William James Vincent Tomlinson (10 August 1901 – 16 May 1984) was an English schoolmaster and

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 who played first-class cricket for

Derbyshire Derbyshire ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands, England. It includes much of the Peak District National Park, the southern end of the Pennine range of hills and part of the National Forest. It borders Greater Manchester to the nor ...

and

Cambridge University , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , established = , other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...

from 1920 to 1924. Tomlinson was born at

Winshill Winshill is an area to the east of the town of Burton upon Trent, in the borough of East Staffordshire, England. Flanked to the north and east by the South Derbyshire border, historically the parish of Winshill had always been part of Derbyshir ...

the son of

Robert George Tomlinson Robert George Tomlinson (30 March 1869 – 13 January 1949) was an English brewer and cricketer who played for Derbyshire between 1891 and 1893 and was later umpire in first-class matches in Scotland. Tomlinson was born at Winshill, Derbyshire, ...

and his wife Christiana Gibson Bowie. His father was a director of Salt's Brewery in

Burton-on-Trent Burton upon Trent, also known as Burton-on-Trent or simply Burton, is a market town in the borough of East Staffordshire in the county of Staffordshire, England, close to the border with Derbyshire. In 2011, it had a population of 72,299. Th ...

and had also played cricket for Derbyshire. He was educated at

Felsted School (Keep your Faith) , established = , closed = , type = Public schoolIndependent day and boarding , religion = Church of England , president = , head_label = Headmaster , head = Chris Townsend , r_head_l ...

and

Emmanuel College, Cambridge Emmanuel College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college was founded in 1584 by Sir Walter Mildmay, Chancellor of the Exchequer to Elizabeth I. The site on which the college sits was once a priory for Dominican mon ...

. Tomlinson made his first-class debut for Derbyshire in August 1920 when he bowled 5-53 against Sussex, taking the wickets of

Harold Harold may refer to: People * Harold (given name), including a list of persons and fictional characters with the name * Harold (surname), surname in the English language * András Arató, known in meme culture as "Hide the Pain Harold" Arts a ...

and Arthur Gilligan and

Maurice Tate Maurice William Tate (30 May 1895 – 18 May 1956) was an English cricketer of the 1920s and 1930s and the leader of England's Test bowling attack for a long time during this period. He was also the first Sussex cricketer to take a wicket with ...

. However that was to remain his best performance. He played three more games in the season when Derbyshire failed to win a match. He played six games in 1921 when under

Guy Jackson Guy Rolf Jackson (23 June 1896 – 21 February 1966) was an English cricketer who played first-class cricket for Derbyshire between 1919 and 1936, being captain for nine years. Jackson was born at Ankerbold, Tupton, Derbyshire, the son of Bri ...

the team moved up to 12th in the Championship. In 1922 he played two games for Cambridge University and twelve games for Derbyshire who reached 11th in the championship, accompanying

Wilfred Hill-Wood Sir Wilfred William Hill Hill-Wood (8 September 1901 – 10 October 1980) was an English financier and cricketer who played first-class cricket for Derbyshire between 1919 and 1936, as well as for Cambridge University and Marylebone Cricket Clu ...

in both teams. In 1923 he played two games for Derbyshire and ten for Cambridge University culminating in the

Varsity match A varsity match is a fixture (especially of a sporting event or team) between two university teams, particularly Oxford and Cambridge. The Scottish Varsity rugby match between the University of St Andrews and the University of Edinburgh at Murray ...

which that year, was nicknamed the "Thunderstorm match". Oxford ran up a high score before overnight storms created a very sticky wicket and the Cambridge team which included

Gubby Allen Sir George Oswald Browning "Gubby" Allen CBE (31 July 190229 November 1989) was a cricketer who captained England in eleven Test matches. In first-class matches, he played for Middlesex and Cambridge University. A fast bowler and hard-hittin ...

and Claude Ashton were quickly dismissed in two innings. Tomlinson played one game for Derbyshire in 1924 and then stayed with club cricket. He was a right-arm medium pace bowler and took 58 first-class wickets with an average of 32.24 and a best performance of 5-53. He was a right-hand batsman and played 65 innings in 38 first-class matches with a top score of 66 and an average of 14.94. After university, Tomlinson joined the teaching staff of St Cyprian's School preparatory school in

Eastbourne Eastbourne () is a town and seaside resort in East Sussex, on the south coast of England, east of Brighton and south of London. Eastbourne is immediately east of Beachy Head, the highest chalk sea cliff in Great Britain and part of the la ...

and played club cricket for

Free Foresters Free Foresters Cricket Club is an English amateur cricket club, established in 1856 for players from the Midland counties of England. It is a 'wandering' (or nomadic) club, having no home ground. The Free Foresters were founded by the Rev. Will ...

, Eastbourne, and for the school's St Cyprian's Cygnets team comprising staff, parents, old boys and friends. In 1933 he married Rosemary Vaughan Wilkes, the eldest daughter of the proprietors and in 1936 succeeded his father-in-law as headmaster. In 1939 the school buildings in Eastbourne were burnt down, and the school decamped to Midhurst, until the premises were requisitioned by the army in 1940. After a period in Gloucestershire, the school joined

Summer Fields School Summer Fields is a fee-paying boys' independent day and boarding Preparatory school (UK), preparatory school in Summertown, Oxford. It was originally called Summerfield and used to have a subsidiary school, Summerfields, St Leonards-on-Sea (kn ...

in Oxford. In 1948 Tomlinson took a headmastership again at

Norwich Norwich () is a cathedral city and district of Norfolk, England, of which it is the county town. Norwich is by the River Wensum, about north-east of London, north of Ipswich and east of Peterborough. As the seat of the See of Norwich, with ...

Langley Langley may refer to: People * Langley (surname), a common English surname, including a list of notable people with the name * Dawn Langley Simmons (1922–2000), English author and biographer * Elizabeth Langley (born 1933), Canadian perfor ...

Junior School. He retired to

Elsing Elsing is a village and civil parish in the English county of Norfolk. The village is located north-east of Dereham and north-west of Norwich, close to the River Wensum. History Elsing's name is of Anglo-Saxon origin and derives from the Old ...

Norfolk Norfolk () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in East Anglia in England. It borders Lincolnshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the west and south-west, and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the No ...

where he died aged 82. Tomlinson's sister Wanda married Keith Bullen a schoolmaster and poet in

Cairo Cairo ( ; ar, القاهرة, al-Qāhirah, ) is the capital of Egypt and its largest city, home to 10 million people. It is also part of the largest urban agglomeration in Africa, the Arab world and the Middle East: The Greater Cairo metro ...

and founded Manor House School in Egypt.Manor House School
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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tomlinson, William 1901 births 1984 deaths People educated at Felsted School Alumni of Emmanuel College, Cambridge Derbyshire cricketers Cambridge University cricketers English cricketers Free Foresters cricketers