Published article
Google Books
Golf Illustrated, Volume 7, 1901
Mr. William Innes and His Portrait.
A GLIMPSE AT A GOLFER OF A VERY OLD SCHOOL.
MUCH are English golfers indebted to, and little do they know about, the band of Scots who fostered the game. and preserved its traditions on the green of Blackheath during the eighteenth century. Little has come down to us concerning the members of that band, the very names of but a few having survived, owing to the loss of the older records of the Blackheath Golf Club. William Innes, one of their number, has left more behind him than his contemporaries whose names have been handed down to us. To bring together the stray details concerning him that can be gathered after such a lapse of time is the object of these lilies.
The bare facts that can be ascertained relative to Mr. Wm. Innes are, that he was born in Edinburgh in 1719, and that he came to London, where he flourished exceedingly as a West Indian merchant. There are no means of fixing the date at which he joined the Society of Golfers at Blackheath, of which, however, there is proof that for many years he was a leading member and supporter. One of the silver balls attached to the old silver club of the Society of Blackheath Golfers testifies that he was their captain for the year 1778, and then, in 1789, one of the earliest of the existing minutes of the Society states that Mr. Innes—then, be it noted, in his seventieth year—was a member of its committee.
The following year, 1790, Mr. Wm. Innes stood for his golfing portrait to Mr. L. F. Abbott, R.A., the result being the picture, an excellent representation of which is herewith furnished to the readers of GOLF ILLUSTRATED, by which Mr. Innes has become better known to the present generation than any other English golfer of his day. The picture itself is a most interesting link with the past. Mr. Innes is depicted engaged in a round on the Blackheath green, and dressed in the uniform of a captain of the “ Goff Society "; behind him stands his caddie, a pensioner of the Royal Naval Hospital, Greenwich, who carries a sheaf of the old long-headed clubs, the wooden much outnumbering the iron. A bottle, suggestive of more than a Scottish pint of whiskey, peeps out of one of the capacious pockets of the caddie’s coat. The Golf hole close by Mr. Innes—and, be it- remembered, that in those days the rule was to tee not more than four club lengths from the hole— is marked by a sprig of furze. The refrain of an old song, not now in fashion for Golf dinners, commemorates this manner of marking the holes with furze. The background of the picture is of much local interest, introducing, as it does, one of the old Blackheath windmills, now long ago demolished, and giving a view of Morden College, backed by the well-known Shooter's Hill.
A fine mezzotint plate of the picture was executed by the celebrated Valentine Green, engraver to H.M. King George the Third, prints from which are now few and far between, and are eagerly sought after, as evidenced by the price obtained for one which was recently brought under Messrs. Christies’ hammer. From one of these prints there was produced some years ago, in the studio of Mr. J. Thomson, of 70A, Grosvenor Street, W., photographer to the Queen, a fine platinotype plate, the production of which must have been a labour of love to Mr. Thomson, he being a lover of art in the usually accepted and best sense of the word, and equally of the game which the late Sir Walter Simpson so happily discoursed on in his “Art of Golf." The result of this reproduction must, at any rate, be considered a matter of congratulation, and not a few golfers and Golf clubs have testified their appreciation by acquiring a copy of Mr. Thomson’s work, prints of which, it is understood, can still be obtained.
With such proofs of the value attached to reproductions of Mr. Abbott’s picture, the question naturally arises, Where is the original? and Echo answers, Where? Mr. Innes left no family, and in the course of years the Blackheath Golf Club has lost touch of his representatives. Possibly some living collateral relatives of his might be able to tell what has become of the canvas, or possibly it may have hung on the walls of the old Golf Club-room at Blackheath, and shared the fate of the records and property of the Club, which were destroyed by fire. These, however. are mere surmises, and it would seem that this picture of surpassing interest to the golfing world must, for the present, be left with its destruction “ not proven," or its resting place unknown.
