John Nyren (15 December 1764 – 30 June 1837) 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 striki ...
er and
author
An author is the writer of a book, article, play, mostly written work. A broader definition of the word "author" states:
"''An author is "the person who originated or gave existence to anything" and whose authorship determines responsibility f ...
. Nyren made 16 known appearances 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 ...
from 1787 to 1817. He achieved lasting fame as the author of ''
The Cricketers of My Time'', which was first published in 1832 as a serial in a periodical called ''The Town'' and was then included in ''The Young Cricketer's Tutor'', published in 1833 by Effingham Wilson of London. Nyren's collaborator in the work was
Charles Cowden Clarke
Charles Cowden Clarke (15 December 1787 – 13 March 1877) was an English author who was best known for his books on Shakespeare. He was also known for his compilation of poems as well as his edition of ''The Canterbury Tales'', which was rende ...
.
Family and background
Nyren was the son of
Richard Nyren
Richard Nyren (1734 – 1797) was an English professional cricketer who played first-class cricket during the heyday of the Hambledon Club. A genuine all-rounder and the earliest known left-hander of note, Nyren was the captain of Hampshire when ...
, the captain of the
Hambledon Club
The Hambledon Club was a social club that is famous for its organisation of 18th century cricket matches. By the late 1770s it was the foremost cricket club in England.
Foundation
The origin of the club, based near Hambledon in rural Hampshire, ...
in its "glory days". He was brought up in the
Bat and Ball Inn
The Bat & Ball Inn is a historic eighteenth-century pub near Clanfield, Hampshire, England. The earliest widely accepted written rules for the game of cricket were drafted at the pub.
History
The pub is situated opposite the Broadhalfpenny Down ...
, where his father was the landlord, immediately opposite
Broadhalfpenny Down
Broadhalfpenny Down (pronounced /ˌbrɔ:dˈheɪpniː/; '' brawd-HAYP-nee'') is a historic cricket ground in Hambledon, Hampshire. It is known as the "Cradle of Cricket" because it was the home venue in the 18th century of the Hambledon Club, ...
, about a mile from
Hambledon village where he was born.
[Mote, pp. 140–142.]
Cricket career
Nyren, who was a left-handed
batsman
In cricket, batting is the act or skill of hitting the ball with a bat to score runs and prevent the loss of one's wicket. Any player who is currently batting is, since September 2021, officially referred to as a batter (historically, the ...
and left-handed fieldsman, played for the Hambledon Club from 1778 until 1791.
E. V. Lucas
Edward Verrall Lucas, CH (11/12 June 1868 – 26 June 1938) was an English humorist, essayist, playwright, biographer, publisher, poet, novelist, short story writer and editor.
Born to a Quaker family in Eltham, on the fringes of London, Luca ...
, "John Nyren", in ''Cricket All His Life'', Rupert Hart-Davis, London, 1950, pp. 99–112. He was described as "standing nearly 6 ft, of large proportions throughout, big-boned, strong and active".
[ He is first recorded in first-class cricket in 1787, around the time his father retired from the game, and he played occasionally until 1817. He played for the Gentlemen in the inaugural and second ]Gentlemen v Players
Gentlemen v Players was a long-running series of English first-class cricket matches. Two matches were played in 1806, but the fixture was not played again until 1819. It became an annual event, usually played at least twice each season, exc ...
matches in 1806.CricketArchive – Gentlemen v Players 1806 (II)
/ref> Although he was a fine fieldsman,[ his playing career was not distinguished and he would now be remembered only as the son of a famous father if he had not turned his hand to literature in his old age.]
Writing career
In 1832, Nyren was living in London when he began his collaboration with Cowden Clarke, who recorded Nyren's reminiscences of the Hambledon era and published them serially in ''The Town'' as ''The Cricketers of My Time''. The following year, the series with some modifications appeared as part of an instructional book entitled ''The Young Cricketer's Tutor''. It became a major source for the history and personalities of Georgian cricket and also came to be regarded as the first classic in cricket's now rich literary history.[Altham, p. 39–40.]
Personal life
As well as being a devotee of cricket, Nyren was a talented musician who played the violin and composed music. Some of his compositions were published by Vincent Novello
Vincent Novello (6 September 17819 August 1861), was an English musician and music publisher born in London. He was a chorister and organist, but he is best known for bringing to England many works now considered standards, and with his son he cr ...
, who was a close friend. For 13 years Nyren was the choir master at St Mary's, Moorfields
Moorfields was an open space, partly in the City of London, lying adjacent to – and outside – its northern wall, near the eponymous Moorgate. It was known for its marshy conditions, the result of the defensive wall acting like a dam, ...
, where Novello was the organist.[
Nyren married Cleopha Copp, aged 17, in 1791. They had two sons and five daughters, as well as two children who died in infancy.][ They lived first in Portsea, then in 1796 they moved to ]Bromley
Bromley is a large town in Greater London, England, within the London Borough of Bromley. It is south-east of Charing Cross, and had an estimated population of 87,889 as of 2011.
Originally part of Kent, Bromley became a market town, char ...
in 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 later lived in Battersea
Battersea is a large district in south London, part of the London Borough of Wandsworth, England. It is centred southwest of Charing Cross and extends along the south bank of the River Thames. It includes the Battersea Park.
History
Batter ...
, London, then Cheyne Walk
Cheyne Walk is an historic road in Chelsea, London, England, in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. It runs parallel with the River Thames. Before the construction of Chelsea Embankment reduced the width of the Thames here, it fronted ...
, 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 ...
, and finally moved back to Bromley to live in Bromley Palace, where Nyren died.[
]
References
Bibliography
* H S Altham, ''A History of Cricket, Volume 1 (to 1914)'', George Allen & Unwin, 1962
* Ashley Mote
Ashley Mote (25 January 1936 – 30 March 2020) was a former Member of the European Parliament (MEP) for South East England from 2004 to 2009. Elected representing the UK Independence Party, he became a non-inscrit one month into his term after ...
: ''The Glory Days of Cricket'', Robson, 1997
* John Nyren, ''The Cricketers of my Time'' (ed. Ashley Mote
Ashley Mote (25 January 1936 – 30 March 2020) was a former Member of the European Parliament (MEP) for South East England from 2004 to 2009. Elected representing the UK Independence Party, he became a non-inscrit one month into his term after ...
), Robson, 1998
External links
*
''The Hambledon Men''
including Nyren's ''The Young Cricketer's Tutor'' and ''The Cricketers of My Time'', digitised at Internet Archive
The Internet Archive is an American digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". It provides free public access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, software applications/games, music, ...
English cricketers
English cricketers of 1701 to 1786
English cricketers of 1787 to 1825
Gentlemen cricketers
Hampshire cricketers
1764 births
1837 deaths
People from Hambledon, Hampshire
Cricket historians and writers
Hambledon cricketers
Kent cricketers
Homerton Cricket Club cricketers
Lord Frederick Beauclerk's XI cricketers
Marylebone Cricket Club and Homerton cricketers
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