Bertrand Milbourne Clark (29 April 1894 – 30 March 1958) was an all-round, amateur Jamaican sportsman, who excelled in golf, cricket and tennis, and was the first black person to compete at Wimbledon, in 1924.
Bertrand Clark | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | 29 April 1894  |
| Died | 30 March 1958 (aged 63) |
| Occupation | Golfer, cricketer, tennis player, civil servant |
Family
editClark was born on 29 April 1894.[1] He was descended from Thomas Milbourne Clark, his great grandfather, and Eleanor Fitzgerald, who married in 1824.[2] Thomas was later described as "a free person of colour".[2] Bertrand was the second son of Clementina Louise, née Sanguinetti, and Enos Edgar Clark, a dentist in Kingston.[2][3]
He was educated at Kingston High School and then Jamaica College.[3][4]
Sporting career
editClark was a sporting polymath, and competed as an amateur.[2] He represented his school at high jump at the first Inter-Secondary Schools Championship Sports at Sabina Park in 1910, where he came first.[2][3] He subsequently became known in Jamaica as a top golfer.[2]
He played for Melbourne Cricket Club alongside his brother Ronald[a].[4][2] He also played soccer.[5]
He served as Secretary of the Jamaica Golf Association from 1941 to 1951.[3]
Tennis
editIn seven consecutive years he was the All Jamaica tennis champion.[2] In all, he won seven singles, seven doubles and five mixed titles at the championships.[4][5] His male doubles partners were Charlie Brandon, H. V. Alexander, H. A. Lake and O. V. A. Lindo; and in mixed doubles[b] Mrs William Wilson, Mrs C. C. Calder (later Mrs. Cy Elkins), Edna DaCosta and Olive Wilson.[4]
He beat the American Tally Holmes to take the American Tennis Association title, for African American players, in 1920.[2]
At Wimbledon in 1924, where he was the first black player to complete,[2][6] he was defeated in the first round by Vincent Burr. In his only other recorded appearance there, in 1930, he was beaten in the first round by Herman David.
During a royal tour of the British Empire in 1927, Prince Albert, Duke of York (later King George VI) partnered Clark in a game of doubles; this was unusual at the time and was seen as a display of equality between races.[3][7]
Writing
editWith his brother, he wrote several books on cricket.[2] He also wrote about golf and tennis.[5]
Personal life
editFrom 1911, Clark worked as a civil servant,[2] retiring as medical secretary of the Island Medical Office.[4][5] He was twice married but had no children.[2]
He was listed in the Jamaican Who's Who for 1946.[2]
He died on 30 March 1958.[3] An obituary was published in the Sunday Gleaner, which said that Clark was "perhaps the greatest all-round Jamaican sportsman of our time".[2][4]
Notes
editReferences
edit- ^ "B.M. Clark". Black Tennis History. 6 April 2011. Retrieved 1 June 2021.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Bauckham, Jon (1 July 2020). "I'm related to the first black tennis player to play at Wimbledon". Who Do You Think You Are? Magazine. Retrieved 1 June 2021.
- ^ a b c d e f "Bertrand Clark's GS Performance Timeline & Stats". DB4 Tennis. Retrieved 1 June 2021.
- ^ a b c d e f Ramsay, Alva; Macdonald, Herbert (6 April 1958). "B. M. Clark was a Great Champion Sportsman and Gentleman". Sunday Gleaner. p. 3.
- ^ a b c d Briggs, Simon (8 November 2019). "Meet Bertrand Milbourne Clark: The sporting polymath who became Wimbledon's first black participant in 1924". The Telegraph. Archived from the original on 9 November 2019.
- ^ "[unknown]". Leeds Mercury. 25 June 1924.
{{cite news}}: Cite uses generic title (help) - ^ Shawcross, William (2009). Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother: The Official Biography. Macmillan. p. 273. ISBN 978-1-4050-4859-0.