Christopher John Laycock (1887 – 3 December 1960) was a British lawyer, the founder of one of Singapore's earliest law firms, Laycock and Ong. He was also one of the founders of the Singapore Progressive Party.
Early life
Laycock grew up in
Manchester
Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...
, England, and was an influential figure in the early development of rock climbing on the gritstone edges of the
Peak District
The Peak District is an upland area in England at the southern end of the Pennines. Mostly in Derbyshire, it extends into Cheshire, Greater Manchester, Staffordshire, West Yorkshire and South Yorkshire. It includes the Dark Peak, where moorla ...
of
Derbyshire
Derbyshire ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands, England. It includes much of the Peak District National Park, the southern end of the Pennine range of hills and part of the National Forest. It borders Greater Manchester to the nor ...
Buxton
Buxton is a spa town in the Borough of High Peak, Derbyshire, England. It is England's highest market town, sited at some above sea level.Rucksack Club which included many other local climbing enthusiasts, including Charles Pilkington of the glass manufacturing dynasty. Laycock, Herford and Jeffcoat climbed numerous new routes on many of the fine escarpments of Derbyshire, Staffordshire and
Yorkshire
Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other English counties, functions have ...
in the years leading up to the First World War, and these were faithfully recorded in Laycock's guidebook ''
Some Gritstone Climbs
''Some Gritstone Climbs'' is a rock climbing guidebook written by British lawyer John Laycock (1887–1960). The book's subtitle, included uniquely on the frontispiece, is ''Some Shorter Climbs (in Derbyshire and Elsewhere)''. It was published ...
'', the first published guidebook on rock climbing in the Peak District.
The Rucksack Club opposed the publication of the book as a number of the crags described were on private property and the club was concerned about trespass law. Laycock resigned from the club in disgust and the book was published by the Refuge Printing Department (an insurance company in Manchester at the time) in 1913. In the years that followed both Herford and Jeffcoat were killed in the trenches of Flanders, and Laycock never fully recovered from their loss. He left England for Singapore and, it is said, never went rock climbing again, although he wrote a preface to Fergus Graham's guidebook ''Recent Developments on Gritstone'' published in 1926.
The Island Club of Singapore
Laycock founded the Race Course Golf Club, Singapore's first truly multi-racial club, on 1 October 1924 at
Farrer Park
Farrer Park is a subzone of the Rochor planning area in the Central Region of Singapore, bounded by Serangoon Road, Rangoon Road, Race Course Road, Northumberland Road, Tekka Lane and Bukit Timah Road.
This article is about the Farrer Park ...
. The club served Asians who wanted to learn to play golf but could not join the exclusively European Royal Singapore Golf Club, and other avid golfers living around the
Bukit Timah
Bukit Timah, often abbreviated as Bt Timah, is a planning area and residential estate located in the westernmost part of the Central Region of Singapore. Bukit Timah lies roughly from the Central Business District, bordering the Central Wat ...
area. The Club lasted for three years, before it was evicted by the Turf Club land-owners who had sold the land.
Thus Laycock began searching for a new location for the golf club, and in 1929 found the perfect location in the MacRitchie catchment area. Laycock, then a Municipal Commissioner of Singapore, and his friends A.P. Rajah and
Tan Chye Cheng
Tan Chye Cheng (; 1911 – 6 March 1991), also known as C. C. Tan, was a Singaporean lawyer and politician.
Biography
Born in Singapore, Tan was the only child of Tan Guan Chua, a member of the Chinese Advisory Board and the Singapore Chinese C ...
, immediately submitted their plans for the new club for the locations, and received their stamp of approval at the General Committee Meeting of the Singapore Municipal Council on 28 June 1929. Design for the 18-hole course was done by Peter Robinson of
Braid Hills
The Braid Hills form an area towards the south-western edge of Edinburgh, Scotland.
The hills themselves are largely open space. Housing in the area is mostly confined to detached villas, and some large terraced houses. The ''Braid Hills Hotel ...
,
Edinburgh
Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian on the southern shore of t ...
and the construction began in March 1930. Laycock and his grounds committee, with members such as Dr Harold Lim, supervised the entire project for the next two years. The new club was officially opened and renamed The Island Club on 27 August 1932, officiated by Sir
Cecil Clementi
Sir Cecil Clementi (; 1 September 1875 – 5 April 1947) was a British colonial administrator who served as Governor of Hong Kong from 1925 to 1930, and Governor and Commander-in-Chief of the Straits Settlements from 1930 to 1934.
Early lif ...
, Governor of Singapore. Sir
Chan Sze Jin
Chan Sze Jin CMG (6 September 1886 – 26 September 1948) was a lawyer and a politician. He was a member of the Legislative Council of Singapore, and was the first lawyer in private practice to be conferred the CMG. He was also the second lawyer ...
CMG (S.J. Chan) became the club's first President, and Laycock took on the role as First Captain.
Death
Laycock died in Singapore on 3 December 1960 and was buried in
Bidadari Cemetery
Bidadari Cemetery ( Malay: ''Perkuburan Bidadari'', Chinese: 比达达利坟场) is a defunct cemetery in Singapore. It used to serve the Christian, Muslim, Hindu and Sinhalese communities, and accepted burials between 1907 and 1972. The site ...
.The Singapore Free Press, 3 December 1960, Page 6; The Straits Times, 10 December 1960, Page 11