Robert Heathcote

Robert Heathcote was the son of rear-admiral Sir Edmund Heathcote and, like his father, he also enjoyed a long naval career with the Royal Marine Light Infantry, where he reached the rank of major. In 1883 he was appointed the Superintendent for Gymnasia in the south of England by the Secretary of State for War.

Heathcote retired from the Marines after nearly 40 years in 1903. He was a keen golfer and, when the Stoneham Golf Club in Southampton opened in 1909, he was appointed the club’s honorary secretary. The course was inaugurated with a commemorative match between two members of golf’s “Great Triumvirate”, James Braid and John Henry “J. H.” Taylor.

Heathcote enjoyed his most successful period as an archer after the turn of the 20th century. He was a member of the newly-formed Hampshire County Archery Club and competed in Grand Western Archery meetings and, occasionally, the Grand National Meeting. At the London Olympics he finished 14th in the Double York Round and was one of the unofficial entrants in the Continental Style event.