Papers collected by the athlete and athletics administrator Squire Yarrow. The collection includes a small number of athletics programmes relating to meetings in which Yarrow participated during the 1930s and 1940s. There are articles and newspaper cuttings concerning his athletics career as well ephemera comprising an autograph book, certificates, badges, menu cards and orders of service.
Papers of Squire Yarrow
Archive Collection
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- ReferenceGB 150 ATH/SY
- Dates of Creation1938 - 1984
- Name of Creator
- Language of MaterialEnglish Norwegian
- Physical Description1 standard box (comprising 1 volume 1 file and 35 items)
Scope and Content
Administrative / Biographical History
Squire Yarrow was born on 28 July 1905, his birth registered in Hackney. At the outbreak of World War One the family moved to Epping Forest, near to Wanstead Park. As a young boy he utilised the park and became a keen walker and runner. He was played hockey, cricket, squash and boxing. Following a motorcycle accident in the 1930s he took up running seriously and joined Polytechnic Harriers. Throughout this decade he ran in every Poly and Middlesex team bar one, focusing on running three, six and ten miles on the track. Squire regularly finished in second place and was a runner-up to Wally Clift, Bob Hadland, Percy Bull and Maurice Carr amongst others.
In 1938 he decided to focus on road racing and entered the 'Finchley 20', finishing second to O'Sullivan of Herne Hill. He finished second in the Polytechnic Harriers Marathon and was selected for the first ever British team to run in the European Championships, held that year in Paris. He won the silver medal in the marathon race with a time of 2 hours, 39 minutes and 3 seconds. Following the Second War, Squire attended the 1946 European Championships in Oslo. Here, aged 41, he finished seventh in the marathon race on a course which was later discovered to be one and a quarter miles short. Following the Oslo meeting, Squire and Sydney Wooderson formed the Smestad Club, intended to comprise all the British team members and enabling the group to keep in touch. Later, all full internationals were admitted and the Club held an anniversary dinner. This kept going until the formation of the IAC. He also worked alongside Ernest Neville and assisted with the formation of a club for marathon runners, the Road Runners Club.
As an administrator, Squire represented Polytechnic Harriers on the Middlesex committee and was the editor of the county handbook until 1939. He was assistant team manager to Great Britain's 1948 Olympic Games team. In 1950 he settled in the Midlands and was involved with Staffordshire County and Midlands administration. This led to membership of various AAA committees and the Chairmanship of Coaching, Development and Facilities. He later became Vice-President and then President of the AAA in 1978, succeeding Harold Abrahams. He took great interest in the AAA's Five Star Award Scheme held in schools; was director and referee of the London Marathon from its inception; and was also one-time President of Victoria Park Harriers.
Squire Yarrow died on 11 April 1984.
Sources: papers of Squire Yarrow; Free Births, Marriages and Deaths website accessed 8 October 2014 from http://www.freebmd.org.uk/cgi/search.pl; Victoria Park Harriers website accessed 8 October 2014 from http://www.vphthac.org.uk/history/vph-history-03.html
Arrangement
These papers have been arranged into the following 3 series:
athletics programmes;
articles, newspaper cuttings and photograph;
ephemera
Access Information
Open. Access to all registered researchers.
Other Finding Aids
Please see full catalogue for more information.
Archivist's Note
Papers arranged and described by Mark Eccleston, October 2014, in compliance with General International Standard Archival Description (ISAD(G), second edition, 2000; and in-house cataloguing guidelines.
Conditions Governing Use
Permission to make any published use of any material from the collection must be sought in advance in writing from the Director of Special Collections (email: special-collections@contacts.bham.ac.uk). Identification of copyright holders of unpublished material is often difficult. Special Collections will assist where possible with identifying copyright owners, but responsibility for ensuring copyright clearance rests with the user of the material.
Custodial History
This collection was previously in the custody of the National Centre for Athletics Literature (NCAL).