Con Stanbury was born in about 1898. In 1922, he compiled a of 113, recognised as the first snooker
century break. He won the 1932 national snooker championship of Canada, known as the Dominion Championship, by defeating A. Corteau 10–1 in the final . A few weeks later, he defeated Tom Newman 4–3 in a challenge match. In 1934, it was announced that funds were being raised to send Stanbury to compete in the
World Snooker Championship. Newman wrote in the
News of the World that he regarded Stanbury as "the most likely man I know" to defeat champion
Joe Davis, and praised Stanbury's play, particularly his ability with shots. Stanbury travelled to England for the
1935 World Snooker Championship, and was the first player from outside the
British Isles to compete in the World Championship. He lost in the of his first match, 12–13 to
Willie Smith in a quarter-final. In the
1936 Championship he defeated
Alec Mann before being eliminated by
Alec Brown in the quarter-finals, and at his next attempt in
1938, lost 4–27 to
Sidney Smith at the same stage. After competing in five further championships from 1939 to 1948, but winning only two matches, Stanbury won three successive matches all 18–17 in
1949, against
Herbert Francis,
Jackie Rea and
Herbert Holt, before losing 13–58 to
Walter Donaldson. His final entry to the championship was in
1950, and saw him defeated 15–20 by
Sidney Lee Stanbury was a British resident for the rest of his life after emigrating in 1935, Stanbury died in a hospital in
London in April 1973, aged 75. ==Snooker Championships (2)==