Sir Home Seton Charles Montagu Gordon, 12th Baronet Gordon of

Embo Embo ( gd, Eurabol, IPA: �iaɾəpɔɫ̪ is a village in the Highland Council Area in Scotland and the former postal county of Sutherland, about north-northeast of Dornoch. On 16 July 1988, Embo declared itself independent from the rest of the ...

Sutherland Sutherland ( gd, Cataibh) is a historic county, registration county and lieutenancy area in the Highlands of Scotland. Its county town is Dornoch. Sutherland borders Caithness and Moray Firth to the east, Ross-shire and Cromartyshire (later ...

(30 September 1871 – 9 September 1956 at

Rottingdean Rottingdean is a village in the city of Brighton and Hove, on the south coast of England. It borders the villages of Saltdean, Ovingdean and Woodingdean, and has a historic centre, often the subject of picture postcards. Name The name Rottingde ...

East Sussex East Sussex is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South East England on the English Channel coast. It is bordered by Kent to the north and east, West Sussex to the west, and Surrey to the north-west. The largest settlement in East Su ...

) was a journalist and author who was best known for his writing on

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 ...

. He contributed regularly to the magazine ''

The Cricketer ''The Cricketer'' is a monthly English cricket magazine providing writing and photography from international, county and club cricket. The magazine was founded in 1921 by Sir Pelham Warner, an ex-England captain turned cricket writer. Warner e ...

'' as well as writing numerous books on the subject.

Life and career

After completing his schooling 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 ...

in 1887, he became a journalist and writer and subsequently a publisher, at one time being the sole proprietor of Williams & Norgate Ltd. In addition to his own books, he contributed to annuals for county cricket clubs and also wrote for the ''

Encyclopædia Britannica The (Latin for "British Encyclopædia") is a general knowledge English-language encyclopaedia. It is published by Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.; the company has existed since the 18th century, although it has changed ownership various time ...

''.Haigh, p. 66. He was known on cricket grounds all over the country, recognisable by the red carnation that he always wore. His memories of cricket went back as far as 1878, when as a small boy he was taken to the Gentlemen of England v. 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) ...

match at

Prince's Cricket Ground Prince's Cricket Ground in Chelsea, London was a cricket ground, created by the brothers George and James Prince as part of the Prince's Club, on which 37 first-class matches were played between 1872 and 1878. The ground was built on in 1883. The ...

. He first went to

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 ...

in 1880, when he met

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 ...

. Later that season he watched the 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) ...

to be played in England, at

The Oval The Oval, currently known for sponsorship reasons as the Kia Oval, is an international cricket ground in Kennington, located in the borough of Lambeth, in south London. The Oval has been the home ground of Surrey County Cricket Club since ...

. He attended no fewer than seventy of the annual Oxford v. Cambridge games. He watched every Test match at Lord's from the first one in 1884 to the one in 1956, shortly before he died. He was an enthusiastic statistician but a somewhat inaccurate one, a fact noted by

Plum Warner Sir Pelham Francis Warner, (2 October 1873 – 30 January 1963), affectionately and better known as Plum Warner or "the Grand Old Man" of English cricket, was a Test cricketer and cricket administrator. He was knighted for services to sport i ...

in Sir Home's obituary in ''

''. He was friends with such great figures of the game as K. S. Ranjitsinhji, with whom he drove in a silver coach to the

Delhi Durbar The Delhi Durbar ( lit. "Court of Delhi") was an Indian imperial-style mass assembly organized by the British at Coronation Park, Delhi, India, to mark the succession of an Emperor or Empress of India. Also known as the Imperial Durbar, it was ...

Lord Hawke Martin Bladen Hawke, 7th Baron Hawke (16 August 1860 – 10 October 1938), generally known as Lord Hawke, was an English amateur cricketer active from 1881 to 1911 who played for Yorkshire and England. He was born in Willingham by Stow, near Ga ...

and

Lord Harris Colonel George Robert Canning Harris, 4th Baron Harris, (3 February 1851 – 24 March 1932), generally known as Lord Harris, was a British colonial administrator and Governor of Bombay. He was also an English amateur cricketer, mainly active f ...

