Montague Shearman

Sir Montague Shearman, (7 April 1857 – 6 January 1930) was an English judge and athlete. He was a co-founder of the Amateur Athletics Association in 1880.

Early life

Shearman was the second son of Montagu Shearman, a solicitor, from Wimbledon, Surrey and his wife Mary, née Catty. He was educated at Merchant Taylors' School in the City of London, where he played association football, captaining the first XV in 1874–1875. He received a scholarship to St John's College, Oxford, taking a first in Classical Moderations and in Literae Humaniores.

Amateur athletics

He was a noted athlete, winning the one hundred yards race at the Oxford and Cambridge University Games in 1876, and was president of the Oxford University Athletics Club in 1878. He subsequently became the British 100 yards champion, after winning the AAC Championships title at the 1876 AAC Championships. Montague also became the 440 yards national champion at the 1880 AAA Championships.

Montague's brother John Shearman won the quarter-mile championship at the 1878 AAC Championships, defeating Montague into second place.

Montague was also an accomplished rugby player, obtaining his "blue" as a forward and three-quarter in the university team from 1878 – 1880. Shearman was one of the founder members of the association, and served as the first honorary secretary from 1880 to 1883, then as vice-president until 1910. In that year he succeeded Lord Alverstone as president of the AAA. He was also a member of the Wanderers amateur football club.

Legal

Shearman entered the Inner Temple as a student in 1877, and was called to the bar in 1881. He practised on the Midland Circuit for twenty-two years before "taking silk" to become a king's counsel in February 1903. He was a specialist in common law and commercial cases.