Arthur Harry Kneller (28 April 1894 — 19 July 1969) was an English first-class

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...

er and colonial official in

Kenya Colony The Colony and Protectorate of Kenya, commonly known as British Kenya or British East Africa, was part of the British Empire in Africa. It was established when the former East Africa Protectorate was transformed into a British Crown colony in ...

Cricket and colonial service

The son of Harry Kneller, he was born in April 1894 at Kingsclere, Hampshire. He was educated at

Ardingly College Ardingly College () is an independent boarding and day school in the English public school tradition located near Ardingly, West Sussex, England. The school is a member of the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference and of the Woodard Corp ...

, where he played for the college cricket team. Kneller served in the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, being commissioned into the

Royal Garrison Artillery The Royal Garrison Artillery (RGA) was formed in 1899 as a distinct arm of the British Army's Royal Regiment of Artillery serving alongside the other two arms of the Regiment, the Royal Field Artillery (RFA) and the Royal Horse Artillery (RHA) ...

as a

second lieutenant Second lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces, comparable to NATO OF-1 rank. Australia The rank of second lieutenant existed in the military forces of the Australian colonies and Australian Army until ...

in June 1917. Shortly after the conclusion of the war, he was promoted to

lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations. The meaning of lieutenant differs in different militaries (see comparative military ranks), but it is often sub ...

in December 1918. He later played

first-class cricket First-class cricket, along with List A cricket and Twenty20 cricket, is one of the highest-standard forms of cricket. A first-class match is one of three or more days' scheduled duration between two sides of eleven players each and is officiall ...

for

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial county, ceremonial and non-metropolitan county, non-metropolitan counties of England, county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English citi ...

, making his debut against

Sussex Sussex (), from the Old English (), is a historic county in South East England that was formerly an independent medieval Anglo-Saxon kingdom. It is bounded to the west by Hampshire, north by Surrey, northeast by Kent, south by the English ...

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council. Portsmouth is the most dens ...

in the

1924 County Championship The 1924 County Championship was the 31st officially organised running of the County Championship. Yorkshire County Cricket Club won the championship title for the third successive year. Final placings were still decided by calculating the perce ...

. He played first-class cricket until 1926, making eight appearances. He scored 76 runs in his eight matches, at an

average In ordinary language, an average is a single number taken as representative of a list of numbers, usually the sum of the numbers divided by how many numbers are in the list (the arithmetic mean). For example, the average of the numbers 2, 3, 4, 7, ...

of 8.44 and a highest score of 25

not out In cricket, a batter is not out if they come out to bat in an innings and have not been dismissed by the end of an innings. The batter is also ''not out'' while their innings is still in progress. Occurrence At least one batter is not out at t ...

. Kneller joined the

Colonial Office The Colonial Office was a government department of the Kingdom of Great Britain and later of the United Kingdom, first created to deal with the colonial affairs of British North America but required also to oversee the increasing number of col ...

after playing first-class cricket, becoming a colonial official in

. He was appointed Inspector of Labour in December 1934 by Governor Sir Joseph Byrne, with him later being appointed a registration officer in June 1938. He was appointed a senior labour officer in February 1941, before being appointed Acting-Deputy Labour Commissioner in February 1948. He returned to his substantive rank of Principal Labour Officer in March 1948, but was reappointed Acting-Deputy Labour Commissioner in June of the same year. In July 1950, he was appointed be a Deputy Labour Commissioner, and was appointed as a Labour Commissioner in September of the following year, before reverting to his substantive post of Deputy Labour Commissioner in September 1952. He was appointed an

OBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

in the

1953 Coronation Honours The 1953 Coronation Honours were appointments by Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours on the occasion of her coronation on 2 June 1953. The honours were published in ''The London Gazette'' on 1 June 1953.New Zealand list: The reci ...

. Kneller later took part in the investigation into mistreatment of Kenyan prisoners during the

Mau Mau rebellion The Mau Mau rebellion (1952–1960), also known as the Mau Mau uprising, Mau Mau revolt or Kenya Emergency, was a war in the British Kenya Colony (1920–1963) between the Kenya Land and Freedom Army (KLFA), also known as the ''Mau Mau'', ...

, at which point he was employed by the Kenya Wattle Manufacturers Association. Kneller later retired to England, where he died at

Chichester Chichester () is a cathedral city and civil parish in West Sussex, England.OS Explorer map 120: Chichester, South Harting and Selsey Scale: 1:25 000. Publisher:Ordnance Survey – Southampton B2 edition. Publishing Date:2009. It is the only ci ...

in July 1969.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kneller, Arthur 1894 births 1969 deaths People from Kingsclere People educated at Ardingly College Royal Garrison Artillery officers British Army personnel of World War I English cricketers Hampshire cricketers Colonial governors and administrators of Kenya Officers of the Order of the British Empire Military personnel from Hampshire