Bats, Baronets and Battle: A Social History of Cricket and Cricketers from an East Sussex Town

By Tim Dudgeon

Bats, baronets and Battle is more than just about cricket. This is a history full of colourful characters eccentric baronets with a fondness for gambling, forthright women who wished to take their role and the game beyond an excuse to wear a pretty dress, and brothers from local villages who played the sport at the highest levels home and abroad.
If Sussex was the cradle for the earliest of cricket, the villages around Battle were there at the games birth. From Georgian times and the murky world of 18th century politics, Tim Dudgeon traces Battle crickets role from its role in 18th century Georgian gambling though the fear of 19th century rural unrest and the dawn of the professional game to the tragic impact of two world wars and into the modern era. The story he uncovers is an intriguing one that has local people and communities at its heart, but throws light on their links with events and forces that have shaped our world today.

• Language: English
• Publisher: AuthorHouse UK
• Release date: Mar 26, 2013
• ISBN: 9781481784740

Tim Dudgeon

Tim Dudgeon was educated at Campbell College in Belfast and Essex and Cambridge Universities. Now a history teacher by profession and a resident of Battle, he spends summer Saturdays playing cricket. Better known for his batting, he also occasionally bowls a unpredictable assortment of seamers, leg-breaks and long hops.

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© 2013 by Tim Dudgeon. All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author.

Published by AuthorHouse 03/12/2013

ISBN: 978-1-4817-8429-0 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4817-8428-3 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-4817-8474-0 (e)

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

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Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Contents

Preface

List Of Illustrations

Chapter 1 Sticks And Sackvilles

Early Origins Of Cricket Around Battle

Chapter 2 Gamesters And Gambling

The Latter Half Of The 18Th Century

Chapter 3 Baronets And Battle

The Webster Connection Re-Emerges

Chapter 4 The Search For A Ground

Quarry Hill And George Meadow

Chapter 5 Gentlemen And Players

Curteis And Coppinger

Chapter 6 Undeniable Chisellers

Local Connections With The Women’s Game

Chapter 7 The Golden Age?

Brightling Brothers—Part One

Chapter 8 Bats, Bombs And Building

The First Half Of The 20Th Century

Chapter 9 A Golden Age For Battle And Sussex

Brightling Brothers—Part Two

Chapter 10 Leagues And Leases

1970-2000

Chapter 11 The Phoenix In The Community

After The Fire 2001

Twelfth Man And Scorer

Appendix A: Cricketers From Battle And Surrounding Villages In 1St Class Cricket

Appendix B: Officers Of Battle Cricket Club

Acknowledgements And Notes On Sources And Images

Notes

PREFACE

Cricket is one of those sports, like golf or fishing, which deserves and even demands contemplation. Perhaps it is the span of hours that a game can absorb that gives opportunity to consider the finer points of life and the natural world around you. Maybe it is the painfully long period of time for ghastly reflection that exists after a second of frenzied action and a bungled catch. Such a feeling is akin to that of the frustrated anger following a badly sliced tee-shot into thick rough or that limpness experienced after a fish has thrown the hook.

This might be the reason why cricket is perhaps the game that has produced such a wealth of literature, full of reflections, regrets and also great deeds of sporting heroism. There are undoubtedly great books on cricket. This does not pretend to be one of them. Instead, this is a story of the game in one small corner of the British Isles, a corner soaked in history and one that in 2013 celebrates 275 years of recorded cricket. It is an attempt to put the game, and the people from the area, into a local, national and even international context over a considerable length of time. Through it one might find that there is indeed some truth in the idea that cricket reflects the English, or more widely the British, at their best and occasionally their worst.

Finally, there is no claim here either that this is a complete history or an exhaustive one. It is merely what can be ascertained from the facts, stories and even scurrilous rumours that have become available to date and, no doubt, more will emerge. There are almost certainly parts that will be challenged and changed, but that is very much the nature of history itself.

Tim Dudgeon

Battle

January 2013

List of illustrations

1. Some cricketing towns and villages—a map

2. A watercolour view of the north front of Bourne Place (Compton Place in Eastbourne) in (East) Sussex drawn in 1783 by S.H. Grimm; © British Library Board, Additional MS 5671. Spencer Compton (later the Earl of Wilmington) had purchased this building and estate in 1724. Keen to build an impressive home, he employed one of the best architects in the country, Colen Campbell, to redesign the house. The Battle team who played here in 1738 probably would have recognised the view of the house pictured here. Compton’s desire to further ingratiate himself with his patron, George II, led him to also have a bedroom designed with a spectacular picture of Venus and Adonis on the ceiling, believing it would be the king’s room when he visited. Sadly, Compton died shortly afterwards and the king never visited.

