View source for Jaques of London

{{Short description|Manufactures of sports and game equipment}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
'''Jaques of London''', formerly known as ''John Jaques of London'' and ''Jaques and Son of London'' is a long-established [[family company]] that manufactures sports and game equipment.

==History ==
Dating itself from 1795 when Thomas Jaques, a farmer's son of French [[Huguenot]] descent, set up as a "Manufacturer of Ivory, Hardwoods, Bone, and [[Tunbridge ware|Tunbridge Ware]]",<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.jaqueslondon.co.uk/pages/about-jaques-london|title=The Oldest Sports and Games Manufacturer in the World|website=Jaques of London}}</ref> the company gained a reputation for publishing games under his grandson John Jaques the younger. 

Jaques is said to have been instrumental in the invention and popularisation of [[Croquet]]. The family lore is that  "John Jaques II ... was a friend of [[Lewis Carroll]] [and] ‘Carroll was one of the founding members of the croquet club at Oxford University’", according to Joe Jaques, a descendent of the founder, who goes on to explain that, "It is no surprise that croquet is in ''[[Alice's Adventures in Wonderland|Alice in Wonderland]]'' because Lewis Carroll was a family friend and we had commissioned the illustrator [[John Tenniel|Sir John Tenniel]], who went on to illustrate ''Alice in Wonderland'', to draw the original Happy Families characters when he was a cheap jobbing illustrator in 1851. It is all connected. Carroll’s niece Irene Dodgson then married my great-grandfather John Jaques III."<ref name="The Telegraph-2014">{{Cite web |date=2014-06-19 |title=Jaques of London, the company that invented croquet, ping pong and Happy Families |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/othersports/croquet/10911088/Jaques-of-London-the-company-that-invented-croquet-ping-pong-and-Happy-Families.html |access-date=2024-04-26 |website=The Telegraph |language=en}}</ref>

The popularity of chess during World War II helped [[MI9]] hide items in chess games sent to British and American prisoners of war, because the chess sets were made of wood, especially the Staunton chess sets by Jaques of London. The inside walls of the chess pieces box were hollowed out "...to secrete maps, currency, documents, hacksaw blades and swinger compasses." The large chess boards were perfect for supplying to prisoners "...counterfeit documents, maps, currency and other contraband." The chess pieces themselves were hollowed out and used to hold messages, compasses, maps and dye to help turn uniforms into civilian attire. The base of the piece was often screwed in with a left turn screw, so any attempt to unscrew the base normally would only make it tighter.<ref>Froom, Phil. [http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/1061720454 Evasion and Escape Devices: Produced by MI9, MIS-X and SOE in World War II]. 2015. Pages 281–283.</ref>

The company moved its offices and showroom to [[Edenbridge, Kent]], in 2000.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.jaqueslondon.co.uk/pages/contact-us|title=Contact Us &#124; Customer Services|website=Jaques of London}}</ref>

==Staunton chessmen==
[[Image:JaquesCookStaunton.jpg|thumb|[[Staunton chess set]] designed by [[Nathaniel Cooke]] for Jaques of London, 1849.]]
The [[Staunton chess set]] was released in 1849 by Jaques of London of [[Hatton Garden]] in London. The pieces were designed to be easy to use and universally recognized by chess players of diverse backgrounds. It became known as the Staunton chess set after [[Howard Staunton]] (1810–1874), the chess player and writer who was generally considered the [[World Chess Championship#Unofficial champions (pre-1886)|strongest player in the world]] from 1843 to 1851. [[Nathaniel Cooke]] has long been credited with the design.{{clarify|date=August 2023|reason=I hear a "but" there. This seems to imply that the attribution has long been incorrect. A RS would help.}}

==Products ==
[[File:Patchesi.png|thumb|A Jaques and Son [[Parcheesi]]/Ludo board]]
* [[Chess]] – Jaques had exclusive manufacturing rights for a [[chess piece|chess set]] designed by Nathaniel Cooke in 1849 and named the [[Staunton chess set]] after [[Howard Staunton]]. This set later became the official international standard.<ref>A Jaques set was used by [[Bobby Fischer]] and [[Boris Spassky]] in the [[World Chess Championship 1972|1972 World Chess Championship]] {{Harvcol|Edmonds|Eidinow|2004|p=163}}.</ref>
*[[Clock golf]] – Jaques assert that they originated the game in the mid 19th century.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.jaqueslondon.co.uk/outdoor-games/golf-practice/rules.html | publisher=Jaques | title=Golf Games Rules | accessdate=18 August 2016 | url-status=dead | archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20160916010139/http://www.jaqueslondon.co.uk/outdoor-games/golf-practice/rules.html | archivedate=16 September 2016 }}</ref>
* [[Croquet]] – played an important role in popularising the game, producing editions of the rules in 1857, 1860, and 1864.<ref name="The Telegraph-2014" />
* [[Happy Families]] – popular card game, developed in 1851.<ref>[http://www.wopc.co.uk/games/jaques-happy-families.html "Jaques' Happy Families"]{{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110812202849/http://www.wopc.co.uk/games/jaques-happy-families.html |date=2011-08-12 }}.</ref>
* [[Icosian game]] – a mathematical puzzle involving cycles on a [[dodecahedron]], invented by [[W. R. Hamilton]] and published by Jaques and Son in 1859.<ref>{{cite journal
 | last = Turner | first = Gerard L'E.
 | date = October 1987
 | department = Presidential address
 | doi = 10.1017/s0007087400024195
 | issue = 4
 | journal = The British Journal for the History of Science
 | pages = 377–398
 | title = Scientific toys
 | volume = 20}} See p. 395 and photo, Fig. 13, p. 397</ref>
* [[Ludo]] – patented in England 1897.
* [[Shove ha'penny]] – a [[pub game]] in the [[shuffleboard]] family, played predominantly in the [[United Kingdom]].
* [[Snakes and Ladders]] –  the first publishers starting in 1888.
* [[Table tennis]] – pioneered under the names ''Gossima'' and later ''Ping Pong''.
* [[Reversi]] – the first publishers starting in 1888.<ref>{{Cite book |author=Berkeley, Authorized by Lewis Waterman |title=Reversi and Go Bang |publisher=Frederick A. Stokes Company |language=en |year=1890 |url=https://www.loc.gov/collections/selected-digitized-books/?fa=segmentof:dcmsiabooks.reversigobang00berk/%7Ccontributor:berkeley }}</ref>
* [[tiddlywinks|Tiddledy-Winks]] – the first publishers starting in 1888.

==See also==
*[[British Chess Company]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Sources==
*{{cite book
 |last1=Edmonds
 |first1=David
 |author-link1=David Edmonds (philosopher)
 |last2=Eidinow
 |first2=John
 |title=Bobby Fischer Goes to War: How the Soviets Lost the Most Extraordinary Chess Match of All Time
 |publisher=[[HarperCollins|HarperCollins Publishers Inc]]
 |year=2004
 |isbn=0-06-051024-2
 |url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780060510244
 }}

== External links ==
* {{Official site}}

{{Coord|51|12|23.97|N|0|3|45.12|E|scale:1563_region:GB|display=title}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jaques Of London}}
[[Category:Buildings and structures in the United Kingdom destroyed during World War II]]
[[Category:Chess equipment manufacturers]]
[[Category:Manufacturing companies of the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:1795 establishments in England]]
[[Category:British companies established in 1795]]
[[Category:Family-owned companies of England]]