Edwin Stead (1701 – 28 August 1735) was a noted patron 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 striki ...
, particularly of
Kent teams in the 1720s. He usually
captained his teams but nothing is known about his ability as a player. He was born at
Harrietsham
Harrietsham is a rural and industrial village and civil parish in the Maidstone District of Kent, England noted in the Domesday Book. According to the United Kingdom Census 2001, it had a population of 1,504, increasing to 2,113 at the 2011 Cen ...
in Kent and died in London.
Cricket career
Stead, a landowner, was a compulsive gambler who frequently bet on the outcome of cricket matches. Like other patrons, he sought to improve his chances of winning by underwriting select XIs usually made up of players from several Kent parish teams; his teams were therefore of, or near enough, county strength.
Dartford Cricket Club
Dartford Cricket Club is one of the oldest cricket clubs in England with origins which date from the early 18th century, perhaps earlier. The earliest known match involving a team from Dartford took place in 1722, against London, but the club's ...
, which featured
William Bedle
__NOTOC__
William Bedle (4 March 1680 – 3 June 1768) was an English cricketer who played for Dartford Cricket Club and Kent county cricket teams in the first quarter of the 18th century. With the possible exception of Charles Lennox, 1st Duke o ...
, had arguably the best parish team in the game at the time and it is certain that Stead used several Dartford players in his Kent teams, of which he was also the captain.
Stead's teams are recorded in several significant matches from 1724 to 1731. His first known match was probably at
Chingford
Chingford is a town in east London, England, within the London Borough of Waltham Forest. The town is approximately north-east of Charing Cross, with Waltham Abbey to the north, Woodford Green and Buckhurst Hill to the east, Walthamstow to the ...
in 1724 and it became the subject of a court case after the
Chingford
Chingford is a town in east London, England, within the London Borough of Waltham Forest. The town is approximately north-east of Charing Cross, with Waltham Abbey to the north, Woodford Green and Buckhurst Hill to the east, Walthamstow to the ...
team refused to play to a finish when Kent had the advantage. The court, presided over by
Lord Chief Justice Pratt, ruled that the match must be played out so that all wagers could be fulfilled. The match resumed and was completed at
Dartford Brent
Dartford Brent was an extensive area of common land on the outskirts of Dartford in Kent. Historically, it was the scene of a confrontation between King Henry VI and Richard Plantagenet, 3rd Duke of York in 1452 and in 1555 thousands of spectat ...
on 5 September 1726, though it seems that was not the original venue.
[Maun, p. 33.] A week earlier, on 29 August 1726, Kent had played a combined
London
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
and
Surrey
Surrey () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South East England, bordering Greater London to the south west. Surrey has a large rural area, and several significant urban areas which form part of the Greater London Built-up Area. ...
team on
Kennington Common
Kennington Common was a swathe of common land mainly within the London Borough of Lambeth. It was one of the earliest venues for cricket around London, with matches played between 1724 and 1785.G B Buckley, ''Fresh Light on 18th Century Cricket'' ...
for 25 guineas but the result is unknown.
[
Stead was a strong rival to the two noted ]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 ...
patrons, Sir William Gage and the 2nd Duke of Richmond. He was very successful in 1728 when the report of a game in August said of Kent's latest victory: "the third time this summer that the Kentish men have been too expert for those of Sussex". But Stead was less successful on 28 August the following year when Gage's XI defeated Kent at Penshurst Park, apparently by an innings
An innings is one of the divisions of a cricket match during which one team takes its turn to bat. Innings also means the period in which an individual player bats (acts as either striker or nonstriker). Innings, in cricket, and rounders, is bot ...
.[McCann, p. 9.] There was a return match in September, possibly at or near Lewes
Lewes () is the county town of East Sussex, England. It is the police and judicial centre for all of Sussex and is home to Sussex Police, East Sussex Fire & Rescue Service, Lewes Crown Court and HMP Lewes. The civil parish is the centre of ...
