John Morley Lee (12 October 1825 – 20 January 1903) was an English
clergyman
Clergy are formal leaders within established religions. Their roles and functions vary in different religious traditions, but usually involve presiding over specific rituals and teaching their religion's doctrines and practices. Some of the ter ...
and
cricketer
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 ...
who played 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 officiall ...
matches for
Cambridge University
, mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts.
Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge.
, established =
, other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...
,
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. ...
,
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) and various other
amateur
An amateur () is generally considered a person who pursues an avocation independent from their source of income. Amateurs and their pursuits are also described as popular, informal, autodidacticism, self-taught, user-generated, do it yourself, DI ...
teams in the late 1840s.
He was born at
Chelsea
Chelsea or Chelsey may refer to:
Places Australia
* Chelsea, Victoria
Canada
* Chelsea, Nova Scotia
* Chelsea, Quebec
United Kingdom
* Chelsea, London, an area of London, bounded to the south by the River Thames
** Chelsea (UK Parliament consti ...
,
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 died at
Botley,
Hampshire
Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial county, ceremonial and non-metropolitan county, non-metropolitan counties of England, county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English citi ...
.
Family and background
Lee was privately educated at
Oundle
Oundle () is a market town on the left bank of the River Nene in North Northamptonshire, England, which had a population of 5,735 at the time of the United Kingdom Census 2011, 2011 census. It is north of London and south-west of Peterborough ...
and then at
St John's College, Cambridge
St John's College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge founded by the House of Tudor, Tudor matriarch Lady Margaret Beaufort. In constitutional terms, the college is a charitable corpo ...
.
He was the son of a London-based builder, Henry Lee, described as coming from
Chiswell Street
Chiswell Street is in Islington, London, England. Historic England have seven entries for listed buildings in Chiswell Street.
Location
The street, in St Luke's, Islington, runs east-west and forms part of the B100 road. At the west end it be ...
in
Finsbury
Finsbury is a district of Central London, forming the south-eastern part of the London Borough of Islington. It borders the City of London.
The Manor of Finsbury is first recorded as ''Vinisbir'' (1231) and means "manor of a man called Finn ...
but later settling in
Balham
Balham () is an area in south London, England, mostly within the London Borough of Wandsworth with small parts within the neighbouring London Borough of Lambeth. The area has been settled since Saxon times and appears in the Domesday Book as B ...
; John Lee's younger half-brother,
Frederick Frederick may refer to:
People
* Frederick (given name), the name
Nobility
Anhalt-Harzgerode
*Frederick, Prince of Anhalt-Harzgerode (1613–1670)
Austria
* Frederick I, Duke of Austria (Babenberg), Duke of Austria from 1195 to 1198
* Frederick ...
, 15 years younger, was also a first-class cricketer, playing for Cambridge University, Surrey and other amateur sides.
Cricket career
As a cricketer, Lee appeared in a couple of matches for Cambridge University in the 1845 season as a tail-end right-handed batsman, but made little impression; he did not take any wickets with his right-arm medium-fast bowling, and scorecards being incomplete for these games it is not clear whether he bowled or not.
In his first match of 1846, his round-arm bowling proved decisive with nine wickets in a narrow victory for the university over the MCC. He took 10 wickets in the return match in London, though this was a 12-a-side first-class game. He was then picked for the 1846
University match
The University Match in a cricketing context is generally understood to refer to the annual fixture between Oxford University Cricket Club and Cambridge University Cricket Club.
From 2001, as part of the reorganisation of first-class cricket, ...
against
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 the ...
which was played in
Oxford
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 the ...
. Later in the 1846 season, Lee played a couple of first-class matches for the Gentlemen of England side.
Lee's success as a bowler continued in 1847 and in the university side's MCC match at Lord's he took seven wickets in the first innings and five in the second, his best figures in first-class cricket (as in most of Lee's matches, the full bowling figures have not been recorded). He played in the University Match for a second time and later in the season played for Surrey,
the Gentlemen in the annual Gentlemen v players match at Lord's, and MCC.
In his single game for Surrey, he played successfully as a batsman, scoring 40 and 20 in a game with
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 ...
