Alfred Milner was born at about the same time as the Lancashire Chess League Association. A report of the Oyston Lancashire Congress, at Blackpool in March 1981, in which Mr Milner was runner-up, gave his age as ninety-two (B.C.M). Mr Milner replied that he was only ninety.

Mr Milner was playing for Manchester Chess Club during the early part of the First World War, and later he sent letters from the front line to the local press.

Soon after the end of the War he wrote, in the Manchester Chess Club suggestions book, “We have practically no members below the age of 30; if we do not get some fresh blood our Club will simply die out; it is dying out now.” [27 August 1919].

He was Treasurer of the Manchester Chess Club for almost all of the period 1929 – 1947, and held the same position in various other organisations, including the N.C.C.U. and M.D.C.A. He was President of the Manchester Club in 1947-48, and won the Burgess Cup in 1925-26, 1931-32, and 1937-38.

He and J.T. Boyd did much to keep organised chess alive in the North-West during the Second World War. Mr Milner was for decades a support of the British Chess Federation, and had been a Life Member since 1928, but didn’t always see eye-to-eye with its decisions, and in 1943 he wrote to B.C.M. expressing astonishment at the decision that the B.C.F. Secretary must come from the London area. Mr Boyd had offered to do the job.

In 1977 Mr Milner wrote to B.C.M. that he travelled once a month to Southport for four quick games with the eldest member of the Manchester Chess Club – Henry Barbasch, who was just moving from ninety-four to ninety-five. Mr Milner added that once a week he walked a mile to have a quick game with the second oldest member of the Club – D. Baruch.

In October 1982 Mr Milner wrote to Chess, terminating his subscription because of his failing eyesight. He died in November 1984

Taken from “Chess in Manchester” (page 181) published by the Manchester & District Chess Association