Bernard Richard Meirion Darwin

CBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

JP (7 September 1876 − 18 October 1961) was a

golf Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various Golf club, clubs to hit a Golf ball, ball into a series of holes on a golf course, course in as few strokes as possible. Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standa ...

writer and high-standard

amateur An amateur () is generally considered a person who pursues an avocation independent from their source of income. Amateurs and their pursuits are also described as popular, informal, autodidacticism, self-taught, user-generated, do it yourself, DI ...

golfer. A grandson of the British naturalist

Charles Darwin Charles Robert Darwin ( ; 12 February 1809 – 19 April 1882) was an English Natural history#Before 1900, naturalist, geologist, and biologist, widely known for his contributions to evolutionary biology. His proposition that all speci ...

, he was inducted into the

World Golf Hall of Fame The World Golf Hall of Fame was, until recently, located at World Golf Village between Jacksonville, Florida and St. Augustine, Florida, in the United States. It is unusual amongst sports halls of fame in that a single site honored both men ...

Biography

Born in

Downe Downe, formerly Down (), is a village in Greater London, England, located within the London Borough of Bromley, which formed part of the historical county of Kent until 1965, and is beyond London's contiguous urban area. Charles Darwin lived ...

Kent Kent is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Essex across the Thames Estuary to the north, the Strait of Dover to the south-east, East Sussex to the south-west, Surrey to the west, and Gr ...

, Darwin was the son of

Francis Darwin Sir Francis Darwin (16 August 1848 – 19 September 1925) was a British botanist. He was the third son of the naturalist and scientist Charles Darwin. Biography Francis Darwin was born at Down House, Downe, Kent in 1848. He was the third s ...

and Amy Ruck, his mother dying from a fever on 11 September, four days after his birth. He was the first grandson of

Charles Charles is a masculine given name predominantly found in English language, English and French language, French speaking countries. It is from the French form ''Charles'' of the Proto-Germanic, Proto-Germanic name (in runic alphabet) or ''* ...

and

Emma Darwin Emma Darwin (; 2 May 1808 – 2 October 1896) was an English woman who was the wife and first cousin of Charles Darwin. They were married on 29 January 1839 and were the parents of ten children, seven of whom survived to adulthood. Early lif ...

(see

Darwin–Wedgwood family The Darwin–Wedgwood family are members of two connected families, each noted for particular prominent 18th-century figures: Erasmus Darwin, a physician and natural philosopher, and Josiah Wedgwood FRS, a noted potter and founder of the epon ...

), and was brought up by them at their home,

Down House Down House is the former home of the English Natural history, naturalist Charles Darwin and his family. It was in this house and garden that Darwin worked on his theory of evolution by natural selection, which he had conceived in London befor ...

. His younger half-sister from his father's second marriage to Ellen Wordswotth Crofts was the poet

Frances Cornford Frances Crofts Cornford (née Darwin; 30 March 1886 – 19 August 1960) was an English poet. Biography She was the daughter of the botanist Francis Darwin and Newnham College, Cambridge, Newnham College fellow Ellen Wordsworth Darwin, Ellen ...

. Darwin was educated at

Eton College Eton College ( ) is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school providing boarding school, boarding education for boys aged 13–18, in the small town of Eton, Berkshire, Eton, in Berkshire, in the United Kingdom. It has educated Prime Mini ...

, and graduated in

law Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior, with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been variously described as a science and as the ar ...

from

Trinity College, Cambridge Trinity College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any ...

, where he was a Cambridge Blue in

1895–1897, and team captain in his final year. Darwin married the engraver Elinor Monsell in 1906. They had one son, Sir Robert Vere Darwin, and two daughters; the potter

Ursula Mommens Ursula Frances Elinor Mommens (née Darwin, formerly Trevelyan; 20 August 1908 – 30 January 2010) was an English Pottery, potter. Mommens studied at the Royal College of Art, under William Staite Murray, and later worked with Michael Cardew a ...

, and Nicola Mary Elizabeth Darwin, later Hughes (1916–1976). During the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

he served with the

Royal Army Ordnance Corps The Royal Army Ordnance Corps (RAOC) was a corps of the British Army. At its renaming as a Royal Corps in 1918 it was both a supply and repair corps. In the supply area it had responsibility for weapons, armoured vehicles and other military equi ...

