Henry James Tufton, 11th Earl of Thanet (2 January 1775 – 12 June 1849) was a peer in the peerage of England and a noted 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 of the 1790s.

Biography

Henry Tufton belonged to an aristocratic family that was prominent in cricketing and other sporting circles. His parents were

Sackville Tufton, 8th Earl of Thanet Sackville Tufton, 8th Earl of Thanet (Lord Thanet) (1733–1786) was an English nobleman. Life He was the second son of Sackville Tufton, 7th Earl of Thanet. Tufton received his early education at Westminster School. He was hereditary High Sheriff ...

(1733–1786), and Mary Sackville (1746–1778), who was the daughter of Lord John Philip Sackville and the sister of

John Frederick Sackville, 3rd Duke of Dorset John Frederick Sackville, 3rd Duke of Dorset, KG (25 March 174519 July 1799) was the only son of Lord John Philip Sackville, second son of Lionel Sackville, 1st Duke of Dorset. His mother was the former Lady Frances Leveson-Gower. He succeeded ...

. Sackville and Dorset were famous patrons of

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 ...

cricket. One of Tufton's older brothers was the Honourable John Tufton (1773–1799), who was also a noted amateur cricketer. Henry Tufton succeeded his elder brother

Charles Tufton, 10th Earl of Thanet Charles Tufton, 10th Earl of Thanet (10 September 1770 – 20 April 1832) was an English nobleman. He became Earl of Thanet on 24 January 1825, on the death of his elder brother Sackville Tufton, 9th Earl of Thanet. He was hereditary High Sheriff o ...

as 11th Earl of Thanet in April 1832. He served as hereditary

High Sheriff of Westmorland Westmorland (sometimes spelled Westmoreland) in North West England was abolished in 1974 following Ted Heath's Local Government Act 1972. Westmorland became a part of Cumbria along with Cumberland, parts of Yorkshire and Lancashire, including the ...

from 1832 until his own death. He was

member of parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members o ...

(MP) for

Rochester Rochester may refer to: Places Australia * Rochester, Victoria Canada * Rochester, Alberta United Kingdom *Rochester, Kent ** City of Rochester-upon-Medway (1982–1998), district council area ** History of Rochester, Kent ** HM Prison ...

1796–1802, for Appleby 1826–1832. He was

Lord Lieutenant of Kent This is a list of people who have served as Lord-Lieutenant of Kent. Since 1746, all Lords Lieutenant have also been Custos Rotulorum of Kent. Lords Lieutenant of Kent * Sir Thomas Cheney 1551–? *William Brooke, 10th Baron Cobham 3 July 1585 – ...

1841–1846.

Cricket career

Tufton was a wicketkeeper-batsman who is believed to have been right-handed and made his debut in important matches for Surrey and Sussex in a game against

All-England The All England Open Badminton Championships is the world's oldest badminton tournament, held annually in England. With the introduction of the Badminton World Federation, BWF's latest grading system, it was given BWF Super Series, Super Series st ...

at the original Lord's Cricket Ground in June 1793.

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 ...

in ''Scores and Biographies'' said of Tufton that he "was a successful batsman and wicket-keeper during his short career, which terminated when he was only twenty-six years of age. In the match between the Marylebone Club against the Thursday and Montpelier on 13 July 1796, he stumped six and caught two". In all, Henry Tufton played in 77 important matches until July 1801. His final game was for

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) versus

Homerton Cricket Club Homerton Cricket Club was based in Homerton, Hackney and held important match status during the first decade of the 19th century. The club had been established in the 18th century and it first came to notice in 1800 when it played the strong ...

at the original Lord's Cricket Ground. Haygarth adds that when Tufton "was travelling in France in 1803, he was seized on Napoleon's orders (along with the rest of the English) as a prisoner; nor did he on his return to England resume the game f cricket He was at one time member of Parliament for Rochester".

Private life

Henry Tufton did not marry and was the last of the Earls of Thanet. He was buried in the family vault at Rainham Church in Kent. Haygarth says he had no monument and only an inscription on his coffin that stated in 1849: ::''HENRY TUFTON'', ::''Earl of Thanet'', ::''Hereditary High Sheriff of the county of Westmorland'', ::''Late Lord Lieutenant of Kent'', ::''Died June 12, 1849'' ::''IN THE 75TH YEAR OF HIS AGE''

References

* ''Fresh Light on 18th Century Cricket'' by

G B Buckley George Bent Buckley (1885 – 26 April 1962) was an English surgeon and a celebrated cricket historian and an authority on the early days of the game. Buckley was born in Saddleworth, Yorkshire, the son of Arthur and Jane Buckley, his fath ...

(FL18) * ''Scores & Biographies, Volume 1'' by

(SBnnn)

External links

CricketArchive
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Thanet, Henry Tufton, 11th Earl of Thanet, Henry Tufton, 11th Earl of Thanet, Henry Tufton, 11th Earl of English cricketers English cricketers of 1787 to 1825 Thanet, Henry Tufton, 11th Earl of Marylebone Cricket Club cricketers Surrey cricketers Kent cricketers Middlesex cricketers Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for English constituencies Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for English constituencies UK MPs 1801–1802 UK MPs 1826–1830 UK MPs 1830–1831 UK MPs 1831–1832 UK MPs who inherited peerages British MPs 1796–1800 High Sheriffs of Westmorland Surrey and Marylebone Cricket Club cricketers Earls of Thanet Recipients of payments from the Slavery Abolition Act 1833 Middlesex and Marylebone Cricket Club cricketers