Tom Wilson

Thomas James Wilson was born the oldest of three sons on 18^th February 1897 in Camberwell, London to Tom senior, an electrical instrument maker for the local borough council, and his wife Julia.

It is unknown whether Wilson enjoyed roller skating in his early years, but should that have been the case, living in Camberwell he would have undoubtedly ventured into the infamous and well established Lava rink opposite Denmark Hill station.

When war broke out in 1914 Wilson was just 17 years old and enlisted for the Royal Navy on 10^th October of that year. His first two months were spent at Chatham docks preparing him for what was to come. On 19^th December he was posted to HMS Ark Royal as an ‘ordinary seaman’. The ship was brand new, having only been commissioned a week earlier and was the Royal Navy’s first ever purpose built seaplane carrier. Reality undoubtedly hit home after what must have initially seemed an adventure for the teenager when his first deployment was to Gallipoli. Wilson remained on Ark Royal for almost the entire duration of the war, but after four years he returned to Chatham docks before being assigned to the minelayer HMS Blanche towards the end of the conflict.

In March 1919, shortly after the war ended Wilson was reported by the authorities as being ‘absent without leave’. The circumstances around his absence are sketchy but it is believed it related to a bereavement, although exactly who is unknown. He was eventually escorted back to Chatham by the Military Police where he was disciplined and reduced in rank. Shortly afterwards he left the navy for good and took up a job as a clerk at the Camberwell Town Hall. Now aged 22 it is here that Wilson’s skating story really starts.

By now the nearby Lava rink had long ceased to be used for roller skating having been used as a warehouse for the war effort. In fact, the building would be totally destroyed by fire on 25^th August 1919 and any thoughts of resurrecting it as a rink went up in smoke with it. This meant that the nearest rink to Wilson was now the Catford rink in Sangley Road. Although open since 1908, throughout the war the Catford rink had been used for military drills, military recruitment drives, boxing matches and billiards tournaments but unlike many other rinks it also continued to be used for roller skating. The rink continued to host races and fund raising gymkhanas, mostly in support of British servicemen.

Roller skating was already on the wane just prior to the war and hostilities only accelerated that decline. Formed in 1909, the Catford roller skating club was one of just a handful of clubs that survived after 1918, most probably due to the continued use of the rink. Shortly after leaving the navy Wilson joined the Catford club and started to race competitively. Our first record of him is a second place behind former Lava club skater, A. T. Clay in a club half mile handicap on 11^th December 1919.

Throughout the following year and as the country continued to lick its wounds, races remained few and far between and mostly only amongst club members or the odd local tournament. Despite this Wilson was starting to make a name for himself amongst the Catford speed skaters that included the likes of Harold Stedeford and Horace Watt. Competition within the club was fierce and all benefitted from the quality of racing talent that Catford now boasted.

In 1921 the National Skating Association (NSA) dusted itself down and decided to resurrect roller speed skating as a national activity. On 26^th January they held the Half Mile Southern Counties for the Allworthy Cup (now the senior men’s time trial trophy) at Holland Park. Wilson didn’t feature but a few weeks later he would win his first gold medal in the One Mile Southern Counties Championship ahead of Aldwych’s Henry Sutton and Otto Lerwill.

On 23^rd February the very first British Championship since 1914 was also run. It was the blue ribband One Mile event for the Benetfink Cup again at Holland Park. Wilson would again run out as winner ahead of Lerwill and Harold Lee (Norbury). Two weeks later he added the Five Mile Championship to his rapidly increasing collection of gold medals becoming the first post war skater and only the second skater ever to win both titles in the same year.

Wilson continued with his club races then on 6^th April the local MP and President of the Holland Park rink, Lieutenant-Colonel Sir Alan Hughes Burgoyne, donated a shield to the resident Aldwych club to be used for an inter-club relay competition. The inaugural running of this event resulted in a victory for the Catford club that consisted of Wilson, Stedeford, Watt and R. Lovatt. (It wasn’t until 1924 that the competition became recognised as a British relay championship).

