Cambridge Cricket Club jug.
Used by kind permission of
Anthony Baer.
Cambridgeshire Cricket
Cambridge University 1710
Wisbech 1744
March 1744
Eton v England 1751
Cambridge 1757
Royston 1764
Chatteris 1774
Newmarket 1788
Manea 1791
Thorney 1810
Newton 1812
Leverington 1812
Murrow 1812
Parson Drove 1812
Ickleton 1813
Bentwick 1815
Doddington 1815
Wimblington 1815
Elm 1816
Ely 1818
Bassingborn 1820
Tholomas Drove 1820
Wisbech St Mary's 1820
Bottisham 1821
Fulbourn 1821
Soham 1822
Abington 1822
Walsoken 1826
Longstowe 1826
Bourn 1826
Linton 1827
Chesterton 1828
Whittlesey 1829
Cambridgeshire 1832
Mepal 1833
Sutton 1833
French Drove 1834
Fordham 1834
Balsham 1838
Sawston 1838
Comberton 1839
Haslingfield 1839
Steeple Bumpstead 1839
Barrington 1839
Melbourn 1839
Willingham 1839
Camps 1840
Cheveley 1841
Newport 1841
Quy 1841
Chippenham 1843
Kirtling 1843
Grantchester 1843
Haddenham 1843
Over 1844
Littlington 1844
Foxton 1844
Swavesey 1844
Fowlmere 1844
Shepreth 1844
Harston 1844
Thriplow 1845
Elsworth 1846
Toft 1846
Ashley 1849
Eversden 1849
Wimpole 1849
Arrington 1849
Burrough Green 1849
Burwell 1849
Swaffham 1849
Six Mile Bottom 1849
Harston 1849
Caldecote 1849
Shudy Camps 1850
Aldreth 1850
Babraham 1850
Waterbeach 1850
Horseheath 1850
Swaffham Prior 1851
Cambridge Clubs
Cambridge Cricket Club
?-1826
Cambridge Fountain
1822-27
Cambridge Castle
1822-37
Cambridge Union
1822-31(33?)
Cambridge Hoop
1827-30
Cambridge Town CC
1838-43
Cambridge Town &
County CC
1844-48
Cambridge Britannia CC
1850's
Cambridge Hope CC
1850's
Cambridge Darts CC
1850's
Reformed 1851 & 56
Cambridge Town CC
1861
Cambridge Cricket Venues
Jesus Green
From 1757
From 1757
Parker's Piece
From 1792
From 1792
Jesus Close
From 1805
Midsummer Common
From 1820
University private
ground Mill Rd
1821-30
Field behind Town Gaol
From 1846
Fenner's
From 1848
 Town and University teams of Cambridge 1847 by Felix (Permission of MCC Museum) |
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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. |
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 wanted for offences of exhibiting glazed expressions |
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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. |
Six Mile Bottom and Grantchester
Recent requests for information on the above two cricket clubs have led me to several interesting finds.
Whilst at least one match was played by Six Mile Bottom - against Balsham in 1849 - in the first half of the 19th century the former was barely populated and better used as a venue for gambling, perhaps because of its being in easy reach of Newmarket but a little off the beaten track if the authorities were to be avoided. It was used for bare knuckle fighting and even for betting on a leap-frog contest. It was not until the 1870's that the game of cricket was again reported in the area.
Grantchester played three matches as early as 1843/44 but appear not to have been reported again until 1849 when the formation of "a very spirited and well arranged Cricket Club" was reported. Again matches ceased to be reported after only a few years, the next local newspaper reports being in 1863.
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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? |
Women in Cambridgeshire cricket
I would still love to hear from anyone who has memories or stories of women in and around Cambridgeshire cricket. The sport itself was even more dominated by men 150 years ago than today and that's saying something. Nevertheless not far below the surface of 19th century cricket history is the role played by women, particularly as wives.
In the 1861 census, for example, alongside the twenty or so young men describing themselves as professional cricketers was Eliza Hayward, the widow of Daniel of Mitcham, Surrey, Chatteris, England, the Players and Cambridge Town and County Club. Eliza described herself as a "gardener's widow", no mention of cricket. Is this incidental or does it speak volumes about the insecurity of a professonal cricketer's wife and family?
Similarly Sarah Buttress, the wife of Billy, who has garnered much fascination through his drink problems as much as for his innovative leg-breaks, took in laundry, probably not so much to supplement her husband's earnings as to provide a reliable source of income in itself.
When Chief Constable William Robinson wrote to local newspapers asking for help for professional cricketers on hard times, such as Buttress, George Tarrant and Fred Bell it was their wives and families that he was making his main consideration.
Sarah, wife of Israel Haggis, who died relatively young from cholera, was reported to have physically fought for his possessions after his death, again pointing up the vulnerability of cricketers' wives. She survived the epidemic and appeared in the 1861 census taking in lodgers one of whom was described as a cricketer.
These examples may or may not be typical, but they are notable.
Why was Cambridgeshire top-class but never first-class?
From 1857 to 1871 Cambridgeshire played inter-county matches with the likes of Surrey, Kent and Yorkshire and were considered a major side. I am currently researching this period in the history of Cambridgeshire cricket and the inevitable question is why did this success not last?
