John Dunlop Southern (5 November 1899 – 7 February 1972) was a

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...

officer and

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 who played first-class cricket for

Derbyshire Derbyshire ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands, England. It includes much of the Peak District National Park, the southern end of the Pennine range of hills and part of the National Forest. It borders Greater Manchester to the nor ...

in occasional games between 1919 and 1934. Southern was born at Friar Gate,

Derby Derby ( ) is a city and unitary authority area in Derbyshire, England. It lies on the banks of the River Derwent in the south of Derbyshire, which is in the East Midlands Region. It was traditionally the county town of Derbyshire. Derby gai ...

. He made his debut for Derbyshire in a match against Australian Imperial Forces, scoring 43 in his second innings. In 1920 he played two matches – against Sussex and Leicestershire – and in 1922 one match against Worcestershire. After a break on naval service he reappeared for Derbyshire for one game in 1934 against Hampshire. He was a right-hand batsman and played 10 innings in 5 matches with a top score of 43 and an average of 9.5. Southern became a naval lieutenant in 1923 and lieutenant-commander in 1931. In 1938 he was posted to , the Royal Navy base at

Chatham Chatham may refer to: Places and jurisdictions Canada * Chatham Islands (British Columbia) * Chatham Sound, British Columbia * Chatham, New Brunswick, a former town, now a neighbourhood of Miramichi * Chatham (electoral district), New Brunswic ...

, for training duties. He was then executive officer on , an

escort carrier The escort carrier or escort aircraft carrier (U.S. hull classification symbol CVE), also called a "jeep carrier" or "baby flattop" in the United States Navy (USN) or "Woolworth Carrier" by the Royal Navy, was a small and slow type of aircraft ...

. He officially retired in 1943 but became acting commander and was later assigned to , an RDF training establishment at Camp Douglas, on the

Isle of Man ) , anthem = "O Land of Our Birth" , image = Isle of Man by Sentinel-2.jpg , image_map = Europe-Isle_of_Man.svg , mapsize = , map_alt = Location of the Isle of Man in Europe , map_caption = Location of the Isle of Man (green) in Europe ...

. He was then in the Naval Training Department at the

Admiralty Admiralty most often refers to: *Admiralty, Hong Kong * Admiralty (United Kingdom), military department in command of the Royal Navy from 1707 to 1964 *The rank of admiral * Admiralty law Admiralty can also refer to: Buildings *Admiralty, Tr ...

, HMS ''President''. He retired fully in April 1946.Royal Navy Unit Histories – Officers
/ref> Southern retired to Seend Head House,

Seend Seend is a village and civil parish about southeast of the market town of Melksham, Wiltshire, England. It lies about west of Devizes and northeast of the county town of Trowbridge. The parish includes the sub-village of Seend Cleeve and the ...

, near Melksham, Wiltshire where he died aged 73.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Southern, John Dunlop 1899 births 1972 deaths Royal Navy officers Derbyshire cricketers English cricketers Royal Navy officers of World War II