Conrad Stanbury ( 1894–1975) was a Canadian professional

snooker Snooker (pronounced , ) is a cue sports, cue sport played on a Billiard table#Snooker and English billiards tables, rectangular table covered with a green cloth called baize, with six Billiard table#Pockets 2, pockets, one at each corner and o ...

player. He was the first player to make an officially-recognised

century break In snooker, a century break (also century, sometimes called a ton) is a of 100 points or more, compiled in one to the table. A century break requires potting at least 25 consecutive balls, and the ability to score centuries is regarded as a m ...

at snooker. In 1935, he became the first player from outside the

British Isles The British Isles are a group of islands in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-western coast of continental Europe, consisting of the islands of Great Britain, Ireland, the Isle of Man, the Inner and Outer Hebrides, the Northern Isles, ...

to compete in the

World Snooker Championship The World Snooker Championship is the longest-running and most prestigious tournament in professional snooker. It is also the wealthiest, with total prize money in 2022 of £2,395,000, including £500,000 for the winner. First held in 1927 Wor ...

Career

Con Stanbury was born in about 1894. In 1922, he compiled a of 113, recognised as the first snooker

. He won the 1932 national snooker championship of Canada, known as the Dominion Championship, by defeating A. Corteau 10–1 in the final. A few weeks later, he defeated Tom Newman 4–3 in a challenge match. In 1934, it was announced that funds were being raised to send Stanbury to compete in the

. Newman wrote in the ''

News of the World The ''News of the World'' was a weekly national Tabloid journalism#Red tops, red top Tabloid (newspaper format), tabloid newspaper published every Sunday in the United Kingdom from 1843 to 2011. It was at one time the world's highest-selling En ...

'' that he regarded Stanbury as "the most likely man I know" to defeat champion

Joe Davis Joseph Davis (15 April 190110 July 1978) was an English professional snooker and English billiards player. He was the dominant figure in snooker from the 1920s to the 1950s, and has been credited with inventing aspects of the way the game i ...

, and praised Stanbury's play, particularly his ability with shots. Stanbury travelled to England for the

1935 World Snooker Championship The 1935 World Snooker Championship was a snooker tournament held at Thurston's Hall in London, England from 8 to 27 April 1935. It was the first edition of the Championship to incorporate "world" in its name, being called the World's Profession ...

, and was the first player from outside the

to compete in the World Championship. He lost in the of his first match, 12–13 to Willie Smith in a quarter-final. In the 1936 Championship he defeated

Alec Mann Alec E. Mann was an English professional snooker player. Career Born in Birmingham on 14 November 1902, Mann turned professional in 1926, entering the 1927 World Championship, where he lost his first match 6–8 to Albert Cope after leading ...

before being eliminated by

Alec Brown Alec Thomas Brown (born July 23, 1992) is an American professional basketball player for BC Budivelnyk of the European North Basketball League and the Champions League. He played college basketball at the University of Wisconsin–Green Bay. Bro ...

in the quarter-finals, and at his next attempt in

1938 Events January * January 1 ** The Constitution of Estonia#Third Constitution (de facto 1938–1940, de jure 1938–1992), new constitution of Estonia enters into force, which many consider to be the ending of the Era of Silence and the a ...

, lost 4–27 to Sidney Smith at the same stage. After competing in five further championships from 1939 to 1948, but winning only two matches, Stanbury won three successive matches all 18–17 in

1949 Events January * January 1 – A United Nations-sponsored ceasefire brings an end to the Indo-Pakistani War of 1947. The war results in a stalemate and the division of Kashmir, which still continues as of 2022. * January 2 – Luis ...

, against Herbert Francis,

Jackie Rea John Joseph "Jackie" Rea (6 April 1921 – 20 October 2013) was a Northern Irish snooker player. He was the leading Irish snooker player until the emergence of Alex Higgins. Rea reached the semi-final of the 1952 World Championship losing to ...

and Herbert Holt, before losing 13–58 to

Walter Donaldson Walter Donaldson (February 15, 1893 – July 15, 1947) was an American prolific popular songwriter and publishing company founder, composing many hit songs of the 1910s to 1940s, that have become standards and form part of the Great American Song ...

. His final entry to the championship was in

1950 Events January * January 1 – The International Police Association (IPA) – the largest police organization in the world – is formed. * January 5 – 1950 Sverdlovsk plane crash, Sverdlovsk plane crash: ''Aeroflot'' Lisunov Li-2 cr ...

, and saw him defeated 15–20 by

Sidney Lee Sir Sidney Lee (5 December 1859 – 3 March 1926) was an English biographer, writer, and critic. Biography Lee was born Solomon Lazarus Lee in 1859 at 12 Keppel Street, Bloomsbury, London. He was educated at the City of London School , ...

Whilst the British players of the time had a background in

English billiards English billiards, called simply billiards in the United Kingdom and in many former British colonies, is a cue sport that combines the aspects of carom billiards and pool. Two (one white and one yellow) and a red are used. Each player or team us ...

, which was played with a delicate touch, Stanbury played snooker more like

pool Pool may refer to: Water pool * Swimming pool, usually an artificial structure containing a large body of water intended for swimming * Reflecting pool, a shallow pool designed to reflect a structure and its surroundings * Tide pool, a rocky pool ...

, with powerfully hit shots. A correspondent for ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper ''The Sunday Times'' (fou ...

'' wrote in 1939 that "it should not be forgotten that the present popularity of the game f snookerdates from the time he came to this country to challenge the leading players." Stanbury was a British resident for the rest of his life after emigrating in 1935, and worked as a coach at a

billiard hall A billiard, pool or snooker hall (or parlour, room or club; sometimes compounded as poolhall, poolroom, etc.) is a place where people get together for playing cue sports such as pool, snooker or carom billiards. Such establishments commonly serve ...

in London for many years. He also appeared as himself in the 1949 film '' It Happened in Leicester Square'' alongside other professional players. Stanbury died in 1975.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Stanbury, Con 1890s births 1975 deaths Canadian snooker players