Obituaries in 1898

MR. J. Sandford Robinsondied at Worksop Manor, on April 21st. Born on the 4th February, 1868, he had only recently completed his 30th year. The immediate cause of death was a fall from his horse, but he had for some time been more or less out of health. His sudden death at such an early age, was a great shock to his large circle of friends. Educated at Harrow and Cambridge Mr. Robinson, despite strenuous efforts, did not succeed in getting into the eleven either at School or the University, but he played with considerable success for Notts, being at his best for the county in 1892. He had the pleasure that year of taking part in two memorable matches-one against Middlesex, at Lord"s, and the other against Surrey, at the Oval, on the August Bank Holiday. At Lord"s he scored 72, and with a catch at the wicket off Attewell"s bowling, gave Notts a single innings victory within four minutes of time. This was the match in which Sherwin"s bowling changed the whole position after a draw had seemed inevitable. A free attractive batsman, Mr. Robinson gave promise at one time of greater things in the cricket field than he ever achieved.

THE Rev. G. G. Gutteres, who died at Algiers on the 2nd of March, played for Winchester against Eton in 1877 and 1878. He did nothing in the former year, but in 1878 he scored 24 and 27. He was up at Oxford but never got into the eleven.

MR. G. F. HELM, a member of the Cambridge University Eleven in 1862 and 1863, died on the 31st of March.

Lord Oxenbridge, formerly Lord Monson, who died on the 15th of April, was for many years the popular president of the Surrey County Club. At the time of his death he was 70 years of age.

MR. JOHN DAVIDSON, who died at Eastbourne on the 22nd of April, was at the time of his death the oldest Harrovian. He entered the school in 1819 and was in the eleven in 1822 and 1823, playing against Eton at Lord"s in both years. The match in 1822 is memorable for having introduced to Lord"s Ground, Mr. Herbert Jenner, now Mr. Herbert Jenner-Fust. Mr. Davidson, who became a captain in the 2nd Life Guards, was considered a good wicket-keeper.

MR. THOMAS PADWICK, a well-known collector of cricket books and pictures, died at Redhill on April 29. His extensive collection was afterwards disposed of by Mr. Alfred J. Gaston of Brighton.

MR. HAMAR BASS, M. P., was better known in racing than in cricket circles, but at one time he played a good deal for the Incogniti. He died in April.

LIEUT.-GENERAL G. N. BOLDERO, who died on the 5th of May, played for Harrow against Eton at Lord"s in 1846.

MR. STEPHEN THOMAS CLISSOLD died on the 26th of May, being then in his 73rd year. He played in the Eton eleven against Harrow at Lord"s in 1843, and was in the Cambridge eleven in 1844 and 1846. He was a double Blue at Cambridge, rowing in the boat in 1846.

THOMAS DAVIS, who died on the 30th May at Nottingham, was in the Notts eleven in the early 60"s. At the time of his death he was in his 71st year.

MR. G. L. Lang died at Camberley on the 2nd of June. He had retired from the Indian Civil Service and was in his 62nd year. He played in the Harrow eleven in 1854-55, and was an elder brother of the famous Harrow and Cambridge fast bowler, Robert Lang.

