Fleetwood Varley was both an outstanding rifle shooter and coach, and had an excellent record at the annual Bisley Meeting. Between 1895-1921 he competed in the Queen’s/King’s Prize at Bisley 11 times. He represented England a combined 40 times in the National and MacKinnon Cup matches between 1894 and 1932, the latter year when he was 70-years-of-age. He captained the National team in 1922-24 and the MacKinnon team in 1925 and 1926. Varley was elected president of the English Twenty Club in 1925 and held the position up to the time of his death. He also represented the Great Britain team in several major events including the 1908 Olympics, when he won a silver medal in the Military Rifle event from six distances.
Varley served with the oldest regiment in the British Army, the Honourable Artillery Company (HAC). He reached the rank of honorary major and amongst other things was a one-time musketry instructor. He was regularly amongst the prize-winners at the HAC’s annual meeting at Bisley, and at the annual Bisley Meeting he was a winner of the Association and Wimbledon Cups, and in 1908 was runner-up in two prestigious events, the Prince of Wales’s and Donegall Cups.
Great Britain