There is just a glimmer of hope that the coming spring may throw some light on this picture. It has been announced that in the Glasgow International Exhibition, to be opened in May next, a sub-section will be devoted to the national game of Golf, the arrangements in connection with which have been placed in the hands of the Rev. John Kerr. Whatever Mr. Kerr undertakes, he does heartily, and with all his might, and it may be taken as certain that, under his direction, no stone will be left unturned in getting together a collection of golfing relics, and objects of interest to golfers worthy of the occasion. Old golfing pictures and prints will, it is stated, he a feature of the Golf section. If, by any happy chance, this picture of Mr. Innes should be unearthed through the instrumentality of Mr. Kerr or his co-operators, it may safely be asserted that no one would be more gratified than the worthy minister of Dirleton himself.
To leave the picture, and to return to the man, it remains but to end him, "As many of us are ended on this earth, with a Will and a Monument. Mr. Innes’ town house was in Lillie Street Square, in the parish of St. Andrew Undershaft, in the City of London ; he had also a house on Blackheath, in the parish of Lewisham, Kent. He left a will of excessive length, and did not therein forget either his poorer neighbours or his friends at the Golf Club at Blackheath. He bequeathed two hundred pounds to the poor of Lewisham, the interest to be distributed in coals on the 6th January every year. Owing to the low price of the funds at the time when Mr. Innes‘ estate was distributed, three per cent. Consuls being below 55, the poor are benefited to the extent of £11 7s. 4d. a year under this legacy. A paragraph in the will runs :—
“I hereby give and now bequeath to all the Gentlemen of the Goff Society on Blackheath who shall be entered in their books on the day of their playing for the Silver Clubb next after my death a ring of 25s. value to each and also fifty pounds as my donation to the fund of that Society to be added to it."
A large mural monument of marble on the north wall of the church of St. Andrew Undershaft, bears the following matter-of-fact inscription :—
In Memory of
WILLIAM INNES, ESQ.,
Late of this Parish,
One of the oldest and most respectable of the Merchants of London,
and a most charitable and worthy member of Society.
He was born at Edinburgh on the 29th July, 1719, O.S.,
And was married to Ann Wintle,
On the 19th day of May, 1753,
By whom he had no issue.
He departed this life
On the 14th January, 1795,
In the 76th year
Of his age.
Meagre, no doubt, are these details concerning William Innes, sufficient, however, it is hoped, to lead all to the conclusion that in his generation he worthily played his part as a keen golfer and a good man.
Google Books
Golf Illustrated, Volume 7, 1901
Mr. William Innes and His Portrait.
A GLIMPSE AT A GOLFER OF A VERY OLD SCHOOL.
MUCH are English golfers indebted to, and little do they know about, the band of Scots who fostered the game. and preserved its traditions on the green of Blackheath during the eighteenth century. Little has come down to us concerning the members of that band, the very names of but a few having survived, owing to the loss of the older records of the Blackheath Golf Club. William Innes, one of their number, has left more behind him than his contemporaries whose names have been handed down to us. To bring together the stray details concerning him that can be gathered after such a lapse of time is the object of these lilies.
The bare facts that can be ascertained relative to Mr. Wm. Innes are, that he was born in Edinburgh in 1719, and that he came to London, where he flourished exceedingly as a West Indian merchant. There are no means of fixing the date at which he joined the Society of Golfers at Blackheath, of which, however, there is proof that for many years he was a leading member and supporter. One of the silver balls attached to the old silver club of the Society of Blackheath Golfers testifies that he was their captain for the year 1778, and then, in 1789, one of the earliest of the existing minutes of the Society states that Mr. Innes—then, be it noted, in his seventieth year—was a member of its committee.
The following year, 1790, Mr. Wm. Innes stood for his golfing portrait to Mr. L. F. Abbott, R.A., the result being the picture, an excellent representation of which is herewith furnished to the readers of GOLF ILLUSTRATED, by which Mr. Innes has become better known to the present generation than any other English golfer of his day. The picture itself is a most interesting link with the past. Mr. Innes is depicted engaged in a round on the Blackheath green, and dressed in the uniform of a captain of the “ Goff Society "; behind him stands his caddie, a pensioner of the Royal Naval Hospital, Greenwich, who carries a sheaf of the old long-headed clubs, the wooden much outnumbering the iron. A bottle, suggestive of more than a Scottish pint of whiskey, peeps out of one of the capacious pockets of the caddie’s coat. The Golf hole close by Mr. Innes—and, be it- remembered, that in those days the rule was to tee not more than four club lengths from the hole— is marked by a sprig of furze. The refrain of an old song, not now in fashion for Golf dinners, commemorates this manner of marking the holes with furze. The background of the picture is of much local interest, introducing, as it does, one of the old Blackheath windmills, now long ago demolished, and giving a view of Morden College, backed by the well-known Shooter's Hill.
