Captain Charles Thomas Irvine "Pat" Roark (1895–1939) was an English

polo Polo is a stick and ball game that is played on horseback as a traditional field sport. It is one of the world's oldest known team sports, having been adopted in the Western world from the game of Chovgan (), which originated in ancient ...

player. He held a ten goal handicap at the peak of his career.

Biography

Early life

He was born in

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

on 2 May 1895. His father was Thomas Irvine Roark of Wexford. He was commissioned into the

Royal Irish Rifles The Royal Irish Rifles (became the Royal Ulster Rifles from 1 January 1921) was an light infantry rifle regiment of the British Army, first created in 1881 by the amalgamation of the 83rd (County of Dublin) Regiment of Foot and the 86th (Royal ...

in October 1914, transferred to the Household Cavalry in June 1917 and served in

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

in 1917 with the Life Guards, after which he transferred to the Indian Army and the 34th P.A.V.O. Poona Horse (later 17th Q.V.O. Cavalry) in May 1918. He retired a Captain in July 1922.

Career

He played for England in the

International Polo Cup The International Polo Cup, also called the Newport Cup and the Westchester Cup, is a trophy in polo that was created in 1886 and is played for by teams from the United States and England. Matches were conducted 12 times between 1886 and 1939, su ...

in 1927 and 1930. He won the

US Open Polo Championship The US Open Polo Championship is an annual polo championship in the United States. It is organized since 1904 by the United States Polo Association (USPA). History The tournament was first played on September 20, 1904 at Van Cortlandt Park in T ...

with his team, the Hurricanes. in 1926, 1929 and 1930. He also captained the victorious Hurricanes (polo) team in the Roehampton Cup in 1928 and 1931.

Personal life

He first married Grace Muriel Campbell (the sister of a brother officer in the Poona Horse, Captain Wentworth Edward Dallas Campbell). They were married in St Paul's Church, Umballa, Punjab, India in 1919 and they had a son (b. 1920). She divorced him in 1929 on the grounds of his adultery. He married again in 1930. Lastly in 1938 he married Patsy Hostetter Smith in California and they had one son. She remarried in 1942 to Walter D. K. Gibson, Jr. He died on 18 February 1939 from injuries incurred in a fall during a practice match at

Pasadena, California Pasadena ( ) is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States, northeast of downtown Los Angeles. It is the most populous city and the primary cultural center of the San Gabriel Valley. Old Pasadena is the city's original commerci ...

. He had been due to play a third

for England that year.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Roark, Charles Thomas Irvine British Life Guards officers English polo players 1895 births 1939 deaths International Polo Cup Polo deaths Roehampton Trophy Royal Ulster Rifles officers British Indian Army officers Indian Army personnel of World War I British Army personnel of World War I 20th-century Irish military personnel