EFA Centenary ArtEFActs: Sidney Hogben's Photo Album

This photo album was created by Sidney John Hogben CBE (1898-1971) during his 12 years teaching and working as a colonial civil servant in northern Nigeria (1921-1933), which at that time was part of the British Empire.

Hogben, who was in the Fives VI at Highgate in 1916, decided to build two courts at Birnin Kebbi in northwest Nigeria in 1922 “as an experiment”. When granting funds, the colonial office assumed his application to build “courts” related to buildings for magistrates.

Further courts were built in Katsina where the game caught the interest of Sir Ahmadu Bello, whose strong support throughout his life contributed to its widespread adoption. His chieftaincy title of Sardauna (Crown Prince) of Sokoto meant the game became known locally as ‘the Sardauna’s game’. Sokoto is a major city in the extreme northwest of Nigeria.

The original courts were made of mud which meant they were easily pitted by the Fives balls in use at the time, so tennis balls were used instead. This solved the difficulty of obtaining balls from England and removed the need for gloves, leading the Nigerian game to develop slightly differently.

The first known Eton Fives courts outside the British Isles were built in India in 1898 at St Paul’s School, Darjeeling, positioned 7,000 feet above sea level in the foothills of the Himalayas.

Notes:‘Smiting out’ refers to the cut return. Before the EFA began to standardise the rules and terminology of the sport, Fives-playing schools had different words to describe cutting, including ‘smite’, ‘slam’, ‘smash’ and ‘swipe’.