W. G. GRACE in GLOSSOP.

Many thanks to Mike Brown for the notes on which this account of WG Grace and his touring team in Glossop was prepared. The original text was written by Mike's old GGS school friend Roger Hartley, partly from information supplied by Mike.

W G Grace in 1883, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
W G Grace in 1883, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.
      
Clip from OS Map 1879 showing location of the old cricket ground
Clip from OS Map 1879 showing location of the old cricket ground.


THE UNITED SOUTH OF ENGLAND XI v XXII OF GLOSSOP AND DISTRICT 14th AND 15th Sept. 1874.

In this match the “given” players for Glossop were William Hickton of Derbyshire and Luke Greenwood of Yorkshire. Bill Hickton, born at Hardstoft, near Chesterfield, played for Lancashire (24 matches) and Derbyshire (34 matches) as well as the “Players”. In fact in 1871 Hickton had played for Derbyshire against Lancashire and then went onto play four matches for Lancashire! After that season he played solely for the Peak county. A good batsman and right-hand, round-arm bowler, he had an undistinguished match at Glossop, though he did capture W.G.’s wicket, always a great prize. He was the first Lancashire player to take all ten wickets in an innings and for Lancashire against the M.C.C., in 1869, he had bowled W.G. out twice.

Luke Greenwood was now a real veteran, aged 40, but he still scooped up six of the South’s wickets. This season was the last of 13 in which he played for Yorkshire. He was a noted all-rounder, a hard hitting batsman and a straight, round-arm bowler. In the official history of the Yorkshire club he is described as “An honest, hard-working, strong level-headed cricketer.” 1874 was the year of Luke’s benefit match; like most Yorkshire professionals and many from other counties he chose the fixture with Grace’s Gloucestershire as likely to be the biggest money earner. W.G. was held in high respect by the pros., not only for his skill, but also for his support in such events. Greenwood became an umpire and he stood in the famous “Ashes” Test of 1882 at the Oval. He was yet another ex-professional cricketer to descend into poverty, walking from his Osset home to Yorkshire’s matches in Leeds, Bradford and even Sheffield.

Tom Foster, born in Glossop, not Hyde as usually indicated, represented the town club and Derbyshire (83 matches). Tommy was a wicket-keeper, good field, useful fast-medium bowler and a middle-order batsman, but he failed to advance the score very much in this match. Tom Howarth, born in Hadfield, had one match for Derbyshire, the previous year. Matthew Walton, also born in Glossop, had played one match for Lancashire as an amateur in 1867. His son William played just one first-class match for Derbyshire.

The United South team, one of their stronger ones, is the same as the one that appeared at Chesterfield in 1871, except that James Phillips and Mr. W.R. Gilbert had replaced Tom Humphrey and Ned Willsher. With a name like W.R. Gilbert there was obviously a relationship to the Great Man. In fact Walter Raleigh Gilbert was W.G.’s cousin, a Middlesex then Gloucestershire player, “a batsman with sparkling feet” and an occasional slow bowler, of the lob variety. He went on the 1873-74 Australian tour, captained by Grace. Gilbert was eventually forced to turn professional after the United South folded up, and his allowances with it. After he was found pilfering in the dressing room, at Stroud, in 1886, in a deliberate trap, he received a month’s hard labour and under pressure from the Grace family he emigrated to Canada. He eventually became a successful civil servant in Calgary but Grace and the cricket establishment kept the whole episode quiet.

The match was played on the second cricket ground known in Glossop, behind Norfolk Street. The North Road cricket ground, which hosted 15 county matches in the period 1900 to 1910, and where Glossop North End played in the First and Second Divisions of the Football League from 1898 to 1915, was not constructed until 1881. The Rev. C.B. Ward, who played in this match, paid for the new pavilion, which still exists, to be built at North Road. Derbyshire play occasional Second XI matches on the ground to this day. Ward had a clerical son, Leonard, who played just one first-class match for Derbyshire; a better-known descendant was reputed to be the osteopath Steven Ward, made notorious by the “Profumo” affair in 1963.