. He collaborated with the latter two in editing the

Marylebone Cricket Club Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) is a cricket club founded in 1787 and based since 1814 at Lord's Cricket Ground, which it owns, in St John's Wood, London. The club was formerly the governing body of cricket retaining considerable global influence ...

's (MCC) ''Memorial Biography'' of W. G. Grace. He was the inaugural President of the London Club Cricket Conference from 1915 to 1919,"Sir Home Gordon", ''

'', Annual 1956-57, pp. 532–33. chairman of the Sports Conference in 1919, and held practically every honorary position for

Sussex Sussex (), from the Old English (), is a historic county in South East England that was formerly an independent medieval Anglo-Saxon kingdom. It is bounded to the west by Hampshire, north by Surrey, northeast by Kent, south by the English ...

, being their President in 1948. When young he played for MCC amateur sides, but never played

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 ...

. However, for his services to Sussex, he was given a county

cap A cap is a flat headgear, usually with a visor. Caps have crowns that fit very close to the head. They made their first appearance as early as 3200 BC. Caps typically have a visor, or no brim at all. They are popular in casual and informal se ...

, an old one belonging to A. E. R. Gilligan. Outside cricket, he held a post at the

Air Ministry The Air Ministry was a department of the Government of the United Kingdom with the responsibility of managing the affairs of the Royal Air Force, that existed from 1918 to 1964. It was under the political authority of the Secretary of State ...

in 1918 and was a member of the Committee of National Alliance of Employers and Employed from 1918 to 1919."Prominent British Gordons of Today"
/ref> He succeeded to the

Baronet A baronet ( or ; abbreviated Bart or Bt) or the female equivalent, a baronetess (, , or ; abbreviation Btss), is the holder of a baronetcy, a hereditary title awarded by the British Crown. The title of baronet is mentioned as early as the 14th ...

cy when his father died in 1906. As he had no children from either of his two marriages, the title, created by King Charles I in 1631, became extinct with his death.Haigh, p. 67.

References

Sources

* Haigh, G. (ed.) (2006) ''Peter the Lord's Cat'', Aurum Books: London. .

Bibliography

* ''Initiation Into Literature'',

Émile Faguet Auguste Émile Faguet (; 17 December 18477 June 1916) was a French author and literary critic. Biography Faguet was born at La Roche-sur-Yon, Vendée, and educated at the École normale supérieure in Paris. After teaching for some time in La R ...

& Sir Home Gordon (translator), Williams And Norgate (London), 1912. * ''The Memorial Biography of Dr.

'',

, Sir Home Gordon - eds., Constable, 1919. * ''That Test Match'', Duckworth & Co, 1921 (a novel). * ''Cricket Form at a Glance in This Century'', Duckworth, 1924. * ''Eton v. Harrow at Lord's'', Sir Home Gordon (ed.),

Bernard Darwin Bernard Richard Meirion Darwin CBE JP (7 September 1876 − 18 October 1961) a grandson of the British naturalist Charles Darwin, was a golf writer and high-standard amateur golfer. He was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame. Biography ...

Stanley Baldwin Stanley Baldwin, 1st Earl Baldwin of Bewdley, (3 August 186714 December 1947) was a British Conservative Party politician who dominated the government of the United Kingdom between the world wars, serving as prime minister on three occasions, ...

(intro.), Williams and Norgate, 1926. * ''Cricket Form at a Glance for Sixty Years: 1878-1937'', Arthur Barker Ltd. (London), 1938. * ''Background of Cricket'', Arthur Baker Ltd. (London), 1939. * ''Sussex County Cricket'', Convoy Publications, 1950.

External links

Obituary in ''Wisden Cricketers' Almanack'', 1957 edition
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Gordon, Sir Home 1871 births 1956 deaths Baronets in the Baronetage of Nova Scotia British male journalists Cricket historians and writers People educated at Eton College

Life and career

See also

References

Sources

Bibliography

External links