, but the result is unknown.[
Stead was active in ]single wicket cricket Single wicket cricket is a form of cricket played between two individuals, who take turns to bat and bowl against each other. The one bowling is assisted by a team of fielders, who remain as fielders at the change of innings. The winner is the one w ...
which became popular during his lifetime. He led a Kent team in three four-a-side matches in 1730. The sources record that "a considerable wager" was at stake in the decider and Kent lost.[Buckley, p. 4.][Wilson, p. 44.]
The last definite mentions of Stead in a cricket context are in the 1730s concerning his presence at certain matches, although Kent remained prominent in the records for the last five years of his life. Stead's last known involvement in a match was on Saturday, 26 June 1731 when he led a Kent team against Sunbury on Sunbury Common, a game which the home team won.
Personal life and early death
Baptised at Hollingbourne
Hollingbourne is a village and civil parish in the borough of Maidstone in Kent, England. The parish is located on the southward slope of the North Downs to the east of the county town, Maidstone. The parish population is around 900 and has th ...
on 11 March 1702, he was the son of Dutton Stead (died 1719) and his wife Alicia Culpeper (died 1710), and the grandson of Sir Edwin Stead (died 1695), who had been knighted by King Charles II. On 29 March 1719 at Harrietsham he married Elizabeth Hamilton, but there is no record of any children.
He inherited the family estate when he was still only eighteen and became a compulsive gambler, being a keen player of dice and cards in addition to cricket, but John Marshall
John Marshall (September 24, 1755July 6, 1835) was an American politician and lawyer who served as the fourth Chief Justice of the United States from 1801 until his death in 1835. He remains the longest-serving chief justice and fourth-longes ...
's summary is that "he is said to have lost heavily at all". John Major
Sir John Major (born 29 March 1943) is a British former politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of the Conservative Party from 1990 to 1997, and as Member of Parliament ...
wrote that Stead lived the "proverbial short life but a merry one".[Major, p. 46.] His recklessness caused him financial difficulties in 1723 and he was obliged to mortgage some of his land to settle his debts.[ Stead was, nevertheless, a "graceful loser" and Major asserts that "his nonchalance" gained him powerful friends including ]Frederick, Prince of Wales
Frederick, Prince of Wales, (Frederick Louis, ; 31 January 170731 March 1751), was the eldest son and heir apparent of King George II of Great Britain. He grew estranged from his parents, King George and Queen Caroline. Frederick was the fath ...
.
Stead's death on 28 August 1735 was reported in the ''Grub Street Journal
''The Grub-Street Journal'', published from 8 January 1730 to 1738, was a satire on popular journalism and hack-writing as it was conducted in Grub Street in London. It was largely edited by the nonjuror Richard Russel and the botanist John Marty ...
'' on 4 September 1735. The report says there were two accounts of his death: one that he died "near Charing Cross
Charing Cross ( ) is a junction in Westminster, London, England, where six routes meet. Clockwise from north these are: the east side of Trafalgar Square leading to St Martin's Place and then Charing Cross Road; the Strand leading to the City; ...
"; the other that he died "in Scotland Yard
Scotland Yard (officially New Scotland Yard) is the headquarters of the Metropolitan Police, the territorial police force responsible for policing Greater London's 32 boroughs, but not the City of London, the square mile that forms London's ...
".[Buckley, p. 12.] He was buried at the church of St Martin-in-the-Fields
St Martin-in-the-Fields is a Church of England parish church at the north-east corner of Trafalgar Square in the City of Westminster, London. It is dedicated to Saint Martin of Tours. There has been a church on the site since at least the mediev ...
on 31 August 1735, with his will being proved at the Prerogative Court of Canterbury
In law, a prerogative is an exclusive right bestowed by a government or state and invested in an individual or group, the content of which is separate from the body of rights enjoyed under the general law. It was a common facet of feudal law. The ...
on 1 January 1736.[PROB 11: Will Registers
1730-1736 Piece 678: Derby, Quire Numbers 144-191 (1736)]
References
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Stead, Edwin
1701 births
1735 deaths
Sportspeople from Maidstone
Cricket patrons
18th-century philanthropists