Macedonia Macedonia (, , , ), most commonly refers to: * North Macedonia, a country in southeastern Europe, known until 2019 as the Republic of Macedonia * Macedonia (ancient kingdom), a kingdom in Greek antiquity * Macedonia (Greece), a former administr ...

as a

lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a Junior officer, junior commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations, as well as fire services, emergency medical services, Security agency, security services ...

. After Cambridge, Darwin became a court

lawyer A lawyer is a person who is qualified to offer advice about the law, draft legal documents, or represent individuals in legal matters. The exact nature of a lawyer's work varies depending on the legal jurisdiction and the legal system, as w ...

, but did not particularly enjoy that career, and gradually moved into

journalism Journalism is the production and distribution of reports on the interaction of events, facts, ideas, and people that are the "news of the day" and that informs society to at least some degree of accuracy. The word, a noun, applies to the journ ...

, despite having no formal training. He covered golf 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 ...

'' from 1907 to 1953 and for '' Country Life'' from 1907 to 1961, the first writer ever to cover golf on a daily basis, instead of as an occasional feature. He played the game at an excellent level himself well into middle age, and competed in

The Amateur Championship The Amateur Championship (sometimes referred to as the British Amateur or British Amateur Championship outside the UK) is a golf tournament which has been held annually in the United Kingdom since 1885 except during the two World Wars, and in 19 ...

on 26 occasions across five decades between 1898 and 1935, with his best results being semi-final appearances in 1909 and 1921. In 1922, while in the United States to report on the first

Walker Cup The Walker Cup is a golf trophy contested in odd-numbered years by leading male amateur golfers in two teams: United States, and Great Britain and Ireland featuring players from the United Kingdom and Ireland. The official name is the Walker Cup ...

amateur team match between Britain and Ireland and the U.S., and also appointed as non-playing captain, Darwin was pressed into service at the last minute as a player, when one of the British team members, Robert Harris, was unable to play. He lost his team match, but won his singles match. He was Captain of

The Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews The Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews is one of the oldest golf clubs in the world. It is a private members-only club based in St Andrews in Scotland. It was previously known colloquially as "The R&A", but in 2004, a new organisation kn ...

in 1934, and was President of the Golf Club Managers' Association (then the Association of Golf Club Secretaries) from 1933 to 1934 and then again from 1955 to 1958. Though mainly a golf writer, he also occasionally wrote on

cricket Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven players on a cricket field, field, at the centre of which is a cricket pitch, pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two Bail (cr ...

, and prefaced the first edition of The Oxford Dictionary of Quotations. He was awarded

in the

1937 Coronation Honours The 1937 Coronation Honours were awarded in honour of the coronation of George VI. Royal Honours Order of the Thistle * The Queen Royal Victorian Chain * The Queen * Queen Mary * Clive, Baron Wigram Royal Victorian Order (GCVO) * The Que ...

. Bernard Darwin was an authority on

Charles Dickens Charles John Huffam Dickens (; 7 February 1812 – 9 June 1870) was an English novelist, journalist, short story writer and Social criticism, social critic. He created some of literature's best-known fictional characters, and is regarded by ...

. He frequently contributed the fourth leading article in ''The Times''. The fourth Leader was devoted to flippant themes, and Darwin was known to insert quotes from or about Dickens in them. When Oxford Press issued all classics by Dickens around 1940, each with a foreword by a Dickensian scholar, Darwin was chosen to contribute the foreword to ''

The Pickwick Papers ''The Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club'' (also known as ''The Pickwick Papers'') was the Debut novel, first novel serialised from March 1836 to November 1837 by English author Charles Dickens. Because of his success with ''Sketches by Bo ...