The relay event was held for a second time on January 13^th, 1922 and Wilson helped Catford retain the Burgoyne Shield. A week later Wilson retained his One Mile Southern Counties title but in the defence of his One Mile British title he would come up short. In the final he was just pipped on the line by Otto Lerwill and had to settle for the silver medal. On the 24^th February he would, however, leave nothing on the table and retained his Five Mile title ahead of teammates Stedeford and Sweet.

In October 1922 the NSA received an invite from the French federation to take part in an international 25 km relay event at the Velodrome d’Hiver, Paris. The invite was put before the Roller Committee and at a meeting in London on 18^th October the invite was formally accepted. The event was to become recognised as the very first amateur international between competing nations and a forerunner to what would eventually become today’s European Championships. The committee selected a team that consisted of Wilson, Lerwill, William Bowley and Alf Symondson as a travelling reserve. It was unanimously agreed that should he accept, Wilson would be recognised as the team captain.

The race, originally scheduled for 3^rd November was delayed by a week. As well as Britain and France teams from Belgium and Romania also took part. The day of the race came and the four teams took to the track. It was a pretty uneventful affair until at 21 km one of the Belgium skaters went to overtake a French skater and they collided. Both fell and in so doing upset Wilson who was on the track for Great Britain at the time. The Romanian team pulled away and were soon a half lap up on the rest of the field, which is where they stayed for the remainder of the race, winning by some sixty yards.

France crossed the line second a yard ahead of Great Britain, but France and Belgium were eventually disqualified, France for not touching on the final relay and Belgium for obstruction. The result was that Great Britain were awarded second place.

On the teams return a special committee meeting was called on 20th November to investigate an alleged case of misconduct by one of the British skaters at the event. The NSA representative, Thomson, reported that Otto Lerwill had used “abusive language” towards William Bowley in the dressing room after the event. The skaters were actually teammates within the Aldwych club when not competing for Great Britain. As team captain Wilson was called to give witness and confirmed that Lerwill had indeed used abusive language but in his opinion “Mr. Lerwill was not in a fit state to control his actions having just finished a very hard race”. Lerwill was also called before the committee and acknowledged he had used abusive language towards Bowley, which he now regretted and apologised to the Roller Committee for. The committee reprimanded Lerwill for his “regrettable breach of good conduct” but elected to take no further action, recognising his apology and provided he sent a written apology to his club.

On 7^th December the third running of the Burgoyne Shield at Holland Park took place, but there was to be no third victory for Wilson and his Catford team as this time Aldwych came home winners. Throughout the 1921/22 and 1922/23 seasons victories were more often than not shared between the Aldwych and Catford clubs who were now undisputedly the top two teams in the country and fierce rivals. A week later and Wilson would finally take home the Half Mile Southern Counties title, the one major domestic title missing from his collection.

The international relay race in France had been seen as a huge success in Britain and the Roller Committee swiftly set about setting up a return match at the Holland Park rink to be held in January 1923. The return leg was a 15 miles relay as opposed to the 25 km event in Paris which equated to 135 laps of the rink (about 180 metres per lap).

On 5^th January an estimated crowd of four thousand spectators were in attendance with the national anthems being played out for each team. The British team, now being trained by professional skater Arthur Eglington, consisted once again of Wilson (again team captain), Lerwill and this time Frank Knowles in place of William Bowley. Alf Symondson was once again reserve. France was made up of Rene Beaujard (French champion), Rene Moyatt (later President of the Federation International de Patinage a Roulettes – precursor to FIRS) and Charles Morel. The Belgian team consisted of brothers Albert and Rene Neels and Emil de Ridder (who would later become the first “official” European Champion). Sadly, Romania could not be present to defend their title.

