Lionel Tennyson, 3rd Baron Tennyson
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Lionel Hallam Tennyson, 3rd Baron Tennyson (7 November 1889 – 6 June 1951) was known principally as a
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 of three or more days scheduled duration between two sides of eleven players each and is officially adju ...
er who captained
Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Berkshire to the north, Surrey and West Sussex to the east, the Isle of Wight across the Solent to the south, ...
and
England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...
. He was the grandson of the poet
Alfred, Lord Tennyson Alfred Tennyson, 1st Baron Tennyson (; 6 August 1809 – 6 October 1892) was an English poet. He was the Poet Laureate during much of Queen Victoria's reign. In 1829, Tennyson was awarded the Chancellor's Gold Medal at Cambridge for one of ...
.


Early life and family

The son of
Hallam Tennyson Hallam Tennyson, 2nd Baron Tennyson, (11 August 1852 – 2 December 1928) was a British aristocrat who served as the second governor-general of Australia, in office from 1903 to 1904. He was previously Governor of South Australia from 1899 to ...
, the
Governor of South Australia The governor of South Australia is the representative in South Australia of the monarch, currently King Charles III. The governor performs the same constitutional and ceremonial functions at the state level as does the governor-general of Aust ...
, Tennyson was born at
Westminster Westminster is the main settlement of the City of Westminster in Central London, Central London, England. It extends from the River Thames to Oxford Street and has many famous landmarks, including the Palace of Westminster, Buckingham Palace, ...
in November 1889. His father would later be appointed Governor-General of Australia in 1903. He had lived in Australia since 1899, with his father and mother, Audrey, along with his siblings. He was initially educated in Australia at
Melbourne Grammar School Melbourne Grammar School is an Australian private school, private Anglican Church of Australia, Anglican Day school, day and boarding school. It comprises a co-educational preparatory school from Prep to Year 6 and a middle school and senior s ...
, where he first played
cricket Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven players on a cricket field, field, at the centre of which is a cricket pitch, pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two Bail (cr ...
, before attending
Eton College Eton College ( ) is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school providing boarding school, boarding education for boys aged 13–18, in the small town of Eton, Berkshire, Eton, in Berkshire, in the United Kingdom. It has educated Prime Mini ...
in England. There, he played for the college cricket team, initially as a
fast bowler Fast bowling (also referred to as pace bowling) is a type of bowling in cricket, in which the ball is delivered at high speed. The fastest bowlers bowl the ball at over . Practitioners of fast bowling are known as fast bowlers or quicks. Also ...
in 1907, before focussing on his batting in 1908. From there, he matriculated to
Trinity College, Cambridge Trinity College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any ...
. He performed well in the freshmans match, but did not play for
Cambridge University Cricket Club Cambridge University Cricket Club, established in 1820, is the representative cricket club for students of the University of Cambridge. The club was recognised as holding first-class cricket, first-class status until 2020. The university played ...
. He left Cambridge after one year, in order to join the
British Army The British Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of the United Kingdom. the British Army comprises 73,847 regular full-time personnel, 4,127 Brigade of Gurkhas, Gurkhas, 25,742 Army Reserve (United Kingdom), volunteer reserve perso ...
.