''. He was also asked by ''The Times'' to pen the main tribute to cricketer

W.G. Grace William Gilbert Grace (18 July 1848 – 23 October 1915) was an English cricketer who is widely considered one of the sport's all-time greatest players. Always known by his initials as "WG", his first-class career spanned a record-equalling 4 ...

when Grace's birth centenary was celebrated in 1948. The article has been included since in a few anthologies. Bernard Darwin's works were kept in print by Herbert Warren Wind through his curated Classics of Golf Library. In 1947, Bernard Darwin wrote 'A Century of Medical Service' about the work of the GWR Medical Fund Society. The society was founded in 1847 and was being disbanded in 1947, with the arrival of the NHS. The society provided a complete medical service for the workers and their families in the Swindon rail works. In 2005, Darwin was elected to the

, in the Lifetime Achievement category. He is buried in St Mary the Virgin Churchyard,

, Kent.

Amateur wins

*1919

Golf Illustrated Gold Vase The Golf Illustrated Gold Vase was a prestigious amateur golf tournament in England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it cover ...

*1896 Linskill Cup

Results in major championships

Note: Darwin played in only

. NT = No tournament
DNP = Did not play
R512, R256, R128, R64, R32, R16, QF, SF = Round in which player lost in match play
Yellow background for top-10
Sources::Source for 1898 British Amateur:
The Glasgow Herald, 26 May 1898, pg. 11.
:Source for 1899 British Amateur:
The Glasgow Herald, 25 May 1899, pg. 8.
:Source for 1902 British Amateur:
The Glasgow Herald, 1 May 1902, pg. 11.
:Source for 1903 British Amateur:
The Glasgow Herald, 20 May 1903, pg. 13.
:Source for 1904 British Amateur:
The Glasgow Herald, 2 June 1904, pg. 13.
:Source for 1908 British Amateur:
The Glasgow Herald, 29 May 1908, pg. 14.
:Source for 1909 British Amateur:
The American Golfer, July, 1909, pg. 13.
:Source for 1910 British Amateur:
The Glasgow Herald, 1 June 1910, pg. 10.
:Source for 1911 British Amateur:
The Glasgow Herald, 1 June 1911, pg. 10.
:Source for 1912 British Amateur:
The American Golfer, July, 1912, pg. 199.
:Source for 1913 British Amateur:
The Glasgow Herald, 28 May 1913, pg. 15.
:Source for 1914 British Amateur:
The Glasgow Herald, 20 May 1914, pg. 12.
:Source for 1920 British Amateur:
The Glasgow Herald, 8 June 1920, pg. 12.
:Source for 1921 British Amateur:
The American Golfer, 4 June 1921, pg. 24.
:Source for 1922 British Amateur:
The American Golfer, 1 July 1922, pg. 30.
:Source for 1923 British Amateur:
The Glasgow Herald, 9 May 1923, pg. 13.
:Source for 1924 British Amateur:
The Glasgow Herald, 27 May 1924, pg. 3.
:Source for 1925 British Amateur:
The Glasgow Herald, 27 May 1925, pg. 11.
:Source for 1927 British Amateur:
The Glasgow Herald, 24 May 1927, pg. 10.
:Source for 1928 British Amateur:
The Glasgow Herald, 22 May 1928, pg. 4.
:Source for 1929 British Amateur:
The Glasgow Herald, 13 June 1929, pg. 10.
:Source for 1930 British Amateur:
The Glasgow Herald, 27 May 1930, pg. 3.
:Source for 1931 British Amateur:
The Glasgow Herald, 21 May 1931, pg. 16.
:Source for 1932 British Amateur:
The Glasgow Herald, 26 May 1932, pg. 17.
:Source for 1933 British Amateur:
The Glasgow Herald, 21 June 1933, pg. 5.
:Source for 1935 British Amateur:
The Glasgow Herald, 22 May 1935, pg. 7.

Team appearances

(representing Great Britain):

1922 Events January * January 7 – Dáil Éireann (Irish Republic), Dáil Éireann, the parliament of the Irish Republic, ratifies the Anglo-Irish Treaty by 64–57 votes. * January 10 – Arthur Griffith is elected President of Dáil Éirean ...

England–Scotland Amateur Match The England–Scotland Amateur Match was an annual men's amateur golf competition organised by the Royal and Ancient Golf Club, contested by teams representing England and Scotland, with the winners being presented with the Walker Cup. It was pl ...

