Major Bethune Minet "Peter" Patton (5 March 1876 – 10 April 1939) was an

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice h ...

player and administrator. He is credited with bringing ice hockey to

Britain Britain most often refers to: * The United Kingdom, a sovereign state in Europe comprising the island of Great Britain, the north-eastern part of the island of Ireland and many smaller islands * Great Britain, the largest island in the United King ...

and helping to spread the sport to

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located entirel ...

. He was a founding member of the

International Ice Hockey Federation The International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF; french: Fédération internationale de hockey sur glace; german: Internationale Eishockey-Föderation) is a worldwide governing body for ice hockey. It is based in Zurich, Switzerland, and has 83 ...

(IIHF) in 1908 and was the inaugural president of the

British Ice Hockey Association Ice Hockey UK (IHUK) is the national governing body of ice hockey in the United Kingdom. Affiliated to the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF), IHUK is the internationally recognised umbrella body in the United Kingdom. IHUK was created ...

(BIHA) in 1914. He is a member of both the

IIHF Hall of Fame The IIHF Hall of Fame is a hall of fame operated by the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF). It was founded in 1997, and has resided at the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto since 1998. Prior to 1997, the IIHF housed exhibits at the Interna ...

and the British Ice Hockey Hall of Fame. Patton had a public school education at Winchester and

Wellington Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by metr ...

and he is believed to have learned to skate whilst holidaying in Switzerland.

Early life

He was the son of Henry Bethune Patton (1835-1915) CB, a Colonel in the British Army with local rank of Brigadier-General, and his second wife Georgina Emma Minet (1845-1918). The name Bethune came from an ancestress, Mary Bethune, who had married Henry Patton in 1749. One of his uncles was General

Walter Douglas Phillips Patton-Bethune General Walter Douglas Phillips Patton-Bethune (1821–1901) was a British soldier and landowner. Life Born in 1821 at Bishops Hull House, Bishops Hull Taunton, Somerset, he was the eldest son of Thomas Patton (1792–1876), a Captain in the ...

Military career

From a military family, his initial profession was as a soldier. He served with the 3rd Somerset Regiment and gained the rank of Major with attachments to the Royal Army Service Corps. During the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, Patton served in

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

between September 1914 and May 1916. He was also attached to the

Serbia Serbia (, ; Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia (Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin and the Balkans. It shares land borders with Hungar ...

n Army and was awarded their Order of the White Eagle. In July 1919 after returning home from the war, Patton was attached to the Serbs working in historical records of motor units. Patton retired from the army in 1921.

Ice hockey career

Playing

Patton started a form of ice hockey in 1897 at the newly opened

Prince's Skating Club Prince's Skating Club was an ice rink in the Knightsbridge area of London, England. It saw a number of firsts for ice hockey in Britain and Europe. The rink was opened on Montpelier Square on 7 November 1896 by the Prince's Sporting Club. It ...

when he formed the

Princes Ice Hockey Club Princes Ice Hockey Club were one of the most influential early European ice hockey teams and is sometimes considered the first ice hockey club in Britain. Founded in late 1896, the team was based at Prince's Skating Club in Hammersmith. They ini ...

. With the help of some

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

expats An expatriate (often shortened to expat) is a person who resides outside their native country. In common usage, the term often refers to educated professionals, skilled workers, or artists taking positions outside their home country, either ...

, he established a more recognisable form of ice hockey at the club in 1902. In 1903 he formed and became president of a five team league, the first league in Great Britain or Europe. On 24 January 1904 he played in the first game in Europe when Princes played a local team in

Lyon Lyon,, ; Occitan language, Occitan: ''Lion'', hist. ''Lionés'' also spelled in English as Lyons, is the List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, third-largest city and Urban area (France), second-largest metropolitan area of F ...

s which Princes won 2–0. Princes, with Patton as their captain, played in the first European tournament in October 1908 which was held in

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and List of cities in Germany by population, largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European Union by population within ci ...

. In 1910, Patton led the Princes team to the gold medal as they represented

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It i ...

at the inaugural European championships. Both before and after the

, Patton led the Princes team in many European tournaments, this included a silver medal finish at the 1913 championships held in St. Moritz, Switzerland. Patton was again a member of the Great Britain team at the

1924 Winter Olympics The 1924 Winter Olympics, officially known as the I Olympic Winter Games (french: Iers Jeux olympiques d'hiver) and commonly known as Chamonix 1924 ( frp, Chamôni 1924), were a winter multi-sport event which was held in 1924 in Chamonix, Franc ...

