Arthur Oglesby
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2020}}
{{Infobox person
|name = Arthur Oglesby
|image = Arthur Oglesby and salmon.jpg
|caption =
|birth_date = {{Birth date|1923|12|21|df=yes}}
|birth_place = Scarborough, Yorkshire, England
| death_date = {{Death date and age|2000|12|2|1923|12|21|df=y}}
| death_place = Harrogate, Yorkshire
|known_for = Writer, film-maker, broadcaster and fisherman
|nationality = British
}}
Arthur Victor Oglesby (21 December 1923 – 2 December 2000) was a British writer, photographer, filmmaker, broadcaster and fisherman. He was best known for his books on salmon fishing.
Early years
Arthur Oglesby was born in Scarborough in December 1923, before the family moved to York when he was 2 years old. In his autobiography Reeling In, he described his Yorkshire childhood as "semi-Victorian".Reeling In by Arthur Oglesby, published by The Crowood Press, 1988 As a boy he enjoyed a rural life, where he was first introduced to fishing. Leaving school at 16 years, he became an apprentice chemist for the family manufacturing pharmaceuticals business, Harvey Scruton, York (his grandfather, a chemist, had invented Nurse Harvey's Gripe Water,{{cite journal |pmc=1139784|year=1987|last1=Marland|first1=H|title=The medical activities of mid-nineteenth-century chemists and druggists, with special reference to Wakefield and Huddersfield|journal=Medical History|volume=31|issue=4|pages=415–439|doi=10.1017/s002572730004727x|pmid=3316877}} as a remedy for colic in infants).
At the age of 18 years, Oglesby joined the Black Watch regiment, and saw action in Northern France during the Second World War. He was wounded in Normandy in the thigh and chest, just a few weeks after surviving the D-Day landings in June 1944. He was latterly stationed in Gibraltar from 1945–7 and left the Army as a Captain, returning to Yorkshire to help run the family business.
Career
When he was not working in his family business, Oglesby spent as much time as he could on his hobbies of fishing, shooting and photography. In 1950 he began to combine these hobbies by taking photos of angling subjects. His first commission was for ICI where he sold some transparencies for their calendar. He then began to submit articles for magazines such as The Field, Creel and Angling, Shooting Times, Amateur Photographer and the American Field & Stream, becoming their European editor.
Oglesby became the editor of Anglers Annual for three years during the mid-Sixties, for two decades was a weekly contributor to Shooting Times, and wrote regularly for Trout & Salmon. His photographic archive held more than 30,000 images.
Oglesby first visited the River Spey in 1957 with his mentor Eric Horsfall Turner and met up with Captain T L 'Tommy' Edwards, who was running some of the first-ever fishing courses and took him on as an assistant instructor. On Edwards' death in 1968, he took over the courses on Speyside teaching guests to perfect their Salmon fishing and Spey casting for over 30 years.
From 1968 onward, Oglesby took a back seat in the running of the family business, moved to Harrogate and concentrated on making a career from angling. In 1969 he helped to found the Association of Professional Game Angling Instructors and was its chairman for many yearsRosenbauer, Tom 'The Orvis Encyclopedia of Fly Fishing' p183, published by Thomas Nelson, Inc 2010 {{ISBN|978-10370-4016-0}}
Oglesby was a prolific writer, with a total of nine books to his own pen or co-authored. His first was in 1971 titled Salmon and his most famous book was Fly Fishing for Salmon & Sea Trout, written in 1986.
Oglesby was most renowned for catching two huge Atlantic salmon on the Bolstrad beat of the Vosso river in Norway including one in 1973, his largest ever fish weighing 49 1/2lb. He caught some of the largest catches of his generation, and over the course of his career, he landed over 2,500 Atlantic salmon.
Oglesby ran the casting demonstrations at the annual CLA Game Fair and in 1999 he was awarded their Lifetime Achievement Award.
For many years, Oglesby led fishing parties to Iceland, Alaska, Norway and Russia, usually in the company of his second wife Grace, herself an accomplished angler. He continued to run the fishing school at Grantown-on-Spey in Scotland during the spring weeks and late summer each year, teaching hundreds of people to perfect the art of salmon fishing.
In December 2000, at the age of 76, Oglesby died suddenly, from an undiagnosed infection, after heart surgery a few months earlier.{{Cite web|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/1376830/Arthur-Oglesby.html|title=Arthur Oglesby|date=4 December 2000|via=www.telegraph.co.uk}}
Family
Arthur Oglesby was married twice, firstly to Mary in 1947 (divorced 1968) and secondly to Grace in 1969. He was survived by his second wife Grace, two boys from his first marriage Peter & John, and two boys from his second marriage Paul & Mark.
