Geoffrey Russell Rees Colman (14 March 1892 – 18 March 1935) was an 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 str ...

er active in

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 officia ...

from 1912 to 1924. Colman was born at

Norwich Norwich () is a cathedral city and district of Norfolk, England, of which it is the county town. Norwich is by the River Wensum, about north-east of London, north of Ipswich and east of Peterborough. As the seat of the See of Norwich, with ...

to mustard manufacturer Russell James Colman, of Crown Point House, Norwich, and Edith Margaret (née Davies). He was educated 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, ...

, before attending Christ Church, Oxford. While still attending Eton, Colman made his

minor counties The National Counties, known as the Minor Counties before 2020, are the cricketing counties of England and Wales that do not have first-class status. The game is administered by the National Counties Cricket Association (NCCA), which comes unde ...

debut for

Norfolk Norfolk () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in East Anglia in England. It borders Lincolnshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the west and south-west, and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the No ...

in the 1911 Minor Counties Championship, making three appearances in that season. His debut in

came the following year for

Oxford University Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to th ...

against the touring

South Africans The population of South Africa is about 58.8 million people of diverse origins, cultures, languages, and religions. The South African National Census of 2022 was the most recent census held; the next will be in 2032. In 2011, Statistics South ...

at the

Magdalen Ground The Magdalen Ground (also known as the Old Magdalen Ground) was a cricket ground in Oxford, England. The ground was owned by the University of Oxford and used by Magdalen College, a constituent college of the University of Oxford. Originally form ...

, Oxford. Prior to the start of

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, Colman made 22 first-class appearances for the university. Playing primarily as a right-handed

batsman In cricket, batting is the act or skill of hitting the cricket ball, ball with a cricket bat, bat to score runs (cricket), runs and prevent the dismissal (cricket), loss of one's wicket. Any player who is currently batting is, since Septembe ...

, Colman scored 946 runs, making one century score of 127 against

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 ...

in 1913. He gained his

Oxford blue A blue is an award of sporting colours earned by athletes at some universities and schools for competition at the highest level. The awarding of blues began at Oxford and Cambridge universities in England. They are now awarded at a number of other ...

in 1913. With the onset of war, Colman enlisted in the

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...

. He served in the 7th Battalion,

The Rifle Brigade The Rifle Brigade (The Prince Consort's Own) was an infantry rifle regiment of the British Army formed in January 1800 as the "Experimental Corps of Riflemen" to provide sharpshooters, scouts, and skirmishers. They were soon renamed the "Rifle ...

on the Western Front with the rank of second lieutenant. He later served in the

Machine Gun Corps The Machine Gun Corps (MGC) was a corps of the British Army, formed in October 1915 in response to the need for more effective use of machine guns on the Western Front in the First World War. The Heavy Branch of the MGC was the first to use tanks ...

, achieving the rank of temporary captain in January 1917. During the course of the war he was severely wounded, which would affect him in later years. On 25 February 1919, Colman married Lettice Elizabeth Evelyn, daughter of Charles Robert Whorwood Adeane, of Babraham Hall,

Lord Lieutenant of Cambridgeshire This is a list of people who have served as Lord Lieutenant of Cambridgeshire. The title Lord Lieutenant is given to the British monarch's personal representative in the counties of the United Kingdom. Lord Lieutenants are supported by an appointe ...

. Their five children included Timothy Colman. He also resumed playing minor counties cricket for Norfolk, representing his home county until 1930, but the wounds he sustained during the war curtailed his minor counties career. He made one final appearance in first-class cricket when he was selected to play for the combined

Minor Counties cricket team The National Counties, known as the Minor Counties before 2020, are the cricketing counties of England and Wales that do not have first-class status. The game is administered by the National Counties Cricket Association (NCCA), which comes unde ...

in 1924 against the touring South Africans at the County Ground, Lakenham. As a member of the Norwich

Colman's Colman's is an English manufacturer of mustard and other sauces, formerly based and produced for 160 years at Carrow, in Norwich, Norfolk. Owned by Unilever since 1995, Colman's is one of the oldest existing food brands, famous for a limited ra ...

family, he served as a company director until his death at Framingham Earl, Norfolk, on 18 March 1935, from

endocarditis Endocarditis is an inflammation of the inner layer of the heart, the endocardium. It usually involves the heart valves. Other structures that may be involved include the interventricular septum, the chordae tendineae, the mural endocardium, or the ...

caused by a chest wound sustained during the war. After his death, the thatched

pavilion In architecture, ''pavilion'' has several meanings: * It may be a subsidiary building that is either positioned separately or as an attachment to a main building. Often it is associated with pleasure. In palaces and traditional mansions of Asia ...

at the County Ground in Lakenham was erected in his memory in 1936.

References

External links

Geoffrey Colman
at

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Geoffrey Colman
at CricketArchive {{DEFAULTSORT:Colman, Geoffrey 1892 births 1935 deaths Cricketers from Norwich People educated at Eton College Alumni of Christ Church, Oxford English cricketers Norfolk cricketers Oxford University cricketers British Army personnel of World War I Rifle Brigade officers Machine Gun Corps officers Minor Counties cricketers 20th-century British businesspeople Deaths from endocarditis Colman family People from South Norfolk (district) Military personnel from Norwich British military personnel killed in World War I