The Derbyshire Courier reporter estimated 5000 spectators on the first day. If that figure was correct a lot did not pay their sixpence, as based on that charge the receipts indicate about 4500 paying customers over three days. The vast majority, as at most cricket grounds where W.G. Grace appeared, would have been standing all day, jostling for a view of the famous sportsman, difficult to count. Cricket was the main spectator sport at this time, Association Football being very much in its infancy. The F.A. Cup competition was only two years old, the Football League 14 years away.

The game was very one-sided, a typical United South match for this period. The Glossop team lost by an innings and 14 runs, perhaps some compensation to the South for their heavy defeat at Derby the previous month. The United South XI batted first, Jupp and his captain opening as usual. Run getting against 22 fielders was an art much practised by W.G. but apparently he was dropped six times in his innings! This could be due to any combination of bad luck, incompetence, and instructions to allow the crowd a good view of Grace in action. Even so only Fred and Southerton achieved double figures besides W.G. The latter's 74 out of 121 was typical of his influence on the sport at the time. Luke Greenwood took six wickets for 63 runs, Bill Hickton a less impressive 2 for 58.

The Glossop team failed to cope with the craft of Southerton and the teasing accuracy of Grace senior, amassing only 39 runs, albeit spread over the first and second days. The Derbyshire Courier likened their first innings to “the slaughter of the innocents” and they failed to avoid the follow-on by three runs. Glossop fared a little better in their second innings, but “the trotting match from the pavilion and back continued unabated” and they were all out for 68 this time. The Highest score by a Glossop batsman in either innings was only eight, the given men performing poorly with the bat. Only Grace and Southerton bowled in the first innings and Lillywhite and Southerton in the second. Southerton bagged 22 wickets in total. An interesting entry on the scorecard is that of Dr. Hunt, in the first innings, who was “t o” or “thrown out” by Dick Humphrey. This was a not infrequent dismissal on nineteenth century scorecards and it was a direct hit on the stumps by a fielder, credited to him in the scorebook, as has happened with all run outs only very recently.

A single-innings match at the end of the second day was abandoned because of rain and on the Wednesday, now free, a match was arranged between two elevens led by W.G. and Harry Jupp. However rain stopped play again with Grace’s team on 38 for 2, W.G. having been run out for 4.

£188 was taken at the gale, £58 more than the Chesterfield match, and the reporter noted “The Glossop club will gain money by the match, however much they lose in reputation”. He also wrote “In the morning W.G. Grace and Mr. Gilbert were on the moors and killed 4 and a half brace’’. Shooting was W.G.’s other sporting passion at this time, before he took up golf, and happily the grouse season overlapped with the cricket season on his visit to the High Peak. Less happily he was nearly blinded in an accident in 1877 while partridge shooting in Northamptonshire.

