{{short description|British soldier and polo player (1882–1916)}} {{use British English|date=November 2023}} {{use dmy dates|date=January 2024}} {{Infobox sportsperson | name = Leslie St. Clair Cheape | image = Lockett, Barrett, Tomkinson, Traill, Cheape LCCN2014696129 (cropped).tif | alt = A photo of a clean-shaven Caucasoid man in a suit and flat cap; he is bodily facing the camera, though looking to his left. | caption = Cheape in 1914 | birth_date = {{birth year|1882}} | birth_place = Scotland, United Kingdom | death_date = {{death date and age|1916|04|23|1882|df=yes}} | death_place = Palestine, Ottoman Empire | country = United Kingdom | sport = Polo | module = {{infobox military person |embed=yes | unit = 1st King's Dragoon Guards | branch = British Army | branch_label = Branch | rank = Major | battles = World War I | battles_label = Conflict }} }}
'''Leslie St. Clair Cheape''' (1882–1916) was a British soldier and polo player in the 1910s.
==Personal life== Leslie St. Clair Cheape was born in 1882 Scotland,<ref name="2015 Polo Encyclopedia" /> the third son of Maude Mary Cheape,<ref name="1926-08-21 Spectator" /> "of Wellfield, Fife, and Bentley Manor, Worcestershire." His sister—C. B. Cay—died aboard {{RMS|Empress of Ireland}} on 29 May 1914.<ref name="1914-07 Baily's: Obit" />
==Military== Cheape was assigned to the British Army's Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders in the British Raj in 1905 when he was transferred to the 1st King's Dragoon Guards.<ref name="2015 Polo Encyclopedia" /> By 1911, Cheape held the rank of captain.<ref name="2011 Polo in the United States: Chapter 6" /> In 1916, while deployed during World War I, then-Major Cheape died in Palestine on 23 April 1916.<ref name="2015 Polo Encyclopedia" />
==Polo== Cheape began playing polo in the British Raj while stationed there with the British Army.<ref name="2015 Polo Encyclopedia" /> In July 1907, Cheape played for the Tigers at the Leamington Tournament, emerging victorious and taking home the cup after defeating Kibworth Grange (4 to 3), Old Cantabs (3 to 2), and the Tally Ho's.<ref name="1907-09 Baily's" />
thumb|left|Cheape on horseback in 1911 In April 1911, Cheape arrived in the United States to compete for the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland in the International Polo Cup. At a practice match in May, the Britons lost to the Americans—{{frac|1|1|4}} to {{frac|11|1|4}}—so John Hardress-Lloyd moved Cheape to a forward position. The first match of the cup went to the home team ({{frac|4|1|2}} to Britain's 3); Cheape was contemporaneously described as "the worst mounted man on the field". Though George V's team would also lose the second match (and the cup), the contest was called "the finest game of polo ever seen […] Every man on the field played up to the top of his form, not a weak link on either side."<ref name="2011 Polo in the United States: Chapter 6" />
When Cheape returned to the States in 1913 to play in that year's International Polo Cup, he was "at the top of his form" in practices at the Piping Rock Club. Nevertheless, Britain's team lost their first match (with 3 to {{frac|5|1|2}} goals), as well as their second (with {{frac|4|1|4}} to {{frac|4|1|2}}).<ref name="2011 Polo in the United States: Chapter 6" /> After being chosen by Ivor Guest, 1st Viscount Wimborne in May 1914 to play in that year's cup at Meadowbrook,<ref name="1914-05-10 NYT" /> Cheape scored three of Britain's {{frac|8|1|2}} winning goals (to the US' three), though not without receiving a black eye and a broken nose in the process.<ref name="1914-06-14 NYT" /> The second match was postponed by the Americans for three days to allow Cheape to recover from his injuries;<ref name="1914-07 Baily's: Polo" /> when they finally took to the field, the match went to the UK team (4 to {{frac|2|3|4}}), and the Westchester Cup returned with Cheape and his team to Great Britain.<ref name="2011 Polo in the United States: Chapter 6" />
