Leslie St. Clair Cheape (1882–1916) was a British soldier and polo player in the 1910s.

Personal life

Leslie St. Clair Cheape was born in 1882 Scotland, the third son of Maude Mary Cheape, "of

Wellfield Wellfield and South Wellfield is a village in Whitley Bay, England, between Monkseaton and Earsdon. It is a residential suburb built between the 1920s and 1950s. The older properties are towards Earsdon, the newer ones closer to Monkseaton. Th ...

Fife Fife (, ; gd, Fìobha, ; sco, Fife) is a council area, historic county, registration county and lieutenancy area of Scotland. It is situated between the Firth of Tay and the Firth of Forth, with inland boundaries with Perth and Kinross (i ...

, and Bentley Manor, Worcestershire." His sister—C. B. Cay—died aboard on 29 May 1914.

Military

Cheape was assigned to the British Army's

Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders Argyll (; archaically Argyle, in modern Gaelic, ), sometimes called Argyllshire, is a historic county and registration county of western Scotland. Argyll is of ancient origin, and corresponds to most of the part of the ancient kingdom of ...

in the British Raj in 1905 when he was transferred to the

1st King's Dragoon Guards The 1st King's Dragoon Guards was a cavalry regiment in the British Army. The regiment was raised by Sir John Lanier in 1685 as the 2nd Queen's Regiment of Horse, named in honour of Queen Mary, consort of King James II. It was renamed the 2nd Ki ...

. By 1911, Cheape held the rank of

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

. In 1916, while deployed during World War I, then-

Major Major (commandant in certain jurisdictions) is a military rank of commissioned officer status, with corresponding ranks existing in many military forces throughout the world. When used unhyphenated and in conjunction with no other indicators ...

Cheape died in

Palestine __NOTOC__ Palestine may refer to: * State of Palestine, a state in Western Asia * Palestine (region), a geographic region in Western Asia * Palestinian territories, territories occupied by Israel since 1967, namely the West Bank (including East ...

on 23 April 1916.

Polo

Cheape began playing polo in the British Raj while stationed there with the British Army. In July 1907, Cheape played for the Tigers at the Leamington Tournament, emerging victorious and taking home the cup after defeating Kibworth Grange (4 to 3), Old Cantabs (3 to 2), and the Tally Ho's. In April 1911, Cheape arrived in the United States to compete for the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland in the

International Polo Cup The International Polo Cup, also called the Newport Cup and the Westchester Cup, is a trophy in polo that was created in 1876 and was played for by teams from the United States and United Kingdom. The match has varied in length over the years ...

. At a practice match in May, the Britons lost to the Americans— to —so

John Hardress-Lloyd Brigadier-General John Hardress Lloyd (14 August 1874 – 28 February 1952) was an Anglo-Irish soldier and polo player. He was awarded a DSO and made a Chevalier of the Légion d’Honneur for his service in the British Army during the Fir ...

moved Cheape to a forward position. The first match of the cup went to the home team ( to Britain's 3); Cheape was contemporaneously described as "the worst mounted man on the field". Though George V's team would also lose the second match (and the cup), the contest was called "the finest game of polo ever seen ��Every man on the field played up to the top of his form, not a weak link on either side." When Cheape returned to the States in 1913 to play in that year's International Polo Cup, he was "at the top of his form" in practices at the

Piping Rock Club Piping Rock Club is a country club in Matinecock, New York. It falls within the ZIP Code boundaries of Locust Valley, New York. History The Piping Rock clubhouse was designed by American designer Guy Lowell and built in 1911. Lowell based his ...

. Nevertheless, Britain's team lost their first match (with 3 to goals), as well as their second (with to ). After being chosen by Ivor Guest, 1st Viscount Wimborne in May 1914 to play in that year's cup at Meadowbrook, Cheape scored three of Britain's winning goals (to the US' three), though not without receiving a black eye and a broken nose in the process. The second match was postponed by the Americans for three days to allow Cheape to recover from his injuries; when they finally took to the field, the match went to the UK team (4 to ), and the Westchester Cup returned with Cheape and his team to Great Britain. One hundred years after his first swing at the International Cup, Cheape was still remembered as "one of the greatest ritish polo playersever".

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Cheape, Leslie St Clair 1882 births 1916 deaths 1st King's Dragoon Guards officers Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders soldiers British Army personnel of World War I British military personnel killed in World War I British polo players International Polo Cup Scottish military personnel