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SHEFFIELD Chess History |
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Contents: |
Charles Arthur Dixon |
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Identity of the Chess Player
When the T. W. Crabb Shield came into the possession of the Sheffield & District Chess Association, it came to light that the “C. A. Dixon” mentioned twice thereon was in fact the maternal grandfather of Sandra Borrill, the wife of John Stanley Borrill (b. 29/03/1936; died 1993), (co-)founder of Banner Cross Chess Club (now Phoenix Chess Club) and sometime S&DCA divisional league secretary. This genealogical background facilitates identifying “C. A. Dixon” with certainty.
Non-Chess Life
The parents of Charles Arthur Dixon were William Henry Dixon (born 1867, Sheffield) and Lilian Dixon (née Creswick, 1867/68, Sheffield), who married in 1887/88 and had eight children, as follows:
The places of birth of those concerned make it clear that the family started off in Sheffield, where the first child was born, moved to Eckington, and then returned to Sheffield. Daughter Gwendoline’s age was given as 3 in the 1911 census, but since mother Lilian Dixon seem to have died in 1905. As a birth records of this Gwendolin(e) Dixon is elusive, she may conceivably have been adopted.
The 1891 census found parents William and Lilian, sons James, Charles and Bertie, and also Lilian’s 14-year-old younger brother, Joseph Creswick, living at 30 Queen Street, Eckington. Father William was self-employed as a pawnbroker.
The 1901 census found the parents, Charles, Bertie, Doreen, Minnie and John living at Queen Street, Eckington, presumably still at number 30. Father William was still a pawnbroker. 10-year-old John was described as having had a “rupture” from childhood.
During the next ten years the mother, Lilian Dixon, died. Her death appears to have occurred in Sheffield, in 1905, making the identity or age of Gwendoline (apparently 3 in 1911) problematical.
Minnie Victoria Dixon died in 1906.
The 1911 census found widowed William Henry Dixon living with Charles, Bertie, Doreen, the enigmatic Gwendolin, and a housekeeper, living at 65 Upper Valley Road. Father William had quit the pawnbroker business, and was now employed working a hydraulic press in a steel works. Charles was a turner in a steel works, Bertie was a tailor’s porter, John was at school, and Doreen was “at home”.
In 1912, Charles Arthur Dixon married Nellie Bransom (born 23/11/1892), in Sheffield. The couple seem to have gone on to have five children:
Kelly’s Sheffield & Rotherham directory of 1933 listed a William Henry Dixon, labourer, still resident at 65 Upper Valley Road.
Youngest child Charles D. Dixon died within the first half-year of life.
In 1939, Charles, who was an engineering turner, his wife Nellie and daughter Nellie, who was a biscuit packer, lived at 21 The Dale, Sheffield.
Daughter Nellie Dixon married Cyril W Hill in Sheffield in late 1939. In 1942 this couple had a daughter, Sandra N. Hill. Sadly, mother Nellie died at or shortly after childbirth, on 16/05/1942, and was buried in Sheffield’s Abbey Lane cemetery, in the same grave wherein her parents were duly interred. In 1961, this Sandra married local chess-player and organiser John Stanley Borrill, as mentioned in the introductory paragraph.
Our man’s father appears to have died in Sheffield in1940, at the age of 73.
Death
Charles Arthur Dixon died, aged 63, at Wharncliffe Hospital, Sheffield, on 19/02/1953, and was buried in the same grave as daughter Nellie, in Sheffield’s Abbey Lane cemetery. His wife, Nellie, died on 31/01/1978, and was buried in the same grave. (Click here for an image of the grave.)
Chess
“C. A. Dixon” was a regular player for Woodseats Friends in Sheffield & District Chess Association competitions between the World Wars, being a contemporary, at Woodseats Friends, of Arnold Wistow Jenkinson, Henry Clark, P. R. Clark, Thomas William Crabb and W. Oxley, amongst other.
He was twice the winner of Woodseats Friends’ T. W. Crabb Shield competition.
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Created 21/07/2014 |
Copyright © 2014 Stephen John Mann |
Last Updated 21/07/2014 |