George Ulyett died on Saturday evening, June 18th. He was only in his forty-seventh year, his last season in the Yorkshire eleven being 1893. His health had been failing for some time, but the immediate cause of death was an acute attack of pneumonia, contracted at Bramall Lane during the Yorkshire and Kent match. Yorkshire has always been rich in first-rate cricketers, but a finer player than Ulyett the county has never produced. He was for years the best bat in the team, and even if he had not been able to get a run he would have been worth his place for his bowling and fielding. His career for the county extended over a period of twenty years, his first appearance in the eleven dating back to July, 1873. It was seen at once that a player of remarkable gifts had been discovered, and before very long he was at the top of the tree. To begin with, if one remembers rightly, he was played as much for his fast bowling as for his batting. One talent, however, developed to a much greater extent than the other, and in two or three seasons he was quite as good a bat as Ephraim Lockwood, who, when Ulyett came out, was the bright particular star of the Yorkshire eleven. Once having established his position Ulyett never looked back. There was no doubt his class as a batsman after his first visit to Australia with James Lillywhite"s team in the winter of 1876-77, and from that time till 1891 he was always in the front rank. Of course, like other great batsmen, he did much better in some seasons than others, but he never lost his place as a representative cricketer. A peculiar interest attaches to the tour of James Lillywhite"s team-not, in some respects, very brilliant-as it was then that the Australians first ventured to play an English eleven on even terms. Thanks to a wonderful inningsof 165 by Charles Bannerman, Australia won the first match, but in the return the Englishmen had their revenge, Ulyett"s batting deciding the fortunes of the game. It was the fine play they showed that season that led the Australians to pay their first visit to England, a momentous chapter in the history of modern cricket being thus opened.

At home Ulyett of course played many times for England against Australia, and in two memorable encounters at Lord"s he contributed in a very marked degree to England"s success. The first of the two matches was in 1884, when A. G. Steel scored 148-the innings of his life. On the Tuesday afternoon the Australians, with a balance of 150 runs against them, went in for the second time. The wicket had not worn well, and Peate, bowling from the Nursery end, had the batsmen from the first in obvious difficulties. After a little time, however, to everyone"s surprise, Lord Harris took him off and gave Ulyett the ball. Never was a captain better justified by results. The broken places on the pitch which had made Peate difficult rendered Ulyett well-nigh irresistible. Bowling his fastest, and repeatedly breaking back several inches, he had one of the strongest of all Australian teams at his mercy. At the drawing of stumps that evening four men were out for 73, and the next morning the Australians were all out for 143, England winning the match by an innings and five runs. Ulyett took seven wickets in 39 overs and a ball, and had only 36 runs hit from him. It was on that eventful Tuesday afternoon that Ulyett caught and bowled Bonnor in a way that no one who was present will ever forget. Bonnor"s mission was to knock the fast bowler off, and he did his best. He drove a half volley with all his force, but the ball-travelling faster than an express train-went into Ulyett"s right hand instead of to the boundary. Bonnor wandered disconsolately back to the Pavilion, and the England players gathered round Ulyett, curious, perhaps, to know what manner of man he was, and anxious to congratulate him on his escape from imminent danger. One can remember, even now, the look of wonder on the faces of A. G. Steel and Alfred Lyttelton. Ulyett himself was very modest about the matter. Complimented on the catch, when the day"s play was over, he said simply that if the ball had hit his fingers instead of going into his hand he should have played no more cricket that season.

The other England match was in 1890. England had much the stronger side, and won in the end by seven wickets, but on the first day there was a period of great anxiety. The ground had suffered a good deal from rain, and after the Australians had been put out for 132, England lost W. G. Grace, Shrewsbury, W. W. Read and Gunn-the four best bats on the side-for 20 runs. Turner and Ferris were bowling their best, and the outlook was, to say the least, cheerless. However, Maurice Read and Ulyett saved the side from collapse. They put on 72 runs in an hour and a half, and next morning Ulyett carried his own score to 74. That was the highest innings he ever played for England against Australia in this country, and, curiously enough, he never appeared for England again. The Yorkshire authorities would not let him off for the Oval match in 1890, and when the Australians paid us their next visit, in 1893, his star had waned.

Of Ulyett"s doings for Yorkshire and in the Gentlemen and in the Gentlemen and Players matches a column could easily be written. He was at his very best for this county in the season of 1887, when he and Louis Hall did great things. The one brilliancy itself, the other a miracle of patience, they were an ideal pair to start an innings. It is a moot point whether bowlers were the more disturbed by Ulyett"s hitting or by Hall"s unwearying defence. Some preferred to bowl at Ulyett because he hit at so many balls that there was always a chance of getting him out. Alfred Shaw for one never despaired of seeing him caught if the ground was large enough to allow of the outfields being placed very deep. To say that Ulyett was the greatest batsman Yorkshire ever possessed would scarcely be exceeding the truth, but Lockwood in the past and F. S. Jackson in the present must in fairness be classed with him.