Legacy
In 2001 the CLA Game Fair commissioned Ian Greensitt{{Cite web|url=https://fieldsports-journal.com/index.php|title=Home|website=fieldsports-journal.com}} to produce a bronze salmon trophy for the Arthur Oglesby Award. This was awarded annually to someone who has made a lifetime contribution to the sport of fishing and who has made a particular impact in the last year.{{Cite web |url=http://www.fishandfly.com/news/3422-cla-game-fair-reinstates-arthur-oglesby-award.html |title=CLA Game Fair Reinstates Arthur Oglesby Award |access-date=13 January 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150906201718/http://www.fishandfly.com/news/3422-cla-game-fair-reinstates-arthur-oglesby-award.html |archive-date=6 September 2015 |url-status=dead }} Previous winners have included Sandy Leventon, Charles Jardine,{{cite web |url=http://www.countryside-alliance.org/angling-guru-charles-jardine-wins-arthur-oglesby-award-for-services-to-the-sport |title=Angling guru Charles Jardine wins Arthur Oglesby Award for services to the sport - Countryside Alliance |website=www.countryside-alliance.org |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170223211557/http://www.countryside-alliance.org/angling-guru-charles-jardine-wins-arthur-oglesby-award-for-services-to-the-sport |archive-date=2017-02-23}} Hugh Miles,{{cite web |url=http://www.anglingtrust.net/news.asp?section=29&itemid=591 |title=Crucian Carp Crusader Wins Environmental Award - The Angling Trust |website=www.anglingtrust.net |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160421014559/http://anglingtrust.net/news.asp?section=29&itemid=591 |archive-date=2016-04-21}} Eoin Fairgrieve,{{Cite web|url=https://www.ffcentre.com/your-instructors-2/|title=Fly Fishing Tuition|website=The Fly Fishing Centre}} Martin Salter MP{{Cite web |url=http://www.fishingmagic.com/news_events/news/14554-salter-saluted-for-services-to-angling.html |title=Salter Saluted for Services to Angling |access-date=19 January 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140830112956/http://www.fishingmagic.com/news_events/news/14554-salter-saluted-for-services-to-angling.html |archive-date=30 August 2014 |url-status=dead }} and Naidre Werner.
The Oglesby Suite at Goldsborough Hall, owned by his youngest son Mark and wife Clare, has been named in Oglesby's honour. It was opened in 2012 by friend and fellow fishing writer David Profumo.Profumo, David 'Arthur, Salmon Fishing’s Uncrowned King' published in The Field magazine February 2000 pp. 40–42 Wooden fish replicas trophies of Oglesby's huge catches on the Norwegian Vosso (46 1/2lb and 49 1/2lb) hang in the Oglesby Suite and in the reception of Goldsborough Hall.
Films
Game Fishing and Fly Casting by Arthur Oglesby and Hugh Falkus, 1983
Flyfishing Volume I (An introduction to fly fishing), Volume II (Trout, Grayling and Salmon) and Volume III (Stillwater Flyfishing) by Arthur Oglesby
Books
- Salmon by Arthur Oglesby, published by Macdonald, 1971, {{ISBN|0356080005}} {{ISBN|9780356080000}}
- Fly Fishing for Salmon & Sea Trout by Arthur Oglesby, published by The Crowood Press Ltd, 1986, {{ISBN|1861260725}} {{ISBN|9781861260727}}
- The Complete Book of Fishing by Arthur Oglesby, John Wilson, Trevor Housby, Mike Millman, Peter Gathercole, published by Octopus Books Ltd, 1987, {{ISBN|0706430271}} {{ISBN|9780706430271}}
- A Guide to Salmon Flies by John Buckland and Arthur Oglesby published by The Crowood Press, 1990, {{ISBN|9781852232467}}
- Reeling In by Arthur Oglesby, published by The Crowood Press, 1988, {{ISBN|1852231130}}
- The Complete book of Flyfishing by Arthur Oglesby, Bengt Öste, Lefty Kreh and Steen Ulnitz, published by Stoeger Publishing Company, 1997, {{ISBN|0883172089}}, 9780883172087
References
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Category:Military personnel from Scarborough, North Yorkshire
Category:Sportspeople from York
Category:People from Harrogate
Category:English nature writers
Category:People from Scarborough, North Yorkshire