History of Croquet

Where did the game of croquet come from?

There are two main theories about its origins. The first is that the game began in mediaeval France, in the Languedoc region, where it was a game played by peasants who used sticks to hit wooden balls through hoops. This game was called paille-maille, a name which meant ball and mallet.

By the end of the 17^th century, it had became a popular game with the French royal court.

In 1992 in his brochure for the Alpine Cup, contested between France, Italy and Switzerland, the President of the Federation Francaise de Croquet, Antoine Ravez wrote:

“Croquet is a very old game, widely known and practised in France since the X1C under the name jeu de maillet (mallyet).  It was borrowed by the British around 1700 and modified over the centuries. The Scots turned it into golf: the Irish turned it into croquet.”

In 16^th and 17^th century London there was a game called Pall Mall, played both in the street of that name and in the Mall. It was a bit different from croquet. Players used their mallet to hit the ball the length of the street, competing to see who could hit their ball first through the hoop at the end. It is said that King Charles II was a great devotee of the game. The street names Pall Mall, or in general Mall reflect this earlier game. You can also find European street names that show the same: eg. Rue de Mail (Paris) and The Avenue of Mail (Geneva).

While there are some similarities between Pall Mall and croquet some people suggest that pall mall was more probably the origin of golf.

The second theory was that the game crossed the Channel to Ireland and then came to England. According to the earliest English documents, croquet came from a game the Irish called Crookey first recorded in 1834 at Castlebellingham. This game involved multiple balls on a court at a time, but there is no record of the rules of the game.

Clive Martin asserts in A brief History of Croquet 2004 that ”It is from Ireland that croquet came to England and it was on the lawn of the late Lord Lonsdale that it was first played in this country”. The game was played with hoops made of willow rods, and mallets made from broomsticks.

What really popularised the game was the publication of books of the rules-firstly by Isaac Spark 1856, and then by John Jaques in 1857, 1860 and 1864. John Jaques also manufactured croquet kits: mallets, balls and hoops, which made access to the game equipment easier. I believe that there is still a Jacques company in London that manufactures croquet equipment.

Originally it was a pleasant pastime for the upper classes. It was also a courting game for young people. In fact croquet was thought to be rather racy because it was a game where men and women competed on an equal footing. In an age where women did not play sport, this was novel. It also offered a pushback against the strict Victorian courting rules. Women could play croquet without a chaperone peering over their shoulders. Couples could also find time to be together in a game of croquet. This could occur when one player sent the ball deep into the woods. Well then! It would have to be retrieved, wouldn’t it? A gallant young man of course had to accompany the lady into the woods.

 By 1850 croquet had become a major outdoor sport, particularly popular among the upper classes – think of English murder mysteries at stately country homes replete with croquet courts.

It exploded in popularity through the 1860’s and 70’s across England. By 1870 over 65,000 copies of the Croquet Laws and Regulations had been printed, and many clubs had official courts on their premises. Royalty frequently held croquet parties.

In 1868 Wimbledon was not the venue we know now, for hotly contested tennis matches played by grunting professional competitors. The All England Croquet Club was formed at Wimbledon in 1868 and held the first National Croquet Championships there in 1869. In those early days Wimbledon was famous for the genteel game of croquet.

Children’s story writer Lewis Carroll was one of the early members of Wimbledon, and this was probably the origin of his amazing croquet scene in Alice in Wonderland. Alice had to play, using a flamingo as a mallet and disappearing hedgehogs as balls. The penalties for missing the hoops were dire, with the Red queen screaming out “Off with their heads” …this would have a been one game you’d be glad to finish!

Croquet spread to Canada, New Zealand, Egypt and Australia, as well as to America, though during the 1890s Boston clergy advised against croquet for women. They alleged that drinking, gambling and other undesirable behaviour were associated with the game. Wild stuff!

It spread to Egypt as well, and there are many brilliant golf croquet players there, regularly challenging in the World championships.

According to Mr Google the most successful croquet player ever was Professor Bernard Neale, former President of the England Croquet Association, who won 38 club championships in a row between 1963 and 2002.

However, the increasing popularity of lawn tennis saw the decline of croquet at the expense of fiercely contested International Tennis tournaments. Many of the croquet courts became tennis courts as the popularity of tennis grew. The All England Croquet Club, became the All England Croquet and Lawn Tennis Club, and then as tennis became even more popular, the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club. I like to think that the Wimbledon taste for strawberries and cream was a left-over practice from the more genteel croquet times.

In 1900 croquet actually became an Olympic Sport at the Paris Olympics. This was the first time in the modern Olympics that women were allowed to compete. In the French Olympic team were 7 men and 3 women. The fact that only 1 or 2 people turned up to watch could be the main reason it never featured again as an Olympic Sport!

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