Concerning Mr. J. G. Warwick, Architect

Just a relative quickie today, taking us back into the world of post-WWII croquet in southern England.

We've looked at some of the accomplishments of "E. J. Warwick" and "J. G. Warwick" (as they are named in the croquet results tallied in the London Times) at least once before.

At first I didn't know if the players were related in some way, but they were indeed. Joan and Guy Warwick were brother and sister and lived on Westfield Road [above, left] in Budleigh Salterton during the era.

Let's begin, however, with brother "J. G." I could not find out a great deal about James Guy Warwick (22 June 1894 – 3 November 1981), although I wish I could. People have mentioned him neutrally in messages, but without any expression of either fondness or dislike—just that they do, in fact, recall him.

Regarding his career playing croquet, Guy Warwick won the South of England Championship in 1962, the Du Pre Cup in 1963, and served as a referee in the MacRobertson Shield Series in 1974 [below, right]. That latter assignment seems to express the esteem in which Warwick was held by the croquet community at large, even though he was nearing the end of his playing career: He would only play 4 more career singles games in the next four years, the last of his career.

His career singles record shows he won 354 times in 727 games for a 49% winning percentage.

That 49% winning percentage may not seem like so very much until you look at his year-by-year statistics. Warwick went 44 – 91 during the last eleven years that he played (1968 – 1978). He did not play at all in the 1975 or 1977 seasons, presumably due to health issues, or perhaps simply age. But at the end of the 1967 season, Guy Warwick was 73 years old and sported a commendable 310 – 282 won-lost record.

[Update: Guy Warwick played a handful of pre-war games between 1931 and 1939 at Hunstanton, about 50 miles northeast of Peterborough, on the coast by "The Wash". His record in those seven matches was 3-4. Click HERE to review those records, and thanks to Chris Williams of the CA!]

And these totals from the database at the Croquet Association do not consider doubles matches, which he played often as both a partner and a foe of the Mills siblings, George, Agnes, and Violet.

And why wouldn't he have jousted with that trio often? After all, they were his neighbours, living at Grey Friars, 15 Westfield Road!

A phone number for J. G. Warwick appears in the 1957 phone directory that included Budleigh. The listing reads thusly:

Warwick, J. G, Sherwood
      Westfield Rd . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Budleigh Salterton 423


It remained the same until his passing in 1981, save for the actual digits which eventually became "3423." Using "Street View" in Google Maps, by the way, I could not discern an abode called "Sherwood" among the dwellings there today.

The only other phone listing I can find for a J. G. Warwick is a solitary one in Peterborough in 1940. Birth records show that Warwick was born in Peterborough, so may we can assume that this listing in his?

Warwick, J. G, 103 Park rd . . . . . . . . . . . . Peterborough 2066

[Just an aside: This is the only listing for a phone in this name, at this address, in ancestry.com. It begs the question, "Why only once?"]


Looking back in time a bit more, we find that Guy served as one of the two executors of the will of widow Fanny Truefitt of Highgate, London, along with a William Arthur Hyde Hulton, on 17 June 1932, according to the London Gazette dated 21 June 1932.

That's not very much to know about a man.

Fortunately, or more correctly unfortunately (at least for Warwick in this particular case), we also know that in the Royal Institute of British Architects Journal (Volume 89) in 1982, there is a "James Guy Warwick" listed among members recently deceased, so from this we can assume that Warwick had been an architect.

In 1960, the RIBA Journal (Volume 68) published the obituary of artchitect Frederick James Lenton (1888-1960), noted as having "practised with offices at Stamford, Peterborough and Grantham in partnership with the late H F Traylen and J G Warwick" between the wars. We can comfortably conclude that Guy Warwick was, indeed, an architect.

There are also records of a 19th century architect named J. G. Warwick. Is it safe to assume that, since Guy was called by his middle name, it may have been because he was named after his father, who had also been an architect? Neither Warwick, however, is listed among the RIBA members in 2001's Directory of British Architects 1834-1914: L-Z by Antonia Brodie, although Guy may have become a member after 1914.

[Update: Scratch that. Warwick's father was Harry James Warwick of "Longthorpe, Norths," who lived in Park Road, Peterborough, with wife Clara Edith and a servant. Harry was an "auctioneer & valuer," according to the 1891 UK census.]

That leaves us not much to discuss except croquet, a sport he seems to have begun in 1946 following the Second World War. [One can find the complete croquet record of Guy Warwick [left] by clicking HERE.]

Records show Warwick went 2-0 against Agnes Mills and 1-0 against Violet. (The Association as yet has no records available for George Mills or his opponents.) As noted, Guy spent much more time as a doubles partner or doubles rival of the Mills.

He went 15-18 playing against his younger sister, Joan, who was his most frequent singles opponent.

Of his sister, Edith Joan Warwick, though, we know somewhat more, besides the fact that she necessarily went 18-15 against her brother in croquet.

And that's where we'll pick up this thread next time, examining the life of Joan—a life that was probably considered a bit more glamorous than Guy's, even he would have to admit—and her worldwide travel in the name of sport. See you then!

[Update: Many thanks to both Joanna Healing and Judy Perry of Budleigh Salterton for the wonderful colour images of Mr. Warwick seen above!]