Charles James Barnett (31 October 1796–31 December 1882) was an English amateur

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 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 ...

from 1820 to 1837 and a Whig politician who sat in the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. ...

from 1831 to 1835. Barnett was born in Kensington, LondonBritish Census 1881 RG11 1076/106 p27 the son of James Barnett, a banker and politician, and his wife Ann. Mainly associated with

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), Barnett made 29 known appearances in first-class matches. He represented the Gentlemen in the

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 ...

series. In 1825, Barnett became the first known president of MCC. This is an annual appointment and he was succeeded by

Lord Frederick Beauclerk The Reverend Lord Frederick de Vere Beauclerk (8 May 1773 – 22 April 1850), a 19th-century Anglican priest, was an outstanding but controversial English first-class cricketer, the leading "amateur" player of the Napoleonic period. Lord Freder ...

for 1826. There may have been earlier presidents but there is no record of them and it was on 28 July 1825 that the

Lord's pavilion The Lord's Pavilion is a cricket pavilion at Lord's Cricket Ground in London, England. Designed by Thomas Verity and built in 1889–1890, the pavilion has achieved Grade II* listed heritage designation. Like the rest of Lord's, the pavilion is o ...

was burned down with the loss of all club records. Barnett was elected Whig

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

(MP) for

Maidstone Maidstone is the largest Town status in the United Kingdom, town in Kent, England, of which it is the county town. Maidstone is historically important and lies 32 miles (51 km) east-south-east of London. The River Medway runs through the c ...

in 1831 and held the seat until 1835. Barnet was a J.P. and Deputy Lieutenant and in 1881 was living in Brighton. He died at Brighton at the age of 86. Barnett married Sabine Louisa Curtis daughter of Sir William Curtis Bt at Marylebone on 29 June 1839. The first of their seven recorded children, William Barnett, was born at

Tetworth Hall Tetworth Hall is a large country house between Ascot and Sunninghill in the English county of Berkshire. It has been listed Grade II on the National Heritage List for England since March 1972. The former estate lodge of the hall is also listed ...

, in Potton, Bedfordshire, where the family was then living, late in 1841.

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* 1796 births 1882 deaths English cricketers English cricketers of 1787 to 1825 English cricketers of 1826 to 1863 Marylebone Cricket Club cricketers Gentlemen cricketers Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for English constituencies UK MPs 1831–1832 UK MPs 1832–1835 Whig (British political party) MPs for English constituencies The Bs cricketers Non-international England cricketers Marylebone Cricket Club Second 10 with 1 Other cricketers Marylebone Cricket Club First 9 with 3 Others cricketers Presidents of the Marylebone Cricket Club {{England-cricket-bio-1790s-stub