"The Real Jeeves"

[The Scorer]

This is the biography of Percy Jeeves by Brian Halford, which was published in 2013.

 

It's not very big (just under 180 pages), but it covers in detail Percy's early life in Goole, his career as a club cricketer and a professional with Warwickshire and his service with the 15th Battalion, The Royal Warwickshire Regiment until his death on 22nd July 1916. It includes plenty of information about his playing career and, of course, confirms that P G Wodehouse did use his surname for the "Jeeves" character in the Bertie Wooster books.

 

"Plum" was, of course a cricket-lover, and saw Percy playing for Warwickshire against Gloucestershire at the Cheltenham Festival in August 1913. He was looking for a name to give to the butler and decided later to use it for him. This was later confirmed by him in a letter to R V Ryder, the Secretary of Warwickshire, although he did think that he was playing for Gloucestershire that day!

 

To conclude, then ... it's an excellent book! His name wasn't new to me, but much of his playing career certainly was, as was his family life and other things. I would recommend it to cricket and military enthusiasts alike.