Jack Doyle - and his wandering eye

 

Beryl Markham

Jack had many, many women in his life. His love of women made it impossible to commit himself to one. Even in marraige Jack would soon wander. One of his most public affairs was with Beryl Markham.....

 '....Jack's fitness was not at all it might have been. His attention had been diverted from the Staal fight by a liaison with the world's leading woman pilot, Beryl Markham, to whom he had been introduced at a party in his smart Carlton Court flat in Hereford Street, Mayfair.
    It was an improbable relationship on three fronts. First, Jack was still supposedly pining for Judith Allen; second, he should have been in strict training; and third, Beryl, at 34, was 11 years his senior.
    At the time she was enjoying world celebrity status after becoming the first woman to fly the Atlantic solo east to west - a feat previously achieved only by Amy Johnson's hell-raiser of a husband Jim Mollison. But Beryl's record-breaking flight (she crash-landed in Nova Scotia) was considered more meritorious because she took off from Abingdon in Berkshire, whereas Mollison had taken the shorter route from Ireland.
    Beryl was a remarkable woman who had been brought up in the British East Africa (now Kenya) by her father, Charles Clutterbuck, an ex-Repton and Sandhurst man who had been attracted there by the Government's drive to encourage white settlers. It was believed that millions could be made by developing and farming the sparsely-populated protectorate, as had happened in India, and Clutterbuck purchased 1,000 acres of land in Njoro, on the slopes of the magnificent Mau Escarpment. Beryl's mother Clara disliked the social isolation of life in the African bush and had no wish to be part of her husband's pioneering adventures there. Also, she was missing her sick son Richard, Beryl's elder brother. He had been sent back three months earlier because the humidity did not agree with him and she decided to go home to Leicestershire, leaving the four-year-old Beryl in Kenya with her father.
    Beryl was raised alongside the Nandi and Hipsigis tribes and would later distinguish herself as a successful racehorse trainer and aviator-pursuits not previously graced in large number by women. She would have a well-publicised affair with Prince Henry, the Duke of Gloucester, and immortalise herself further with a remarkable memoir, West With The Night.
    At the time Beryl was introduced to Jack by Jim Mollison she was separated from the second of her three husbands, the wealthy and aristocratic Mansfield Markham, by whom she had a seven-year-old son Gervase. Domesticity was not her stock-in-trade and Gervase was brought up by his grandmother, Lady Markham.
    Beryl had inherited her father's fierce spirit of independence and was obsessed with the desire to push back the frontiers of male-dominated society. She was far more relaxed in the company of men, mainly because they shared her own aspirations of success and achievement in an age when women in the main were programmed for lives of subservience. What an inspiration she must have been to women like herself seeking to prove themselves in a man's world. But a spirit of independence can foster an attitude that holds no respect for customs and traditions  and she had little regard for the sanctity of marraige - either her own or, for that matter, anyone else's. The fact that Jack was a married man certainly did not deter her - or him.
    Beryl would never have qualified as a glamour girl in the film-star sense, but her tall, slender frame and high cheekbones gave her a classical, noble beauty that was accentuated by clear blue eyes and lustrous fair hair. In addition she was an extremely elegant dresser. Her greatest asset, however, was the sheer force of her personality, and once this formidable woman had set her cap at Jack she was bound to win him - just as with Prince Henry. She was said to have possessed a 'warm sexual appetite' and to have been an undisguised pursuer of the rich and famous, which, presumably, was why she latched on to Jack. In his case the conquest would have presented no particular difficulty in the light of Judith Allen's observation - learnt at first hand and to her considerable cost - that he could not resist sharing himself.

