Cornhill Magazine
The Game of Badminton in 1863
Click on images to enlarge.
The National Badminton Museum has discovered through the Newspaper.com website, an article in the Wednesday 23 December 1863 Trewman’s Exeter Flying Post newspaper, which had published part of an article called “Life in a Country House” from the December 1863 Cornhill Magazine. The Cornhill Magazine was a monthly Victorian literary journal. The relevant part to the game of badminton is : –
“If the weather be such as to induce you to remain within doors, your co-operation will be sought for a game at pool, badminton (which is battledore and shuttlecock played with sides, across a string suspended some five feet from the ground), and similar amusements.”
This article about life in large English stately homes shows that the game was being played in England and called badminton in 1863, it also suggests that the game evolved from the older game of battledore and shuttlecock. The article shows us where the height of the net, five feet (1.52m) originated from, and those players played the game on either side of the net. The North Hall at Badminton House is the same size as a badminton court as we know it today, 13.4m by 6.1m.
The game of ‘battledore and shuttlecock’ dates back to the 18th and 19th centuries. The roots of the game have been reported to go back to ancient times in China and other Asian countries. The game was played with rackets, battledores and even wooden paddles. ‘Battledore and shuttlecock ‘was played without a net and without the boundary lines of a court. If a single player played, they would hit the shuttle in the air counting the number of times they could do this without it falling on the floor. If two or more players played they would hit the shuttlecock back and forth to each other, it was usually a cooperative rather than a competitive game, the players purposely hit the shuttlecock towards rather than away from each other, their goal was to have as long a rally as possible keeping the shuttlecock up in the air and counting the number of consecutive successful strokes in each rally. The present-day game of badminton developed from this much older game of ‘battledore and shuttlecock’. Badminton was being played in at least 1863 and maybe a few years before that.
Many Badminton historians and coaching books have said that badminton started in 1873. The National Badminton Museum has managed to purchase for its reference library a Cornhill Magazine book July to December 1863. This book has the complete article of “Life in a Country House”.
The old battledore which has the inscriptions handwritten in ink on its parchment face in 1830 and 1845.
Photos: – Geoff Hinder.
We know the game of ‘battledore and shuttlecock’ was played at Badminton House as early as 1830 because they still have in their possession, a battledore bat which has inscriptions handwritten in ink on its parchment face. The oldest reads: ‘Kept up with Lady Somerset on Saturday January 12th 1830 to 2117 with… (unreadable)’. The second says: ‘Lady Henrietta Somerset in February 1845 kept up with Beth Mitchell 2018.’
North Hall at Badminton House
Photo: – Bernd-Volker Brahms
We believe in the National Badminton Museum that the game of badminton evolved from the old game of ‘battledore and shuttlecock’ in 1863, or just before, in Badminton House. The game was not particularly popular in England at that time and was taken to India by army officers of the British Indian Army. We know that some of the sons of the Duke of Beaufort, who lived in Badminton House were in the British Indian Army. Over the next decade, the game became very popular with British Army Officers and British Civil Servants stationed in India. The good weather conditions in India meant the game was mainly played outside. In about 1873 the game became more popular in England with army officers and civil servants returning from India and forming Badminton Clubs mainly in the South of England.
Photo: – Geoff Hinder.
Badminton House in 1863
If you have any badminton memorabilia, archive material, or any other items and would like to donate them to the National Badminton Museum please contact us at: –
museum@badmintonengland.co.uk
Thank you to all the ‘Friends of the Museum’ and people who have made donations to the National Badminton Museum, your support enables us to purchase extremely rare badminton artefacts for the National Collection as they become available.
Visitors are welcome to look around the Museum unescorted at any time – the National Badminton Centre is normally open 9am to 8pm every day.
National Badminton Museum, National Badminton Centre, Bradwell Road, Loughton Lodge,
MILTON KEYNES MK8 9LA
National Badminton Centre
Lodge Hotel
For more information and to book a room go to: – Badminton England website – https://www.badmintonengland.co.uk – National Badminton Centre – National Badminton Centre Hotel.
