Clement Jackson Vanity Fair 3 September 1892

Clement Nugent Jackson (2 April 1846 – 1924) was a British athlete, academic and athletics administrator.

Early life

He was born in

Simla Shimla (; ; also known as Simla, the official name until 1972) is the capital and the largest city of the northern Indian state of Himachal Pradesh. In 1864, Shimla was declared as the summer capital of British India. After independence, the ...

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

, the second son of Lt-Gen George Jackson of the

Bengal Staff Corps Bengal ( ; bn, বাংলা/বঙ্গ, translit=Bānglā/Bôngô, ) is a geopolitical, cultural and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the eastern part of the Indian subcontinent at the apex of the Bay of Bengal, predom ...

, and Phillis Sophia Strode. He was educated at

Magdalen Hall Hertford College ( ), previously known as Magdalen Hall, is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. It is located on Catte Street in the centre of Oxford, directly opposite the main gate to the Bodleian Library. The colleg ...

, Oxford (later to be

Hertford College Hertford College ( ), previously known as Magdalen Hall, is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. It is located on Catte Street in the centre of Oxford, directly opposite the main gate to the Bodleian Library. The colleg ...

Athlete

Jackson was a gifted hurdler, winning the high hurdles at the fourth Varsity Sports of 1867, with a time of 17.8s. He later improved this to 16.0s, a British record (that stood for many years) and probably a World record, although at that time there was no international body to such records. He had to retire from competition after badly cutting his foot on an oyster shell while running against

W G Grace William Gilbert Grace (18 July 1848 – 23 October 1915) was an English amateur cricketer who was important in the development of the sport and is widely considered one of its greatest players. He played first-class cricket for a record-equa ...

Academic career

In 1869, he was elected as a don at

. He was known as "The Jacker". In the first Oxford Telephone Directory of 1895, he was one of only 96 subscribers. By this time he was Bursar of Hertford, and would later be Senior

Proctor Proctor (a variant of ''procurator'') is a person who takes charge of, or acts for, another. The title is used in England and some other English-speaking countries in three principal contexts: * In law, a proctor is a historical class of lawye ...

for the University.

Athletics administrator

In 1868, he was appointed Club Auditor of the

Oxford University Athletic Club Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the Un ...

(OUAC), and in 1869, Senior Treasurer, a position he held for some sixty years. He guided the club towards a position of international prominence and Jackson became renowned as an authority figure within athletics. He also acted as mentor and coach to the club's members. As a trusted official, Jackson was called upon to determine who had won in a close finish at the Varsity Sports. Together with two other Oxford men,

Montague Shearman Sir Montague Shearman (7 April 1857 – 6 January 1930) was an English judge and athlete. He is best remembered as co-founder of the Amateur Athletics Association in 1880. Biography Early life and career Shearman was the second son of M ...

and

Bernhard Wise Bernhard Ringrose Wise (10 February 1858 – 19 September 1916), commonly referred to as B. R. Wise, was an Australian politician. He was a social reformer, seen by some as a traitor to his class, but who was not fully accepted by the labor Mov ...

, he was the guiding force in the founding of the

Amateur Athletic Association The Amateur Athletic Association of England or AAA (pronounced 'three As') is the oldest national governing body for athletics in the world, having been established on 24 April 1880. Historically it effectively oversaw athletics throughout Britai ...

on 24 April 1880. The first AAA Championships were held on 3 July 1880 at

Lillie Bridge The Lillie Bridge Grounds was a sports ground on the Fulham side of West Brompton, London. It opened in 1866, coinciding with the opening of West Brompton station. It was named after the local landowner, Sir John Scott Lillie (1790–1868) and ...

Personal life

He married Ada Louisa Martin. His brother, Morton Strode Jackson married her sister, Edith Rosine Martin. Morton's son Arnold Jackson won the gold medal in the 1500m at the 1912 Olympic Games in Stockholm, coached by his uncle, Clement Jackson.

Legacy

In 1926, Sir Montague Shearman and other members of the

Achilles Club The Achilles Club is a track and field club formed in 1920 by and for past and present representatives of Oxford and Cambridge Universities. Members have won 19 Olympic Gold Medals (most recently Steph Cook in 2000) and held 38 World Records. O ...

presented a Trophy in memory of Jackson, to be awarded annually to the winning team in the Oxford vs Cambridge Varsity Sports. In recent years it has been noted that the trophy was inscribed as the "ARNOLD Jackson Memorial Trophy". Apparently, during the 1970s the original had been stolen, and a mistake was made when ordering the replacement. A further inscription, correcting the error, has been added to the trophy. The CN Jackson Memorial Cup is awarded annually by the AAA to the English male athlete who is adjudged to be the outstanding athlete of that year.

References

OUAC All Time Hall of Fame
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jackson, Clement 1846 births 1924 deaths Fellows of Hertford College, Oxford Alumni of Magdalen Hall, Oxford British male hurdlers People from Shimla Athletes from Himachal Pradesh Athletics (track and field) administrators