Oswald Wykeham Cornwallis (16 March 1894 – 28 January 1974) was an English Royal Navy officer and amateur

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. He was born in 1894 at Linton Park in Kent, the third son of Mabel and Fiennes Cornwallis. His father was the Member of Parliament for Maidstone and would later become a

peer Peer may refer to: Sociology * Peer, an equal in age, education or social class; see Peer group * Peer, a member of the peerage; related to the term "peer of the realm" Computing * Peer, one of several functional units in the same layer of a net ...

.Captain Hon. Oswald Wykeham Cornwallis
The Peerage. Retrieved 2017-05-16. He served in both the First and Second World Wars. Cornwallis served in the Navy in both world wars, rising to the rank of

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

. He played first-class cricket for the Navy between 1920 and 1926.

Naval career

Cornwallis was educated at Royal Naval College, Osborne and Royal Naval College, Dartmouth before being commissioned in the Royal Navy as a

Midshipman A midshipman is an officer of the lowest rank, in the Royal Navy, United States Navy, and many Commonwealth navies. Commonwealth countries which use the rank include Canada (Naval Cadet), Australia, Bangladesh, Namibia, New Zealand, South Afr ...

in 1911.Royal Navy (RN) Officers 1939-1945
Retrieved 2017-05-16. He served during the First World War, rising to the rank of lieutenant during the war, and was awarded an

OBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

in 1919 as a result of his war service on HMS ''Caroline'' in the 4th Light Cruiser Squadron. After the war he was promoted to lieutenant commander and then, in 1928, to

commander Commander (commonly abbreviated as Cmdr.) is a common naval officer rank. Commander is also used as a rank or title in other formal organizations, including several police forces. In several countries this naval rank is termed frigate captain. ...

and took command of HMS ''Scarborough'' between 1933 and 1935. At the beginning of the Second World War, Cornwallis was serving in the Admiralty in Southampton as liaison officer for the Royal Naval Reserve and Merchant Navy. During the war he served as the deputy director of Naval Equipment, stationed at HMS ''President'' in London. He retired from the navy with the rank of

in 1944.Cornwallis, Captain Oswald Wyckham
Obituaries in 1974, '' Wisden Cricketers' Almanack'', 1975. Retrieved 2017-05-16.

Cricket career

Cornwallis made his first-class cricket debut for the Royal Navy against the Army at Lord's in 1920. Cornwallis would play three matches for the Royal Navy, the last of which came against the Army, also at Lord's in 1926.Oswald Cornwallis
CricketArchive. Retrieved 2017-05-16. Cornwallis also represented Hampshire in one first-class match in 1921 against Kent, a match in which his brother Stanley Cornwallis played for Kent. In his only first-class match for the club Cornwallis was absent in both Hampshire's innings. His brother bowled in Hampshire's first innings, but was himself absent for both Kent's innings and Hampshire's second innings. Their absence was allowed following the death of their brother, Captain Fiennes Wykeham Mann Cornwallis who was killed in the Ballyturin House Ambush near Gort in

County Galway "Righteousness and Justice" , anthem = () , image_map = Island of Ireland location map Galway.svg , map_caption = Location in Ireland , area_footnotes = , area_total_km2 = ...

during the

Irish War of Independence The Irish War of Independence () or Anglo-Irish War was a guerrilla war fought in Ireland from 1919 to 1921 between the Irish Republican Army (IRA, the army of the Irish Republic) and British forces: the British Army, along with the quasi-mil ...

by the Irish Republican Army.Lewis P (2014) ''For Kent and Country'', pp. 136–141. Brighton: Reveille Press.Ballyturin (or Ballyturn) Ambush, Gort, Galway
newspaper report identified as being from the ''

Irish Independent The ''Irish Independent'' is an Irish daily newspaper and online publication which is owned by Independent News & Media (INM), a subsidiary of Mediahuis. The newspaper version often includes glossy magazines. Traditionally a broadsheet new ...

'', 1921-05-17, The Auxiliaries website. Retrieved 2017-05-16. It is likely that Oswald never actually took to the field for Hampshire.Capt Fiennes Wykeham Mann Cornwallis MC
Unidentified contemporary newspaper report published on The Cairo Gang website. Retrieved 2017-05-16.Isaacs V (2000

CricInfo ESPN cricinfo (formerly known as Cricinfo or CricInfo) is a sports news website exclusively for the game of cricket. The site features news, articles, live coverage of cricket matches (including liveblogs and scorecards), and ''StatsGuru'', a d ...

, 2000-04-30. Retrieved 2017-05-16.

Family and later life

Cornwallis was the son of Conservative politician and Member of Parliament for Maidstone Fiennes Cornwallis, 1st Baron Cornwallis. His brother Stanley Cornwallis served as a cavalry officer in the First World War and went on to captain

Kent County Cricket Club Kent County Cricket Club is one of the eighteen first-class county clubs within the domestic cricket structure of England and Wales. It represents the historic county of Kent. A club representing the county was first founded in 1842 but Ke ...

from 1924 to 1926. His oldest brother, Fiennes Cornwallis, was killed in 1921 during the

. Cornwallis married Venetia Digby, the daughter of

Edward Digby, 10th Baron Digby Edward Henry Trafalgar Digby, 10th Baron Digby (21 October 1846 – 11 May 1920), also 4th Baron Digby in the Peerage of Great Britain, was a British peer and Conservative Party (UK), Conservative Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), Member of ...

, in 1923. The couple had three children. Cornwallis died in

Froxfield, Hampshire Froxfield Green (formerly Froxfield) is a village in the East Hampshire district of Hampshire, England. It is north-west of Petersfield, and lies just north of the A272 road. History Earthworks which run north–south and pass along the west ...

on 28 January 1974.Oswald Cornwallis

. Retrieved 2017-05-16.

References

External links

Biography of Oswald Wykeham Cornwalls, plotted on the Jutland Interactive Map of the NMRN
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cornwallis, Oswald 1894 births People from Linton, Kent English cricketers Royal Navy cricketers Hampshire cricketers People educated at the Royal Naval College, Osborne Military personnel from Kent Graduates of Britannia Royal Naval College Officers of the Order of the British Empire Younger sons of barons 1974 deaths Royal Navy officers Royal Navy officers of World War I Royal Navy officers of World War II Cricketers from Kent Royal Navy captains