A fine mezzotint plate of the picture was executed by the celebrated Valentine Green, engraver to H.M. King George the Third, prints from which are now few and far between, and are eagerly sought after, as evidenced by the price obtained for one which was recently brought under Messrs. Christies’ hammer. From one of these prints there was produced some years ago, in the studio of Mr. J. Thomson, of 70A, Grosvenor Street, W., photographer to the Queen, a fine platinotype plate, the production of which must have been a labour of love to Mr. Thomson, he being a lover of art in the usually accepted and best sense of the word, and equally of the game which the late Sir Walter Simpson so happily discoursed on in his “Art of Golf." The result of this reproduction must, at any rate, be considered a matter of congratulation, and not a few golfers and Golf clubs have testified their appreciation by acquiring a copy of Mr. Thomson’s work, prints of which, it is understood, can still be obtained.
With such proofs of the value attached to reproductions of Mr. Abbott’s picture, the question naturally arises, Where is the original? and Echo answers, Where? Mr. Innes left no family, and in the course of years the Blackheath Golf Club has lost touch of his representatives. Possibly some living collateral relatives of his might be able to tell what has become of the canvas, or possibly it may have hung on the walls of the old Golf Club-room at Blackheath, and shared the fate of the records and property of the Club, which were destroyed by fire. These, however. are mere surmises, and it would seem that this picture of surpassing interest to the golfing world must, for the present, be left with its destruction “ not proven," or its resting place unknown.
There is just a glimmer of hope that the coming spring may throw some light on this picture. It has been announced that in the Glasgow International Exhibition, to be opened in May next, a sub-section will be devoted to the national game of Golf, the arrangements in connection with which have been placed in the hands of the Rev. John Kerr. Whatever Mr. Kerr undertakes, he does heartily, and with all his might, and it may be taken as certain that, under his direction, no stone will be left unturned in getting together a collection of golfing relics, and objects of interest to golfers worthy of the occasion. Old golfing pictures and prints will, it is stated, he a feature of the Golf section. If, by any happy chance, this picture of Mr. Innes should be unearthed through the instrumentality of Mr. Kerr or his co-operators, it may safely be asserted that no one would be more gratified than the worthy minister of Dirleton himself.
To leave the picture, and to return to the man, it remains but to end him, "As many of us are ended on this earth, with a Will and a Monument. Mr. Innes’ town house was in Lillie Street Square, in the parish of St. Andrew Undershaft, in the City of London ; he had also a house on Blackheath, in the parish of Lewisham, Kent. He left a will of excessive length, and did not therein forget either his poorer neighbours or his friends at the Golf Club at Blackheath. He bequeathed two hundred pounds to the poor of Lewisham, the interest to be distributed in coals on the 6th January every year. Owing to the low price of the funds at the time when Mr. Innes‘ estate was distributed, three per cent. Consuls being below 55, the poor are benefited to the extent of £11 7s. 4d. a year under this legacy. A paragraph in the will runs :—
“I hereby give and now bequeath to all the Gentlemen of the Goff Society on Blackheath who shall be entered in their books on the day of their playing for the Silver Clubb next after my death a ring of 25s. value to each and also fifty pounds as my donation to the fund of that Society to be added to it."
A large mural monument of marble on the north wall of the church of St. Andrew Undershaft, bears the following matter-of-fact inscription :—
In Memory of
WILLIAM INNES, ESQ.,
Late of this Parish,
One of the oldest and most respectable of the Merchants of London,
and a most charitable and worthy member of Society.
He was born at Edinburgh on the 29th July, 1719, O.S.,
And was married to Ann Wintle,
On the 19th day of May, 1753,
By whom he had no issue.
He departed this life
On the 14th January, 1795,
In the 76th year
Of his age.
Meagre, no doubt, are these details concerning William Innes, sufficient, however, it is hoped, to lead all to the conclusion that in his generation he worthily played his part as a keen golfer and a good man.
