Benjamin Aislabie (14 January 1774 – 2 June 1842) was an English

wine merchant A winemaker or vintner is a person engaged in winemaking. They are generally employed by winery, wineries or :Wine companies, wine companies, where their work includes: *Cooperating with viticulture, viticulturists *Monitoring the maturity of grape ...

slave plantation A slave plantation was an agricultural farm that used enslaved people for labour. The practice was abolished in most places during the 19th century. Slavery Planters embraced the use of slaves mainly because indentured labor became expensive ...

owner and

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 ...

administrator. He was the first Honorary Secretary of

Marylebone Cricket Club Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) is a cricket club founded in 1787 and based since 1814 at Lord's Cricket Ground, which it owns, in St John's Wood, London. The club was formerly the governing body of cricket retaining considerable global influence ...

(MCC) and was influential in its early development. He also played cricket between 1808 and 1841 as an

amateur An amateur () is generally considered a person who pursues an avocation independent from their source of income. Amateurs and their pursuits are also described as popular, informal, autodidacticism, self-taught, user-generated, do it yourself, DI ...

but was, statistically, one of the worst players on record.

Early life

Aislabie was descended from

John Aislabie John Aislabie or Aslabie (; 4 December 167018 June 1742), of Studley Royal, near Ripon, Yorkshire, was a British politician who sat in the English and British House of Commons from 1695 to 1721. He was of an independent mind, and did not stick r ...

who had been

Chancellor of the Exchequer The chancellor of the Exchequer, often abbreviated to chancellor, is a senior minister of the Crown within the Government of the United Kingdom, and head of His Majesty's Treasury. As one of the four Great Offices of State, the Chancellor is ...

during the

South Sea Bubble South is one of the cardinal directions or compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both east and west. Etymology The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Proto-Germanic ''*sunþaz ...

. Aislabie's father, Rawson Aislabie, was a London soap and wine merchant who lived at

Stoke Newington Stoke Newington is an area occupying the north-west part of the London Borough of Hackney in north-east London, England. It is northeast of Charing Cross. The Manor of Stoke Newington gave its name to Stoke Newington the ancient parish. The ...

and owned

plantation A plantation is an agricultural estate, generally centered on a plantation house, meant for farming that specializes in cash crops, usually mainly planted with a single crop, with perhaps ancillary areas for vegetables for eating and so on. The ...

s in

Dominica Dominica ( or ; Kalinago: ; french: Dominique; Dominican Creole French: ), officially the Commonwealth of Dominica, is an island country in the Caribbean. The capital, Roseau, is located on the western side of the island. It is geographically ...

in the

British West Indies The British West Indies (BWI) were colonized British territories in the West Indies: Anguilla, the Cayman Islands, Turks and Caicos Islands, Montserrat, the British Virgin Islands, Antigua and Barbuda, The Bahamas, Barbados, Dominica, Grena ...

; he died around 1806 leaving a will worth £60,000. Aislabie was born at

Newington Green Newington Green is an open space in North London that straddles the border between Islington and Hackney. It gives its name to the surrounding area, roughly bounded by Ball's Pond Road to the south, Petherton Road to the west, Green Lanes and ...

in London in 1774, the youngest child of Rawson and Frances Aislabie.Midwinter E, Clark C (2004
Aislabie, Benjamin
''

Oxford Dictionary of National Biography The ''Dictionary of National Biography'' (''DNB'') is a standard work of reference on notable figures from British history, published since 1885. The updated ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' (''ODNB'') was published on 23 September ...

''. Retrieved 2019-12-30 He was educated at

Sevenoaks School Sevenoaks School is a highly selective coeducational independent school in Sevenoaks, Kent, England. It is the second oldest non-denominational school in the United Kingdom, dating back to 1432, only behind Oswestry (1407). Over 1,000 day pupils ...

and possibly at

Eton College Eton College () is a public school in Eton, Berkshire, England. It was founded in 1440 by Henry VI under the name ''Kynge's College of Our Ladye of Eton besyde Windesore'',Nevill, p. 3 ff. intended as a sister institution to King's College, C ...

