Edward Hussey (3 November 1749 – 4 July 1816) was an English landowner and sportsman who played

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 ...

towards the end of the 18th-century. He owned

Scotney Castle Scotney Castle is an English country house with formal gardens south-east of Lamberhurst in the valley of the River Bewl in Kent, England. It belongs to the National Trust. The gardens, which are a Site of Special Scientific Interest and a c ...

on the border between Kent and Sussex, served as a magistrate and was a member of the Society of Royal Kentish Bowmen. He committed suicide in 1816.

Early life

Hussey was born at

Burwash Burwash, archaically known as Burghersh, is a rural village and civil parish in the Rother district of East Sussex, England. Situated in the High Weald of Sussex some 15 miles (24 km) inland from the port of Hastings, it is located five m ...

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 ...

in 1749, the oldest surviving son of Thomas Hussey and his wife Ann (

née A birth name is the name of a person given upon birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name, or the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a birth certificate or birth re ...

Berkley).Barker GFR, Stenning AH (1928) ''The Record of Old Westminsters'', vol 1. London: Chiswick Press. (Recor
available online
at the Online Catalogue for

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 ...

's Archive & Collections. Retrieved 2023-01-18.) The Hussey family were originally from

Worcestershire Worcestershire ( , ; written abbreviation: Worcs) is a county in the West Midlands of England. The area that is now Worcestershire was absorbed into the unified Kingdom of England in 927, at which time it was constituted as a county (see His ...

and had become rich through the iron industry. In Sussex they worked with local iron makers on the

Weald The Weald () is an area of South East England between the parallel chalk escarpments of the North and the South Downs. It crosses the counties of Hampshire, Surrey, Sussex and Kent. It has three separate parts: the sandstone "High Weald" in the ...

.The history of Scotney Castle

National Trust The National Trust, formally the National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty, is a charity and membership organisation for heritage conservation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. In Scotland, there is a separate and ...

. Retrieved 2023-01-18. They owned property at Burwash and at

Ashford Ashford may refer to: Places Australia *Ashford, New South Wales *Ashford, South Australia *Electoral district of Ashford, South Australia Ireland *Ashford, County Wicklow *Ashford Castle, County Galway United Kingdom * Ashford, Kent, a town ** ...

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 ...

, and Hussey was referred to as "Hussey of Ashford town" in a poem of 1773. His mother was the daughter of Maurice Berkley a surgeon from

Southwark Southwark ( ) is a district of Central London situated on the south bank of the River Thames, forming the north-western part of the wider modern London Borough of Southwark. The district, which is the oldest part of South London, developed ...

and his first wife Anne Callow. Maurice moved to

Nevis Nevis is a small island in the Caribbean Sea that forms part of the inner arc of the Leeward Islands chain of the West Indies. Nevis and the neighbouring island of Saint Kitts constitute one country: the Federation of Saint Kitts and Ne ...

in the West Indies in 1731 and remarried. Two of Edward Hussey's younger brothers were clergymen―John Hussey died in India and William was Rector of Sandhurst. He also had five sisters.Hussey E (1878) Scotney Castle, in ''Archaeologia Cantiana'' vol, 17, pp. 38–46a.
Available online
at the Kent Archaeological Society. Retrieved 2023-01-18.)

Sporting life

Hussey was educated at

.Edward Hussey
CricketArchive. Retrieved 2023-01-17. writing in 1867,

William Lucas Collins Rev William Lucas Collins (baptised 23 May 1815 – 24 March 1887) was a Church of England priest and essayist. Life and career William Lucas Collins was born in 1815 at Oxwich, near Swansea, Glamorgan, south Wales. He was sent to be educa ...

regarded that "none has a wider reputation" as a cricketer at Westminster than Hussey. Collins WL (1867) ''The Public Schools'', pp. 174–175. Edinburgh: William Blackwood.
Available online
at Google Books. Retrieved 2023-01-18.) After leaving school in December 1765, Hussey was admitted to the

Inner Temple The Honourable Society of the Inner Temple, commonly known as the Inner Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court and is a professional associations for barristers and judges. To be called to the Bar and practise as a barrister in England and Wal ...

in February 1769. He is known to have played cricket between 1773 and 1797 for a variety of sides, including Kent teams and ones organised by the

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). He was a member of the

White Conduit Club The White Conduit Club (WCC) was a cricket club based on the northern fringes of London that existed from c.1782 until 1788. Although short-lived, it had considerable significance in the history of the game, as its members created the first Lord ...

before it effectively became the MCC in 1787Howat GD (2014
White Conduit Club
''

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 ...

