I joined Crockford's, then in Hertford Street, in the late 'twenties and, from time to time, would wander into a room on the top floor which overflowed with the books, the papers and the great personality of the chairman and founder of the club, Colonel H. M. Beasley. "Pops," one of the best known and most popular figrues in the world of bridge, was a brilliant player and a great psychologist.
In his time he won most of the major tournaments and he captained England on numerous occasions. He conducted the bridge column in the Daily Mail for a time, and he was the author of a number of books; the first "London Bridge," was published in 1906.
I played with him in the Gold Cup, the Portland Club Cup and in various matches in England, Scotland and Ireland; he was a magnificent fighter who never acknowledged defeat until the last hand had been played, and sometimes not even then. For the past ten years he was the presiding genius at the Hamilton Club, and he presided in every sense of the word right up to his death on 14th December. His place will be very difficult to fill.
By Ewart Kempson, Bridge Magazine, January 1950
Gold Cup winner: 1932