Published article
Google Books
Golf Illustrated, Volume 7, 1901
Mr. William Innes and His Portrait.
A GLIMPSE AT A GOLFER OF A VERY OLD SCHOOL.
MUCH are English golfers indebted to, and little do they know about, the band of Scots who fostered the game. and preserved its traditions on the green of Blackheath during the eighteenth century. Little has come down to us concerning the members of that band, the very names of but a few having survived, owing to the loss of the older records of the Blackheath Golf Club. William Innes, one of their number, has left more behind him than his contemporaries whose names have been handed down to us. To bring together the stray details concerning him that can be gathered after such a lapse of time is the object of these lilies.
The bare facts that can be ascertained relative to Mr. Wm. Innes are, that he was born in Edinburgh in 1719, and that he came to London, where he flourished exceedingly as a West Indian merchant. There are no means of fixing the date at which he joined the Society of Golfers at Blackheath, of which, however, there is proof that for many years he was a leading member and supporter. One of the silver balls attached to the old silver club of the Society of Blackheath Golfers testifies that he was their captain for the year 1778, and then, in 1789, one of the earliest of the existing minutes of the Society states that Mr. Innes—then, be it noted, in his seventieth year—was a member of its committee.
The following year, 1790, Mr. Wm. Innes stood for his golfing portrait to Mr. L. F. Abbott, R.A., the result being the picture, an excellent representation of which is herewith furnished to the readers of GOLF ILLUSTRATED, by which Mr. Innes has become better known to the present generation than any other English golfer of his day. The picture itself is a most interesting link with the past. Mr. Innes is depicted engaged in a round on the Blackheath green, and dressed in the uniform of a captain of the “ Goff Society "; behind him stands his caddie, a pensioner of the Royal Naval Hospital, Greenwich, who carries a sheaf of the old long-headed clubs, the wooden much outnumbering the iron. A bottle, suggestive of more than a Scottish pint of whiskey, peeps out of one of the capacious pockets of the caddie’s coat. The Golf hole close by Mr. Innes—and, be it- remembered, that in those days the rule was to tee not more than four club lengths from the hole— is marked by a sprig of furze. The refrain of an old song, not now in fashion for Golf dinners, commemorates this manner of marking the holes with furze. The background of the picture is of much local interest, introducing, as it does, one of the old Blackheath windmills, now long ago demolished, and giving a view of Morden College, backed by the well-known Shooter's Hill.
A fine mezzotint plate of the picture was executed by the celebrated Valentine Green, engraver to H.M. King George the Third, prints from which are now few and far between, and are eagerly sought after, as evidenced by the price obtained for one which was recently brought under Messrs. Christies’ hammer. From one of these prints there was produced some years ago, in the studio of Mr. J. Thomson, of 70A, Grosvenor Street, W., photographer to the Queen, a fine platinotype plate, the production of which must have been a labour of love to Mr. Thomson, he being a lover of art in the usually accepted and best sense of the word, and equally of the game which the late Sir Walter Simpson so happily discoursed on in his “Art of Golf." The result of this reproduction must, at any rate, be considered a matter of congratulation, and not a few golfers and Golf clubs have testified their appreciation by acquiring a copy of Mr. Thomson’s work, prints of which, it is understood, can still be obtained.
With such proofs of the value attached to reproductions of Mr. Abbott’s picture, the question naturally arises, Where is the original? and Echo answers, Where? Mr. Innes left no family, and in the course of years the Blackheath Golf Club has lost touch of his representatives. Possibly some living collateral relatives of his might be able to tell what has become of the canvas, or possibly it may have hung on the walls of the old Golf Club-room at Blackheath, and shared the fate of the records and property of the Club, which were destroyed by fire. These, however. are mere surmises, and it would seem that this picture of surpassing interest to the golfing world must, for the present, be left with its destruction “ not proven," or its resting place unknown.