One hundred years after his first swing at the International Cup, Cheape was still remembered as "one of the greatest [British polo players] ever".<ref name="2011 Polo in the United States: Chapter 11" />
==References== <references>
<!-- dated sources sorted chronologically -->
<ref name="1907-09 Baily's">{{cite magazine |date=September 1907 |title=The End of the Polo Season |magazine=Baily's Magazine of Sports and Pastimes |language=en |publisher=Vinton & Company}}</ref><!-- exhausted -->
<ref name="1914-05-10 NYT">{{cite news |date=1914-05-10 |title=Two Changes in British Polo Team |work=The New York Times |language=en |location=London |publisher=Adolph Ochs |issn=0362-4331 |oclc=1645522 |quote=Capt. Cheape and Lord Wodehouse Invited to Join Challengers — Maybe Barrett.}}</ref><!-- exhausted -->
<ref name="1914-06-14 NYT">{{cite news |last=Fitzhamon |first=E. G. B. |date=1914-06-14 |title=British View of the Britons' Victory |work=The New York Times |language=en |publisher=Adolph Ochs |issn=0362-4331 |oclc=1645522 |quote=The London Time's Special Correspondent Praises Our Captain, but Deplores Our Team Work.}}</ref><!-- exhausted -->
<ref name="1914-07 Baily's: Obit">{{cite magazine |date=July 1914 |title=Obituary |magazine=Baily's Magazine of Sports and Pastimes |language=en |publisher=Vinton & Company}}</ref><!-- exhausted -->
<ref name="1914-07 Baily's: Polo">{{cite magazine |date=July 1914 |title=Polo Notes and News |magazine=Baily's Magazine of Sports and Pastimes |language=en |publisher=Vinton & Company}}</ref><!-- exhausted -->
<ref name="1926-08-21 Spectator">{{cite magazine |first=Maudie |last=Ellis |date=1926-08-21 |title=The Covert and the Court |url=http://archive.spectator.co.uk/article/21st-august-1926/23/the-covert-and-the-court |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |magazine=The Spectator |language=en |page=23 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200226203624/http://archive.spectator.co.uk/article/21st-august-1926/23/the-covert-and-the-court |archive-date=2020-02-26 |access-date=2020-02-26}}</ref><!-- exhausted -->
<ref name="2011 Polo in the United States: Chapter 6">{{cite book |last1=Laffaye |first1=Horace A. |year=2011 |chapter=The Westchester Cup: The Pre-War Years |title=Polo in the United States: A History |language=en |location=Jefferson, North Carolina |publisher=McFarland & Company |pages=60–70 |isbn=978-0-7864-4527-1}}</ref><!-- exhausted -->
<ref name="2011 Polo in the United States: Chapter 11">{{cite book |last1=Laffaye |first1=Horace A. |year=2011 |chapter=The Golden Era of the International Matches |title=Polo in the United States: A History |language=en |location=Jefferson, North Carolina |publisher=McFarland & Company |pages=118–136 |isbn=978-0-7864-4527-1}}</ref><!-- exhausted -->
<ref name="2015 Polo Encyclopedia">{{cite book |last1=Laffaye |first1=Horace A. |year=2015 |chapter=The Encyclopedia |title=The Polo Encyclopedia |language=en |edition=second |location=Jefferson, North Carolina |publisher=McFarland & Company |page=70 |isbn=978-0-7864-9577-1}}</ref><!-- exhausted -->
</references>
==External links== * {{Commons category-inline}}
{{authority control}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Cheape, Leslie St Clair}} Category:1882 births Category:1916 deaths Category:1st King's Dragoon Guards officers Category:Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders soldiers Category:British Army personnel of World War I Category:British military personnel killed in World War I Category:British polo players Category:International Polo Cup Category:Scottish military personnel