Almost six foot tall and weighing 13 stone, he was a vigorous lower order right-hand batsman and a good field at cover-point or long-leg. He occasionally kept wicket.

His club cricket was for Bury, where he was secretary for many years.

His first game for the Gentlemen of Lancashire was on 9th and 10th September 1864 at York against the Gentlemen of Yorkshire, when he batted first wicket down and scored 3. In 1869 he opened the innings against the Gentlemen of Warwickshire at Warwick scoring 42 and 24 not out and the following year scored 48 and 12 in the same fixture, having made a pair against the University at Cambridge.

He was a noted Rugby player and appeared for England against Scotland four times and against Ireland once.

In 1874 he played for Lancashire for the first time, aagainst Derbyshire at Old Trafford scoring 1 and 19 and the following year played against the M.C.C. and Ground at Lord's.

He played for the Gentlemen of Lancashire against Uppingham Rovers in 1879, when he scored 60 and in 1880, when he scored 0 and 6.

At the time of the 1881 Census he was boarding at 34 Brook Street, London, aged 34, an iron founder, with his wife Constance F. aged 20 born at Leamington.

He was a great friend of A.N.Hornby and a member of the M.C.C. for many years. During the 1914-18 War he was responsible for ensuring that the M.C.C. Sussex schools tour continued.

(Article: Copyright © 2004 Don Ambrose)

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