, and at his next attempt in

1938 Events January * January 1 – state-owned enterprise, State-owned railway networks are created by merger, in France (SNCF) and the Netherlands (Nederlandse Spoorwegen – NS). * January 20 – King Farouk of Egypt marries Saf ...

, lost 4–27 to Sidney Smith at the same stage. After competing in five further championships from 1939 to 1948, but winning only two matches, Stanbury won three successive matches all 18–17 in

1949 Events January * January 1 – A United Nations-sponsored ceasefire brings an end to the Indo-Pakistani War of 1947. The war results in a stalemate and the division of Kashmir, which still continues as of 2025 * January 2 – Luis ...

, against Herbert Francis,

Jackie Rea John Joseph Rea (6 April 1921 – 20 October 2013), better known as Jackie Rea was a Northern Irish snooker player. He turned professional in 1947 and was the leading Irish snooker player until the emergence of Alex Higgins and held the Iris ...

and Herbert Holt, before losing 13–58 to

Walter Donaldson Walter Donaldson may refer to: * Walter Donaldson (snooker player), (1907–1973) Scottish snooker player * Walter Donaldson (songwriter), (1893–1947) American songwriter {{human name disambiguation, Donaldson, Walter ...

. His final entry to the championship was in

1950 Events January * January 1 – The International Police Association (IPA) – the largest police organization in the world – is formed. * January 5 – 1950 Sverdlovsk plane crash, Sverdlovsk plane crash: ''Aeroflot'' Lisunov Li-2 ...

, and saw him defeated 15–20 by

Sidney Lee Sir Sidney Lee (5 December 1859 – 3 March 1926) was an English biographer, writer, and critic. Biography Lee was born Solomon Lazarus Lee in 1859 at 12 Keppel Street, Bloomsbury, London. He was educated at the City of London School and ...

Whilst the British players of the time had a background in

English billiards English billiards, called simply billiards in the UK and in many former British colonies, is a cue sport that combines the aspects of carom billiards and pool. Two (one white and one yellow) and a red are used. Each player or team uses a diffe ...

, which was played with a delicate touch, Stanbury played snooker more like

pool Pool may refer to: Bodies of water * Swimming pool, usually an artificial structure containing a large body of water intended for swimming * Reflecting pool, a shallow pool designed to reflect a structure and its surroundings * Tide pool, a roc ...

, with powerfully hit shots. A correspondent for ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...

'' wrote in 1939 that "it should not be forgotten that the present popularity of the game f snookerdates from the time he came to this country to challenge the leading players." Stanbury was a British resident for the rest of his life after emigrating in 1935, and worked as a coach at a

billiard hall A billiard hall, also known as a pool hall, snooker hall, pool room or pool parlour, is a place where people get together for playing cue sports such as pool, snooker or carom billiards. Such establishments commonly serve alcohol and often ha ...

in London for many years. He also appeared as himself in the 1949 film ''

It Happened in Leicester Square ''It Happened in Leicester Square'' (also known as ''Hello London'') is a 1949 British comedy film, written and directed by Geoffrey Benstead and starring Harry Tate Jr and Slim Allen as two men from Yorkshire who visit a billiard hall and musi ...

'' alongside other professional players. Stanbury died in a hospital in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

in April 1973, aged 75.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Stanbury, Con 1890s births 1975 deaths Canadian snooker players