Misplaced Pages

Thomas French (cricketer)

Article snapshot taken from Wikipedia with creative commons attribution-sharealike license. Give it a read and then ask your questions in the chat. We can research this topic together.
English clergyman, landowner, and cricketer

Thomas Lee French (10 June 1821 – 7 April 1909) was an English landowner and clergyman who played first-class cricket for Cambridge University and Cambridge Town and minor cricket for amateur teams in East Anglia. He was born at Eye, Suffolk and died at Menton in the south of France.

As a cricketer, French appeared for Cambridge University between 1841 and 1844. He played three times in the University match against Oxford University, being joint captain with George Boudier in 1843 when his 32 in the second innings of a low-scoring game contributed to a Cambridge victory. French appears to have been regarded largely as a batsman, though it is not known whether he was right- or left-handed, but he also kept wicket on occasion and took two recorded wickets as a bowler in first-class games. After leaving Cambridge University, his cricket was confined to lesser matches, but as late as 1878, when he was 57, he was playing for Suffolk in a two-day match, albeit not successfully.

French was ordained as a Church of England clergyman when he left Cambridge and from 1845 to his death he was the rector of Thrandeston, Suffolk. The post was a benefice in the gift of the Bateman family who owned nearby Brome Hall. French himself was also an extensive landowner and held public and judicial office: he was reported to be the last Freeman of Eye, chairman of the local Poor Law Trust and a member of the East Suffolk County Council.

References

  1. ^ "Thomas French". www.cricketarchive.com. Retrieved 21 May 2014.
  2. "Scorecard: Oxford University v Cambridge University". www.cricketarchive.com. 8 June 1843. Retrieved 21 May 2014.
  3. "Miscellaneous Matches played by Thomas French". www.cricketarchive.com. Retrieved 21 May 2014.
  4. ^ J. Venn and J. A. Venn. "Alumni Cantabrigienses: Thomas French". p. 577. Retrieved 21 May 2014.
  5. ^ "Obituary: The Rev. T. L. French". The Times. No. 38931. London. 12 April 1909. p. 9.


Flag of EnglandBiography icon Stub icon 2

This biographical article related to English cricket is a stub. You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it.

Categories:
Thomas French (cricketer) Add topic