. It is not known if he played cricket at school, and he is first known to have played the sport for

Homerton Cricket Club Homerton Cricket Club was based in Homerton, Hackney and held important match status during the first decade of the 19th century. The club had been established in the 18th century and it first came to notice in 1800 when it played the strong ...

in 1795.Benjamin Aislabie
''Etoniana'', vol. 59, 30 July 1935, pp. 137–140. Available online at

Archives. Retrieved 2019-12-29.Carlaw D (2020) ''Kent County Cricketers A to Z. Part One: 1806–1914'' (revised edition), pp. 25–26.
Available online
at the

Association of Cricket Statisticians and Historians The Association of Cricket Statisticians and Historians (ACS) was founded in England in 1973 for the purpose of researching and collating information about the history and statistics of cricket. Originally called the Association of Cricket Stati ...

. Retrieved 2020-12-21.)

Cricket

Aislabie joined the MCC in 1802 and played for the club between 1808 and 1841. He was President of MCC in 1823 and was the first Honorary Secretary of the club, a role he fulfilled between 1822 and his death.Benjamin Aislabie

CricInfo ESPN cricinfo (formerly known as Cricinfo or CricInfo) is a sports news website exclusively for the game of cricket. The site features news, articles, live coverage of cricket matches (including liveblogs and scorecards), and ''StatsGuru'', a d ...

. Retrieved 2019-12-29.Benjamin Aislabie
CricketArchive. Retrieved 2019-12-29. He is often considered to have been a poor administrator with the club "lurching from crisis to crisis" during his time as Secretary,Williamson M, Miller A (2007
Fat bats and roly bowlers

, 2007-02-07. Retrieved 2019-12-29. although he attempted to reduce the detrimental impacts of gambling on the sport during his tenure and, according to an obituary in ''

The Sporting Magazine ''The Sporting Magazine'' (1793–1870) was the first English sporting periodical to devote itself to every type of sport. Its subtitle was "Monthly Calendar of the Transactions of the Turf, the Chase and Every Other Diversion Interesting to the ...

'', was "universally respected" by the club's members.Cricket
''The Sporting Magazine'', 1842, p. 270. Retrieved 2019-12-30. During his time as Secretary the membership of the club almost doubled from around 200 to close to 400. In 1838 a

bust Bust commonly refers to: * A woman's breasts * Bust (sculpture), of head and shoulders * An arrest Bust may also refer to: Places *Bust, Bas-Rhin, a city in France *Lashkargah, Afghanistan, known as Bust historically Media * ''Bust'' (magazine ...

and portrait of him were commissioned for the

Lord's Pavilion The Lord's Pavilion is a cricket pavilion at Lord's Cricket Ground in London, England. Designed by Thomas Verity and built in 1889–1890, the pavilion has achieved Grade II* listed heritage designation. Like the rest of Lord's, the pavilion is o ...

and he laid the foundation stone of the tennis court at the ground the same year. The portrait, by Henry Dawe, is still in the MCC collection; a

mezzotint Mezzotint is a monochrome printmaking process of the '' intaglio'' family. It was the first printing process that yielded half-tones without using line- or dot-based techniques like hatching, cross-hatching or stipple. Mezzotint achieves tonali ...

of it was purchased by the National Portrait Gallery in 1966.Portrait of Benjamin Aislabie

Lord's Lord's Cricket Ground, commonly known as Lord's, is a cricket venue in St John's Wood, London. Named after its founder, Thomas Lord, it is owned by Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) and is the home of Middlesex County Cricket Club, the England and ...

, MCC. Retrieved 2019-12-30.Benjamin Aislabie
National Portrait Gallery. Retrieved 2019-12-30. The painting and one other of Aislabie, which were hanging in the

Long Room Lord's Cricket Ground, commonly known as Lord's, is a cricket venue in St John's Wood, London. Named after its founder, Thomas Lord, it is owned by Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) and is the home of Middlesex County Cricket Club, the England and ...

at Lord's, were removed from display in June 2020 due to his ownership of slaves.Hoult N (2020
Exclusive: MCC removes Benjamin Aislabie artwork from public display due to slave-owning past
''

The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally. It was fo ...

