Sir William Gage, 7th Baronet
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Sir William Gage, 7th Baronet (born 1695 in Firle, East Sussex; died 1744) was a noted patron of English, particularly Sussex, cricket during its formative years in the early 18th Century. He was the MP for Seaford.
Sir William was a close friend of Charles Lennox, 2nd Duke of Richmond and it seems they had organised a number of cricket matches before 1725 when their involvement first becomes clear through a surviving letter that Gage wrote to Richmond in humorous terms about cricket. Writing on 16 July, Gage bemoans that he was "shamefully beaten" the previous day in his first match of the year but says nothing of his opponents. He then looks forward to playing the Duke’s team next Tuesday 20 July and wishes his Grace success in everything except his cricket match!
Sir William's name appears in connection with a number of matches over the next few years but perhaps most notably with regard to his game against Mr Edward Stead's XI on 28 August 1729. It seems that Sir William's team won this game by an innings and, if so, it is the earliest innings victory that we know of. Sir William was greatly assisted by the outstanding play of Thomas Waymark, the most notable of the early Sussex cricketers.
[edit] References
- At the Sign of the Wicket: Cricket 1742 – 1751 by F S Ashley-Cooper in Cricket Magazine (1900) (ASW)
- Cricket Scores 1730 - 1773 by H T Waghorn (WCS)
- Early Kent Cricketers by John Goulstone (EKC)
- Fresh Light on 18th Century Cricket by G B Buckley (FL18)
- Fresh Light on Pre-Victorian Cricket by G B Buckley (FLPV)
- From the Weald to the World by Peter Wynne-Thomas (PWT)
- Sussex Cricket in the Eighteenth Century by Timothy J McCann (TJM)
- The Dawn of Cricket by H T Waghorn (WDC)
| Parliament of Great Britain | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by George Naylor Henry Pelham |
Member of Parliament for Seaford with Sir Philip Yorke 1722–1733 William Hay 1734–1744 1727–1744 |
Succeeded by William Hay William Hall Gage |
| Baronetage of England | ||
| Preceded by Thomas Gage |
Baronet (of Firle Place) 1713–1744 |
Succeeded by Thomas Gage |
