John Patrick Spring (1844/45 – 13 February 1907) was an Irish

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 soldier in the British Army. While living in New Zealand, he played eight first-class matches for

Otago Otago (, ; mi, Ōtākou ) is a region of New Zealand located in the southern half of the South Island administered by the Otago Regional Council. It has an area of approximately , making it the country's second largest local government reg ...

between the 1877–78 and 1884–85 seasons.

Life and career

Born in Dublin where he was christened in August 1845, Spring served in the British Army's

5th (Northumberland Fusiliers) Regiment of Foot The Royal Northumberland Fusiliers was an infantry regiment of the British Army. Raised in 1674 as one of three 'English' units in the Dutch Anglo-Scots Brigade, it accompanied William III to England in the November 1688 Glorious Revolution and ...

. He was commissioned as an ensign in the 2nd battalion in October 1864 and joined the regiment in Cape Colony where he is known to have played some cricket. The battalion returned to Britain in 1867, and Spring, who became the battalion's

Instructor of Musketry In the British Army, the Instructor of Musketry was a position within infantry battalions that existed from 1857 until 1883, with the position being held by a single officer from two to five years. In 1887 the position was brought back into use, w ...

in November,Hart HG (ed) (1872) '' The New Annual Army List and Militia List for 1872'', vol 33, p. 240. London: John Murray.
Available online
at the

National Library of Scotland The National Library of Scotland (NLS) ( gd, Leabharlann Nàiseanta na h-Alba, sco, Naitional Leebrar o Scotland) is the legal deposit library of Scotland and is one of the country's National Collections. As one of the largest libraries in the ...

. Retrieved 29 October 2023.) was stationed at

Dover Dover () is a town and major ferry port in Kent, South East England. It faces France across the Strait of Dover, the narrowest part of the English Channel at from Cap Gris Nez in France. It lies south-east of Canterbury and east of Maidstone ...

and then Aldershot where he was promoted to the rank of lieutenant in January 1868. Later in the year he played cricket for the Officers of the Aldershot Division side against

I Zingari I Zingari (from dialectalized Italian , meaning "the Gypsies"; corresponding to standard Italian ') are English and Australian amateur cricket clubs, founded in 1845 and 1888 respectively. It is the oldest and perhaps the most famous of the 'wa ...

, a fixture which he also featured in in 1869. He played more cricket in Scotland in 1870 and 1871 whilst the battalion was stationed at Glasgow, before the battalion moved to Dublin in 1872 where Spring appears to have left the army after being declared bankrupt.McCarron A (2010) ''New Zealand Cricketers 1863/64–2010'', p. 124. Cardiff: The Association of Cricket Statisticians and Historians.
Available online
at the Association of Cricket Statisticians and Historians. Retrieved 5 June 2023.) Spring and his wife Lucy left for New Zealand in 1876, arriving in Dunedin in January 1877. He worked in Dunedin as an accountant and insurance agent, had interests in a New Zealand mining company, and was secretary of the Dunedin, Peninsula and Ocean Beach Railway Company. A wicket-keeper and lower-order batsman, Spring played in most of Otago's matches between the 1877–78 and 1884–85 seasons. He captained the team in several matches, including the one against the touring Australians in January 1878, when the close match finished in a draw. He umpired five first-class matches between 1883 and 1890 and was elected president of the

Otago Cricket Association The Otago cricket team, nicknamed the Volts since the 1997–98 season, are a New Zealand first-class cricket team which first played representative cricket in 1864. The team represents the Otago, Southland and North Otago regions of New Zeala ...

in 1890. Spring and his wife returned to the United Kingdom in 1895. He died at

Rathdown, County Dublin Rathdown ( ga, Ráth an Dúin) is the south-easternmost barony in County Dublin, Ireland. It gives its name to the county of Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown. Before County Wicklow was shired in 1606, Rathdown extended further south: it was named after ...

, in February 1907, aged in his early sixties.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Spring, John 1840s births 1907 deaths 19th-century British Army personnel Irish cricketers Otago cricketers Cricketers from Dublin (city) New Zealand cricket umpires Military personnel from Dublin (city) Royal Northumberland Fusiliers officers