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 one of three or more days' scheduled duration between two sides of eleven players each and is officiall ...

er who captained

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 ...

and

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. 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 his ...

and the son of the Governor-General of Australia, he succeeded his father to the title in 1928, having been known before that as "The Hon Lionel Tennyson". He should not be confused with his uncle, after whom he was named, who was also "The Hon Lionel Tennyson".

Life and career

As a schoolboy at

Eton College Eton College () is a public school in Eton, Berkshire, England. It was founded in 1440 by Henry VI under the name ''Kynge's College of Our Ladye of Eton besyde Windesore'',Nevill, p. 3 ff. intended as a sister institution to King's College, C ...

, Tennyson was a fast bowler, but by the time he took up regular first-class cricket with Hampshire in 1913, he bowled very rarely. He was a

Wisden Cricketer of the Year The ''Wisden'' Cricketers of the Year are cricketers selected for the honour by the annual publication ''Wisden Cricketers' Almanack'', based primarily on their "influence on the previous English season". The award began in 1889 with the naming ...

in 1914. During

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

he served with

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 France. He was

Mentioned in Despatches To be mentioned in dispatches (or despatches, MiD) 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 ...

twice and three times wounded. His two younger brothers were killed in the war. Tennyson played nine

Test match Test match in some sports refers to a sporting contest between national representative teams and may refer to: * Test cricket * Test match (indoor cricket) * Test match (rugby union) * Test match (rugby league) * Test match (association football) ...

es for England, five of them on the tour of

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

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 ...

in 1913/14. In 1921, England having lost six Test matches in succession to the

Australians Australians, colloquially known as Aussies, are the citizens, nationals and individuals associated with the country of Australia. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or ethno-cultural. For most Australians, several (or all) ...

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 venue in St John's Wood, London. Named after its founder, Thomas Lord, it is owned by Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) and is the home of Middlesex County Cricket Club, the England and ...

, 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 Tasmania, Victoria, Lancashire and Australia, as well as being an Australian rules footballer who played with Launceston Football Club, Essendon Footb ...

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 Headingle ...

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" was first used in the 1930s by Alec Waugh in a ...

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 county in the West Midlands region of England. The county town is Warwick, and the largest town is Nuneaton. The county is famous for being the birthplace of William Shakespeare at Stratford-upon-Avon an ...

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. He was appointed Honorary Colonel of

51st (London) Heavy Anti-Aircraft Regiment, Royal Artillery 51st (London) Heavy Anti-Aircraft Regiment was a volunteer air defence unit of Britain's Territorial Army from 1922 until 1955. During World War II it served in Norway, The Blitz, North Africa (when detachments defended Crete and Tobruk), and fin ...

(a Territorial Army unit based in

Chelsea, London Chelsea is an affluent area in west London, England, due south-west of Charing Cross by approximately 2.5 miles. It lies on the north bank of the River Thames and for postal purposes is part of the south-western postal area. Chelsea histori ...

) on 9 August 1931 and held the position until 1947. He married

Clare Tennant Clarissa Madeline Georgiana Felicite Tennant (13 July 1896 – 3 September 1960), known as Clare Tennant, later Clare Tennyson and Clare Beck, was an English socialite, prominent in early 20th century high society in London. Early life Clare was ...

in 1918. They had three sons before they divorced in 1928. He was later married to Carroll Elting (formerly Donner) from 1934 until their divorce in 1943.

References

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. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

(at 3.55, 4.14 and 7.00) {{DEFAULTSORT:Tennyson, Lionel 1889 births 1951 deaths Barons Tennyson 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 Military personnel from London H. D. G. Leveson Gower's XI cricketers Eldest sons of British hereditary barons Marylebone Cricket Club South African Touring Team cricketers