P. G. von Donop

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For other people named von Donop, see
Donop
.

Pelham George von Donop
Birth namePelham George von Donop
Born28 April 1851
Lieutenant-Colonel
Battles/wars
RelationsStanley Brenton von Donop (brother)

Lieutenant-Colonel Pelham George von Donop (28 April 1851 – 7 November 1921) was a

Chief Inspecting Officer of Railways. He represented the Royal Engineers at association football, appearing in two FA Cup Finals, and also made two appearances for the England national football team
.

He was the godfather of the writer Sir P. G. Wodehouse, who was named Pelham in his honour.

Career

Early life

Donop was born in

Vice-Admiral) Edward Pelham Brenton von Donop, RN.[2]

He was educated at Royal Somersetshire College, Bath, before entering the Royal Military Academy at Woolwich in 1869.[3] He represented the academy in the annual cricket match against the Royal Military College, Sandhurst, at Lord's on 23–24 May 1870[4] and played against the MCC at Lord's a year later.[5]

He was commissioned as a lieutenant into the Royal Engineers on 15 December 1871 and the following April was posted to the School of Military Engineering at Chatham, Kent. Donop continued playing cricket while serving with the Royal Engineers: in one match, against the Harlequins at Chatham in June 1884 he scored 91 runs out of his side's total of 224.[6]

Later career

Donop was promoted to

lieutenant-colonel in December 1897.[13]

He continued to play cricket at club level and, in January 1890, he made two appearances for

G. F. Vernon's XI in matches against local sides at the Gymkhana Ground, Bombay. However, he never played in a top-class match.[14]

In 1899, Donop temporarily left the Royal Engineers to become an Inspecting Officer of Railways for the

Railway Inspectorate. He formally resigned from the Royal Engineers in November 1902,[15] while working for the Board, was promoted to Chief Inspecting Officer in July 1913 and held that position until his retirement in 1916. During his time with the Board of Trade he investigated numerous railway accidents, such as those at Witham, Essex in 1905[16] and at Ilford, Essex, in 1915,[17] and also carried out safety inspections of tram services, such as that at Warrington, Lancashire. He died on 7 November 1921 and is buried in Mortlake.[18]

Donop acted as godfather to the writer P. G. Wodehouse, who was named Pelham in his honour.[19]

Sportsman

Football

As well as playing cricket, Donop was soon selected to represent his regiment at football,

1874 FA Cup Final
. In the final, at
centre half for the Engineers. The game ended in a goal-less draw. In the replay, at the same venue on 16 March, the Engineers won 2–0.[22]

Donop also gained two caps for England in friendly matches against Scotland.[1] He made his international debut on 8 March 1873, in the second official match played between the two countries, which England won 4–2. Donop, playing in the centre of the defence, was described as a "stalwart of the Royal Engineers team".[23] He made his second international appearance two years later, on 6 March 1875, in a 2–2 draw.

Donop continued to represent the Royal Engineers until he was in his mid-thirties: in November 1886, he scored three goals in a match against the Royal Military Academy.[24]

Tennis

Donop was also a notable

Bombay Gymkhana Club.[30]

Family

His youngest brother Stanley served in the

Major-General Sir Stanley Brenton von Donop KCB KCMG.[31]

Sporting honours

Royal Engineers

  • 1875
  • FA Cup Final finalist:
    1874

References

  1. ^ a b "Pelham George von Donop". Englandstats.com. Retrieved 11 January 2008. Edit this at Wikidata
  2. ^ "British Upheld by German Court", The New York Times, 26 May 1917
  3. ^ "Royal Military College", The Times, 26 July 1869
  4. ^ "Cricket: Woolwich v Sandhurst", The Times, 25 May 1870
  5. ^ "Cricket: Marylebone Club v Royal Military Academy, Woolwich", The Times, 26 May 1871
  6. ^ "Cricket: Royal Engineers v Harlequins", The Times, 30 June 1884
  7. ^ "No. 25297". The London Gazette. 18 December 1883. p. 6520.
  8. ^ "The Royal Engineers", The Times, 16 June 1886
  9. ^ "Naval and Military Intelligence", The Times, 3 January 1889
  10. ^ "Naval and Military Intelligence", The Times, 6 February 1894
  11. ^ "Marriages", The Times, 16 April 1890
  12. ^ "No. 26049". The London Gazette. 9 May 1890. p. 2689.
  13. ^ "No. 26919". The London Gazette. 14 December 1897. p. 7480.
  14. ^ "Pelham von Donop". CricketArchive. Retrieved 4 September 2022.
  15. ^ "No. 27501". The London Gazette. 5 December 1902. p. 8440.
  16. ^ "The Witham Railway Accident", The Times, 15 December 1905
  17. ^ "Ilford Collision Inquiry", The Times, 5 January 1915
  18. ^ "Funeral of Colonel von Donop", The Times, 11 November 1921
  19. ISBN 0-09-471620-X
  20. ISBN 1-905009-63-1
  21. ISBN 1-84426-035-6
  22. ^ Association Football in Victorian England – A History of the Game from 1863 to 1900, pp. 44–45
  23. ^ Association Football in Victorian England – A History of the Game from 1863 to 1900, pp. 37–38
  24. ^ "Football: Royal Engineers v Royal Military academy, Woolwich", The Times, 19 November 1886
  25. ISBN 978-1-3990-9994-3
    .
  26. ^ "Draws Archive: 1882". wimbledon.com. AELTC. Retrieved 25 November 2022.
  27. ^ Pelham George von Donop, tennisarchives.com; accessed 13 June 2017.
  28. ^ Bancroft
  29. ^ Tennis Archives
  30. ^ "About". bombaygymkhana.com. Bombay Gymkhana. Retrieved 25 November 2022.
  31. ^ "Maj-Gen Sir Stanley von Donop", The Times, 18 October 1941

External links

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=P._G._von_Donop&oldid=1220010111"