, and appears not to have bowled. There was a similar pattern to Lee's cricket in 1848, his last season at Cambridge and his third appearance in the University match; He appeared for Surrey and for "Gentlemen of England" after the university cricket season ended.
But his bowling was less effective in 1848 and he often batted high in the batting order, scoring an innings of 110, by a long way his highest score, in the Cambridge game against the Gentlemen of Kent, when he opened the innings.
Lee played very little cricket in 1849 but returned, without distinction, in 1850 in eight first-class games, including an appearance for the
All-England side, and another in the Gentlemen v Players series.
He also played in a remarkable
South v North match which was scheduled for three days but completed in one day with
John Wisden
John Wisden (5 September 1826 – 5 April 1884) was an English cricketer who played 187 first-class cricket matches for three English county cricket teams, Kent, Middlesex and Sussex. His father, William, was a builder. He attended Brighton's ...
taking all 10 South wickets, including Lee's, in the second innings. He did not play first-class cricket after 1850.
Career after cricket
After graduation from
Cambridge University
, mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts.
Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge.
, established =
, other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...
in 1848, Lee was ordained first as a
deacon
A deacon is a member of the diaconate, an office in Christian churches that is generally associated with service of some kind, but which varies among theological and denominational traditions. Major Christian churches, such as the Catholic Churc ...
and then as a
Church of England
The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britain ...
priest.
He was curate at
Long Melford
Long Melford, colloquially and historically also referred to as Melford, is a large village and civil parish in the Babergh District, Babergh district, in the county of Suffolk, England. It is on Suffolk's border with Essex, which is marked by ...
,
Suffolk
Suffolk () is a ceremonial county of England in East Anglia. It borders Norfolk to the north, Cambridgeshire to the west and Essex to the south; the North Sea lies to the east. The county town is Ipswich; other important towns include Lowes ...
and then at
Abbot's Langley
Abbots Langley is a large village and civil parish in the English county of Hertfordshire. It is an old settlement and is mentioned (under the name of Langelai) in the Domesday Book. Economically the village is closely linked to Watford and was f ...
,
Hertfordshire
Hertfordshire ( or ; often abbreviated Herts) is one of the home counties in southern England. It borders Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire to the north, Essex to the east, Greater London to the south, and Buckinghamshire to the west. For govern ...
. In 1855, his father bought for him the benefice of Botley, Hampshire, and he remained as
rector
Rector (Latin for the member of a vessel's crew who steers) may refer to:
Style or title
*Rector (ecclesiastical), a cleric who functions as an administrative leader in some Christian denominations
*Rector (academia), a senior official in an edu ...
there for 48 years to his death in 1903, also acting as
rural dean
In the Roman Catholic Church and the Anglican Communion as well as some Lutheran denominations, a rural dean is a member of clergy who presides over a "rural deanery" (often referred to as a deanery); "ruridecanal" is the corresponding adjective. ...
of
Bishop's Waltham
Bishop's Waltham (or Bishops Waltham) is a medieval market town situated at the source of the River Hamble in Hampshire, England. It has a foot in the South Downs National Park and is located at the midpoint of a long-established route betwe ...
and from 1877 as an honorary canon of
Winchester
Winchester is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city in Hampshire, England. The city lies at the heart of the wider City of Winchester, a local government Districts of England, district, at the western end of the South Downs Nation ...
.
In 1855 also, Lee married Emily Mary Gingell of Wood House,
East Ham
East Ham is a district of the London Borough of Newham, England, 8 miles (12.8 km) east of Charing Cross. East Ham is identified in the London Plan as a Major Centre. The population is 76,186.
It was originally part of the Becontree Hun ...
; they had two daughters.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lee, John Morley
1825 births
1903 deaths
English cricketers
Cambridge University cricketers
Surrey cricketers
Marylebone Cricket Club cricketers
Gentlemen of England cricketers
Gentlemen cricketers
Cambridge Town Club cricketers
Oxford and Cambridge Universities cricketers
Non-international England cricketers
North v South cricketers
Alumni of St John's College, Cambridge
19th-century English Anglican priests
People from Botley, Hampshire
People educated at Oundle School