Beryl and Jack

    Beryl had no elaborate plan to entice him, apart from letting him know that he alone was the man with whom she would like to fly halfway round the world. She was seeking sponsorship for further remarkable exploits in the field of aviation and hoped to team up with Jack for a record-breaking flight that would 'startle the world.' Beryl coupled her announcement with the news that she would be giving him flying lessons at Hatfield once the fight with Staal was out of the way. Although the Press never hinted at a physical relationship between the pair, those close to Jack knew the score. And it is doubtful if Judith was fooled, even from 6,000 miles away.
    When Jack finally found time to resume training at Windsor, the strict daily regimen of running, exercising and sparring brought him down from the clouds and convinced him that the intended venture - the 'secret' destination was believed to have been Australia or South Africa - was in reality a flight of fancy that he had no wish to pursue. The intense sexual partnership with Beryl was another matter entirely; he appeared to be in no hurry to bring that to an end and therein lay the great enigma of the man. Bill Doyle confirmed that Jack was still deeply in love with Judith and making efforts to win her back at the very time he was consorting with Beryl Markham. Perhaps he had been feeling in need of some female company when their flight paths crossed, or perhaps it was as basic as being unable to resist another - and famous - conquest. More likely it was both. But if he really did love Judith as much as he claimed, earning his wings with Beryl was an odd way of showing it.
    He had genuinely feared for Judith's life on hearing she had been marooned by floods while on location for her latest film. When news eventually filtered through that she was safe and well, he was determined to hammer Staal into submission for a victory he was confident would bring her rushing back to his side.
    Fight night proved as remarkable a spectacle as has ever been witnessed at any boxing event in Britain. Every seat at Earl's Court was occupied - despite it being only Jack's second comeback fight and the disgrace of the first. Indeed there were the familiar scenes of countless hundreds of spectators being turned away and police having to call up reinforcements to prevent the entrances being broken down. It was as if he had never been away.
    Jack's reception can only be described as fantastic. Even Jack Dempsey and Georges Carpentier in their heyday were never received so rapturously, said one newspaper report. But the welcome he received when he climbed into the ring was eclipsed by the tumultuous ovation that accompanied him as he returned to his dressing-room after the fight. Dozens of admirers rushed to his corner, men threw their programmes and hats high into the air and evening-gowned women stood up, or in some cases jumped on to their seats, to add to the din with their screams of delight. If Jack had won the world championship he could not have been more of an idol, and only the fact he would not permit himself to be lifted prevented him being carried off in triumph. 'I cannot recall another scene like it,' reported Trevor Wignall.

Doyle and Staal at the weigh-in

    Jack had started the fight in nonchalant, even careless fashion, as if his thoughts were far away in Hollywood. In the first round he took a swinging blow to the head and then a right to the chin that felled him for eight. There was a gasp as he went down, but Jack had sense enough to stay on one knee until his head cleared. Staal was strong and dangerous, but limited. What little boxing there was came, strangely enough, from Jack, who used his left to good effect. But even his heaviest punches did not succeed in shaking Staal until the fifth round, when the Dutchman began to feel the cumulative effect of the punishment he had absorbed. Even so, he was still menacing in bursts. Jack was hurt by a right hand to the jaw, but soon recovered and went on the attack. Staal, his face bruised, and bleeding from a cut ear, became a chopping-block for Jack's powerful punches in the sixth. He was reduced to a state of near-helplessness and was staggering round the ring, his hands hanging limply by his side, when the towel was thrown in to signal a Dutch surrender......'

Many thanks to Michael Taub, author of Jack Doyle: the Gorgeous Gael, for allowing us to reproduce excerpts of his book here. Many thanks also to his publishers Lilliput Press, Dublin.

Michael will be speaking at the Gala Dinner/Birthday Bash on the night of Jack's 100th anniversary of his birthday, as part of the Jack Doyle Centenary Weekend. The weekend events take place from Friday 30th August to Sunday 1st September.

Highlights of the weekend include:

·  A Boxing Tournament on Friday 30th August - organised under the auspices of the IABA Cork County Board. (Tickets available at the Commodore Hotel @ €10)

·  A gala dinner with guest speaker Michael Taub, author of 'Jack Doyle; the Gorgeous Gael.' Music by the 'Contenders' Saturday 31st August. (Tickets available at the Commodore Hotel €34.95)

·  Official opening of the Jack Doyle Mural on Saturday 31st August (pics below) - all welcome to attend.
·  The Jack Doyle Play with actor Luke Barry on Sunday 1st September. (Tickets available at the Commodore Hotel @ €5)

·  Guided Walking Tours and tours on the Cobh Road Train, Historical Workshops, street theatre, classic car displays, commemorative mass & subsequent ceremonies in Cobh's historical Promenade, guided tours of the Old Cemetery where Jack is buried and much more.