Military service

Tennyson was commissioned into the
Coldstream Guards The Coldstream Guards is the oldest continuously serving regular regiment in the British Army. As part of the Household Division, one of its principal roles is the protection of the Monarchy of the United Kingdom, monarchy; due to this, it often ...
as a second lieutenant in August 1909, before transferring to the
Rifle Brigade The Rifle Brigade (The Prince Consort's Own) was an infantry rifle regiment of the British Army formed in January 1800 as the "Experimental Corps of Riflemen" to provide sharpshooters, scouts, and skirmishers. They were soon renamed the "Rifle ...
in December 1912. His transfer allegedly came about from an agreement he reached with his father after losing £12,000 in the space of a week betting on
horse racing Horse racing is an equestrian performance activity, typically involving two or more horses ridden by jockeys (or sometimes driven without riders) over a set distance for competition. It is one of the most ancient of all sports, as its bas ...
, which had left him with £7,000 debt. He served in the
First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
with the Rifle Brigade, seeing action in September 1914 at the
First Battle of the Marne The First Battle of the Marne or known in France as the Miracle on the Marne () was a battle of the First World War fought from the 5th to the 12th September 1914. The German army invaded France with a plan for winning the war in 40 days by oc ...
. In October he was wounded in action, having been shot in the leg, causing him to fall into a trench and tear his ligaments. He was sent back home to recuperate, travelling home on board the , where he was informed by the wounded Lord Francis Scott that he had been pronounced dead by newspapers back home. He was promoted to
lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a Junior officer, junior commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations, as well as fire services, emergency medical services, Security agency, security services ...
in December 1914, antedated to November 1914. Having recovered from his wound, Tennyson was seconded to headquarters as a staff captain to General Roy in March 1915, and returned to the Western Front in July 1915. Tennyson saw action in the allied defeat at the
Battle of Loos The Battle of Loos took place from 1915 in France on the Western Front (World War I), Western Front, during the First World War. It was the biggest British attack of 1915, the first time that the British used Chemical weapons in World War I, ...
in September–October 1915, with his promotion to
captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...
occurring shortly after, but was not
gazetted A gazette is an official journal, a newspaper of record, or simply a newspaper. In English and French speaking countries, newspaper publishers have applied the name ''Gazette'' since the 17th century; today, numerous weekly and daily newspapers ...
until March 1916. Upon his promotion to captain, Tennyson undertook a machine gun course at Wisques and was shortly thereafter ordered to join the staff of General William Pulteney; however, his appointment to Pulteney was short-lived, as his brigade was ordered to the
Ypres Salient The Ypres Salient, around Ypres, in Belgium, was the scene of several battles and a major part of the Western Front during World War I. Location Ypres lies at the junction of the Ypres–Comines Canal and the Ieperlee. The city is overlooked b ...
and General Roy requested his return to his staff. He was made an acting
major Major most commonly refers to: * Major (rank), a military rank * Academic major, an academic discipline to which an undergraduate student formally commits * People named Major, including given names, surnames, nicknames * Major and minor in musi ...
in July 1917, while commanding a battalion. Tennyson was wounded in action three times during the war, and was
mentioned in despatches To be mentioned in dispatches (or despatches) describes a member of the armed forces whose name appears in an official report written by a superior officer and sent to the high command, in which their gallant or meritorious action in the face of t ...
twice. He was decorated during the war with the Mons Star, and following the war with the
Victory The term victory (from ) originally applied to warfare, and denotes success achieved in personal duel, combat, after military operations in general or, by extension, in any competition. Success in a military campaign constitutes a strategic vi ...
and General Service Medal's. His two younger brothers were killed in the war. Tennyson resigned his commission in November 1919, one year after the conclusion of war, at which point he was granted the rank of major. He was later appointed Honorary Colonel of the 51st (London) Heavy Anti-Aircraft Regiment, Royal Artillery (a Territorial Army unit based in
Chelsea, London Chelsea is an area in West London, England, due south-west of Kilometre zero#Great Britain, Charing Cross by approximately . It lies on the north bank of the River Thames and for postal purposes is part of the SW postcode area, south-western p ...
) on 9 August 1931 and held the position until 1947.


