Yorkshire Chess History

 

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Arnold Yorwarth Green

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Sheffield Sub-Site

 

Born

27/08/1904, Sheffield

Baptised

 

Died

11/11/1963, Hampstead, London

Buried

 

 

Non-Chess Life

 

Arnold Yorwarth Green, was born in 1904 in Ecclesall Bierlow, now part of Sheffield.  His birth was registered in the period October to December 1904, and the index to Sheffield births gives his second name as “Yarworth”.  His probate records, however, give his middle name as “Yorwarth”.  His second name is sometimes quoted even as “Yorvath”.

 

It transpires that his maternal grandmother was Eliza Ann Crips Yorwarth, born 08/09/1830, baptised 25/12/1834 at St. Andrew’s Holborn, daughter of Francis Napoleon Yorwarth and Eliza Yorwarth (née Eliza Crips).  Eliza Ann Crips Yorwarth married Robert Holmshaw, son of William Holmshaw, on 10/05/1855, at St. Andrew’s, Holborn, and they had a daughter, Beatrice Holmshaw who was A. Y. Green’s mother.  Beatrice, evidently moved from London to Sheffield at some time from 1855 to 1873.  [Without this information, “Yarworth” seemed the best bet, hence the file name.]

 

He was the second (surviving) son of Harry Green (born 1869/70 at Wadsley Bridge, near Sheffield, but then in Ecclesfield), a baker and flour confectioner, and his wife Beatrice née Holmshaw (born 1872/73 in Sheffield), whose marriage was registered in the second quarter of 1899, in Sheffield.  They had three children:

 

Beatrice Green, junior

born January 1901, Sheffield

Harry Norman Green

born 1902, Sheffield

Arnold Yorwarth Green

born 27/08/1904, Sheffield

 

Beatrice junior survived for at least two months (age in 1901 census) but died in the first decade of her life, as the 1911 census form recorded that the couple had had three children of whom one was no longer living.

 

The 1901 census found Harry and Beatrice with 2-month-old Beatrice living off Crookes Place, which turned off Langsett Road at number 38 thereof, but no longer exists.  White’s Sheffield & Rotherham Directory, 1901, listed Harry Green, Don cake factory, Crookes Place, Sheffield, and separately listed Don cake factory at Crookes Place (which, for the benefit of Sheffield readers, was not in Crookes, but in Hillsborough).

 

At some stage from 1901 to 1905, the family moved to 631 London Road, where Harry traded as a confectioner, which meant a baker of cakes and the like, as opposed to bread and the like.

 

White's Directory of Sheffield & Rotherham, 1905, also listed Harry Green as a confectioner at 631 London Road, suggesting that is probably where Arnold was born, though it’s possible he was born at the Don cake factory, just before the move.  White's Directory of Sheffield & Rotherham, 1901, had listed Benjamin Thomas Bell as a confectioner at 631 London Road, so presumably Harry Green took over occupancy of the shop some time from 1901 to 1905.  Don cake factory, as such, seems no longer to have existed.

 

White's Directory of Sheffield & Rotherham, 1911, listed Harry Green, confectioner, at both 631 London Road, and 712 Chesterfield Road, though the 1911 census shows London Road to be the place of residence.

 

The 1911 census described the family still living at 631 London Road, Sheffield (6th of 12 addresses between Artisan View and Thirlwell Road).  The house boasted six “rooms” as defined for the purposes of the census, and the household consisted of parents Harry and Beatrice, two sons Harry and Arnold, a live-in shop assistant, and a general servant.  Harry was described as a baker and flour confectioner.  Arnold Y. Green was still only six years old.

 

White’s Sheffield & Rotherham Directory, 1912, listed 247 London Road in addition to 631 London Road and 712 Chesterfield Road, as part of Harry Green’s interests.

 

The death of our man’s father, Harry Green, was registered in the first quarter of 1913.  His wife, Beatrice, took over running the confectioners business.  Confusingly she was not the only “Mrs. Beatrice Green” to be listed thereafter in Sheffield directories.

 

White’s Sheffield & Rotherham Directory, 1916, listed Mrs. Beatrice Green, confectioner, at the three addresses formerly under her husband’s name.

 

Kelly’s Sheffield & Rotherham Directory, 1925, listed Mrs. Beatrice Green, confectioner, at 631 and 247 London Road.  The former premises at 712 Chesterfield Road were no longer listed, there being nothing listed between 701 and 721.

 

Young Arnold Y. Green may well have helped in the confectioners shops in his early years, but in time he became by profession an accountant.  He was never listed in the trades sections of Sheffield directories, suggesting he was employed by some firm or other.  He presumably live at home with his mother before getting married, as it was not until after getting married that he became listed in Sheffield directories.

 

By 1930, the telephone had been installed at 631 London Road, the number being Sharrow 50409 (Kelly’s 1930).

 

Kelly’s Sheffield & Rotherham Directory, 1934, 1935 and 1936, listed Mrs. Beatrice Green only at 631 London Road, which presumably was still the residence of Arnold Y. Green.

 

The marriage of Arnold Y. Green to Karen Gladys May Ward (born 20/01/1912), at Chesterfield, was registered in the period April to June 1938.  The quarterly marriage returns listed her merely as Gladys M. Ward, but her husband’s probate record gave her name in full, as did the 1939 Register.  Seemingly she was known as “Gladys”.  The couple lived in 1939 at 31 Crescent Road, Sheffield, on the southern corner of Crescent Road with Chippinghouse Road.  Arnold was a chartered accountant and hospital “sec” – presumably secretary (administrator) of some sort at relatively near (walking distance) Nether Edge Hospital.