There is just a glimmer of hope that the coming spring may throw some light on this picture. It has been announced that in the Glasgow International Exhibition, to be opened in May next, a sub-section will be devoted to the national game of Golf, the arrangements in connection with which have been placed in the hands of the Rev. John Kerr. Whatever Mr. Kerr undertakes, he does heartily, and with all his might, and it may be taken as certain that, under his direction, no stone will be left unturned in getting together a collection of golfing relics, and objects of interest to golfers worthy of the occasion. Old golfing pictures and prints will, it is stated, he a feature of the Golf section. If, by any happy chance, this picture of Mr. Innes should be unearthed through the instrumentality of Mr. Kerr or his co-operators, it may safely be asserted that no one would be more gratified than the worthy minister of Dirleton himself.
To leave the picture, and to return to the man, it remains but to end him, "As many of us are ended on this earth, with a Will and a Monument. Mr. Innes’ town house was in Lillie Street Square, in the parish of St. Andrew Undershaft, in the City of London ; he had also a house on Blackheath, in the parish of Lewisham, Kent. He left a will of excessive length, and did not therein forget either his poorer neighbours or his friends at the Golf Club at Blackheath. He bequeathed two hundred pounds to the poor of Lewisham, the interest to be distributed in coals on the 6th January every year. Owing to the low price of the funds at the time when Mr. Innes‘ estate was distributed, three per cent. Consuls being below 55, the poor are benefited to the extent of £11 7s. 4d. a year under this legacy. A paragraph in the will runs :—
“I hereby give and now bequeath to all the Gentlemen of the Goff Society on Blackheath who shall be entered in their books on the day of their playing for the Silver Clubb next after my death a ring of 25s. value to each and also fifty pounds as my donation to the fund of that Society to be added to it."
A large mural monument of marble on the north wall of the church of St. Andrew Undershaft, bears the following matter-of-fact inscription :—
In Memory of
WILLIAM INNES, ESQ.,
Late of this Parish,
One of the oldest and most respectable of the Merchants of London,
and a most charitable and worthy member of Society.
He was born at Edinburgh on the 29th July, 1719, O.S.,
And was married to Ann Wintle,
On the 19th day of May, 1753,
By whom he had no issue.
He departed this life
On the 14th January, 1795,
In the 76th year
Of his age.
Meagre, no doubt, are these details concerning William Innes, sufficient, however, it is hoped, to lead all to the conclusion that in his generation he worthily played his part as a keen golfer and a good man.
Google Books
Golf Illustrated, Volume 7, 1901
Mr. William Innes and His Portrait.
A GLIMPSE AT A GOLFER OF A VERY OLD SCHOOL.
MUCH are English golfers indebted to, and little do they know about, the band of Scots who fostered the game. and preserved its traditions on the green of Blackheath during the eighteenth century. Little has come down to us concerning the members of that band, the very names of but a few having survived, owing to the loss of the older records of the Blackheath Golf Club. William Innes, one of their number, has left more behind him than his contemporaries whose names have been handed down to us. To bring together the stray details concerning him that can be gathered after such a lapse of time is the object of these lilies.
The bare facts that can be ascertained relative to Mr. Wm. Innes are, that he was born in Edinburgh in 1719, and that he came to London, where he flourished exceedingly as a West Indian merchant. There are no means of fixing the date at which he joined the Society of Golfers at Blackheath, of which, however, there is proof that for many years he was a leading member and supporter. One of the silver balls attached to the old silver club of the Society of Blackheath Golfers testifies that he was their captain for the year 1778, and then, in 1789, one of the earliest of the existing minutes of the Society states that Mr. Innes—then, be it noted, in his seventieth year—was a member of its committee.
The following year, 1790, Mr. Wm. Innes stood for his golfing portrait to Mr. L. F. Abbott, R.A., the result being the picture, an excellent representation of which is herewith furnished to the readers of GOLF ILLUSTRATED, by which Mr. Innes has become better known to the present generation than any other English golfer of his day. The picture itself is a most interesting link with the past. Mr. Innes is depicted engaged in a round on the Blackheath green, and dressed in the uniform of a captain of the “ Goff Society "; behind him stands his caddie, a pensioner of the Royal Naval Hospital, Greenwich, who carries a sheaf of the old long-headed clubs, the wooden much outnumbering the iron. A bottle, suggestive of more than a Scottish pint of whiskey, peeps out of one of the capacious pockets of the caddie’s coat. The Golf hole close by Mr. Innes—and, be it- remembered, that in those days the rule was to tee not more than four club lengths from the hole— is marked by a sprig of furze. The refrain of an old song, not now in fashion for Golf dinners, commemorates this manner of marking the holes with furze. The background of the picture is of much local interest, introducing, as it does, one of the old Blackheath windmills, now long ago demolished, and giving a view of Morden College, backed by the well-known Shooter's Hill.
