Thomas Beagley (5 October 1789 – 21 February 1858) was an English

professional A professional is a member of a profession or any person who works in a specified professional activity. The term also describes the standards of education and training that prepare members of the profession with the particular knowledge and skil ...

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 had two brothers

Henry Henry may refer to: People *Henry (given name) *Henry (surname) * Henry Lau, Canadian singer and musician who performs under the mononym Henry Royalty * Portuguese royalty ** King-Cardinal Henry, King of Portugal ** Henry, Count of Portugal, ...

and

John John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Second ...

who also 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 ...

. He was arguably the most talented of the trio, playing for Hampshire, Surrey, Suffolk,

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

and the MCC during his 23-year playing career. Beagley was regarded as one of the greatest hitters of a ball in England in the 1820s up to the early 1830s.

Early life

Born into a working-class family to Stephen and Mary Beagley (née Gould), Beagley was baptised four days after his birth, on 9 November 1789. His family had lived in Farringdon since as far back as 1692, and in the

Alton Alton may refer to: People *Alton (given name) *Alton (surname) Places Australia *Alton National Park, Queensland * Alton, Queensland, a town in the Shire of Balonne Canada * Alton, Ontario *Alton, Nova Scotia New Zealand * Alton, New Zealand, ...

area as far back as 1605. He had some roots in other Hampshire settlements, such as

Hartley Mauditt Hartley Mauditt is an abandoned village in the East Hampshire district of Hampshire, England. It is south of the village of East Worldham, and southeast of Alton, just east of the B3006 road. It is in the civil parish of Worldham. The nearest r ...

and

Bentworth Bentworth is a village and civil parish in the East Hampshire district of Hampshire, England. The nearest town is Alton, which lies about east of the village. The parish covers an area of and at its highest point is King's Hill, above sea ...

, and was connected to families such as Fry, Carter, Page, Russell and Grant.

Career

Beagley was mainly associated with

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 ...

and made 70 known appearances in first-class matches from 1816 to 1839.

Arthur Haygarth Arthur Haygarth (4 August 1825 – 1 May 1903) was a noted amateur cricketer who became one of cricket's most significant historians. He played first-class cricket for the Marylebone Cricket Club and Sussex between 1844 and 1861, as well as num ...

, ''Scores & Biographies'', Volume 1 (1744-1826), Lillywhite, 1862 He was a specialist batsman whose highest career score was 113 *, which also happened to be the first century in a

Gentlemen v Players Gentlemen v Players was a long-running series of English first-class cricket matches. Two matches were played in 1806, but the fixture was not played again until 1819. It became an annual event, usually played at least twice each season, exc ...

match. He made his debut at

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 ...

against the MCC for Hampshire, making a single run in the first innings, and 19 in the second. In his final match, Beagley made a total of 9 over two innings for England, against the MCC. Beagley represented

All-England The All England Open Badminton Championships is the world's oldest badminton tournament, held annually in England. With the introduction of the Badminton World Federation, BWF's latest grading system, it was given BWF Super Series, Super Series st ...

during the

roundarm trial matches The roundarm trial matches were a series of cricket matches between Sussex and All-England during the 1827 English cricket season. Their purpose was to help the MCC, as the game's lawgivers, to decide if roundarm bowling should be legalised or i ...

, representing the side in all three matches. Come the end of his career, his batting average was 17.10, having scored 1916 runs in 127 innings, including 15 not outs. Beagley represented Hampshire,

Suffolk Suffolk () is a ceremonial county of England in East Anglia. It borders Norfolk to the north, Cambridgeshire to the west and Essex to the south; the North Sea lies to the east. The county town is Ipswich; other important towns include Lowes ...

Surrey Surrey () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South East England, bordering Greater London to the south west. Surrey has a large rural area, and several significant urban areas which form part of the Greater London Built-up Area. ...

The Bs The Bs was an occasional team that played first-class cricket in the first half of the 19th century in matches against All-England and Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC). The team ostensibly consisted of players whose surname began with the letter B gi ...

, 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 ...

(MCC),

Godalming Godalming is a market town and civil parish in southwest Surrey, England, around southwest of central London. It is in the Borough of Waverley, at the confluence of the Rivers Wey and Ock. The civil parish covers and includes the settleme ...

, England, and the South (not mentioning less notable clubs and sides). Even in his twilight years, Beagley represented the South three times in the North v South series, including the inaugural one in 1836.

References

1789 births 1858 deaths English cricketers of 1787 to 1825 English cricketers of 1826 to 1863 English cricketers Godalming Cricket Club cricketers Hampshire cricketers Left-Handed v Right-Handed cricketers Married v Single cricketers Marylebone Cricket Club cricketers Non-international England cricketers North v South cricketers Players cricketers Suffolk cricketers The Bs cricketers Marylebone Cricket Club First 8 with 3 Others cricketers Cricketers from Hampshire {{England-cricket-bio-1780s-stub