ROBERTS, JOHN (1823 - 1893), billiards player

Name: John Roberts
Date of birth: 1823
Date of death: 1893
Child: John Roberts
Gender: Male
Occupation: billiards player
Area of activity: Sports and Leisure Pursuits
Author: Walter Thomas Morgan

Born 12 June 1823, a native of Liverpool. His parents originally came from the neighbourhood of Holywell, Flintshire, and he was himself a Welsh -speaking Welshman. He started life as a carpenter, but soon took up billiards as a career. He became a billiards marker at Oldham and later settled at Manchester, where he was the manager of the Union Club billiards room, 1845-52, and afterwards landlord of the Griffin hotel. In 1849 he challenged Edwin Kentfield for the championship of England, but when the latter declined the challenge Roberts assumed the title, which he held till 1870, when he was defeated by his own pupil, W. Cook, who was in turn defeated by Roberts's son, John Roberts, junr., in 1885. He was the author of Billiards (ed. by Henry Buck), 1869. He died 27 March 1893 at his residence near the Romford Road, Stratford, London.

Author

Published date: 1959

Article Copyright: http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC-RUU/1.0/

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