Sir Winston Churchill Old Harrovian
The Prince of Wales in Jodhpur 1922
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The modern game of polo, though formalised and popularised by the British, is derived from Manipur (now a state in India) when British tea planters discovered the game in Manipur (Munipoor) on the Burmese border with India and established the first polo club in the world at Silchar, west of Manipur in 1862. In 1869, Edward “Chicken” Hartopp, 10th Hussars, read an account of the game in The Field, while stationed at Aldershot, and, with brother officers, organised the first game known then as “hockey on horseback”- on a hastily-rolled Hounslow Heath against The 9th Lancers. The 1st Life Guards and the Royal Horse Guards were quick to follow suit on grounds at Hounslow and in Richmond Park; and then on a small ground near Earl’s Court known as Lillie Bridge. The first polo club in England was Monmouthshire, founded by Capt. Francis “Tip” Herbert, 7th Lancers, at his brother’s seat, Clytha Park, near Abergavenny in 1872.
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In 1875, the first official match in Argentina took place on 3rd September, where the game took place between English and Irish engineers and ranchers.
Prince Philip playing polo