From The Martial Arts Encyclopedia

Background/History

Rowland George Allanson Allanson-Winn was born in London on January 19th, 1855. He was educated at Westminster School (London) and at Trinity College (Cambridge) where he won both the national middleweight and heavyweight college championships in boxing.

A life-long devotee of the "manly arts of self defense", Allanson-Winn was also a prolific author on combat sports, including the classic Boxing (1897) and Broadsword and Singlestick (1898). The latter book included chapters on a wide range of fencing methods including those of the broadsword, singlestick, quarterstaff and bayonet, as well as chapters on using weapons such as walking canes and umbrellas in self defense.

Allanson-Winn was a member of the Inns of Court School at Arms, which was one of the major combat sports clubs in London during the late 1800s. He was also a professional engineer, specializing in the protection of foreshores against erosion. He served as an Irish Representative Peer in the British House of Lords between 1883 and 1913.

In 1913 he converted to the religion of Islam and took the spirtiual name Shaikh Rahmatullah al-Farooq, eventually being elected president of the British Muslim Society.

Allanson-Winn died in London on June 22, 1935.

Links

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rowland_Allanson-Winn,_5th_Baron_Headley http://www.oxforddnb.com/index/101076887/ http://ejmas.com/jmanly/articles/2001/jmanlyart_a-wp-w_0901.htm