between 1886 – 1891, who could be our subject – the name, initials, profession and dates are exactly right, but there is, at present, no corroboration.

He was a great traveller, having visited most countries of Europe, including Scandinavia and Russia. Three of these trips he made in a canoe. He was fond of mountaineering and cycling.

Apart from his many writings on shorthand and articles on various scientific topics, he published five books on chess, including a series entitled Chess Master Play, which gave the best games played in international tournaments between 1887 and 1896. There were also three small volumes called Classified Chess Openings. These were later published in one volume.

He started a chess column in the Plymouth-based Western Daily Mercury in August 1902, which he edited fora year, together with Philip Dancer, General Secretary of the new Cornwall C.A., who contributed the Cornish input.

That he was not among the strongest of Devon players at that time, is illustrated by the fact that he lost to Mrs. Rhoda Bowles on Board 8 of the North v South Devon match in 1902. But at the same event, he gave a blindfold exhibition, conducting two Knight’s Tours simultaneously, so clearly possessed a considerable mental dexterity. In fact, the Knight’s Tour held a special fascination for him, as it did for several other chess-playing mathematicians. H. E. Dudeney was a leading expert at the time, but Blanshard, working independently, made several discoveries in this field which he published in the Chess Amateur in August 1923 (p.349).

At the Southern