France was leading after the first mile but at the half way stage Great Britain had drawn to the front and established a quarter lap lead with France in second and Belgium a close third. With four miles to go Britain upped the pace and extended their lead further. With a mile to go they lapped the other two nations and came home first. Belgium moved up to second and France third. In celebration Wilson was carried shoulder high around the rink by many of those present being recognised as the very first British team captain to help his country win a major international competition.

Once the race had concluded Viscount Doneraile, President of the NSA, handed out the medals. Shortly afterwards Madame Beaujard, wife of French skater Rene Beaujard, made her way onto the rink and kissed the British and French skaters much to the amusement of those present.

The following evening a race for what was billed as the Half Mile Championship of Europe was held on the Holland Park Rink. It was not a formally recognised championship with the FIPR not yet formed as an international governing body. Britain fielded ten skaters whilst Belgium and France fielded three each. There were two heats of eight skaters with the first three of each heat going through to the final. Wilson made the final but would not feature amongst the medals.

After the euphoria of Britain’s victory normal service resumed amongst the clubs. On 25^th January Wilson added yet another One Mile Southern Counties title to his collection. On 8^th February he added another One Mile British title and then on 22^nd February retained his Five Mile title. In doing so Wilson became the first skater to win both Southern Counties titles and British championship titles in the same season. His name was now considered synonymous with some of the all-time greats. Nobody, however, could have foreseen that his Five Mile victory would be his last and indeed his last British championship medal.

Wilson’s victory in the 1923 One Mile championship at Holland Park was witnessed by none other than the Duke of York, later to be crowned King Edward VIII. The Duke presented the Benetfink Cup and medal to Wilson who remains the only speed skater to have been awarded his championship prize by a member of the royal family and a future monarch, no less.

Wilson continued to race throughout the year and in October at the start of the 1923/24 season the NSA once again received a letter from the French federation inviting a British team to take part in the next 25 km international team event. The event was provisionally scheduled for December and again at the Velodrome d’Hiver in Paris. Once again, a sub-committee was formed to deal with the matter consisting of V. C. Thomson, H. J. Barclay and this time Tom Wilson. Wilson also formed part of the selection committee along with Thomson and C. Meggs. For whatever reason it was now evident that Wilson would not be skating himself in the event.

It soon became apparent that the original December date would need to be moved and 16th January 1924 was eventually settled upon. It was also suggested that Thomson would again be the NSA representative to travel with the team but if for any reason, Thomson could not go then Wilson would take his place. In the end, however, neither men were available and the position was eventually taken up by former international, Frank Knowles.

Wilson was already considering a life away from the rink. In the very first British relay championship on 9^th January 1924 Wilson could only manage to help his Catford team to third place. It was the last time Catford or any of its members would finish in the top three placings of any race.

Shortly afterwards the Catford rink was turned into a dance hall (the latest craze) and started to play host to whist drives. The building was never again used for roller skating. Now without a permanent home it was the final nail in the coffin for Wilson. His beloved Catford club was disbanded and now aged 27 he decided it was time to go and pursue other ventures away from roller skating.

Two years later Wilson married his fiancé Doris Smith and the family eventually moved to Walthamstow where he would live for the remainder of his life. Wilson passed away at home on 12^th February 1986, a few days before his 89^th birthday.

Wilson may well have had his own memories of his time as an elite roller speed skater but I doubt anyone reading this would have ever heard the name Tom Wilson or what he achieved. When you consider his feats as a skater – multiple British champion; first ever captain of the first ever Great Britain team and one that would collectively win a major international competition; the only British skater to have had his prize awarded by a future monarch – it begs the question ‘why?’ The obvious answer, of course, is that his exploits and feats took place more than 100 years ago now. With the subsequent further decline of the sport, the many upheavals (not least of all another world war), one can now understand how his and many other names have since been lost to history.

For a few short years in the early 1920’s Tom Wilson was the skater everyone wanted to beat and needed to if they were to be recognised themselves within the sport. Now, more than 100 years on, his story can be told and Tom Wilson can rightfully take his place amongst those who are considered British skating legends.