Cricket


Pre-war cricket and Test debut

Tennyson made his debut 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 of three or more days scheduled duration between two sides of eleven players each and is officially adju ...
for the
Marylebone Cricket Club The Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) is a cricket club founded in 1787 and based since 1814 at Lord's, Lord's Cricket Ground, which it owns, in St John's Wood, London, England. The club was the governing body of cricket from 1788 to 1989 and retain ...
(MCC) against
Oxford University The University of Oxford is a collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the second-oldest continuously operating u ...
at
Lord's Lord's Cricket Ground, commonly known as Lord's, is a cricket List of Test cricket grounds, venue in St John's Wood, Westminster. Named after its founder, Thomas Lord, it is owned by Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) and is the home of Middlesex C ...
in 1913, making a
century A century is a period of 100 years or 10 decades. Centuries are numbered ordinally in English and many other languages. The word ''century'' comes from the Latin ''centum'', meaning ''one hundred''. ''Century'' is sometimes abbreviated as c. ...
on debut when he scored 110 runs in the MCC second innings. In the same year, he also made his debut for
Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Berkshire to the north, Surrey and West Sussex to the east, the Isle of Wight across the Solent to the south, ...
in the
County Championship The County Championship, currently known for sponsorship reasons as the Rothesay County Championship, is the only domestic first-class cricket competition in England and Wales. Established in 1890, it is organised by the England and Wales Cri ...
, with Tennyson playing nine times for Hampshire in 1913. He made three centuries in his debut season, in which he scored 832 runs at an
average In colloquial, ordinary language, an average is a single number or value that best represents a set of data. The type of average taken as most typically representative of a list of numbers is the arithmetic mean the sum of the numbers divided by ...
of 46.22. He scored heavily alongside Cecil Abercrombie, with the two going some way to compensate for the loss of C. B. Fry from the Hampshire team. Following his successful first season, the MCC offered him a place on the winter tour to South Africa as a replacement for Frederick Fane, which he accepted. Tennyson departed with the team on the
Union-Castle Line The Union-Castle Line was a British shipping line that operated a fleet of passenger liners and cargo ships between Europe and Africa from 1900 to 1977. It was formed from the merger of the Union Line and Castle Shipping Line. It merged with ...
steamer from
Southampton Southampton is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. It is located approximately southwest of London, west of Portsmouth, and southeast of Salisbury. Southampton had a population of 253, ...
on 18 October 1913, with his parents amongst the crowd of well-wishers who saw the team off. Tennyson played in the first five first-class matches of the tour against provincial and regional teams, before making his
Test Test(s), testing, or TEST may refer to: * Test (assessment), an educational assessment intended to measure the respondents' knowledge or other abilities Arts and entertainment * ''Test'' (2013 film), an American film * ''Test'' (2014 film) ...
debut for
England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...
against
South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...
at
Durban Durban ( ; , from meaning "bay, lagoon") is the third-most populous city in South Africa, after Johannesburg and Cape Town, and the largest city in the Provinces of South Africa, province of KwaZulu-Natal. Situated on the east coast of South ...
on 13 December; he made 52 batting at number four in England's only innings. Tennyson played in all five Test matches on the tour, scoring 116 runs at an average of 16.57. He also played in eight further first-class matches on the tour against provincial and regional teams, though he failed to make a century in any of his first-class tour matches. For his performances in 1913, Tennyson was named one of '' Wisden's'' five Cricketers of the Year for 1914. Military duties and the outbreak of the
First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
limited Tennyson to five first-class appearances in 1914, making three appearances for Hampshire in the
County Championship The County Championship, currently known for sponsorship reasons as the Rothesay County Championship, is the only domestic first-class cricket competition in England and Wales. Established in 1890, it is organised by the England and Wales Cri ...
while on leave. He played in the match between the MCC South African Touring Team against The Rest, which celebrated Lord's centenary. He also played for the
British Army cricket team The Army cricket team is a cricket team representing the British Army. The Army team played 51 first-class matches between 1912 and 1939, although a combined Army and Navy team had played two games against a combined Oxford and Cambridge team ...
against the
Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...
.


