Papers of Howard Payne

Personal papers compiled by the athlete Howard Payne. The collection includes a small number of athletics programmes relating to meetings organised by, or held at, the University of Birmingham; items of correspondence, primarily detailing his relationships with family and friends but also including references to Payne's athletics career; and material relating to his published work on hammer throwing including draft chapters as well as a series of unrelated photographs depicting techniques for high jumping.

Taken as a whole, the collection highlights aspects of Payne's athletics career and also includes references to South African politics and society during the mid-20th century.

Andrew Howard Payne, known as Howard, was born in Benoni, Gauteng, South Africa on 17 April 1931. He was the son of Andrew and Agnes Payne (nee Hurlston) who had maried on 3 March 1923 in St Dunstan's Cathedral, Johannesburg and he had a sister, Rhona [later Rhona Wheedon]. Howard's mother, Agnes, was the daughter of Ernest Harold Walpole Hurlston and his wife Hester. Ernest was the brother of Amy Hurlston, born in Coventry in 1865, and one-time 'Lady Editor' of the Sheffield Weekly Telegraph and regular contributor to The Lady, The Queen and The Gentlewoman publications. A number of letters contained in this collection were written from Amy to Ernest and Hester.

Howard read Chemistry and Physics and was awarded a BSc from Witwatersrand University, Johannesburg. He began hammer throwing in 1955 and was fascinated by the event and its technicalities. He represented Rhodesia at the 1958 British Empire and Commonwealth Games where he finished fourth with a distance of 56.40. He settled in the UK in 1959, allegedly in search of better hammer throwing competition. He spent three years at the University of Birmingham studying for an MSc in Physics. In 1960 he won his first cap for Britain at the age of 29 when he finished third at a meeting against France with a distance of 58.78.

Payne won a total of 61 caps for Great Britain which was an impressive number considering his late start. He set a total of seven UK records, one of the best being at the 1968 Mexico Olympic Games where a 68.06 throw took him into the final. He was subsequently placed tenth with a distance of 67.62. His best European Championships result was eighth, in 1969, but various Commonwealth Games saw some of his best performances and he won three titles: in 1962, 1966 and 1970. He came second in 1974. Payne achieved his ambition of throwing over 70 metres with a personal best of 70.88 which enabled him to win a match against Poland and Canada in Warsaw in 1974: he was 43. He won five AAA titles, was a medallist fifteen times and won twelve Inter-Counties Championships representing Warwickshire. He won nine Midlands titles between 1960 and 1972.

Payne married his first wife Thelma in South Africa during the 1950s. The couple divorced and he subsequently married the discus thrower (Christine) Rosemary Charters [later Chrimes], known as Bud, on 5 February 1960. Later that year the couple had twin boys, Andrew and Russell. In his working life, after being awarded an MSc from the University of Birmingham, Howard held positions in industry and as a school master. He later returned to the University of Birmingham as a lecturer in Physical Education. He was involved with the Birmingham University Athletics Club and was a member of Birchfield Harriers. He had a distinguished publishing record being the author, co-author or editor of eight works on hammer throwing, weight training and athletics between 1969 and 1990. He was a one-time President of The Hammer Circle. Howard Payne died on 1 February 1992.

Sources: papers of Howard Payne, reference: ATH/HP; Wikipedia accessed 15 September 2014 from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Howard_Payne_(athlete); The Hammer Circle accessed 15 September 2014 from: http://www.hammer-circle.com/index/index.php/about-us; Google books accessed 15 September 2014 from: http://tinyurl.com/nsbr6z9; Free Births, Marriages and Deaths accessed 15 September 2014 from: http://www.freebmd.org.uk/cgi/search.pl; Roots Web website accessed 15 September 2014 from: http://archiver.rootsweb.ancestry.com/th/read/SOUTH-AFRICA-IMMIGRANTS-BRITISH/2003-12/1071716842; The Herald, Scotland website accessed 15 September 2014 from: http://www.heraldscotland.com/sport/other-sports/at-80-buds-still-throwing-her-weight-around.22168066

These papers have been arranged into the following 3 series: athletics programmes; correspondence; and material relating to published works on athletics.

Open. Access to registered researchers.

Please see full catalogue for more information.

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@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.

This collection was previously in the custody of the National Centre for Athletics Literature (NCAL).

Other archive collections, formerly held as part of the National Centre for Athletics Literature (NCAL), are catalogued as collections distinct from this collection. They comprise both institutional archives and collections of personal papers of athletes, athletics administrators, journalists and others associated with the athletics world.

