Murray Hedgcock is a local historian based in Mortlake. He has come up with some interesting archive material.....Chiswick Priory was founded in 1921, its full title being Chiswick Priory Athletic. It may have taken some time to settle,, as it is missing from early Club Cricket Conference Annuals, but by 1931 it was clearly established (I have only the odd CCC volume, so cannot offer a full report on Priory history).The annual for that very significant year (I was born then, one day before Brian Close) offers plenty of detail:Chiswick Priory Athletic. Established 1921. Colours – Black and White. Secretary. Match Secretary, and Captain - Edward Ward, 5 Ravenscourt Gardens, Ravenscourt Park, W.6 . Treasurer - V.St.Amand, The Lodge, St.Anne’s Convent, Ealing W5. One Sunday team. Annual subscription – Seniors, One guinea; Groundsman – Mr W.Grubb, Paxton Cottage, Chiswick House W4. Ground - Chiswick House, Chiswick (only occasional home matches). Access – Chiswick Park (District Railway); 55 bus; also taxis.It does sound as if Priory played the bulk of its fixtures away, presumably the Chiswick House pitch being available only occasionally as other teams played there. Edward Ward was clearly a busy man – was this one of those clubs we all know, kept going by one energetic individual? I am curious about the Treasurer, Mr St.Amand: do men normally live at a convent? And it is cheering to see in an age when class still mattered greatly, that Groundsman Grubb was accorded the title “Mr” (most appropriately named for his role!)I have only one other prewar annual, for 1937, when the entry has shrunk, like the name – Edward Ward is still well in charge, but it is just “Chiswick Priory”, while the club is listed as “Wandering”. However the colours have been upped to black and gold.The first postwar annual I have, for 1951, does not list Chiswick Priory: the war probably finished it.It had been active at least till 1940, when it announced that because of the war there would be no club tour, but it had drawn up a promising fixture list, against Hampton Wick, Uxbridge, Metropolitan Police, Parson’s Green, Foreign Office, Hounslow, Shepherd’s Bush, Indian Gymkhana, Thames Ditton, Ealing Dean, West Drayton, Reading, Southall, Barnes, “ Breantham” (unclear if this is Brentham, or Streatham), Ashford (Middx), and Dorking.Going back to the beginning, in the Twenties a football team named Chiswick Priory played in the Middlesex Amateur League; was the cricket team a spin-off?The British Newspaper Library has a string of Priory match summaries from a number of papers, both West London weeklies and provincial papers when the club played away. If the lady who got in touch with you could provide the name of her father, I might find a mention of him. [I have taken the liberty of doing this already for you]Now to the intriguing/frustrating angle.The West London Observer of July 18, 1947, previewed a charity match between Turnham Green and Middlesex, recording the county side to include both Compton and Bill Edrich – the latter said to have played with Chiswick Priory. I’ve checked his biography and other records, and can find no mention of such a link – but shall keep looking.For now, I hope that satisfies your immediate needs.
Cliff Sykes ● 2295d