The Reverend Charles Powlett (1728 – 29 January 1809) was a noted

patron Patronage is the support, encouragement, privilege, or financial aid that an organization or individual bestows on another. In the history of art, arts patronage refers to the support that kings, popes, and the wealthy have provided to artists su ...

of English

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 st ...

who has been described as the mainstay, if not the actual founder, of the

Hambledon Club The Hambledon Club was a social club that is famous for its organisation of 18th century cricket matches. By the late 1770s it was the foremost cricket club in England. Foundation The origin of the club, based near Hambledon in rural Hampshire ...

.Ashley-Cooper, p. 155. Powlett held an important position in the administration of cricket and was a member of the committee which revised and codified the ''

Laws of Cricket The ''Laws of Cricket'' is a code which specifies the rules of the game of cricket worldwide. The earliest known code was drafted in 1744 and, since 1788, it has been owned and maintained by its custodian, the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) in Lond ...

'' in 1774.

Life and career

Powlett (sometimes spelled Paulet) was the eldest son, born illegitimately, of

Charles Powlett, 3rd Duke of Bolton Charles Powlett (sometimes spelled Paulet), 3rd Duke of Bolton (3 September 168526 August 1754), styled Earl of Wiltshire from 1685 until 1699, and Marquess of Winchester from 1699 until 1722, was a British landowner and Whig politician who sat ...

and

Lavinia Fenton Lavinia Powlett, Duchess of Bolton (1708 – 24 January 1760), known by her stagename as Lavinia Fenton, was an English actress who was the mistress and later the wife of the 3rd Duke of Bolton. She was probably the daughter of a naval lieutenan ...

, who were not married until 1751 when he was 23. Powlett was educated at

Westminster School (God Gives the Increase) , established = Earliest records date from the 14th century, refounded in 1560 , type = Public school Independent day and boarding school , religion = Church of England , head_label = Hea ...

and

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

, where he graduated as MA in 1755. Having been ordained, he was Curate of

Itchen Abbas Itchen Abbas is a village on the River Itchen about north-east of Winchester in Hampshire, England. The village is part of the Itchen Valley civil parish. A major oil pipeline from Hamble to Aldermaston runs through Itchen Abbas. Parish chur ...

from 1763 to 1792; and Rector of St Martin-by-Looe in Cornwall from 1785 to 1790. Powlett acted as a Steward at Hambledon, was "the life and soul of the club for many years" and "when the end came, was the last to abandon the sinking ship". He died in

Marylebone Marylebone (usually , also , ) is a district in the West End of London, in the City of Westminster. Oxford Street, Europe's busiest shopping street, forms its southern boundary. An ancient parish and latterly a metropolitan borough, it ...

, London.

Gambling

Despite being ordained and a Steward of the club and a member of the Laws of Cricket committee, Powlett was not above gambling on the outcome of matches or of betting against his own team. In 1775, when Hambledon/

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

hosted

Surrey Surrey () is a ceremonial county, ceremonial and non-metropolitan county, non-metropolitan counties of England, county in South East England, bordering Greater London to the south west. Surrey has a large rural area, and several significant ur ...

Broadhalfpenny Down Broadhalfpenny Down (pronounced /ˌbrɔ:dˈheɪpniː/; '' brawd-HAYP-nee'') is a historic cricket ground in Hambledon, Hampshire. It is known as the "Cradle of Cricket" because it was the home venue in the 18th century of the Hambledon Club, ...

, the match situation at one point of the Hampshire second innings was such that a Surrey victory seemed certain. Powlett and his associate

Philip Dehany Philip Dehany (died 1809) was a West Indies plantation owner and cricket pioneer. He sat in the House of Commons from 1778 to 1780. Early life Dehany was the eldest son of David Dehany, merchant of Bristol and planter of Jamaica, and his wi ...

, another Hambledon member, decided to bet heavily on Surrey to win. But then John Small was joined at the wicket by his captain

Richard Nyren Richard Nyren (1734 – 1797) was an English professional cricketer who played first-class cricket during the heyday of the Hambledon Club. A genuine all-rounder and the earliest known left-hander of note, Nyren was the captain of Hampshire when ...

and the two put on a century partnership which turned the game around. Nyren was out for 98 and Small went on to make 136, which is the earliest known

century A century is a period of 100 years. Centuries are numbered ordinally in English and many other languages. The word ''century'' comes from the Latin ''centum'', meaning ''one hundred''. ''Century'' is sometimes abbreviated as c. A centennial or ...

in the history of

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 ...

. Surrey then collapsed and Hampshire won a famous victory. When Nyren was out, he was confronted by Powlett and Dehany who complained that he and Small had cost them their money. Nyren, disgusted with them, retorted: "Another time, don't bet your money against such men as we are".Underdown, p. 118.

References

Bibliography

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Powlett, Charles 1728 births 1809 deaths 18th-century English Anglican priests 18th-century philanthropists Cricket patrons English cricket administrators Hambledon cricketers

Charles Charles is a masculine given name predominantly found in English and French speaking countries. It is from the French form ''Charles'' of the Proto-Germanic name (in runic alphabet) or ''*karilaz'' (in Latin alphabet), whose meaning was " ...