George Caldwell Dickins (17 November 1821 – 5 December 1903) was an English soldier and amateur

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. He played in seven first-class cricket matches between 1848 and 1864.George Dickins

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 9 March 2017.

Early life

Dickins was born at North Elmham in Norfolk and was educated at

Harrow School (The Faithful Dispensation of the Gifts of God) , established = (Royal Charter) , closed = , type = Public schoolIndependent schoolBoarding school , religion = Church of E ...

. He was the son of Watson and Mary Dickins, his father being a Church of England priest, and the family lived in Kent during at least some of Dickins' early life.Carlaw D (2020) ''Kent County Cricketers A to Z. Part One: 1806–1914'' (revised edition), pp. 144–146.
Available online
at the Association of Cricket Statisticians and Historians. Retrieved 21 December 2020.)Dauglish MG, Stephenson PK (eds) (1911) ''The Harrow School Register 1800–1911'', p.170. London: Longmans, Green and Co.
Available online
Retrieved 17 June 2020.)Dickins, Watson William (1813 - 1827)
Clergy of the Church of England database. Retrieved 17 June 2020.

Army career

After leaving Harrow, Dickins was commissioned into the British Army in 1842, initially as an ensign in the

98th (Prince of Wales's) Regiment of Foot The 98th (Prince of Wales) Regiment of Foot was an infantry regiment of the British Army. It was originally raised in 1824 as the 98th Regiment of Foot, before assuming the title of the 98th (Prince of Wales) Regiment of Foot in 1876. Later, in 1 ...

. He transferred to the

Royal Scots Fusiliers The Royal Scots Fusiliers was a line infantry regiment of the British Army that existed from 1678 until 1959 when it was amalgamated with the Highland Light Infantry (City of Glasgow Regiment) to form the Royal Highland Fusiliers (Princess Mar ...

almost immediately and served until 1848 in the East Indies, being promoted to lieutenant in 1846. On returning to Britain in 1848 he served in Scotland, the north of England and in Ireland, transferring to the 46th Regiment of Foot as a

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

. He resigned his commission in 1854 and the following year joined a contingent of British ex-servicemen to fight in the Crimean War with the rank of

major Major (commandant in certain jurisdictions) is a military rank of commissioned officer status, with corresponding ranks existing in many military forces throughout the world. When used unhyphenated and in conjunction with no other indicators ...

. He left the unit shortly before it was disbanded in 1858.

Cricket

Although he did not play for the school First XI, Dickins was a keen club cricketer. He played some of his cricket whilst serving in Scotland, the north of England and Ireland. He made his first-class debut for the Gentlemen of Kent during 1848 at Canterbury, shortly after returning from service in the East Indies.George Dickins
CricketArchive. Retrieved 17 June 2020. He played seven first-class matches, five for the Gentlemen of Kent and two for

Kent County Cricket Club Kent County Cricket Club is one of the eighteen first-class county clubs within the domestic cricket structure of England and Wales. It represents the historic county of Kent. A club representing the county was first founded in 1842 but Ke ...

, both against Yorkshire, one in 1849 and the other in 1864. He played for Kelso, Northumberland and

Roxburghshire Roxburghshire or the County of Roxburgh ( gd, Siorrachd Rosbroig) is a historic county and registration county in the Southern Uplands of Scotland. It borders Dumfriesshire to the west, Selkirkshire and Midlothian to the north-west, and Berw ...

regularly and for Scotland sides against touring sides of professionals.

Family and later life

Dickins married Frances Collingwood in 1851 at Durham. Two of their sons are known to have played club cricket in Scotland. The family lived in Northumberland and southern Scotland. Dickins was declared bankrupt in 1865 and Frances died in 1867. Dickins died in 1903 at Coldstream in the Scottish borders. He was aged 82.

Notes

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Dickins, George 1821 births 1903 deaths Royal Scots Fusiliers officers British Army personnel of the Crimean War 19th-century British Army personnel Military personnel from Norfolk 46th Regiment of Foot officers 98th Regiment of Foot officers English cricketers Kent cricketers People from North Elmham Gentlemen of Kent cricketers People from Adisham Cricketers from Norfolk