3. Extract from the Sussex Weekly Advertiser (August 3rd, 1772) with details of the match involving Battle in the middle section. Note the other issues of concern to readers of this paper in this section—gambling (both on cricket and horses) and crime. Papers often recounted the acts of criminals in lurid detail

4. Sir Godfrey Webster, 5th baronet and cricketer. Although there is some uncertainty as to which particular Webster this painting depicts as some feel it is the 4th baronet, it is thought by others to be a portrait of the 5th baronet by the American painter Gilbert Stuart. ©English Heritage (reference M991133, Webster Portraits, Battle Abbey, East Sussex).

5. Telham Court, or Quarry Hill as it was known at the time, was, along with George Meadow, one of the main centres of Battle cricket in the 19th century and home to the Lambert family.

6. Making of Battle cricket field, probably in the 1870s. One of the gentlemen pictured here is Great Grandfather Freeman of Mrs Jenny Mitchell who kindly forwarded this image.

7. HM Curteis outside his house at Windmill Hill near Herstmonceux. Courtesy of East Sussex Record Office, reference number AMS 6027/1/6

8. A local cricket team, probably Mountfield or possibly Netherfield, around 1900. Kindly loaned by Graham Good.

9. Countess Idina Brassey (President of the White Heather Club) from Normanhurst near Catsfield and Miss Georgie Waters (Hon. Secretary)

10. The Harrow XI for 1901. RE Lambert from Telham Court in Battle is standing second from the right on the back row. The match between Harrow and Eton was always a social occasion of some note and attracted a large crowd. However, they were not always perfectly behaved despite their apparently genteel background—in Byron’s time, riots occurred. In the 1901 match, Lambert scored 71 and took 2 for 45. © Harrow Photos 2013

11. Three of the Relf brothers, the family originating from the village of Brightling. All seven of the brothers were cricketers with Edward (seated in the middle), Robert (left) and Ernest (right) playing for Sussex. Albert was the only one of these three recorded as being born in Brightling. From the Nicholas Sharp Collection.

12. ‘Preparing the Wicket for Surrey’. Sussex county players AE Relf from Brightling, John Seymour from Brightling, Joe Vine from Willingdon and Ernest Killick from Horsham. A postcard by Combridge of Hove. From the Nicholas Sharp Collection.

13. Levelling the ground at George Meadow in Battle, probably in 1904. A large copy of this photograph hung in the club’s old pavilion before it was destroyed by arson in 2001. Kindly loaned by Battle and District Historical Society.

14. Sussex take to the field at the Central Ground in Hastings, probably in 1947—Bob Stainton is on the right of the picture. Kindly loaned by the Stainton family.

15. The Battle ‘Wednesday XI’, probably from the late 1940s. Some of these players have been tentatively identified. Back row—John Russell (chemist/optician), Fred Douch (greengrocer), Stan Day (ironmonger at Tills’),?, ?, ? Seated—Mr Wendle(?—bank manager), Mr. C Moore (draper), Mr Woodhams (auctioneer), Arch Wiggins (grocer), ?, Ken Jempson (undertaker). Front row—Miss May Isles, Stan Oliver (baker). Kindly loaned by Mrs Joan Russell.

16. Aerial view of Battle taken in the early 1950s. The view is looking south with the Abbey at the top and the cricket ground towards the top right of the picture. There are no trees growing on the west side of the ground and one can also note the relative scarcity of mature woodland in the abbey grounds beyond the cricket pitch compared to today. This photograph also reminds us of how close George Meadow is to the town’s busy High Street yet still manages to retain an atmosphere of comparative rural tranquillity.

17. The club’s prize-giving in 1952. The then President of the Club, Mr Pantlin, a generous and active supporter of cricket in the town, is shown in the centre of this photograph. The other four cricketers from left to right are Eric Wilson, Stan Day, Geoff Brooman and Teddy Elliot. Whilst the others are referred to elsewhere, Eric Wilson is not—he was generally a very successful player for the 2nd XI who is reputed in one match at Ashburnham to have hit the first 5 balls of the match over the local primary school.

