‘Chariots of Fire: bigotry, manhood and moral certitude in an age of individualism’, Volume 11, No. 2/3, 2008
Harold Abrahams, of whom I wrote in my article ‘Chariots of Fire: bigotry, manhood and moral certitude in an age of individualism’, did not migrate to Britain, but was born in Britain to migrants from Russo-Poland. In 1880, Harold's father, Isaac Abrahams, married a distant cousin, Esther Isaacs, who had been born in Wales but by that time lived in Birmingham where they were married. He became a financier. Their second son was Sir Sidney Abrahams, who represented Great Britain in two Olympic Games. Harold was an undergraduate at Cambridge but never became a don. I am grateful to Harold Abrahams' nephew Anthony Abrahams for these details. In the article, I wrote that Harold Abrahams converted to Catholicism and cited two sources of reference. There are others. Despite this, Anthony Abrahams does not believe his uncle ever converted and I am happy to record his version of events.
Ellis Cashmore