Hampshire and England captaincies

Tennyson played nine Test matches for England, five of them on the tour of
South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...
under
Johnny Douglas John William Henry Tyler Douglas (3 September 1882 – 19 December 1930) was an English cricketer who was active in the early decades of the twentieth century. Douglas was an all-rounder who played for Essex County Cricket Club from 1901 to 1 ...
in 1913/14. In 1921, England having lost six Test matches in succession to the
Australians Australians, colloquially known as Aussies, are the citizenship, citizens, nationality, nationals and individuals associated with the country of Australia. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or ethno-cultural. For most Aust ...
under
Warwick Armstrong Warwick Windridge Armstrong (22 May 1879 – 13 July 1947) was an Australian cricketer who played 50 Test matches between 1902 and 1921. An all-rounder, he captained Australia in ten Test matches between 1920 and 1921, and was undefeated, winn ...
, Tennyson was recalled to the side for the second Test at
Lord's Lord's Cricket Ground, commonly known as Lord's, is a cricket List of Test cricket grounds, venue in St John's Wood, Westminster. Named after its founder, Thomas Lord, it is owned by Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) and is the home of Middlesex C ...
, and though the game was again lost, he scored an undefeated 74 in the second innings against Jack Gregory and
Ted McDonald Edgar Arthur "Ted" McDonald (6 January 1891 – 22 July 1937) was a cricketer who played for Tasmanian Tigers, Tasmania, Victorian Bushrangers, Victoria, Lancashire County Cricket Club, Lancashire and Australia national cricket team, Australia ...
at their fastest. That innings led him to be appointed captain for the three remaining matches of the series, succeeding Douglas. The next game was lost; the final two matches were left drawn. At
Headingley Headingley is a suburb of Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, approximately two miles out of the city centre, to the north west along the A660 road. Headingley is the location of the Beckett Park campus of Leeds Beckett University and Headingley ...
in the first of these three games as captain, Tennyson split his hand while fielding in the Australians' first innings but, patched up with what
Wisden ''Wisden Cricketers' Almanack'', or simply ''Wisden'', colloquially the Bible of Cricket, is a cricket reference book published annually in the United Kingdom. The description "Bible of cricket" (or variations thereof) has been applied to ''Wi ...
called a "basket guard", he made 63 and 36. He led several non-Test match tours overseas, to India, South Africa and the West Indies. Tennyson was captain of Hampshire from 1919 to 1932. He was in charge of the side in the remarkable match against
Warwickshire Warwickshire (; abbreviated Warks) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England. It is bordered by Staffordshire and Leicestershire to the north, Northamptonshire to the east, Ox ...
in 1922, when Hampshire were bowled out for 15 runs in their first innings and, having been forced to follow on, then scored 521 in the second innings and won the match by 155 runs. In 1933 he published his autobiography, ''From Verse to Worse''. Returning from his second war-wound to the Western Front he records: "I have never liked 'travelling light', and so, though the amount of kit I arrived with may, in fact, have aroused a certain amount of astonishment, I was quickly forgiven by my commanding officer as well as by everyone else, when they found out that it included, amongst other things, a case of champagne." He published a second volume of memoirs, ''Sticky Wickets'', in 1950.


Family and personal life

He succeeded his father,
Hallam Tennyson, 2nd Baron Tennyson Hallam Tennyson, 2nd Baron Tennyson, (11 August 1852 – 2 December 1928) was a British aristocrat who served as the second governor-general of Australia, in office from 1903 to 1904. He was previously Governor of South Australia from 1899 to ...
, to the title in 1928, having been known before that as Hon. Lionel Tennyson. He married Hon. Clare Tennant in 1918. They had three sons before they divorced in 1928: *
Harold Tennyson, 4th Baron Tennyson Harold Christopher Tennyson, 4th Baron Tennyson (25 March 191919 October 1991), was a British peer. He was the eldest son of Lionel Tennyson, 3rd Baron Tennyson and Hon. Clare Tennant, his first marriage and her second. Harold was the great-g ...
(1919–1991), died unmarried *
Mark Tennyson, 5th Baron Tennyson Mark Aubrey Tennyson, 5th Baron Tennyson (28 March 1920 – 3 July 2006), was a British peer. He was the second son of Lionel Tennyson, 3rd Baron Tennyson, and the Hon. Clare Tennant. The great-grandson of poet Alfred, Lord Tennyson, he succee ...
(1920–2006), married Deline Celeste Budler but died without issue * Lionel Tennyson (1925–1925), died in infancy He was later married to Carroll Donner (née Elting) from 1934 until their divorce in 1943.


Notes


References


Works cited

* * *


External links

*
''From Verse To Worse'' by Lionel Tennyson (1933)
(digitised version)
Brief footage of Tennyson
from
British Pathe British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and cultur ...
(at 3.55, 4.14 and 7.00)
The Cricketer magazine article - The Hampshire prodigy
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tennyson, Lionel 1889 births 1951 deaths 3 England Test cricketers England Test cricket captains English cricketers Hampshire cricket captains Hampshire cricketers Wisden Cricketers of the Year People educated at Eton College Coldstream Guards officers British Army personnel of World War I Rifle Brigade officers Gentlemen cricketers British Army cricketers North v South cricketers Marylebone Cricket Club cricketers Lionel L. H. Tennyson's XI cricket team S. B. Joel's XI cricketers English cricketers of 1919 to 1945 20th-century English sportsmen Military personnel from the City of Westminster H. D. G. Leveson Gower's XI cricketers Marylebone Cricket Club South African Touring Team cricketers Cricketers from the City of Westminster People from Westminster