Origins of the Sport of Badminton
g: Badminton's big chance muffed!
The decline of croquet did open the door for more energetic games to take its place. The All England Club at Wimbledon gave Badminton its opportunity, as can be seen from this most significant article in The Field 24 April 1875
LAWN TENNIS, BADMINTON and CROQUET
The program of the All England Croquet Club for 1875 has just reached us. We observe that the committee of management announce that “a ground will be set apart for lawn tennis and Badminton during the season, under regulations which will be circulated with the programmes of the club championship meeting”. This programme, although dated April 8th, was only circulated on Monday. The lawn tennis and Badminton regulations are as under:
“Balls and shuttlecocks will be kept by the gardener, from whom they may be purchased by members. Lockers capable of holding rackets, balls, shoes, flannels, &c. will be provided at an annual rent of 5s. Members are strongly recommended not to play unless provided with racket shoes, or flat-soled shoes. On the days occupied in playing for the club championships no lawn tennis or Badminton will be allowed. The rules regarding payment by non-playing members will be the same as for croquet.”
On these we would remark, that the rule respecting the use of flat soles should be made absolute, and should not be allowed to depend on an earnest recommendation. If so left, one mischievous or thoughtless member or visitor may do more damage to the lawn than can be undone in a month. We hear also, though it is not mentioned in the programme, that a bath room and extra dressing room will be provided, for the use of which a small charge will be made.
The All England Croquet Club was of course the forerunner of today's Wimbledon Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club.
The rest of the article is naturally enough about croquet, although towards the end it says:
The addition of lawn tennis and Badminton to the amusements provided for members, and their liberty to introduce visitors, will no doubt be of material benefit to the club. For a two-guinea subscription it is a wonder how so much can be provided.
On July 10th 1875 there was a report on the Croquet Championships, which concluded with the following paragraph:
An enjoyable week was finally concluded with some scratch handicaps on Saturday, and a scratch lawn tennis match, the latter being won by Mr. G.F.Dalton. The lawn tennis has proved a success, a number of members having joined the club for the sake of playing that game.
The first All England Lawn Tennis Championships were held two years later, while Badminton practically disappeared, with only the occasional item in The Field reminding us that it was still being played.
Thus Badminton had its big chance to become popular, but competing as a summer outdoor game it is no surprise that it lost out to lawn tennis, which went on to phenomenal success, at Wimbledon and elsewhere.
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The Ninth Edition of the Encyclopaedia Britannica was published in parts starting in 1875, and there is an entry for Badminton written by Mr. Henry Jones, who was on the staff of “The Field”. It seems to be a composite of all three Indian rules; a diagram shows a rectangular court 40 ft by 20 ft, with net posts 15 ft apart.
From the Encyclopaedia Britannica 1875 edition.
The shape of this court is a simple rectangle, and there is not even a 'nick' from the sidelines to the post. This supports the idea that the 'nick' shown in earlier diagrams was not intended to represent the court boundaries, but rather showed where the supporting ropes were to be placed.
Henry Jones who used the pseudonym “Cavendish” was already famous as an expert on card games, and around this time was on the MCC committee which drew up the first rules for lawn tennis, as adopted at Wimbledon. He was to be the Referee for the first Wimbledon Tennis Championships.
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The Field 18 December 1875 mentions a book called
"Lawn Tennis and Badminton" by "Cavendish", London. De La Rue and Co 1876
We have received copies of these books, to which we have the pleasure of drawing attention, though we refrain from criticism. They are, of course, finished in the perfect style for which Messrs De La Rue are so well known. "Lawn Tennis" contains the M.C.C. laws, now generally adopted, a description of the game, and some hints to players, several of which we should be disposed to argue about, were the author not a member of our staff.
What a pity that the part of the book presumably devoted to badminton was not mentioned. Furthermore, if anyone has ever seen a copy of this book, I would be delighted to hear from them, as to my knowledge no copy has survived.
One hopes it was not the 1876 booklet mentioned earlier, which can hardly be described as a book.
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