'', 2020-06-10. Retrieved 2020-07-10.Dobell G (2020
MCC to review art collection amid slavery links of former secretary

, 2020-06-29. Retrieved 2022-04-08. He played 56 first-class matches, 20 of them for MCC. His playing career was notable for him scoring only 224

run Run(s) or RUN may refer to: Places * Run (island), one of the Banda Islands in Indonesia * Run (stream), a stream in the Dutch province of North Brabant People * Run (rapper), Joseph Simmons, now known as "Reverend Run", from the hip-hop group ...

s at a meagre

batting average Batting average is a statistic in cricket, baseball, and softball that measures the performance of batters. The development of the baseball statistic was influenced by the cricket statistic. Cricket In cricket, a player's batting average is ...

of 3.15 runs per innings. His performances were hampered by his girth, and towards the end of his career he was so obese that he had a permanent

runner Running is a method of terrestrial locomotion allowing humans and other animals to move rapidly on foot. Running is a type of gait characterized by an aerial phase in which all feet are above the ground (though there are exceptions). This is ...

and by the time of his final appearance in 1841, aged 67 and weighing , he needed a substitute fielder to field for him as well. Statistically he ranks as one of the worst first-class cricketers of all time, although he enjoyed playing the sport and is the third-oldest first-class cricketer on record. Aislabie often arranged MCC matches with leading public schools. He features as a character in the cricket match at

Rugby School Rugby School is a public school (English independent boarding school for pupils aged 13–18) in Rugby, Warwickshire, England. Founded in 1567 as a free grammar school for local boys, it is one of the oldest independent schools in Britain. Up ...

in the novel ''

Tom Brown's School Days ''Tom Brown's School Days'' (sometimes written ''Tom Brown's Schooldays'', also published under the titles ''Tom Brown at Rugby'', ''School Days at Rugby'', and ''Tom Brown's School Days at Rugby'') is an 1857 novel by Thomas Hughes. The stor ...

''.

Business and personal life

Aislabie was a successful wine merchant operating out of the

Minories Minories ( ) is the name of a small former administrative unit, and also of a street in central London. Both the street and the former administrative area take their name from the Abbey of the Minoresses of St. Clare without Aldgate. Both are ...

in London in partnership with William Meade and Benjamin Standring, becoming the senior partner in the firm in 1802. The firm numbered

Lord Nelson Vice-admiral (Royal Navy), Vice-Admiral Horatio Nelson, 1st Viscount Nelson, 1st Duke of Bronte (29 September 1758 – 21 October 1805) was a British people, British flag officer in the Royal Navy. His inspirational leadership, grasp of strate ...

as one of its clients. He also inherited some of his father's estates on

and continued to own plantations throughout his life, at

Canefield Canefield is a town located on the west coast of Dominica, north of Roseau and south of Massacre, overlooking Pringle's Bay. The largest settlement in St. Paul Parish, it has a population of 2,803.Commonwealth of Dominica, ''Population and Housin ...

and Morne Daniel on Dominica; he also had an interest in one in

Antigua Antigua ( ), also known as Waladli or Wadadli by the native population, is an island in the Lesser Antilles. It is one of the Leeward Islands in the Caribbean region and the main island of the country of Antigua and Barbuda. Antigua and Bar ...

.Benjamin Aislabie
reprint of Hart FH (1882) ''History of Lee and its Neighbourhood'', pp. 8–9 in ''Etoniana'', vol. 65, 31 December 1936, pp. 230–231. Available online at

Archives. Retrieved 2019-12-29. The estates, operated using

slavery Slavery and enslavement are both the state and the condition of being a slave—someone forbidden to quit one's service for an enslaver, and who is treated by the enslaver as property. Slavery typically involves slaves being made to perf ...

, were passed on to his son in his will.Mukherjee A (2017
Benjamin Aislabie: More than worst First-Class cricketer contender
''Cricket Country'', 2017-08-27. Retrieved 2019-12-30.Benjamin Aislabie - Profile & Legacies Summary
Legacies of British Slave-ownership,

University College London , mottoeng = Let all come who by merit deserve the most reward , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £143 million (2020) , budget = ...

. Retrieved 2019-12-30.Dominica 243 (Cane Field)
Legacies of British Slave-ownership,

University College London , mottoeng = Let all come who by merit deserve the most reward , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £143 million (2020) , budget = ...