. However, he was the substitute

Goaltender In ice hockey, the goaltender (commonly referred to as the goalie) is the player responsible for preventing the hockey puck from entering their team's net, thus preventing the opposing team from scoring. The goaltender mostly plays in or near t ...

at the tournament and did not see any ice time. Patton made his final appearance for the national team on 4 April 1930 when he was 54 years old. He finally retired while playing for the London Lions on 13 October 1931.

Administration

Helping to form the IIHF in 1908, Patton served as the

vice-president A vice president, also director in British English, is an officer in government or business who is below the president (chief executive officer) in rank. It can also refer to executive vice presidents, signifying that the vice president is on ...

on three separate occasions between 1910 and 1924 and he was briefly the president of the IIHF in 1914. Also in 1914, Patton was the inaugural president of the BIHA, a position he held until 1934 when he was succeeded by Philip Vassar Hunter CBE.

Legacy

After retiring from playing, Patton was elected as vice-president to first Streatham and then

Wembley Lions The Wembley Lions were an English ice hockey team. History The team were founded in 1934 but showed a continuity with the London Lions team which had played at various venues since 1924. The Wembley team were based at the newly built Empire ...

in 1934. He was president of the short-lived team, Public Schools Ice Hockey Club. He presented two trophies in his name – the Patton Cup – one which has been played for since 1927 in the

Ice Hockey Varsity Match The Ice Hockey Varsity Match is a longstanding competition between the Cambridge and Oxford University Ice Hockey Clubs. Tradition places the origin of the match in 1885, when a game is said to have been played in St Moritz. This date is recogni ...

between the

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a College town, university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cam ...

and

Oxford University Ice Hockey Club The Oxford University Ice Hockey Club (OUIHC) is home to the Men’s and Women’s Blues ice hockey teams of the University of Oxford, England. The Men's Blues, also known as Oxford University Blues,BUIHA Website Listin"Oxford University Blues" ...

s and the other which was awarded to the winners of the first British Championship from 1930 following the formation of the English League. In October 1936 he wrote the book ''Ice Hockey'' which chronicled the early years of the sport in Great Britain. Patton was inducted to the British Ice Hockey Hall of Fame in 1950 and the

in 2002. The Patton Conference in the

Elite Ice Hockey League The Elite Ice Hockey League (EIHL), sometimes referred to as the British Elite League or, for sponsorship reasons, the Viaplay Elite League, is an ice hockey league in the United Kingdom. Formed in 2003 following the demise of the Ice Hockey ...

is named in Patton's honour.

Other sports

Besides ice hockey, Patton was a prolific sportsman in

ice dancing Ice dance (sometimes referred to as ice dancing) is a discipline of figure skating that historically draws from ballroom dancing. It joined the World Figure Skating Championships in 1952, and became a Winter Olympic Games medal sport in 1976. A ...

canoe A canoe is a lightweight narrow water vessel, typically pointed at both ends and open on top, propelled by one or more seated or kneeling paddlers facing the direction of travel and using a single-bladed paddle. In British English, the ter ...

ing and punting which he did on the

River Thames The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the second-longest in the United Kingdom, after the R ...

. He also enjoyed

skiing Skiing is the use of skis to glide on snow. Variations of purpose include basic transport, a recreational activity, or a competitive winter sport. Many types of competitive skiing events are recognized by the International Olympic Committee ( ...

and was a founding member of the

International Bobsleigh and Tobogganing Federation The International Bobsleigh and Skeleton Federation (IBSF), originally known by the French name ''Fédération Internationale de Bobsleigh et de Tobogganing'' (FIBT), is the international sports federation for bobsleigh and skeleton. It acts as ...

in 1923.

Family

In August 1904 in St Pancras, London, describing himself as a civil engineer, he married Florence Adeline Winifred Lloyd-Worrall (1872-1937), but they parted without having had any children in 1911, when he was running a garage in Bray, Berkshire, and she sued for divorce.The National Archives of the UK; Kew, Surrey, England; Court for Divorce and Matrimonial Causes, later Supreme Court of Judicature: Divorce and Matrimonial Causes Files; Class:J77; Piece:1069; Item:2448 This was granted in 1912 and she had two further husbands.

References

A to Z Encyclopaedia of Ice Hockey entry

{{DEFAULTSORT:Patton, Peter 1876 births 1939 deaths British Army personnel of World War I British Ice Hockey Hall of Fame inductees English ice hockey defencemen Ice hockey people in the United Kingdom International Ice Hockey Federation executives IIHF Hall of Fame inductees Somerset Light Infantry officers Sportspeople from London