John Wilfred Findlay (27 November 1891 – 1 June 1951) was a New Zealand cricketer, soldier and businessman.

Family

Wilfred Findlay was the eldest of three sons of John Findlay, a New Zealand KC and politician who became a

Cabinet minister A minister is a politician who heads a ministry, making and implementing decisions on policies in conjunction with the other ministers. In some jurisdictions the head of government is also a minister and is designated the ‘prime minister’, � ...

and was knighted in 1911. The second son, James Lloyd Findlay, was an officer who served in both world wars, and the third son, Ian Calcutt Findlay, died on active service 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 ...

Cricket career

Findlay attended

Wellington College, Wellington Wellington College, is a state-run boys secondary school in Wellington, New Zealand. It is situated in 12 hectares of green belt land in the suburb of Mount Victoria, in the vicinity of the Basin Reserve and Government House. The school was fou ...

, where he played in the cricket team. He showed promise in Wellington senior cricket as a fast bowler of genuine pace. He made his first-class debut shortly after he turned 19, and played four matches for Wellington between December 1910 and December 1911, taking 13 wickets at the low average of 15.30 and at a high strike-rate of a wicket every 33 deliveries.

Later life

Family and business commitments took Findlay to England in 1912. He enlisted in 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 ...

shortly after the outbreak of

World War I 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 ...

in 1914 and served throughout the war, first with the

King's Royal Rifles The King's Royal Rifle Corps was an infantry rifle regiment of the British Army that was originally raised in British North America as the Royal American Regiment during the phase of the Seven Years' War in North America known in the United St ...

and then with the

Machine Gun Corps The Machine Gun Corps (MGC) was a corps of the British Army, formed in October 1915 in response to the need for more effective use of machine guns on the Western Front in the First World War. The Heavy Branch of the MGC was the first to use tank ...

, ending with the rank of

major Major (commandant in certain jurisdictions) is a military rank of commissioned officer status, with corresponding ranks existing in many military forces throughout the world. When used unhyphenated and in conjunction with no other indicators ...

. On 23 December 1919, in Loughton,

Essex Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and G ...

, he married Miss Helen Blagden Rich of New York. He was working in insurance in London at the time. He spent most of the rest of his life in Britain and finally the United States, where he was an executive in the insurance industry in New York.

References

External links

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Wilfred Findlay
at CricketArchive {{DEFAULTSORT:Findlay, Wilfred 1891 births 1951 deaths People educated at Wellington College, Wellington Wellington cricketers New Zealand cricketers Cricketers from Wellington City New Zealand military personnel of World War I Machine Gun Corps officers King's Royal Rifle Corps officers New Zealand businesspeople Businesspeople in insurance