. Retrieved 2019-12-30.Benjamin Aislabie – Lee Resident, Slave Owner & Possibly the Worst Ever First Class Cricketer
Running Past, 2015-12-09. Retrieved 2019-12-30. Aislabie was compensated for the loss of his slaves following passage of the

Slavery Abolition Act 1833 The Slavery Abolition Act 1833 (3 & 4 Will. IV c. 73) was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom which provided for the gradual abolition of slavery in most parts of the British Empire. It was passed by Earl Grey's reforming administrati ...

, which prohibited slavery throughout the British Empire in 1834. He leased Lee Place in

Lee Lee may refer to: Name Given name * Lee (given name), a given name in English Surname * Chinese surnames romanized as Li or Lee: ** Li (surname 李) or Lee (Hanzi ), a common Chinese surname ** Li (surname 利) or Lee (Hanzi ), a Chinese ...

, in north-west

Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...

, from Charles Boone between 1809 and 1823 and lived in

Sevenoaks Sevenoaks is a town in Kent with a population of 29,506 situated south-east of London, England. Also classified as a civil parishes in England, civil parish, Sevenoaks is served by a commuter South Eastern Main Line, main line railway into Lon ...

and London, including at East Park Place near

Regent's Park Regent's Park (officially The Regent's Park) is one of the Royal Parks of London. It occupies of high ground in north-west Inner London, administratively split between the City of Westminster and the Borough of Camden (and historically betwee ...

.Benjamin Aislabie

Lewisham Council Lewisham London Borough Council is the local authority for the London Borough of Lewisham in Greater London, England. It is a London borough council, one of 32 in the United Kingdom capital of London. The council is unusual in that its executi ...

. Retrieved 2008-04-14. Archived 2008-12-01. He was an overseer for Lee Parish in 1814 and was instrumental in distributing charity, including food and fuel, to the poor of the parish during the harsh winter of 1814. He allowed the parish to store coal and potatoes to distribute during the 13-week frost and employed a number of labourers during the winter. He was resident in Lee at the time of the

anti-slavery Abolitionism, or the abolitionist movement, is the movement to end slavery. In Western Europe and the Americas, abolitionism was a historic movement that sought to end the Atlantic slave trade and liberate the enslaved people. The Britis ...

Lee Petition and it is likely he had an opportunity to sign it, but did not, probably because of his interests in the

West Indies The West Indies is a subregion of North America, surrounded by the North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea that includes 13 independent island countries and 18 dependencies and other territories in three major archipelagos: the Greater A ...

.Lee Petition
Local History and Archives Centre, Lewisham. Retrieved 2019-12-30. Aislabie married Anne Hodgson in 1798; the couple had 12 children, six of whom, five daughters and a son, survived into adulthood. His son, William, attended Eton and

Trinity College, Cambridge Trinity College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by Henry VIII, King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any college at either Cambridge ...

and inherited his estates in Dominica. Benjamin Aislabie died at his house at Regents Park of an

abscess An abscess is a collection of pus that has built up within the tissue of the body. Signs and symptoms of abscesses include redness, pain, warmth, and swelling. The swelling may feel fluid-filled when pressed. The area of redness often extends b ...

of the throat in 1842 aged 68 and was buried at

St Marylebone Parish Church St Marylebone Parish Church is an Anglican church on the Marylebone Road in London. It was built to the designs of Thomas Hardwick in 1813–17. The present site is the third used by the parish for its church. The first was further south, near Ox ...

Notes

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Aislabie, Benjamin 1774 births 1842 deaths 19th-century British businesspeople British slave owners English cricketers of 1787 to 1825 English cricketers of 1826 to 1863 English cricketers Epsom cricketers Hampshire cricketers Homerton Cricket Club cricketers Kent cricketers Marylebone Cricket Club cricketers Non-international England cricketers Old Etonians cricketers Old Wykehamists cricketers Presidents of the Marylebone Cricket Club Secretaries of the Marylebone Cricket Club St John's Wood cricketers Surrey cricketers Sussex cricketers West Indies merchants William Ward's XI cricketers People from Newington Green