United South


W.G. Grace c Barber b Hickton

74

H. Jupp run out

2

W.R. Gilbert b. Greenwood

1

J. Phillips e Platt b Greenwood

1

G.F. Grace c Wild b Greenwood

13

F. Silcock b Greenwood

8

Charlwood c Rhodes b Hickton

2

R. Humphrey run out

1

E. Pooley c & b Greenwood

0

J. Lillywhite c Hunt b Greenwood

4

J. Southerton not out

16


121


Overs

Maidens

Runs

Wickets

Hickton

56

30

58

2

Greenwood

55

26

63

6

Glossop Twenty-Two - First Innings



Second Innings


S. Clarke b Southerton

4


b Southerton

4

Wild st Pooley b W.G. Grace

1


c Southerton b Lillywhite

3

J. Walton c Jupp b Southerton

0


c W.G. b Lillywhite

6

T. Foster st Pooley b W. G. Grace

1


b Lillywhite

3

M.J.B. Reyner b Southerton

0


tun out

7

Rev C.B. Ward b Southerton

3


c Silcock b Southerton

7

Mr. W.H. Hunt t o Humphrey

7


b Lillywhite

0

T. Howarth b W.G. Grace

2


b Lillywhite

8

Barber c Jupp b Southerton

0


b Southerton

0

J. Sellars c Gilbert b W.G. Grace

1


b Southerton

1

M. Walton c & b W.G. Grace

0


not out

3

L. Greenwood b Southerton

7


c W.G. b Lillywhite

3

W. Hickton c Southerton b W.G.

0


c Phillips b Lillywhite

7

P. Dalgliesh b Southerton

0


run out

2

R. James c Southerton b W.G. Grace

1


run out

3

Harrop c G.F. Grace b W.G. Grace

0


c Gilbert b Lillywhite

I

Thorpe c Humphrey b W.G. Grace

0


st Pooley b Lillywhite

0

G. Williamson b Southerton

0


st Pooley b Southerton

0

Mr. W.S. Rhodes b Southerton

4


st Pooley b Southerton

0

Knott c W. Grace b Southerton

0


c Pooley b Lillywhite

3

G. Platt not out

7


c. Gilbert b Southerton

4

H. Sellars c Lillywhite b Southerton

0


c Jupp b Southerton

2

Extras

1


Extras

1


39



68


Overs

Maidens

Runs

Wickets



Overs

Maidens

Runs

Wickets

Southerton

18.1

10

18

11


Lillywhite

27

14

16

11

W.G. Grace

18

7

20

9


Southerton

27

7

51

8


THE UNITED SOUTH OF ENGLAND XI v XXII OF GLOSSOP AND DISTRICT 18th - 20th Sept. 1876.

1876 had been yet another productive year for W.G. He easily achieved the cricketer’s double, with 2622 runs and 129 wickets in first-class matches. His 126 out of 159 for the United South against the United North is still the highest percentage of a first-class total by an Englishman (79.2%). He hit the first triple century, 344 for the M.C.C., a record still for that club, as is the 318 he scored for Gloucestershire against Yorkshire, a county record. “Against the Odds”, he scored 399 not out, (recorded as 400 by a generous scorer), in a total of 681, when the United South played XXII of Grimsby. Gloucestershire won the developing County Championship.

A contemporary article stated “Modern cricket seems to have resolved itself into a match between Mr. Grace on one side and the bowling strength of England on the other side. At present Mr. Grace has clearly the mastery over his opponents.” This was undoubtedly true but this match showed the less attractive side of W.G., his boorishness and bullying. The editor of the Glossop Dale Chronicle wrote the following after the match. “Grace - the Mighty Grace, the Leviathan was rolling around amongst the little fishes. With the shoulders of a blacksmith, the bearded head of a Samson and the manners of a petted and spoiled schoolboy, he was the advertised attraction of the field, but was by no means the real one. The real hero was MacIntyre, the bowler in the two innings.”

The match began on a sour note. The United South were the third choice for the invitation team to play at Glossop this season, the Yorkshire and Nottinghamshire county sides having declined to appear. There had been difficulties in arranging a refreshment tent and the beer barrels had been tampered with! Morning showers and the late arrival of the South put a damper on proceedings. They arrived at 3 p.m. for a 12 noon start, though fortunately play could not have begun much earlier than it did. The paper noted that “punctuality was not a virtue of cricketers.”

The South came with only ten men, having picked up J. Schofield at Rochdale. He was a specialist wicket-keeper, which the South did not need as Edward Henty was playing as stumper. Schofield had played his only four matches for Lancashire this season. J.E. Kershaw of Rochdale was the player who had not turned up, a pity for W.G. as he was “a capital batsman and excellent fielder”, according to the Lancashire “Who’s Who.” He first appeared for Lancashire in the following season.

We see some familiar names in the South’s line-up, although Hearne and Howitt, both of Middlesex, were not in previous Derbyshire matches. Tom Hearne had been one of the best all-rounders in the Lord’s based club’s early history but he had last appeared for his county the previous year. George Howitt had been a very fast, left-arm bowler when he first appeared for Nottinghamshire in the 1860’s. At one stage he played for Middlesex in tandem with Notts., and he had been a regular on the touring circuit, appearing for the A.E.E., the U.E.E. and the U.N.E.E. (United North of England Eleven). He had only played one match for Middlesex this year, to be his last. He was not called upon to bowl in this match at Glossop and batting was not his strong point, a Notts. history noting that “his performances at the wicket were of little account.” The United South was struggling to make up a decent team, resorting to almost any ageing professional player or local pro. on hand to make up the numbers. Neild, eleventh man in their second innings, did not play first-class cricket.

