Edward Denny

Edward Denny was the son of a Norfolk clergyman and was educated at Haileybury School before going to Keble College Oxford at the age of 18. He became a schoolmaster at Maze College, St Leonard’s, before going to France to live and work. Denny was appointed principal at the Anglo-Saxon school at Auteuil, Paris and had a major influence on education in the country. In recognition of his services in reforming secondary education, he was appointed an Officer d’Académie in 1907.

Denny’s influence in France went beyond education, and he is regarded as the “Father of French Hockey”. He organised the first ever recognised hockey match in France in November 1897, when the Anglo-Saxon school played Ecole Alsacienne. Denny compiled the French code of hockey rules and had a book entitled The Game in France published 1907. That same year, Denny was an umpire in the first official international between England and France. He was a former president of the French Hockey Association and founded the Association of Official Umpires.

Although he was better known as an administrator and umpire, Denny did play occasionally, and in 1908 was a member of the Racing Club de Paris second XI. At the London Olympics that year, he was an umpire in England’s opening game, a 10-1 win over, ironically, France. Five years later, at Cambridge in 1913, Denny officiated in another England versus France game, and this time England won 14-0. Denny remained in France after his teaching days and was in charge of the British Library in Nice in 1945.