Thomas Hayes Belcher (12 September 1847 — 26 November 1919) was an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

first-class cricketer, clergyman and schoolmaster. Belcher was born at

Faringdon Faringdon is a historic market town in the Vale of White Horse, Oxfordshire, England, south-west of Oxford, north-west of Wantage and east-north-east of Swindon. It extends to the River Thames in the north; the highest ground is on the Rid ...

in September 1847. He studied on a scholarship in classics at

The Queen's College, Oxford The Queen's College is a Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford, England. The college was founded in 1341 by Robert de Eglesfield in honour of Philippa of Hainault. It is distinguished by its pred ...

. While studying at Oxford, he 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 ...

for

Oxford University Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

on seven occasions in 1869–70. A right-arm roundarm fast bowler, Belcher took 20 wickets at an

average In ordinary language, an average is a single number taken as representative of a list of numbers, usually the sum of the numbers divided by how many numbers are in the list (the arithmetic mean). For example, the average of the numbers 2, 3, 4, 7, ...

of 20.57, with best figures of 4 for 22. Upon graduating from Oxford he took holy orders and became a schoolmaster. He initially taught at the

Hereford Cathedral School Hereford Cathedral School is an independent, co-educational day and boarding school for pupils of ages 3 to 18 years, from Nursery to Sixth Form. Its headmaster is a member of the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference. The school's premi ...

for two years, and for seven years thereafter he was the senior assistant master at

Malvern College Malvern College is an Independent school (United Kingdom), independent coeducational day and boarding school in Malvern, Worcestershire, Malvern, Worcestershire, England. It is a public school (United Kingdom), public school in the British sen ...

. In 1881, he was elected to the post of principal of

Brighton College Brighton College is an independent, co-educational boarding and day school for boys and girls aged 3 to 18 in Brighton, England. The school has three sites: Brighton College (the senior school, ages 11 to 18); Brighton College Preparatory Sc ...

, a role he held until 1892. He retired in 1892 and upon doing so he became the rector of St James' Church at

Bramley, Hampshire Bramley is a village and parish in Hampshire, England. In the 2001 census it had a population of 3,348. It has a village shop, bakery, estate agency, pub – The Bramley Inn (opened in 1897 as The Six Bells) – and a railway station. Also, ...

. He remained in the post of rector until his death in November 1919. His son,

Gordon Gordon may refer to: People * Gordon (given name), a masculine given name, including list of persons and fictional characters * Gordon (surname), the surname * Gordon (slave), escaped to a Union Army camp during the U.S. Civil War * Clan Gordon, ...

, also played first-class cricket. Gordon and two other sons, Harold and Raymond were killed in the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, while his son Arthur was the headmaster of Brighton College in 1933. Thomas Belcher's sister Marian Belcher (1849–1898) was headmistress at Bedford High School.

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* {{DEFAULTSORT:Belcher, Thomas 1847 births 1919 deaths People from Faringdon Alumni of The Queen's College, Oxford English cricketers Headmasters of Brighton College Oxford University cricketers Schoolteachers from Berkshire 19th-century English Anglican priests 20th-century English Anglican priests People from Bramley, Hampshire