The Glossop team was to be more than a match, numbers and talent overcoming the South. It included 11 who had played in the match two years previously, Tom Howarth, the Glossop professional, and Tommy Foster, Derbyshire batsman and occasional wicket-keeper, still being present. The captain and wicket-keeper was Alfort Smith, who we met in the United South v Derbyshire match. A native of Bury, he had moved to Glossop. He played just four matches for Lancashire, between 1867 and 1871, but 49 for Derbyshire, between 1873 and 1880. A talented stumper, he was one of the first to dispense with a long-stop and still stand up to fast bowlers but, like Henty on Grace's team, his poor batting handicapped him.

The given men for Glossop were McIntyre and Watson, both of Lancashire C.C.C. We know this as the local paper heads its report “The United South of England Eleven v Twenty of Glossop (With MacIntyre and Watson)”. This was probably how the match was advertised. William McIntyre (correct spelling) was born in Eastwood, Nottinghamshire and played for his native county from 1869-72, and for Lancashire from 1872-1880. A fast, round-arm bowler, he was a fair bat, as shown in this match, and a good fielder at point or slip. This year, 1876, was the third in which he had headed the national bowling averages. Like the contemporary Lancashire bowler, Johnnie “Boy” Briggs, also from Nottinghamshire, Bill McIntyre was to die an early death in an asylum. At this time Lancashire drew a lot of their professionals from other counties and this caused great annoyance to Nottinghamshire in particular.

Alec (“Sandy”) Watson, born in Coatbridge, was one of the first professional cricketers to emerge from Scotland. A wily off-spinner, he was unlucky not to represent England, but his ancestry and a slightly suspect action probably weighed against him, though he was never no-balled. He played for 23 seasons for the Red Rose county and he is still their 5th highest wicket taker, with 1308 victims, at only 13.39 each. For several seasons “Mac” and Sandy had been a formidable pairing.

W.G. lost the toss but he was invited to bat. While McIntyre cut through his partners he amassed 35 runs, until the fast bowler splattered his stumps as well. Apparently “The telegraph at first gave his score as 29 but Mr. Grace promptly protested and as he called the umpire out of the field the game seemed likely to he stopped unless his claim was allowed”. According to the editorial in the Glossop Dale Chronicle Grace had struck the umpire and only the intervention of Regan prevented further assault. Charles Regan, a brewery representative, who was to play in five matches for Derbyshire the following year, was noted as a “slugger” with his batting but his diplomatic side was of value here. As for Grace, the paper noted, “It looked strange that a man of his reputation should be as jealous of his score as a schoolboy.” The editor was very perceptive, as Bernard Darwin, in his biography of Grace, quotes an old friend of W.G.'s as saying “he was just a great big schoolboy in everything he did.” As well as his love for jokes, his desperate keenness, his rapid recovery of good spirits, he also had this occasional pettiness and even aggressiveness. The previous September he had blacked the eyes of a spectator at Northampton who was annoyed at a delayed start and who had admittedly struck W.G. first.

McIntyre and Watson ran through the rest of the innings, apart from another “thrown out”, and no extras were conceded in a total of only 68. Having borrowed a fielder W.G and Fred opened the bowling and reduced Glossop to 5 runs for 4 wickets, closing for the day on 15 for 4. Play again began late the next day, the South borrowing several fielders until all the professionals had deigned to arrive. Tommy Foster hit W.G. into the pond during his top score of 22. The report notes the frequent appeals made by the South, too many, it maintained. Again, nothing changes! Walter Gilbert’s donkey-drops took 5 wickets but Glossop finished 46 runs to the good, with a score of 114.

McIntyre and Watson again ripped through the United South’s batting, until “W.G. again got in front of Watson, this time unmistakeably, and he got his marching orders,” (l.b.w. for 13). To prevent the game collapsing the two Lancashire bowlers were taken off, but wickets continued to fall until play closed, with the South on 71 for 6, only 22 runs ahead.

