Robert Burnard Stewart (3 September 1856 – 12 September 1913) was a British and South African soldier and cricketer who played in

South Africa's 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 ...

first

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) ...

in 1889.

Life and career

Stewart was born in

Azamgarh Azamgarh is a city in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. It is the headquarters of Azamgarh division, which consists of Ballia, Mau and Azamgarh districts. Azamgarh is situated on the bank of Tamsa River (Tons). It is located east of the st ...

, in the United Provinces of

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

, and educated at

Wellington College Wellington College may refer to: *Wellington College, Berkshire, an independent school in Crowthorne, Berkshire, England ** Wellington College International Shanghai ** Wellington College International Tianjin * Wellington College, Wellington, Ne ...

in England, where he captained the First XI. He served as an officer with the

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...

in South Africa, and represented

King William's Town Qonce, formerly known as King William's Town, is a city in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa along the banks of the Buffalo River. The city is about northwest of the Indian Ocean port of East London. Qonce, with a population of around ...

, where he was stationed, in the

Champion Bat Tournament The Champion Bat Tournament was a cricket tournament played in the late 1800s in present-day South Africa. Rather than a cup, the winner of the tournament was presented with the "Champion Bat" – a cricket bat emblazoned with a silver crest. Con ...

. In the 1879–80 tournament he was the leading batsman; in the low-scoring final he scored a century and took seven wickets in King William's Town's innings victory over the team from

Port Elizabeth Gqeberha (), formerly Port Elizabeth and colloquially often referred to as P.E., is a major seaport and the most populous city in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. It is the seat of the Nelson Mandela Bay Metropolitan Municipality, Sou ...

. In the next Champion Bat Tournament, in 1884–85, he top-scored for King William's Town in all three matches. When the English team toured South Africa in 1888–89 Stewart played against the tourists for Cape Colony, the

Cape Mounted Rifles The Cape Mounted Riflemen were South African military units. There were two separate successive regiments of that name. To distinguish them, some military historians describe the first as the "imperial" Cape Mounted Riflemen (originally the ' ...

(two matches), and Eastern Province. He was one of the few local batsmen to reach double figures in these matches, although his highest score was only 25, which was also the top score in Eastern Province's first innings. Stewart played in the Test match that followed the Eastern Province match a few days later. As it was the first match in South Africa to be considered first-class, he and his team-mates all made their first-class and Test debuts in the same match. For Stewart it was his only first-class match. He batted at number eight and made 4 and 9, and took two catches. Stewart served with the Cape Mounted Riflemen in

Basutoland Basutoland was a British Crown colony that existed from 1884 to 1966 in present-day Lesotho. Though the Basotho (then known as Basuto) and their territory had been under British control starting in 1868 (and ruled by Cape Colony from 1871), th ...

in 1880 and was awarded a medal with clasp, and later served in the

Second Boer War The Second Boer War ( af, Tweede Vryheidsoorlog, , 11 October 189931 May 1902), also known as the Boer War, the Anglo–Boer War, or the South African War, was a conflict fought between the British Empire and the two Boer Republics (the Sout ...

, for which service he was awarded the

Queen's South Africa Medal The Queen's South Africa Medal is a British campaign medal awarded to British and Colonial military personnel, and to civilians employed in an official capacity, who served in the Second Boer War in South Africa. Altogether twenty-six clasps wer ...

with four clasps and the

King's South Africa Medal The King's South Africa Medal is a British campaign medal awarded to all British and Colonial military personnel who served in the Second Boer War in South Africa, and who were in the theatre on or after 1 January 1902 and who had completed 18 m ...

with two clasps.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Stewart, Robert 1856 births 1913 deaths South Africa Test cricketers South African cricketers Cape Colony army officers