Catalogues of the institutional archives available on the online archive catalogue are as follows:
Amateur Athletic Association: papers, 1880-1992. Finding No: ATH/AAA;
English Cross-Country Union: papers, 1911-1989. Finding No: ATH/ECCU;
Midland Counties Amateur Athletics Association: papers, 1900-1991. Finding No: ATH/MCAAA;
Midland Counties Cross Country Association: papers, 1898-1985. Finding No: ATH/MCCCA;
Midland Counties Women's Amateur Athletic Association: papers, 1949-[1980s]. Finding No: ATH/MCWAAA;
Northern Counties Women's Amateur Athletic Association: papers, 1933-1989. Finding No: ATH/NCWAAA;
Northern Cross-Country Association: papers, 1906-1983. Finding No: ATH/NCCA;
Northern Women's Track and Field League: papers, 1982-1983. Finding No: ATH/NWTFL;
Southern Counties Amateur Athletic Association: papers, 1958-1983. Finding No: ATH/SCAAA;
Southern Counties Cross-Country Association: papers, 1911-1990. Find No: ATH/SCCCA;
The Sports Council: papers, [1940s]-2001. Finding No: ATH/SC;
Women's Amateur Athletic Association: papers, 1932-1989. Finding No: ATH/WAAA.

Catalogues of personal papers available on the online archive catalogue are as follows:
Abrahams, Harold Maurice (1899-1978), athlete, administrator, commentator and journalist: papers, 1902-1989. Finding No: ATH/HA;
Adam, George Mair (1898-1989), athlete, coach and athletics administrator: papers, 1909-1989. Finding No: ATH/GA;
Binks, Joseph (Joe) (1874-1966), athlete and athletics commentator: papers, [1920s-1950s]. Finding No: ATH/JB;
Brown, Audrey Kathleen (nee Court) (1913-2005), athlete: papers, [1930s]-2005. Finding No: USS22;
Cardew, Martin H. (b 1927), athlete: papers, 1964-1988. Finding No: ATH/MHC;
Cullum, Dennis Noel Johnson (1913-1985), athlete and coach: papers, [1930s]-1985. Finding No: ATH/DC;
Humphrey, David (b 1933), athlete: papers, 1944-1958. Finding No: ATH/DH;
Ives, Bert (1890-1975), athlete and athletics administrator: papers, [1920s-1970s]. Finding No: ATH/BI;
Jarvis, Walter (c 1888-c 1935), athlete: papers, 1910-1996. Finding No: MS4;
Jewell, John Christopher (1912-2001), athlete and athletics commentator: papers, 1897-2002. Finding No: ATH/JJ;
Lloyd-Edgley, Ralph: scrapbook, [c 1924]-[c 1931]. Finding No: ATH/RLE;
MacLean, Duncan (1884-1980), athlete and coach: papers, 1948-1977. Finding No: ATH/DM;
Monk, Walter Harry (Wal) (1896-after 1965), athlete: papers, 1918-1961. Finding No: ATH/WHM;
Morgan, Wilf (b 1935), athlete and athletics historian: papers, 1937-2012. Finding No: ATH/WM;
Newton, Arthur Francis Hamilton (1883-1959), athlete: papers, [c 1904]-[1990s]. Finding No: ATH/AN;
Payne, Howard (1931-1992), athlete: papers, 1899-[c 1975]. Finding No: ATH/HP;
Percy, Joe W. (1912-2001), athlete and athletics administrator: papers, 1910-1997. Finding No: ATH/JWP;
Perry, George (b 1903), athlete: papers, [1920s]-1956. Finding No: ATH/GP;
Powell, Edgar Robert Leslie (Peter), (fl 1920s-70s), athlete: papers, 1813-1988. Finding No: ATH/ERLP;
Richards, Wilf (b 1906), athlete and journalist: papers, 1924-[mid 20th century]. Finding No: ATH/WR;
Roberts, Dave (fl 1930s-1990s), athlete and statistician: papers, [1930s]-1991. Finding No: ATH/DR;
Simpson, Colin J. (1929-2011), athlete and athletics administrator: papers, 1945-1990. Finding No: ATH/CS;
Tatham, Wilfrid George (Gus) (1898-1978), athlete: papers, 1908-1960. Finding No: ATH/WGT;
Thomas, Dr Philip, athletics administrator and coach: papers, [c 1900]-[late 20th century]. Finding No: ATH/PT;
Vargas, Charles Climaco (1905-1975), athlete: papers, 1921-31. Finding No: ATH/CCV;
Ward, Leonard H., athletics coach: papers, [mid-20th century]. Finding No: ATH/LW;
Watman, Melvyn Francis (Mel) (b 1938), athletics journalist and statistician: papers, 1980-1993. Finding No: ATH/MW;
Wight, Robert M., athletics administrator: papers, [mid-20th century]. Finding No: ATH/RW;
Winter, Arthur E. H. (d 1990), athlete and athletics commentator: papers, [early 20th century]-1983. Finding No: ATH/AW;
Yarrow, Squire Stevens (1905-1984), athlete and athletics administrator: papers, 1938-1984. Finding No: ATH/SY.