'' (online). Retrieved 2023-01-17. and played in a total of 18 matches which are considered to hold

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 ...

status.Edward Hussey

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 2023-01-17. As well as cricket, Hussey was considered to be a "well known" rider and

archer Archery is the sport, practice, or skill of using a bow to shoot arrows.Paterson ''Encyclopaedia of Archery'' p. 17 The word comes from the Latin ''arcus'', meaning bow. Historically, archery has been used for hunting and combat. In mo ...

and a generally good sportsman. Writing in 1862

Arthur Haygarth Arthur Haygarth (4 August 1825 – 1 May 1903) was a noted amateur cricketer who became one of cricket's most significant historians. He played first-class cricket for the Marylebone Cricket Club and Sussex between 1844 and 1861, as well as num ...

described him as "a Kentish bowman, a bold and excellent rider, as well as a good cricketer", Haygarth A (1862) ''Scores and Biographies'' vol. 1, p. 217. Quoted in Howat, ''op. cit.''. and he joined The Society of Royal Kentish Bowmen in August 1789. In 1794 he was awarded a silver horn, given to the Society by the then

Prince of Wales Prince of Wales ( cy, Tywysog Cymru, ; la, Princeps Cambriae/Walliae) is a title traditionally given to the heir apparent to the English and later British throne. Prior to the conquest by Edward I in the 13th century, it was used by the rulers ...

.Another String to their Bow
Scotney Castle blog, 1 June 2016. Retrieved 2023-01-18.

Personal life and Scotney

Hussey married Elizabeth Bridge of Bocking in

Essex Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and G ...

in June 1776. The couple had five children, all of whom had died by 1817; Elizabeth died in 1793.Edward Hussey

Family Search FamilySearch is a nonprofit organization and website offering genealogical records, education, and software. It is operated by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church), and is closely connected with the church's Family Histo ...

. Retrieved 2023-01-18. Hussey inherited property at

Goudhurst Goudhurst is a village and civil parish in the borough of Tunbridge Wells in Kent, England. It lies in the Weald, around south of Maidstone, on the crossroads of the A262 and B2079. The parish consists of three wards: Goudhurst, Kilndown and ...

in Kent and at

Ticehurst Ticehurst is both a village and a large civil parish in the Rother district of East Sussex, England. The parish lies in the upper reaches of both the Bewl stream before it enters Bewl Water and in the upper reaches of the River Rother flowing ...

in Sussex. In 1778 Hussey purchased

, close to

Lamberhurst Lamberhurst ( is a village and civil parish in the borough of Tunbridge Wells in Kent, England. The parish contains the hamlets of The Down and Hook Green. At the 2001 Census it had a population of 1,491, increasing to 1,706 at the 2011 Census. ...

on the border between Kent and Sussex and adjoining both of his other properties. The property, which dates from the 14th century, had been owned by the Darrell family until 1775 when it had been bought by John Richards, although parts of the estate had been sold off over the course of the 18th century. Hussey lived in the property until his death, re-establishing the parkland surrounding the castle by purchasing the land which had been previously sold as it became available.Scotney Castle
List entry, National Heritage List,

Historic England Historic England (officially the Historic Buildings and Monuments Commission for England) is an executive non-departmental public body of the British Government sponsored by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport. It is tasked wit ...

. Retrieved 2023-01-18. The property was extensively redeveloped by his grandson, Edward Hussey III, during the mid-19th century and a new house built on the estate. It remained in the hands of the family until 1970 when it was bequeathed to the

and remains in their possession as a visitor attraction. Hussey was a

Justice of the Peace A justice of the peace (JP) is a judicial officer of a lower or ''puisne'' court, elected or appointed by means of a commission ( letters patent) to keep the peace. In past centuries the term commissioner of the peace was often used with the sa ...

in both Kent and Sussex, the Scotney estate straddling the border at the time. He died at Scotney in July 1816, committing suicide by shooting himself with a

blunderbuss The blunderbuss is a firearm with a short, large caliber barrel which is flared at the muzzle and frequently throughout the entire bore, and used with shot and other projectiles of relevant quantity or caliber. The blunderbuss is commonly consid ...

.Coroner's inquest, ''The Times'', 10 July 1816, p. 3.
Available online
at

The Times Digital Archive ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper ''The Sunday Times'' (fou ...

. Retrieved 2023-01-18. ) A coroner's inquest concluded that he was suffering from " lunacy". He was aged 66.

Notes

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hussey, Edward English cricketers Kent cricketers English cricketers of 1701 to 1786 1749 births 1816 deaths Marylebone Cricket Club cricketers White Conduit Club cricketers English cricketers of 1787 to 1825 Gentlemen of England cricketers Hampshire and Marylebone Cricket Club cricketers