The answer is complex despite there being some obvious component factors such as the lack of adequate financial support. My take on it is that there are several themes running through Cambridgeshire cricket history in the 18th and 19th centuries which help explain both the success and the ultimate failure. See the "current research" page for a discussion on these themes. This, of course, is only my attempt at an explanation. I would be fascinated to hear other people's opinions.
Smokin'!
This picture has been variously identified as depicting a Cambridge Town v University match in 1846 or a University Club Smokers v Non-smokers match of the same year. I recently found a reference in Charles Box's "Theory and Practice of Cricket", written in 1868, referring to a picture fitting the second option hanging in the University Ground club-house. That would at least confirm such a picture's existence and the details of this painting, with the puffs of smoke, do match such a description. See the "gallery" page for a comparison of this with similar pictures.
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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. |
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Cambridge 1822-37, 1837-38 and Cambridgeshire villages 1822-48
If you go to"1822-37" and "1838-48" you will find a chronology of matches in Cambridge within those dates. These are the matches from which I drew the subject matter of "Fenner's Men". Most of the detail in this chronology was not contained in the book.
Similarly the "villages 1822-48" pages contains a summary of matches in the small towns and villages of Cambridgeshire between those dates.
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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. |
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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? |
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a (very) rough sketch map of Cambridge highlighting St Andrew the Less parish  |
Cricket Ghetto Shock!
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Was this an expression of these, mostly young, men's aspirations or simply an attempt to impress? If the latter then it does not seem to have impressed everyone as in the same parish Elizabeth Hayward, mother of Daniel and Thomas and grandmother of T W, described herself as a "gardener's widow" making no allusion to her late husband's pedigree as a cricketer.
Amongst those claiming professional connection with the game were known names like Walter Watts, groundsman at Fenner's, Samuel Dakin, formerly of Leicestershire, at 57 years of age describing himself as a manufacturer of leg-guards, and Charles Arnold, hero of the Cambridge v Gentlemen of England match in 1846. Somewhat younger were a 16 year old Edward O'Hara, lodging with Israel Haggis's widow Sarah, Charles Barker, taker of 6 wickets in the last Town v Gown match in 1861, and an unknown to me George Harvey.
Horseheath and Shudy Camps
The eagle-eyed amongst you (and there clearly is a you) may have noticed that the left hand side column of starting dates for Cambridgeshire town and village cricket clubs has recently had an alteration. Whereas Horseheath used to be accompanied with the year 1851, that has now been replaced with 1850. Thanks to Horseheath village archivist Stuart Miller I am now aware that the Shudy Camps and Horseheath Cricket Club was formed in 1850 . A year later it seems to have been reformed as the Horseheath Cricket Club. The club survived with considerable success throughout most of the 1850's playing the likes of Balsham and Linton locally, Saffron Walden and Haverhill from across the county border, and the Cambridge Britannia and Hope Clubs. By the end of the 1850's the Horseheath Club seems to have folded with most of its players appearing for Linton, Abbington or Carlton. It was to emerge again later.
What's in a Name
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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 |
cricket in the first half of the 19th century was the Cambridge Town Club, when it would appear that apart from the years 1837-43 there was rarely a club of that name in existence. In its place were many other clubs each with their own unique story.
The real wonder of the works of such pioneers as Haygarth, Waghorne and Buckley is how few errors they made given the enormity of the research and recording tasks they took on. Nevertheless they did make mistakes and it is a sobering lesson for any cricket historian when an hypothesis based on one of these revered chroniclers’ reports turns out to be erroneous. The real lesson, of course, is to follow the spirit not the letter of those works. That spirit involved many patient hours of sifting through original sources such as scorebooks and newspaper reports.
The significance of this discrepancy between received wisdom and contemporary evidence is that what looks like the smooth progress of a stable club was nothing of the sort. Cambridge cricket went through many stages with different clubs emerging and being significant in their own ways. An understanding of these stages is crucial not only to an understanding of cricket in Cambridge but also to why Cambridgeshire cricket in the 1860's was turbulent and insecure with a talented team of players but little else as solid to back it up.
If you go to "research so far" you will find a list of the teams I know of that have been retrospectively called Cambridge Town Club. Some details of the Cambridgeshire teams are given in "current research"and "1st Cambs sides".
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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.
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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. |
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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. |
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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.
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The First Cambridgeshire Sides
If you click on "1st Cambs sides" above you will find a discussion on which team should rightfully be considered the first official Cambridgeshire side. Please have a look. I would love to receive comments on this.
Felix or Boning?
Somewhat belatedly I have recently consulted Gerald Brodribb's "The Art of Nicholas Felix". The most intriguing find is Brodribb's assertion that Felix included a self-portrait in his group portrait of the Cambridge Town and University teams. When I first saw the picture in question (see top of this page) I thought, like Brodribb, that the player on the right-hand edge of the centre group was indeed the artist as this portrait looked so similar to that of Felix in the All England Eleven picture.
Subsequently, however, I received a copy of a caption for the Cambridge picture which identified the portrait as being of John Boning of the Cambridge Town and County side.
It would certainly have been odd had Boning been excluded from this picture as he was a mainstay of the club throughout its existence. On the other hand I would have expected the author of more than one book on Felix to recognise his subject. Can anyone help?
Then and Now
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.
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1854 Parker's Piece, Cambridge 2009