 

It would appear that Beatrice Green died around 1939.

 

Arnold Y. Green appeared in Kelly’s Sheffield and Rotherham Directory, 1941, still residing at 31 Crescent Road, Sheffield,  His wife lived, doubtless, at the same address.

 

The same situation was reflected in Kelly’s directory dated 1948, but a telephone had now been installed, the number being Sheffield 52158.

 

It was probably in 1948 that .Arnold and Gladys moved to London.

 

Electoral Roles for Hampstead from 1949 to 1961 list Arnold Green (with no “Y.”) and Gladys Green living at 3g Greville Place, Hampstead, London.

 

At some time from 1961 to 1963 it seems Arnold moved to 39A Elsworthy Road, Hampstead, London NW3.

 

Death

 

The death of Arnold Y. Green, aged 59, was registered at Hampstead in the fourth quarter of 1963.  Probate records reveal that Arnold “Yorwarth” Green died on 11/11/1963, presumably at Hampstead, London.  He was given as resident at 39A Elsworthy Road, Hampstead, London NW3.  Probate was granted to Karen Gladys May Green, widow.  He left £13,180.

 

Chess

 

He started playing chess seemingly around 1922/23, coming to the fore in Sheffield chess around 1927/28.

 

He played for Sheffield in the IM Brown Shield in the three seasons 1923-24, 1924-25 and 1925-26.

 

He won Class B of the Sheffield Individual Tournament in 1925.

 

In 1926 he was promoted to Sheffield’s Woodhouse Cup team, becoming board one in 1927.

 

He played on board 2 of the 1928-29 Yorkshire team in the counties’ team correspondence championship.  He lost to G. A. Heginbottom [?] of Cheshire.  The team finished 6th with 20½ out of 36, slipping slightly relative to the previous season’s 5th place.

 

He played on board 10 in the counties final match Yorkshire v. Surrey, on 14/12/1929, losing on adjudication to G. Wernick.  Surrey won 6½-5½.

 

He didn’t play in the 1929-30 Counties’ Correspondence Championship, nor in the Yorkshire-Cheshire match played on 18/01/1930.

 

In the 1929-30 season, his first match for Sheffield was on 26/10/1929, on board 2 in a Woodhouse Cup match with Rotherham, below W. Gregory on board 1; he drew with Rotherham’s F. Davy, who actually lived in Doncaster.  For the match on 23/11/1929 against Wakefield, Sheffield’s order on the top two boards was reversed, and A. Y. Green drew with Wakefield’s L. C. Lewis on board 1.  On 07/12/1929 he played for Sheffield on board 1 again, away to Huddersfield, losing to H. E. Atkins.  Their game was unfinished, but Sheffield submitted no adjudication claim, so Huddersfield won on a technicality, though presumably Sheffield made no claim because Atkins had a winning position.  There followed the reverse venue matches.  On 25/01/1930 he lost for Sheffield on board 1 to Rotherham’s E. J. Griffith.  Against Wakefield, on 15/02/1930, again on board 1, he beat G. E. Jackson.  Against Huddersfield, on 08/03/1930, he managed a draw with H. E. Atkins.  Sheffield finished second in Section B of this season’s Woodhouse Cup, behind Huddersfield who won all 6 matches and had to play Section A winners, Bradford, in the final.  (The play-off on 05/04/1930 was a 5-5 draw.  The replay was to be at Leeds on 12/04/1930, but was then rescheduled to 26/04/1930, the day of the YCA AGM, and was an 8-2 win to Bradford, with H. E. Atkins the only Huddersfield player to win a game.)

 

In the Yorkshire-Lancashire match of Mach 1930, he played on board 8, losing to Dr. H. Holmes.

 

He won the Sheffield Championship for the first time in 1932.  Thereafter he won it in 1934-35, 1936-37 and finally in 1938-39.  At that stage the competition ceased due to the world war.  During the hiatus in formal chess activity, the Sheffield Year Books continued to publish A. Y. Green’s name as that of Sheffield Chess Champion, so that he seemed to have won it every year during the war period, though that was not the case.

 

By 1935, he had played in the Sheffield league for the following clubs: Woodseats, Woodseats Friends, YMCA, and West End.

 

He won the Yorkshire Championship for the first time in 1934-35, defeating H. Greenwood of Brighouse in the final.  He was finalist in 1932-33, but lost to F. N. Jameson of York.  He was also a losing finalist on one occasion before that.  In 1935-36 he lost in the final to Jacob Bronowski.  He won the Yorkshire Championship again, for the last time, in 1937-38.  (Click here for his 1936 loss to Bronowski.)

 

He scored a draw against Alekhine in the latter’s simultaneous display in Leeds in 1938 (q.v. for their game).

 

After moving to London after the war, he participated in the British Championship a number of times from 1952 (or earlier?) to 1959.  He played in the Hastings Premier Reserves in 1956, and in the top section at Hastings in 1960-61.

 

 

Created

15/10/2012

Copyright © 2012 Stephen John Mann

Census information is copyright of The National Archive, see UK Census Information

Last Updated

30/08/2018