Philip Oliphant Kington (17 December 1832 – 2 July 1892) was an English businessman and landowner who inherited a Scottish clan chiefdom and also played a single

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 ...

game in

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

. From 1867, when he inherited

Ardblair Castle Ardblair Castle is an L-plan castle (with an added wing), dating from the 16th century, around west of Blairgowrie in Perth and Kinross, Scotland.Coventry Martin (1997) ''The Castles of Scotland''. Goblinshead. p54 This castle is the subject of ...

in Scotland from his maternal Oliphant relatives, he took the triple-barrelled name "Kington-Blair-Oliphant". He was born at

Clifton Clifton may refer to: People *Clifton (surname) *Clifton (given name) Places Australia * Clifton, Queensland, a town **Shire of Clifton *Clifton, New South Wales, a suburb of Wollongong *Clifton, Western Australia Canada *Clifton, Nova Scotia ...

Bristol Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...

and died at

Datchet Datchet is a village and civil parish in the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead in Berkshire, England, located on the north bank of the River Thames. Historically part of Buckinghamshire, and the Stoke Hundred, the village was eventually tr ...

, then in

Berkshire Berkshire ( ; in the 17th century sometimes spelt phonetically as Barkeshire; abbreviated Berks.) is a historic county in South East England. One of the home counties, Berkshire was recognised by Queen Elizabeth II as the Royal County of Berk ...

, now in

Buckinghamshire Buckinghamshire (), abbreviated Bucks, is a ceremonial county in South East England that borders Greater London to the south-east, Berkshire to the south, Oxfordshire to the west, Northamptonshire to the north, Bedfordshire to the north-ea ...

. Kington was the son of Thomas Kington of

Charlton House Charlton House is a Jacobean building in Charlton, within the Royal Borough of Greenwich in south-east London. Originally it was a residence for a nobleman associated with the Stuart royal family. It later served as a wartime hospital, then ...

, Wraxall in north

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_ ...

; he was educated at

Harrow School (The Faithful Dispensation of the Gifts of God) , established = (Royal Charter) , closed = , type = Public schoolIndependent schoolBoarding school , religion = Church of E ...

and in 1851 he matriculated at

Trinity College, Cambridge Trinity College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by Henry VIII, King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any college at either Cambridge ...

, although there is no record that he completed a degree at

Cambridge University , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , established = , other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...

. He played cricket at Harrow, and appeared in the

Eton v Harrow The Eton v Harrow cricket match is an annual match between public school rivals Eton College and Harrow School. It is one of the longest-running annual sporting fixtures in the world and is the last annual school cricket match still to be pla ...

match in 1851, but there is no evidence that he played at all at Cambridge. In January 1855, he was named as one of the founding "resident members" of the new

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

, Australia branch of Miles and Kington, the family firm and a

-based company of "General Agents and Commission Merchants", alongside William Augustus Mackworth, who had earlier played first-class cricket for

and

Manchester Cricket Club Manchester Cricket Club was founded in 1816 and was a direct forerunner of Lancashire County Cricket Club which was founded in 1864. Manchester matches are classified with first-class cricket between 1844 and 1858, after which it was superseded by ...

. Both Mackworth and Kington were elected members of the Melbourne Chamber of Commerce in May 1855. Kington was also elected to the committee of the

Melbourne Cricket Club The Melbourne Cricket Club (MCC) is a sports club based in Melbourne, Australia. It was founded in 1838 and is one of the oldest sports clubs in Australia. The MCC is responsible for management and development of the Melbourne Cricket Ground ...

in October 1855. The big match of the 1855/56 cricket season in Melbourne was a projected first game against a team from

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

; this was later expanded to a match between the two colonies of

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

and

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

and Kington was one of five Melbourne Cricket Club players selected for the Victoria team. The match, later regarded as first-class, was very low scoring; Kington was one of only three Victoria players to reach double figures in the game, scoring 12 not out in the first innings, but being out for 0 in the second – he also kept wicket in the second New South Wales innings. Kington remained with the Melbourne Cricket Club the following year but then appears to have returned to England; he is recorded in a minor match in the 1858 season and then in others across the 1860s, but he did not play first-class cricket again. He inherited Ardblair Castle in 1867 and with it responsibilities within a branch of

Clan Oliphant Clan Oliphant is a Highland Scottish clan. History Origins of the clan Although this remains the subject of ongoing research the earliest member of this Clan known to date is Roger Olifard, who witnessed a foundation charter to the Clunic prio ...

; by the time of his death in 1892, however, he was living at Datchet Lodge, Datchet. He left £21,000 in his will and was buried at Wraxall.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kington, Philip 1832 births 1892 deaths English cricketers Victoria cricketers People educated at Harrow School Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge Melbourne Cricket Club cricketers Cricketers from Bristol