Origin of Snooker. A Hundred Years Old At Least

Billiards and Snooker. February, 1938

Reproduced by kind permission of “The Field.”

Concerning the origin of snooker, I have received a most interesting communication from Lt.-Col. G. LI. H. Howell, late R.A. Writing from Arden, Tobago, he states: “The fact that you first came across the game in a gunners’ mess, coupled with the name of the game, might have led you to suspect a possible place of origin.

“You no doubt know that first-term cadets at The Shop (R.M.A., Woolwich) have been called ‘Snookers’ for well over a hundred years at least.

“I first played the game in my second term as a cadet at The Shop in 1893, and as an officer in the Shoebury mess in 1895.

“There I played with some very senior officers, amongst others the then Commandant of the School of Gunnery, who was not only a very good player, but had at least thirty years’ service. From his conversation on the subject, as well as that of other senior officers, it was quite certain that they had all played the game when cadets at The Shop—so that brings us to at least 1865.

“Moreover, I never heard anyone suggest that the game was anything but an old-established one in his time in The Shop. This, without suggesting the actual date of birth, at least confers quite a respectable age on the game.

“Whatever the actual and dated facts may be, there has always been a tradition in the regiment and amongst the sappers that snooker originated at The Shop, and that it owed its name to the idea that no ‘snooker’ was likely to know the game, or be much good at it—I do not want to lay any stress on the obvious corollary.

“I can only add that up to 1900 at the earliest, it was very rare to find any guest in the mess, other than gunners and sappers, who knew the rules. My recollection is that printed rules of snooker hung in the billiard room at The Shop in 1893, but I may be mistaken, and in any case, they may have been printed locally at Aldershot or Woolwich.

“In the face of the above, it seems very improbable that the game originated in India; since, if it had, the only people who were at all familiar with it (R.A. and R.E. officers) would hardly have been unanimous in saying that it did originate at the R.M.A., Woolwich, through which all of them, save a very small percentage had passed.”

Colonel Howell’s letter contains points of reference which show that his conclusion is as sound as anything can be on so difficult a subject as the origin of any form of sport. Every word he writes is of interest and value, and I shall be glad to hear from other readers of The Field, who have something to add.

I am very keen to know if others can remember, as I do, that the game was played in the nineties by allowing a choice of “any colour” to the end in this manner. After the “last red” was pocketed, you could take “any colour,” then you were “on yellow,” but when yellow was pocketed the striker had choice of “any colour,” and could take, say, black, before having to pocket green in life pool rotation. So it continued until only black and pink were left.