A fine mezzotint plate of the picture was executed by the celebrated Valentine Green, engraver to H.M. King George the Third, prints from which are now few and far between, and are eagerly sought after, as evidenced by the price obtained for one which was recently brought under Messrs. Christies’ hammer. From one of these prints there was produced some years ago, in the studio of Mr. J. Thomson, of 70A, Grosvenor Street, W., photographer to the Queen, a fine platinotype plate, the production of which must have been a labour of love to Mr. Thomson, he being a lover of art in the usually accepted and best sense of the word, and equally of the game which the late Sir Walter Simpson so happily discoursed on in his “Art of Golf." The result of this reproduction must, at any rate, be considered a matter of congratulation, and not a few golfers and Golf clubs have testified their appreciation by acquiring a copy of Mr. Thomson’s work, prints of which, it is understood, can still be obtained.
With such proofs of the value attached to reproductions of Mr. Abbott’s picture, the question naturally arises, Where is the original? and Echo answers, Where? Mr. Innes left no family, and in the course of years the Blackheath Golf Club has lost touch of his representatives. Possibly some living collateral relatives of his might be able to tell what has become of the canvas, or possibly it may have hung on the walls of the old Golf Club-room at Blackheath, and shared the fate of the records and property of the Club, which were destroyed by fire. These, however. are mere surmises, and it would seem that this picture of surpassing interest to the golfing world must, for the present, be left with its destruction “ not proven," or its resting place unknown.
There is just a glimmer of hope that the coming spring may throw some light on this picture. It has been announced that in the Glasgow International Exhibition, to be opened in May next, a sub-section will be devoted to the national game of Golf, the arrangements in connection with which have been placed in the hands of the Rev. John Kerr. Whatever Mr. Kerr undertakes, he does heartily, and with all his might, and it may be taken as certain that, under his direction, no stone will be left unturned in getting together a collection of golfing relics, and objects of interest to golfers worthy of the occasion. Old golfing pictures and prints will, it is stated, he a feature of the Golf section. If, by any happy chance, this picture of Mr. Innes should be unearthed through the instrumentality of Mr. Kerr or his co-operators, it may safely be asserted that no one would be more gratified than the worthy minister of Dirleton himself.
To leave the picture, and to return to the man, it remains but to end him, "As many of us are ended on this earth, with a Will and a Monument. Mr. Innes’ town house was in Lillie Street Square, in the parish of St. Andrew Undershaft, in the City of London ; he had also a house on Blackheath, in the parish of Lewisham, Kent. He left a will of excessive length, and did not therein forget either his poorer neighbours or his friends at the Golf Club at Blackheath. He bequeathed two hundred pounds to the poor of Lewisham, the interest to be distributed in coals on the 6th January every year. Owing to the low price of the funds at the time when Mr. Innes‘ estate was distributed, three per cent. Consuls being below 55, the poor are benefited to the extent of £11 7s. 4d. a year under this legacy. A paragraph in the will runs :—
“I hereby give and now bequeath to all the Gentlemen of the Goff Society on Blackheath who shall be entered in their books on the day of their playing for the Silver Clubb next after my death a ring of 25s. value to each and also fifty pounds as my donation to the fund of that Society to be added to it."
A large mural monument of marble on the north wall of the church of St. Andrew Undershaft, bears the following matter-of-fact inscription :—
In Memory of
WILLIAM INNES, ESQ.,
Late of this Parish,
One of the oldest and most respectable of the Merchants of London,
and a most charitable and worthy member of Society.
He was born at Edinburgh on the 29th July, 1719, O.S.,
And was married to Ann Wintle,
On the 19th day of May, 1753,
By whom he had no issue.
He departed this life
On the 14th January, 1795,
In the 76th year
Of his age.
Meagre, no doubt, are these details concerning William Innes, sufficient, however, it is hoped, to lead all to the conclusion that in his generation he worthily played his part as a keen golfer and a good man.
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