(representing England): 1902, 1904, 1905, 1908, 1909, 1910 (winners), 1923, 1924 (winners)

List of works

*''The Golf Courses of the British Isles'' (Duckworth, 1910) illustrated by Harry Rountree *''Tee Shots and Others'' (Kegan Paul, 1911) illustrated by E. W. Mitchell *''Golf from The Times'' (The Times, 1912) *''

Erasmus Darwin Erasmus Robert Darwin (12 December 173118 April 1802) was an English physician. One of the key thinkers of the Midlands Enlightenment, he was also a natural philosophy, natural philosopher, physiology, physiologist, Society for Effecting the ...

: Born 7 December 1881, killed in action 24 April 1915 '' *''Golf: Some Hints and Suggestions'' (Country Life, 1920) *''A Friendly Round'' (Mills & Boon, 1922) *''A Round of Golf on the London & North Eastern Railway '' (Ben Johnson & Co., 1924) *''The Tale of Mr. Tootleoo'' (Nonesuch Press, 1925) with Elinor Darwin, for children *''The Games's Afoot! An Anthology of Sports, Games and the Open Air '' (Sidgwick & Jackson, 1926) editor *''Eton v. Harrow at Lord's'' (Williams & Norgate, 1926) see Eton v Harrow *''Tootleoo Two'' (Nonesuch Press, 1927) with Elinor Darwin, for children *''Six Golfing Shots by Six Famous Players'' (Dormeuil Freres, 1927) *''Green Memories'' (Hodder & Stoughton, 1928) *''Second Shots: Casual Talks About Golf'' (Newnes, 1930) *''The Dickens Advertiser: A Collection of the Advertisements in the Original Parts of Novels by Charles Dickens'' ( Elkin Mathews & Marrot, 1930) *''Out of the Rough'' (Chapman & Hall, 1932) *''Dickens'' (Duckworth, 1933) Great Lives series *''W. G. Grace'' (Duckworth, 1934) Great Lives series *''Playing the Like '' (Chapman & Hall, 1934) *''Mr. Tootleoo and Co.'' (Faber & Faber, 1935) with Elinor Darwin, for children *''Life is Sweet Brother'' (Collins, 1940) reminiscences *''Pack Clouds Away'' (Collins, 1941) *''British Clubs'' (Collins, 1943) Britain in Pictures series *''Golf Between Two Wars'' (Chatto & Windus, 1944) *''The Robinsons of Bristol 1844-1944'' ( E. S. & A. Robinson, 1945) *''British Golf'' (Collins, 1946) Britain in Pictures series *''Golfing By-Paths'' (Country Life, 1946) *''Fifty Years of Country Life'' (Country Life, 1947) history of '' Country Life'' magazine *''A Century of Medical Service (Great Western Railway Medical Fund Society, 1947)'' *''Every Idle Dream'' (Collins, 1948) illustrated by Elinor Darwin *'' James Braid'' (Hodder & Stoughton, 1952) *''A History of Golf in Britain'' (Cassell, 1952) editor *''The World That Fred Made'' (Chatto & Windus, 1955) autobiography *''Golf Is My Game'' (Chatto & Windus, 1961) with Bobby Jones

Other publications

*''A Round with Darwin: A Collection of the Golf Writings'' (Souvenir Press, 1984) *''Darwin on the Green'' (Souvenir Press, 1986) *''Historic Golf Courses of the British Isles'' (Duckworth, 1987) *''The Darwin Sketchbook: Portraits of Golf's Greatest Players and Other Selections'' (Classics of Golf, 1991) from his writings, 1910–1955 *''The Happy Golfer'' (Classics of Golf, 1997) his best articles from The American Golfer magazine, 1922–1936 *''Bernard Darwin on Golf'' (Rowman & Littlefield, 2003) edited by Jeff Silverman

References

External links

*
Profile at golfonline.comArticles by Bernard DarwinSoHG Archives
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Darwin, Bernard 1876 births 1961 deaths Burials in Kent Military personnel from Kent People educated at Eton College Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge British Army personnel of World War I Royal Army Ordnance Corps officers English male golfers Amateur golfers Golf writers Cricket writers World Golf Hall of Fame inductees British sportswriters Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Darwin–Wedgwood family Country Life (magazine) people