18. Sussex in 1969. The team reads: Back row—TB Racionzer, JA Snow, A Buss, AW Grieg, MA Buss, GC Cooper, PJ Graves; Front row—LJ Lenham, JM Parks, MG Grifith (c), KG Suttle, DL Bates. Photo: Bill Smith. From the Nicholas Sharp Collection.

19. MCC Under-25s in Pakistan, 1967. Back row: N Abberley, AR Windows, GC Arnold, RA Hutton, P Pocock, MA Buss, M Bissex, JA Ormrod, APE Knott. Front row: KWR Fletcher, RNS Hobbs, D Brown, L Ames, JM Brearley, DL Amiss, DL Underwood.

20. Battle Cricket Club XI in 1988, the year of their 250th anniversary, with the Phoenix Trophy. The pavilion of the old Central Ground at Hastings Priory CC is behind them, now gone and replaced with a shopping centre.

21. 27th April 1988—Colin Cowdrey, a legend in cricket, writes to Norman Le Lacheur of Battle Cricket Club to celebrate 250 years of recorded Battle cricket.

22. The old pavilion collapses in flames—15th August 2001 © Battle Observer

23. Mike Yardy (third from left in the back row) in a junior Battle XI. The old pavilion is behind.

24. Mike Yardy, captain of Sussex CCC. Courtesy of Sussex CCC.

25. Teams and umpires for the match to mark Brian Scollay’s retirement from 1st XI cricket in 2004. Brian is at the centre of the photograph.

26. On a coldish and damp May afternoon in 2007, Tony Boardman welcomes guests and townspeople to the club’s new pavilion. On the left are town mayor Ron Harris, club president Dr Rice-Oxley and vice-chair Phil Harrod. To the right is Chris Pike.

27. Brian Scollay (captain for Battle’s team) and Tim Dudgeon (one of the umpires) resplendent in their 18th century dress for the game against Sedlescombe.

28. Battle 1st XI, 2009. Back row: Jo Carthew, Roger Soan, Ben Newman, Elliot Scrivener, Craig Davies, Rob Yardy, Mike Gedye (c). Front row: Joe Wood, Pete Maynard, Pete Matthews, Jeremy Reid, John Dale © Battle Observer

29. Alan Deeprose, landlord of The Bull Inn in Battle and much appreciated supporter of the cricket club presents a cheque to Stuart Reeves, chairman of the club in 2012. Junior members of the club, led by Junior Cricket Manager Phil Harrod (back right), along with coaches and players, line up in front of the new pavilion. © Battle Observer

30. Battle CC Tour XI v Northwood CC, Isle of Wight, August 2012. Back row: Tony Boardman, Graham Good, Leigh Tullett, Henry Francis, Jo Carthew, Kieran Mayhew. Seated: Phil Harrod, Stuart Reeves, Elliott Jeffs. Lying: Tim Dudgeon, Laurence Flint.

1.%20Some%20cricketing%20towns%20and%20villages.jpg

Some cricketing towns and villages—a map

Chapter 1

STICKS AND SACKVILLES

Early origins of cricket around Battle

Every year, during the tourist season in Battle in East Sussex, coach-loads of visitors from Europe and further afield take the short-cut along the narrow track that avoids the bustle of the High Street to reach the famous Abbey gatehouse. Clattering down that path and chattering enthusiastically perhaps about the battlefield and ruins that they are soon to explore, they pass George Meadow and there, if the time of day and year is right and it is not raining, they may pause briefly and gaze at the strange spectacle that appears before them. ‘Flannelled fools’ in white are clearly playing some sort of game on the expanse of grass in front of them but, to many, this is not a sport with which they are familiar. Baseball may be the closest they can get. Some may know it as cricket, and it may fit with their preconception of England as it is and how it should be. Few, however, will know much of cricket’s rich history and fewer still could guess of any connection between this peculiar game and the historic site they are about to visit as tourists. As with many of England or Britain’s pastimes, the mists of time shroud and cloud how cricket started as an organised sport or game, but the role of Battle town, the surrounding countryside and its villages and their people are at the heart of this story.

Those visitors to George Meadow who do know something of the history of cricket may well have heard of the famous Hambledon club that developed in the mid 18th century and perhaps assumed that cricket originated from that area of Hampshire and around that time. However, historians of the game make links with a considerably more distant age: Derek Birley, for instance, opened his recent book on the history of the game by placing the birth of the game in the later Middle Ages. He states that it was created from, ‘. . . uncertain, though bucolic, parentage…’¹ and, rather startlingly for those from this part of the country, comments that ‘. . . its near relations, now defunct, are folk-games like stoolball (a unisex affair) . . .’ This game, of course, remains very much alive in Sussex and Kent but not perhaps so much elsewhere.