MR. I. D. Walker, born January 8th, 1844, died July 6th, 1898. (See special memoir).

MR. Michael J. Ellison died on July 12th. Born on the 1st June, 1817, Mr. Ellison had reached the ripe age of 81. He was a good cricketer in his young days, but he will be chiefly remembered from the fact that he was the Yorkshire president from the foundation of the County Club.

MR. Edgar Searles Pardon died on the 16th of July, in his 39th year. From the time he left school till within about a month of his death. Mr. Pardon was constantly engaged in the task of reporting cricket matches and it is no exaggeration to say that he was a familiar figure on nearly every county ground. He was in peculiarly close touch with the Australians, travelling all over England with David Gregory"s team in 1878 and being present at every England and Australia match in this country. His association with Wisden"s Almanack commenced in 1886 and during recent years he had taken a very large share in the preparation of the annual. He was buried at Highgate Cemetery on July 20.

John Platts, the well-known Derbyshire cricketer-one of the best all round players possessed by the county in its early days-died on the 6th of August. He was in his 50th year having been born on the 6th of December, 1848. A tragic interest attached to the start of Platts" career as a cricketer, as it was a ball bowled by him in the M. C. C. and Notts match at Lord"s in 1870 that caused the death of George Summers. At that time a very fast bowler, Platts afterwards lessened his pace and the catastrophe made such a painful impression upon him, that it is said he never in subsequent years could play, with any pleasure, at Lord"s ground. After dropping out of active work in the cricket field he became one of the regular county umpires.

DR. E. B. AVELING (D. Sc. London University) was for several years a regular attendant at Lord"s and the Oval, and often wrote about cricket. He died in August.

MR. C. F. REID, an old Harrovian, died in August.

MR. Walter Henry Hadow passed away at Dupplin Castle on Thursday, September 15th, after a long illness. The eldest and most distinguished of several brothers who earned fame on the cricket field, Mr. Hadow was born in London on September 25th, 1849, and thus had not quite completed his forty-ninth year. Educated at Harrow, he soon displayed the possession of remarkable ability as a cricketer, and it is told of him in Scores and Biographies that when only thirteen years of age he played an innings of a hundred. He made his first appearance at Lord"s in the Schools" match of 1866-the same year that C. I. Thornton, the wonderful hitter, came out from Eton-and scored 31. Earlier in the same season he had attained great celebrity among his school fellows by making against the Household Brigade 181 not out-at that time the highest innings ever played at Harrow. In the following year he was not successful against Eton at Lord"s, and going up to Oxford, he, curiously enough, never came off against Cambridge, although he obtained his Blue in 1870 and in the two subsequent years. Despite these failures for his University, he gave plenty of evidence of his skill as a batsman, and in 1871 he was included in the Gentlemen"s team against the Players at Lord"s, where, only a few weeks previously, he had scored 217 for Middlesex. This was an especially notable achievement, as no innings of over 200 had been hit in a good match at Lord"s since the memorable 278 by Mr. Ward so far back as 1820. Mr. Hadow did little against the professionals at Lord"s, wet weather spoiling the game, but at the Oval, a few days later, he made 97 against J. C. Shaw, and Southerton, and thereby had a large share in the Gentlemen"s victory by five wickets. In the autumn of 1872 he was invited to form one of the splendid team of amateurs Mr. R. A. Fitz-Gerald took out to Canada, the side including W. G. Grace, the late C. J. Ottaway, A. N. Hornby, the Hon. George Harris ( Lord Harris), Alfred Lubbock, Edgar Lubbock and Arthur Appleby. Unfortunately, Mr. Hadow had a finger put out, and, handicapped in this manner, he did nothing to add to his reputation. He played for Middlesex during the seventies, and after dropping out in 1877, he reappeared with considerable success a year later. Although only taking part in half a dozen matches, he made more than 300 runs. His chief success was against Notts on the occasion of Bob Thoms" benefit, when, against Alfred Shaw, Morley, Barnes and Flowers, he put together 140 and 44. A free and most polished batsman, Mr. Hadow had the habit, like another famous Harrovian, A. J. Webbe, of standing with his legs very wide apart, and thus did not make quite the most of his height, which was over 6 feet, but he was a very attractive player to watch, possessing remarkable power of wrist, his cut being an exceptionally fine stroke. Although known chiefly as a cricketer, Mr. Hadow distinguished himself in other branches of athletics. He was a skilful player at racquets and tennis, representing his University in the former game both in 1871 and 1872; while in the two previous years he pulled in his college (Brasenose) boat. Of the four brothers, all of whom played for Harrow, A. A. Hadow died four years ago, at the age of forty-one; E. M. Hadow passed away at Cannes, in 1895, at the still earlier age of thirty-one; the one survivor being P. F. Hadow-a contemporary at Harrow of A. J. Webbe. Mr. Walter Hadow left a widow-Lady Constance Hadow-and three children. At the time of his death he was one of Her Majesty"s Prison Commissioners for Scotland.

