Montagu Henry Toller (1 January 1871 – 5 August 1948) 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 who played for both

Devon Devon ( , historically known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South West England. The most populous settlement in Devon is the city of Plymouth, followed by Devon's county town, the city of Exeter. Devon is ...

and

Somerset ( en, All The People of Somerset) , locator_map = , coordinates = , region = South West England , established_date = Ancient , established_by = , preceded_by = , origin = , lord_lieutenant_office =Lord Lieutenant of Somerset , lord_ ...

in the late 19th century. He made six first-class appearances for Somerset, all in 1897, but was predominantly a good

club cricket Club cricket is a mainly amateur, but still formal, form of the sport of cricket, usually involving teams playing in competitions at weekends or in the evening. There is a great deal of variation in game format although the Laws of Cricket are obs ...

er. In 1900, he was part of the Devon Wanderers team that represented Great Britain in the

1900 Summer Olympics The 1900 Summer Olympics (french: Jeux olympiques d'été de 1900, link=no), today officially known as the Games of the II Olympiad () and also known as Paris 1900, were an international multi-sport event that took place in Paris, France, from 1 ...

, the only time cricket has featured in the Olympics.

Life

Montagu Henry Toller was born in

Barnstaple Barnstaple ( or ) is a river-port town in North Devon, England, at the River Taw's lowest crossing point before the Bristol Channel. From the 14th century, it was licensed to export wool and won great wealth. Later it imported Irish wool, bu ...

on 1 January 1871, the son of William Henry Toller. He attended

Blundell's School Blundell's School is a co-educational day and boarding independent school in the English public school tradition, located in Tiverton, Devon. It was founded in 1604 under the will of Peter Blundell, one of the richest men in England at the tim ...

in Tiverton, where he played for both the cricket XI and the rugby XV. Like his father before him, he became a solicitor, but after marrying Harriet Jones in 1901, he assumed joint-management of the Royal & Fortescue Hotel in Barnstaple with his new wife. He took an active role in local politics, and was elected as an independent candidate to both the County and Town Councils. He later split from his wife, who maintained management of the hotel, while Toller moved to

Brighton Brighton () is a seaside resort and one of the two main areas of the City of Brighton and Hove in the county of East Sussex, England. It is located south of London. Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze A ...

where he once again practiced as a solicitor. He died after a short illness in Meon Beach,

Titchfield Titchfield is a village in southern Hampshire, by the River Meon. The village has a history stretching back to the 6th century. During the medieval period, the village operated a small port and market. Near to the village are the ruins of Titch ...

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 ...

, on 5 August 1948, aged 77.

Sporting career

Toller was described in an article about him in the ''Western Evening Herald'' as being "an adept" at both rugby and cricket, and was an all-round sportsman who also played tennis, golf and billiards to a respectable level. At cricket, Toller was a right-handed batsman and right-arm

fast bowler Fast bowling (also referred to as pace bowling) is one of two main approaches to bowling in the sport of cricket, the other being spin bowling. Practitioners of pace bowling are usually known as ''fast'' bowlers, ''quicks'', or ''pacemen''. T ...

, with a strong and sturdy physique. He was described by the Somerset cricket historian Stephen Hill as a prominent club cricketer who was a "leading light" for the Devon and Somerset Wanderers. He played second-class cricket for

between 1889 and 1895, during which time he was presented with many awards for his bowling and batting performances. During 1895 he was invited to play for

W. G. Grace William Gilbert Grace (18 July 1848 – 23 October 1915) was an English amateur cricketer who was important in the development of the sport and is widely considered one of its greatest players. He played first-class cricket for a record-equal ...

's team towards the end of the season, in which he scored 41 runs in the first innings. He had a successful trial with

in 1897, in which he scored 33 runs for "Sammy Woods' XI", and he subsequently made six first-class appearances for the county that season as an amateur. Hill describes his usage for Somerset as strange; in club cricket Toller was best regarded for his

fast bowling Fast bowling (also referred to as pace bowling) is one of two main approaches to bowling in the sport of cricket, the other being spin bowling. Practitioners of pace bowling are usually known as ''fast'' bowlers, ''quicks'', or ''pacemen''. T ...

, and yet he only bowled once for Somerset, taking one wicket for 15 runs against

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

. By the end of the 1897 season, ''

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 ...

'' magazine said that he had "proved an entire failure" for Somerset. His obituary in the ''North Devon Journal'' praised his rugby prowess for

Barnstaple RFC Barnstaple Rugby Football Club was established in 1877 and is a rugby union club based in Barnstaple, Devon. The club's first team play in the National League 2 West, the fourth tier of the English rugby union system, English rugby union league ...

, one of the prominent clubs in the south-west at the time. He played as a

three-quarter back Three-quarter back is the back-line positions of wing or centre in either rugby league or rugby union. See also *Rugby league positions *Rugby union positions *Half back (disambiguation) A halfback, half back, or half-back may refer to: * , in ru ...

, and was also capped at county level for

, for whom he first appeared in 1889. In the 1894–95 season, he achieved the rare feat of scoring three

drop goal A drop goal, field goal, or dropped goal is a method of scoring points in rugby union and rugby league and also, rarely, in American football and Canadian football. A drop goal is scored by drop kicking the ball (dropping the ball and then kicki ...

s in one match for Barnstaple. He was offered the captaincy of Barnstaple more than once, but declined it on each occasion.

Olympics

Toller was a member of the gold medal-winning Great Britain cricket team at the

, the only time cricket has featured in the Olympics. In the only game, against

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

, he scored two runs in the Great Britain first innings and did not bat in the second. He took seven wickets, all of them

bowled In cricket, the term bowled has several meanings. First, is the act of propelling the ball towards the wicket defended by a batsman. Second, it is a method of dismissing a batsman, by hitting the wicket with a ball delivered by the bowler. (Th ...

, while conceding only nine runs in the French second innings, helping Great Britain to victory with just five minutes to spare in the match.

Notes

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Toller, Montagu 1871 births People educated at Blundell's School 1948 deaths English cricketers English Olympic medallists Somerset cricketers Devon cricketers Olympic cricketers for Great Britain Cricketers at the 1900 Summer Olympics Olympic gold medallists for Great Britain Medalists at the 1900 Summer Olympics Sportspeople from Barnstaple English solicitors Cricketers from Devon