Edgar Amphlett

Edgar Amphlett had two outstanding careers as a journalist and fencer, and in the period before World War I managed to combine the two with great success.

The son of a newspaper proprietor, Amphlett was educated privately, and also at Hull Grammar School. He was an all-round sportsman who enjoyed cricket, boxing, golf, swimming, shooting, and billiards.

Amphlett got his first job as a journalist when he was aged 17 and eight years later, in 1892, got a job with the Press Association. He worked in the Press Gallery at the Houses of Parliament, and in 1899 joined the Parliamentary Staff of The Times, and continued working in the Houses of Parliament. Altogether Amphlett spent 16 years working in the Press Gallery and, having been the Gallery’s chess and bridge champion, he changed his job in 1913 when he was placed in charge of the chess columns for the literary supplement, and weekly editions of The Times.

During World War I, Amphlett was a war correspondent in France and, despite being 48-years-of-age at the time, obtained a commission to serve as a staff captain in the Railway Transport department in France. He re-joined the staff of The Times in 1919 and immediately worked abroad again, as a special correspondent in Ireland, and between 1922-24 was a member of the staff of their Paris office. In total, Amphlett spent 30 years at The Times.

An excellent fencer, Amphlett’s first instructor was Professor Felix Gravé. At the London Olympics in 1908, Amphlett won an épée team silver medal, and in 1910 he was the British épée champion. The following year he was the British foil champion. Having competed at the 1908 and 1912 Olympics, Amphlett was one of eight men selected for the team foil event at the 1924 Paris Games but, along with Ernest Stenson-Cooke and Ralph Sutton, did not make the final five who competed.