History
Henry Nobbins was a labourer on a building site until a solicitor named Wimpole tracked him down and informed him that he was actually the hereditary Earl of Ranworth and had inherited a castle full of servants and five million pounds (which was worth rather more in 1969 than it is now). The catch (there had to be a catch) was that until fairly recently, the Earls of Ranworth had all been notable sportsmen, and the outgoing Earl had decreed in his will that before he could touch the money, Lord Henry (as he now was) would first have to redeem the family's reputation by achieving all the sporting miracles which his immediate predecessors had failed to accomplish, including scoring a goal in a Cup Final, winning the Grand Prix, the boat race and a Marathon, riding in the Grand National, scoring a Century at Lords, becoming a Middleweight boxing champion, and scoring a try in the Rugby League Cup Final. Henry, who had never been notably sporty, was aghast to learn that if he failed to achieve his goals, not only would he forfeit the Earldom and the five million quid, but the servants of Castle Plonkton (most of whom had been there for generations) would all be sacked and the castle sold and turned into a glue factory by the nefarious Mr.Parkinson and his henchman, Fred Bloggs. So, no pressure there, then. Fortunately, Henry proved to have unsuspected sporting talents, and if he wasn't the sharpest tool in the box, his butler Jarvis certainly made up for his deficiencies in cunning. And the fact that the Earl of Ranworth was coincidentally the owner and chairman of Mertown Rovers Football Club got His Sporting Lordship off to a fairly good start, as well...
Notes
His Sporting Lordship was introduced in Smash! in 1969 but actually outlasted that title, ending up in the pages of Valiant until December 1971. Lord Henry continued to star in Smash! Annuals until late 1975.
Trivia
Henry was occasionally given encouragement by the spirits of past Earls, who spoke to him through their portraits in the long gallery at Castle Plonkton.
Links and References
- Appearances of His Sporting Lordship
- Minor Appearances of His Sporting Lordship
- Media His Sporting Lordship was Mentioned in
- Images featuring His Sporting Lordship
- Quotations by or about His Sporting Lordship
- Character Gallery: His Sporting Lordship
Footnotes
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