Pelham George
Von Donop
Male
England
1851-04-28
Southsea, Hampshire, England
1921-11-07
London, England
From Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/P._G._von_Donop
Pelham George von Donop was born in Southsea, Hampshire, the eldest of four sons (and three daughters) of Commander (later Vice-Admiral) Edward Pelham Brenton von Donop, R.N., and Louisa Mary Diana von Donop (née Brenton).
He was educated at Royal Somersetshire College, Bath, before entering the Royal Military Academy at Woolwich in 1869. He represented the academy in the annual cricket match against the Royal Military College, Sandhurst, at Lord’s on 23-24 May 1870 and played against the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) at Lord’s a year later.
He was commissioned as a lieutenant into the Royal Engineers on 15 December 1871 and the following April was posted to the School of Military Engineering at Chatham, Kent. Donop continued playing cricket while serving with the Royal Engineers: in one match, against the Harlequins at Chatham in June 1884 he scored 91 runs out of his side’s total of 224.
Donop was promoted to captain in December 1883. In September 1884, as a member of the Royal Engineers’ 8th Railway Corps Company, he was posted to Egypt to take part in the Nile Expedition. While in Sudan, his company constructed 87.5 miles (140.8 km) of railway track, from Sarras to Akasha, to facilitate the transport of provisions and stores to and from the fighting front.
He returned from Egypt in June 1886. Between January 1889 and February 1894, he served as Inspector of Submarine Defences at Bombay, India, where, on 15 March 1890, he married Ethel Farran Orr, the daughter of a Bombay barrister. He was promoted to major in May 1890 and to lieutenant-colonel in December 1897.
He continued to play cricket at club level and, in January 1890, he made two appearances for George F. Vernon’s XI in matches against local sides at the Gymkhana Ground, Bombay. However, he never played in a top-class match.
In 1899, Donop temporarily left the Royal Engineers to become an Inspecting Officer of Railways for the Board of Trade’s Railway Inspectorate. He formally resigned from the Royal Engineers in November 1902, while working for the Board, was promoted to Chief Inspecting Officer in July 1913 and held that position until his retirement in 1916.
During his time with the Board of Trade he investigated numerous railway accidents, such as those at Witham, Essex in 1905 and at Ilford, Essex, in 1915, and also carried out safety inspections of tram services, such as that at Warrington, Lancashire. Donop acted as godfather to the writer Pelham G. Wodehouse, who was named Pelham in his honour.
Sporting success
As well as playing cricket, Donop was selected to represent his regiment at football, and was in the Royal Engineers’ team which reached the 1874 Football Association (F.A.) Cup Final. In the final, at the Kennington Oval on 14 March 1874, Donop played at inside left. The Engineers lost 2-0 to Oxford University.
The following year, the Engineers defeated Oxford University in the semi-final to set up a second consecutive appearance in the final, this time against the Old Etonians. The final was again played at Kennington Oval, on 13 March, with Donop now playing at centre half for the Engineers. The game ended in a goal-less draw. In the replay, at the same venue on 16 March, the Engineers won 2-0.
Donop also gained two caps for England in friendly matches against Scotland. He made his international debut on 8 March 1873, in the second official match played between the two countries, which England won 4-2. Donop, playing in the centre of the defence, was described as a “stalwart of the Royal Engineers team”. He made his second international appearance two years later, on 6 March 1875, in a 2-2 draw.
Donop continued to represent the Royal Engineers until he was in his mid-thirties. In November 1886, he scored three goals in a match against the Royal Military Academy.
Donop was also a notable tennis player, winning the men’s doubles event at the Bermuda Open Tennis Championships in Hamilton in 1879, partnering Charles Wood. In 1881, Donop played his first singles event at the Gloucestershire tournament in Cheltenham where he lost in the first round to George Butterworth.
Donop also competed in the 1882 Wimbledon Championships. In 1884, he won the men’s singles at the West of England Championships at Bath. In 1882 and 1883, he was a two-time finalist in the men’s singles event at the Exmouth Open, losing to Charles Lacy Sweet on both occasions. In 1892, he was a finalist at the Western India Championships, held at the Bombay Gymkhana Club.
1881 - 1892
2
53
36
1882 - Portishead (Amateur)
1881 - West of England Championships (Amateur)
Round 1
Pelham George Von Donop 1 *
bye
Semifinals
Pelham George Von Donop 1 *
Arthur Knapp Oliver
1-6
6-3
6-3
Final
Captain C.S. Smith 1 *
Pelham George Von Donop
8-6
6-4
6-1
Round 1
Pelham George Von Donop 1 *
W. Dickson
w.o.
