Charlton James Blackwell Monypenny (4 November 1867 – 11 March 1947) was an English-born businessman, and the 27th

Laird Laird () is the owner of a large, long-established Scottish estate. In the traditional Scottish order of precedence, a laird ranked below a baron and above a gentleman. This rank was held only by those lairds holding official recognition in ...

of the Scottish estate of

Pitmilly Pitmilly is the site of a former estate located five miles south-east of St Andrews, Scotland. Its historical significance is threefold. It has been inhabited from ancient times; artifacts continue to be recovered from the Neolithic, Bronze and Ir ...

. As a youth he was a sportsman of some renown who played

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In its m ...

for several teams including

Cambridge University , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , established = , other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...

and the

Barbarians A barbarian (or savage) is someone who is perceived to be either uncivilized or primitive. The designation is usually applied as a generalization based on a popular stereotype; barbarians can be members of any nation judged by some to be less c ...

. He was president of Cambridge University Athletics Club, for a period was the World Record holder for the 150-yard dash and was one of the fastest men in the world over

100 metres The 100 metres, or 100-meter dash, is a sprint race in track and field competitions. The shortest common outdoor running distance, the dash is one of the most popular and prestigious events in the sport of athletics. It has been conteste ...

Personal history

Monypenny was born in

Hampstead Hampstead () is an area in London, which lies northwest of Charing Cross, and extends from Watling Street, the A5 road (Roman Watling Street) to Hampstead Heath, a large, hilly expanse of parkland. The area forms the northwest part of the Lon ...

, London in 1867 to James Robert Blackwell Monypenny, 26th Laird of Pitmilly and Mary Elizabeth Lane. He was educated at

Fettes College Fettes College () is a co-educational independent boarding and day school in Edinburgh, Scotland, with over two-thirds of its pupils in residence on campus. The school was originally a boarding school for boys only and became co-ed in 1983. In ...

before matriculating to

Jesus College, Cambridge Jesus College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college's full name is The College of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Saint John the Evangelist and the glorious Virgin Saint Radegund, near Cambridge. Its common name comes fr ...

in October 1889. Monypenny threw himself into sporting life at Cambridge and received three sporting '

Blues Blues is a music genre and musical form which originated in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues incorporated spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts, chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads from the Afr ...

' for athletics between 1890 and 1892 in the 100 and 440 yards, taking the 440 yards title and setting a Varsity record in the 1892 meet. While at Cambridge he achieved two running records, the World Record for the 150-yard dash (14.8 secs) and the Cambridge quarter of a mile track record (49.5 secs) which stood until 1931. In 1891 Monypenny was recognised as the seconded fastest man in the world behind American Luther Cary, recording a time of 10.8 seconds in the 100-metre sprint on 22 July. The next year, although recording an identical time of 10.8 seconds, he was judged the joint fastest men in the world that year, along with American athlete Cecil Lee. Jesus College rugby XV 1889

As well as athletics, Monypenny also joined the Cambridge University rugby team. Although never achieving a 'Blue' for facing Oxford in the Varsity Match, he retained his connection with the sport after leaving university, joining

Bath Bath may refer to: * Bathing, immersion in a fluid ** Bathtub, a large open container for water, in which a person may wash their body ** Public bathing, a public place where people bathe * Thermae, ancient Roman public bathing facilities Plac ...

In the 1891–92 season Monypenny accepted an invitation to play for newly formed touring team the Barbarians and he also turned out for Scottish exiles team London Scottish. His younger brother,

Douglas Douglas may refer to: People * Douglas (given name) * Douglas (surname) Animals *Douglas (parrot), macaw that starred as the parrot ''Rosalinda'' in Pippi Longstocking *Douglas the camel, a camel in the Confederate Army in the American Civil W ...

, also played for London Scottish and was capped three times for the

Scotland national rugby union team The Scotland national rugby union team represents Scotland in men's international rugby union and is administered by the Scottish Rugby Union. The team takes part in the annual Six Nations Championship and participates in the Rugby World Cup, ...

. Monypenny married Emila Sybil Wetenhall, daughter of Cecil Algernon Salisbury Wetenhall from Northampton. They had a daughter, Phoebe who became the heiress of Monypenny of Pitmilly. Sometime after leaving Cambridge Monypenny became involved with a brewing firm in

Macclesfield Macclesfield is a market town and civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire East in Cheshire, England. It is located on the River Bollin in the east of the county, on the edge of the Cheshire Plain, with Macclesfield Forest to its east ...

, before immigrating to British Guiana in 1902 as a cotton and tobacco grower. While in South America he remarried and had another four children from this second marriage. He remained in British Guiana until 1912 when he moved to Barbados. Monypenny remained in the Caribbean until 1922 when he returned to Britain living in

Finchampstead Finchampstead is a village and civil parish in the Wokingham Borough in the shire of Berkshire, England. Its northern extremity is south of Wokingham, west of Bracknell, south-east of Reading, and west of Central London. It is an affluent ar ...

. He remained there until 1930 when he moved to

Caversham Heights Caversham Heights is a residential area within Caversham in the English Royal County of Berkshire (until 1911, in Oxfordshire). Today Caversham is a northern suburb of the larger town of Reading. The name Caversham Heights traditionally refers t ...

in Reading; remaining there until his death in 1947.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Monypenny, Charlton 1867 births 1947 deaths Alumni of Jesus College, Cambridge Barbarian F.C. players Bath Rugby players British male sprinters Cambridge University R.U.F.C. players English people of Scottish descent English rugby union players London Scottish F.C. players People educated at Fettes College Rugby union locks Rugby union players from Hampstead