Brigadier Elmer John Leyland Speed MC

John Speed never owned Moreton Hall or the tennis court, but in the 1930s and 40s he led a group of enthusiasts who leased the court from Colonel Ogilby. He is also credited with saving the court from being requisitioned during the Second World War.

Elmer John Leyland Speed was born in London on 4th September 1892 to stockbroker Francis Elmer Speed and Elinor Speed (née Leyland). As a child, his mother had been the favourite sitter of the painter James McNeill Whistler, whose portrait of her, The Blue Girl, is one of his best-known early works. By the outbreak of the First World War, John's father had become a barrister and High Sheriff of Kent, and the family lived at the manor house, Knowlton Court, in the hamlet of Knowlton. Francis Speed was keen that every man on the Knowlton estate should sign up. From a population of 39, twelve men enlisted, including John, his father and his brother Douglas. Knowlton went on to win the Weekly Dispatch's "Bravest Village" competition for the highest proportion of volunteers in the country.

Speed served with the 2nd Life Guards during the war and returned a Captain, having been awarded the Military Cross. The award was announced in the King's Birthday Honours on 3rd June 1918, for distinguished service in connection with military operations in France and Flanders (London Gazette, supplement 30716, page 6471). He also returned with the other eleven Knowlton men, making Knowlton a "thankful village", one of the few in England that lost no one in the Great War. All twelve are still named on the granite cross that stands in the village today.

He remained with the Life Guards for the rest of his career. On 12th May 1937, as Lieutenant Colonel, he held the ceremonial title of Silver Stick-in-Waiting and in this role undertook ceremonial duties in the coronation procession for King George VI. In the Second World War he was recalled to senior command and appointed Acting Brigadier on 10th May 1940, commanding the South London Sub-Area. The rank was confirmed as Temporary Brigadier that November.

He married Evelyn, and their daughter Marietta was born at Windsor in 1941. Marietta became a leading event rider, competing at Badminton and Burghley in the 1960s. She married Oliver Fox-Pitt, and their son is the Olympic eventer William Fox-Pitt. The family's connection with Knowlton Court continues today.

Brigadier Speed died in Canterbury on 8th July 1959, aged 67, having returned to the family home at Knowlton Court.

We have very little information about John Speed's life in Moreton Morrell or his time at the court, but one small memento of his part in the club's history is still on display in the club room. The Honours Board for the Garland Cup shows that in 1924 it was won by Capt. E. Speed.