Quarterfinals
Henry Edwin Hunter Kent 1 *
Pelham George Von Donop
6-2
6-1
3-6
6-1
Round 1
Pelham George Von Donop 1 *
G.H. Willoughby
6-1
6-3
Round 2
Thomas Spread (Tom) Campion 1 *
Pelham George Von Donop
6-3
6-2
Round 1
Edward Fletcher 1 *
Pelham George Von Donop
6-3
6-0
Round 1
Pelham George Von Donop 1 *
R.J.R Boreel
6-1
6-0
6-3
Round 2
John Redfern Deykin 1 *
Pelham George Von Donop
6-1
6-0
6-3
Round 1
Pelham George Von Donop 1 *
H.R. Perry
6-1
6-4
6-0
Round 2
Wilfred Milne 1 *
Pelham George Von Donop
5-6
6-4
6-4
6-2
Round 1
Wilfred Milne 1 *
Pelham George Von Donop
6-4
6-3
Round 1
Pelham George Von Donop 1 *
William John Bush-Salmon
?
Round 2
Pelham George Von Donop 1 *
C. Leach
?
Quarterfinals
Pelham George Von Donop 1 *
H.W. Raymond
?
Semifinals
Pelham George Von Donop 1 *
bye
Final
Charles Lacy Sweet 1 *
Pelham George Von Donop
6-0
6-4
7-5
Round 1
Pelham George Von Donop 1 *
George Arnulph Montgomerie
6-3
4-6
6-3
6-2
Round 2
Humphrey Berkeley 1 *
Pelham George Von Donop
w.o.
Round 1
Pelham George Von Donop 1 *
Dudley David Pontifex
6-3
6-4
6-1
Quarterfinals
Pelham George Von Donop 1 *
Percy Hattersley Smith
w.o.
Semifinals
Robert Wallace Glen Lee Braddell 1 *
Pelham George Von Donop
6-1
6-4
Round 1
Pelham George Von Donop 1 *
Charles Yeatman Petgrave
6-0
6-4
Round 2
Pelham George Von Donop 1 *
Rev. Edmond Bennet Brackenbury
6-4
6-3
Quarterfinals
Pelham George Von Donop 1 *
Donald Charles Stewart
5-6
6-5
6-5
Semifinals
Sir Alexander Kaye Butterworth 1 *
Pelham George Von Donop
6-3
6-2
Round 1
Pelham George Von Donop 1 *
A.C. Robertson
w.o.
Round 2
Pelham George Von Donop 1 *
William John Down
6-2
6-2
Quarterfinals
Pelham George Von Donop 1 *
Conway John Morgan
6-1
6-1
Semifinals
Pelham George Von Donop 1 *
William Edward Martyn
6-4
1-6
6-3
Final
Charles Lacy Sweet 1 *
Pelham George Von Donop
6-1
6-4
Round 1
Pelham George Von Donop 1 *
Eustace Fiennes
?
Quarterfinals
Pelham George Von Donop 1 *
W.B. Briscoe
?
Semifinals
Charles Lacy Sweet 1 *
Pelham George Von Donop
?
Round 1
Pelham George Von Donop 1 *
Richard Montague Ainslie
6-2
6-2
Round 2
Pelham George Von Donop 1 *
Charles Lacy Sweet
6-0
6-5
Quarterfinals
Pelham George Von Donop 1 *
bye
Semifinals
Pelham George Von Donop 1 *
S. Baker
6-3
6-2
Final
Pelham George Von Donop 1 *
Herbert Washbourne Gibbs
6-3
6-5
Round 1
Pelham George Von Donop 1 *
Charles Lacy Sweet
w.o.
Round 2
Pelham George Von Donop 1 *
Erskine Gerald Watson
6-5
6-5
Quarterfinals
Pelham George Von Donop 1 *
Arthur Walton Fuller
?
Final
Charles Welldon 1 *
Pelham George Von Donop
?
Round 1
Pelham George Von Donop 1 *
Humphrey Berkeley
w.o.
Round 2
James Ernest (Ernest) Renshaw 1 *
Pelham George Von Donop
5-6
4-6
6-2
6-0
6-4
Round 1
Pelham George Von Donop 1 *
George Montague Butterworth
6-5
6-3
Round 2
Pelham George Von Donop 1 *
John Henry Lewis
6-1
6-4
Semifinals
Pelham George Von Donop 1 *
William Norton Barry
6-5
6-0
Final
Pelham George Von Donop 1 *
John Charles Kay
5-6
6-5
6-3
Round 1
Pelham George Von Donop 1 *
Charles Henry Luxton
?
Round 3
Ernest Maconchy 1 *
Pelham George Von Donop
6-2
6-1
Round 1
George Montague Butterworth 1 *
Pelham George Von Donop
6-3
6-0
6-5