REV. HENRY LASCELLES JENNER, D.D., first Bishop of Dunedin, died on September 18th, in his 78th year. He played for Cambridge against Oxford in 1841.

THOMAS BIGNALL, the once well-known Nottingham batsman, dropped down dead while following his usual occupation at Nottingham on September 19th. Born on the 1st of January, 1832, he was in his 57th year. Though he had long since given up first-class cricket, Bignall in his day did capital work for Notts, playing in the eleven side by side with Richard Daft, Alfred Shaw, William Oscroft, Fred Wild, J. C. Shaw, Biddulph, George Wootton, and poor George Summers. He was at his best as a batsman in the seasons of 1868-69, playing an innings of 97 against Surrey at Trent Bridge in the former year, when most of the Notts players were strange to Southerton"s bowling, and scoring 116 against Kent in 1869. His leg hitting in this latter innings was described at the time as not unworthy of comparison with that of George Parr.

MR. C. M. Tebbut, treasurer of the Essex County Club, died of apoplexy on September 27. Mr. Tebbut, who was connected originally with Middlesex, and remained till the day of his death on the committee of that county, was one of the staunchest supporters of Essex cricket. A few years back, when the fortunes of the county club were at the lowest ebb he advanced a considerable sum of money, and was mainly instrumental in enabling the club to continue its existence. The result of his timely effort must have far exceeded his most sanguine expectations, and before he died he had the satisfaction of seeing Essex thoroughly sound in a financial sense, and in a prominent place amongst the leading counties.

THE REV. CANON RICHARD LOWNDES was a double Blue at Oxford, playing in the cricket match in 1841, and rowing in the boat race in 1843. At the time of his death, on October 3rd, he was in his 76th year.

J. H. HOLMES, one of the umpires in county matches, died on the 14th of November, at Bath.

LORD LATHOM (the Lord Chamberlain) died on November 19. During his busy and active life, Lord Latham devoted no little attention to cricket. He was a member of I. Zingari; a Vice-President of the Lancashire County Club; and in 1860, being then Lord Skelmersdale, he was President of the M.C.C.

MR. John Smith, who died on November 26, was closely associated with Derbyshire cricket, and played a good deal for the county club in its early days. He was in his 57th year.

CAPTAIN R. P. SPURWAY, who at one time played pretty regularly for Somerset, died early in December. Born on the 16th of July 1866, he was only in his 33rd year.