Herbert Liddle Cortis
Herbert Liddle Cortis (1857-1885) of Wanderers Bicycle Club
1857 June 7th. Born in Filey, Yks., the son of William Smithson Cortis, Doctor, and his wife Susannah (Mary Jane) Green
1879 Amateur Bicycling Championship run at Lillie Bridge under the auspices of the Amateur Athletic Club. Four miles in 13 mins 10 seconds. Wanderers Bicycle Club [1]
1882 August 3rd. Married at Lambeth to Mary Elizabeth A. Bruce
1882. First professional cyclist to cover more than twenty miles in an hour on the Surbiton track.(although some claim it was John Keen who first broke the record).
1885 December 28th. Died in Carcoar, New South Wales, Australia
Headstone in Bathurst Cemetery. 'The ceremony of unveiling the monument erected by the cyclists of New South Wales to the memory of the late Dr. Herbert L. Cortis, took place on Friday, the 9th instant, in the presence of a large number of cyclists and citizens of Bathurst. The monument is of polished brown granite on a foundation 2ft. 8in. square and 18in. deep. It is surmounted by an urn, and the whole stands about 9ft. high. The inscription is as follows: — In Memory of the English Bicyclist, HERBERT LIDDLE CORTIS, Died at Carcoar, N. S. W., Dec. 28, 1885, Aged 28. Primus Inter Paren, and Amateur Champion of the World. This stone is erected by the cyclists of New South Wales. Dr. Machattie, who performed the ceremony, spoke in very high terms of the estimable qualities of the deceased gentleman.'[2]