Whilst there are arguments for cricket’s origins to be found in celtic culture (what a horror for those who see this as a quintessentially English game), it seems much more likely that the name, if not the game, came over with the Normans after their bloody victory in 1066 no more than an arrow’s flight from Battle’s current cricket ground at George Meadow. The invaders’ word, as Birley states², for a stick was criquet but few of the senior Norman nobility played ball games leaving those pursuits to the more raffish of their ilk. The young of that lofty class, however, were allowed some leeway and, as they probably spent time amongst servants, grooms and suchlike, they acquired knowledge and interest in some of the pastimes of those ‘lower’ ranks in society. Reference can be found in the Royal Wardrobe Accounts for 1299-1300 of £6 being paid out for the fifteen-year-old Prince Edward (later to become Edward II³) to play at creag’ and other games at Newenden and Westminster in March of that year⁴. The reference to Newenden (some 8 miles from Battle as the crow flies) alongside the politically and socially vital Westminster perhaps shows the significance already of this area in the development of cricket (creag’ having been suggested to be short for creaget and the same as criquet⁵). It is also interesting to note the reference to this particular sporting prince, one who had acquired a reputation for sloth, lax morals and a desire to seek pleasure whenever the opportunity arose. These are occasionally characteristics that cricketers have shown after the 13th century. However, this young prince was familiar with the area and, when he became King Edward II, visited ‘Battel’ in 1324 and attended ‘great mass’ in the Minster, making an offering at the altar to the value of 57s (the price of ‘one cloth of gold or red silk of Raffat purchased 50s and 7s in money’)⁶

By the time we reach the mid 18th century, cricket was developing in a more formal and organised manner and cricketing activity in Kent and particularly Sussex was of vital importance. The development of local sides and representatives from the villages and towns in these two counties, with the area around Battle right at the heart of the action, was to prove crucial in the history of the game. Elsewhere and by 1760, the famous Hambledon club was indeed gaining momentum on Broadhalfpenny Down in Hampshire; however, cricket in an organised form predated that in Sussex. It already had gained a foothold in this eastern part of the county as is shown in 1677 when the sixteen-year old Anne, Lady Sussex (one of the restored Charles II’s ‘innumerable love-children’⁷ and allegedly conceived on the night of the king’s coronation) was sent by her husband to rusticate at Herstmonceux, eight miles from Battle. Anne was clearly a spirited young woman who enjoyed the high life and amusements of court life and she is unfortunately described as becoming ‘. . . tired of the prevailing amusements [in the country]—hunting, hawking, ninepins, cricket.’⁸. However, it seems that her husband, Thomas Dacre the Earl of Sussex, was much more taken with the game. A very early and key reference to a specific cricket match is found here: ‘The Keeper of the Accounts paid to my Lord [Sussex] when his Lordship went to the creckitt match at ye Dicker 03.00.00.’⁹ The £3 is significant in itself, and probably indicates that his lordship was likely to have a little wager on the result. Betting, as well as being a popular aristocratic diversion or way of losing your inheritance as Dacre eventually did, was a central part of the game of cricket from this time onwards. At least having a flutter on a game of cricket was slightly less brutal than betting on prize-fighting, ‘cudgels’ or testing your skill at the spectacularly nasty ‘riding for geese’¹⁰. A number of historians of the game also make the point that, for many nobles in the Restoration Britain of the late 17th century after the English Revolution and Civil War, towns or cities still retained a dangerous level of support for Puritanism. The countryside with its attendant pleasures of games such as cricket therefore seemed, for those with Royalist connections such as Dacre, a more relaxing and comfortable place in which to spend time.

As the eighteenth century advanced, references to cricket matches become more frequent. Licensing laws (designed to discourage sedition) on the primitive newspapers of the time eased, and reports of games begin to filter through to us. It was still though a game largely exclusive to the south-east of the country: ‘Whether or not cricket was first played in Sussex, there is no doubt that it was popular in almost all parts of the county at a time when it was confined to south-east England and was probably completely unknown in the north.’¹¹. It is worth noting at this point what the area around Battle was probably like at this time. The roads in