Lord Frederick Beauclerk

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The Lord Frederick Beauclerk (8 May 1773–22 April 1850) was a noted English cricketer throughout the Napoleonic era.

Beauclerk was the fourth son and fifth child of the 5th Duke of St Albans, and thus descended from Charles II and Nell Gwyn. He was first noted as an "intelligent slow bowler" at Cambridge University in 1791. He became a clergyman, and was vicar of St Albans.

He married Charlotte Dillon, daughter of Charles Dillon, 12th Viscount Dillon, on 3 July 1813. They had four children:[1]

Caroline Henrietta Frederica Beauclerk (1815-1878)
Charles William Beauclerk (1816-1863)
Captain Aubrey Frederick James Beauclerk (1817-1853)
Henrietta Mary Beauclerk (1818-1887)

Beauclerk became better known as a hard-hitting batsman. He scored 170 as a given man playing for Homerton against Montpelier in 1807, seting a world record in any form of cricket that lasted until the first double century was scored in 1820.[2][[3] He was said to have modelled himself on the professional William Beldam, but he may have lacked the latter's flair. John Nyren, in The Young Cricketers Tutor of 1833, stated that Beauclerk was 'certainly the finest batter of his day’ but remained convinced that Beldam was the 'finest batsmen ever known up to that point'. Reporters of the day noted that his batting was orthodox but he never quite curbed his aggressive instincts and would tend to bat impulsively. He was one of the best single-wicket cricketers of his era, and boasted of making up to £600 a year betting on cricket, often matched in which he was playing. He was described by Benny Green as "an unmitigated scoundrel".[4]

He made eight centuries at Lord's first cricket ground, at Dorset Square, and led the calls to ban roundarm bowling in 1822. He was the second president of the Marylebone Cricket Club in 1826, playing for the MCC while in the office.

His sons, Charles Beauclerk and Aubrey Beauclerk, and nephew, William Aubrey de Vere Beauclerk (known as Lord Burford, later 9th Duke of St. Albans), also played early cricket.

He is buried at St Mary Winchfield in Hampshire, where there are memorial inscriptions to him and his family.

[edit] References

Altham, H.S. and Swanton, E.W., A History of Cricket: 2nd Edition, G. Allen & Unwin, 1938
Knight, Albert E., The Complete Cricketer, Methuen & Co., 1906
Birley, Sir Derek, A Social History of English Cricket, Aurum Press, 1999
Wilde, Simon, Number One: The World's Best Batsmen and Bowlers, Trafalgar Square, 1998