
Cambridge Cricket Venues
From 1757
From 1792
![]() Town and University teams of Cambridge 1847 by Felix (Permission of MCC Museum) |
|
|
|
Welcome
My name is WillieSugg. I have researched Cambridgeshire cricket of the 18th and 19th centuries for about 12 years. I have written three small books: "A Tradition Unshared", "The Cambridge Cricket Club Era", and "Fenner's Men". Books are a limited medium however and I intend to use this site to share information that might be hard to put in a book. I hope you find this site interesting and enjoyable.
"Research so far", "18th century" and "1888-21", "1822-37", "1838-48" and "Villages 1822-48" contain some of my findings about players, matches etc.
"Current research" and "research gaps" summarise what I am looking into at the moment.
"1st Cambs sides" is a discussion of which of several possibilities might best be considered the first Cambridgeshire representative side.
"Gallery One" and "Gallery Two" contain pictures of Cambridgeshire players, matches and places from the 19th century.
"Robert Carpenter", "Billy Buttress" "William Cornwell" and "George Tarrant" are player profiles.
"Email me"- I would love to receive comments, queries and information. |
|
![]() wanted for offences of exhibiting glazed expressions |
|
Acknowledgements for pictures
Pictures used on this site have been haphazardly collected - mostly from books (often very old), newspapers, and library archives. I am trying to track down sources and copyright so that I can seek permission to use them. If you know the copyright owners of any picture where I have given no acknowledgement please let me know so that I can either do so or remove the picture if preferred. |
![]() |
The mystery of George Harvey - cricketer
I was recently contacted by a great grandson of one of the professional cricketers recorded in the 1861 census as living in Cambridge (see "Cricket ghetto shock" below) - George Harvey. Born around 1835, Harvey continued to describe himself as a cricketer in subsequent censuses, changing to cricket umpire in 1891. Two pictures included on the gallery page show him in this latter capacity for the Pembroke College 1st XI. Other than that, however I can only find three clear references to his playing cricket in Cambridge, once in 1856 and twice in 1860. For a professional cricketer in the 1860's this seems odd, unless he spent most of his time in the nets at Pembroke College or else was engaged somewhere else in the country. Does anyone have any knowledge of him? |

|
William Cornwell
I have William Cornwell's great,great,great granddaughter to thank for spurring me to find out more about this five times Cambridgeshire wicket-keeper/batsman (see picture right). Look on the "William Cornwell" page to find a profile of his cricket career. |
![]() |
![]() |
Tarrant the Dog Dealer
One of the pictures on the "gallery" page is "Degree Morning, Cambridge 1863" by Robert Farren. My attention was originally drawn to this picture because the figure on the left of the picture in light-coloured clothing was identified as Tarrant. I had hoped it might be George of Cambridgeshire and all England fame and was disappointed that it was not. However, on researching George's family history I found an entry in the 1871 census describing his father, James Tarrant as a dog dealer, and there, in the picture, next to the man named Tarrant are two dogs! Is it possible that George Tarrant's father was well-known enough locally to be included in a picture depicting the great and interesting of Cambridge in 1863? It might just be that, although we do not yet have a likeness of Billy Buttress, we may have a picture of George Tarrant's father. |
|
Another intriguing aspect of Tarrant's life that I am gradually becoming aware of is that he appears to have lived a double life of sorts -as George Tarrant for cricketing purposes and as George Wood in his family life. Whilst I knew that his death was registered in 1870 in the name of George Frederick Wood I have only just discovered that his marriage in 1860 was registered in the same way. In the 1861 census he described himself as George Wood, despite having been called George Tarrant in 1851 when living with his father and mother. His widow appears to have called herself Martha Tarrant in 1871 and Martha Tarrant Wood in 1881. Despite Richard Daft's commonly quoted assertion, George does not seem to appear in official records as George Tarrant Wood. |
![]() George Tarrant or Wood? |
|
a (very) rough sketch map of Cambridge highlighting St Andrew the Less parish ![]() |
Cricket Ghetto Shock!
|
![]() |
Does it matter what a cricket club or team is called? When looking at Cambridgeshire's cricket history it most certainly does.
Cricket history books are almost unanimous in talking about the successful Cambridgeshire County Cricket Club throughout the 1860's, when a look at contemporary sources suggests that teams now regarded as "Cambridgeshire" were variously organised by the County Club, Cambridge Town Club, individuals, public subscription and even the opposing clubs.
Similarly a look through Arthur Haygarth's "Scores and Biographies" gives the impression that the dominant team in Cambridge and Cambridgeshire |
|
Fred Reynolds
One of the less talked about Cambridgeshire players, despite his being a mainstay opening bowler for the county from 1857-1867, is Frederick Reginald Reynolds. That may be because he has a prior claim to fame in being a player, ground manager and historian at Lancashire's Old Trafford ground from 1860 to 1908. A recent glance at the introduction to a welcome 2000 reprint of Reynold's "Lancashire County Cricket" has made me want to restore his place in Cambridgeshire cricket history. Watch this space! Any information would be very welcome. Thanks to Keith Hayhurst's Pictorial History of Lancashire County Cricket Club you will find this picture of Reynolds on the "gallery" page.
|
![]() |
|
|
Sir St Vincent Cotton
The nearest C19th Cambridgeshire cricket had to noble patronage was Sir St Vincent Cotton of Madingley Hall just north of Cambridge. He was also a player, president of the Cambridge town and County Club, inveterate gambler and coach driver. A recent article in the Cricket statistician ("Felix Ladbroke and Cricket on Epsom Downs" by Ralph M Hudson) referred to Cotton as a "great" cricketer. Unfortunately this appears to be an exaggeration. See "Research so far" for details. |
![]() |
![]() |
Fuller Pilch of Norfolk,
Kent and Cambs!
Fuller Pilch is best known for his appearances for Kent and in various so called "great matches" of the mid 19th century. Perhaps less well known are his connections with Cambridgeshire. See the "Research so far" and
"1st Cambs sides" pages for details. |
|
John Smith - a Likeness
Thanks to Giles Phillips for the team pictures of the 1868 England tour of US and Canada (see Gallery). These contain the first likenesses of John Smith I have seen as well as another representation of George Tarrant. Newspapers of the time announced a painting of John Smith on his own but I have yet to hear of its continued existence.
For the record I am still keen to see likenesses of Israel Haggis, Dan Hayward Jnr, William Buttress, FC Pryor and Thomas Snow, as well as the many Cambridgeshire players from outside Cambridge during the period 1700-1890. Anyone wishing to try their hand at imaginative drawing might like to draw an impression of one of the above. That would be great.
|
|
![]() |

With the help of my friend Michael in 2009 I took photographs of places associated with 18th & 19th century cricket in Cambridge. Below right is an attempt to recreate the view shown in 1854. Cricket is still played on the same area of Parker's Piece, especially at weekends, although the activity shown in the distance in our photograph is kids from the local Parkside School in their break time. For more comparisons see the "gallery" page.
![]() |
![]() |