On the third day Frank Silcock hit an unbeaten 22 but the return of McIntyre did for 3 of the remaining 4 batsmen and “Mac” added a six wicket haul to his five (out of a possible nine) in the first innings to leave the South on 96 all out. With Glossop needing only 51 runs to win wickets fell rapidly, mainly to W.G. and careless run-outs. With 11 down for 36 runs only Tommy Foster had reached double figures and the result was in doubt. However, while Clarke held his end up, McIntyre secured his “man of the match” status by striking W.G to the boundary several times for three, obviously a local rule, until the winning score was reached. Play continued to the allotted finishing time, McIntyre top-scoring with 26 and Glossop finishing on 91 for 19. 18 wickets and 48 runs for Grace, more than anyone else in the match, but he hated defeat and he had obviously made an unfortunate impression on the local supporters of the summer game.

Eleven - First Innings


United - 2nd Innings

W.G. Grace b MacIntyre

35


lbw b Watson

13

R. Humphrey c Watson b MacIntyre

1


c and b MacIntyre

1

Schofield c Platt b MacIntyre

0


b. MacIntyre

3

G.F. Grace b MacIntyre

9


c Gee b Thorpe

18

Gilbert b MacIntyre

9


c Watson b MacIntyre

12

Hearne thrown out Harrop

6


b Foster

8

Silcock st Smith b Watson

2


not out

22

Henty b Watson

1


b MacIntyre

6

Fillery not out

3


c Platt b Clark

8

Howitt c Clark b Watson

2


b MacIntyre

0

Neild absent

0


c Regan b MacIntyre

0

Extras

0


Extras

5

Total

68


Total

96


Overs

Maidens

Runs

Wickets



Overs

Maidens

Runs

Wickets

MacIntyre

27

13

30

5


MacIntyre

19

11

21

6

Watson

26.1

10

38

3


Watson

15

9

16

1







Thorpe

8

9

18

1







Clarke

7

2

7

1







Foster

9

1

15

1







Wild

4

2

2

0







Bowers

9

1

12

0

Twenty-two


Twenty-two - 2nd Innings

Bat order - 2nd Innings

V Watson lbw b G.F. Grace

1


b. Silcock

1

17

Rev. C.B. Ward c G.F. b W. Grace

3


c W. Grace b Gilbert

0

10

J. Thorpe b W.G. Grace

0


run out

0

9

H Platt lbw b W.G. Grace

0


c and b W. Grace

0

7

S. Clark b G F. Grace

12


run out

8

8

C. Regan c sub b W.G. Grace

16


b W. Grace

1

12

R. James b G.F. Grace

1


c Silcock b W. Grace

0

1

W.H. Hunt b G.F. Grace

9


not out

0

19

H. Harrop run out

8


st Henty b W.G. Grace

3

2

A Smith (capt) b W.G. Grace

2


b Silcock

11

16

T. Foster lbw b W.G. Grace

22


b. W. Grace

10

6

W. MacIntyre b W.G. Grace

1


st Henty b Silcock

26

13

T. Howarth b W.G. Grace

2


st Henty b Gilbert

6

5

A Wild st Henty b W.G. Grace

8


c and b Gilbert

11

3

J. Walton lbw b W.G. Grace

1


c Henty b Hearne

4

18

W. Howe c and b W.G. Grace

0


hw b W.G. Grace

3

4

Fox Gee c W.G. Grace b Gilbert

3


to bat



J. Harrop c G.F. Grace b Gilbert

2


b. Hearne

0

14

J. Bowers b Gilbert

6


to bat



J. Thewells c Henty b Gilbert

3


to bat



G. Williamson st Henty b Gilbert

11


b. Silcock

1

15

J. Hallsworth not out

0


c W. Grace b Gilbert

1

11

Extras

3


Extras

5


Total

114


Total

91




Overs

Maidens

Runs

Wickets



Overs

Maidens

Runs

Wickets

W.G. Grace

43

14

68

12


W.G. Grace

21

6

30

6

G.F. Grace

27

13

28

3


W.R. Gilbert

220

6

36

4

Gilbert

16

8

15

5


Silcock

10

6

11

4







Hearne

9

4

9

3


Return to GJH.me Home Page, Return to Glossop Area Local Histories index.

Last updated: 29 January 2021