Henry Arkwright (16 December 1837 – 13 October 1866) was an English amateur

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 ...

er. He made seventeen appearances between 1858 and 1866. He is one of only three cricketers to have taken 18 first-class

wickets In cricket, the term wicket has several meanings: * It is one of the two sets of three stumps and two bails at either end of the pitch. The fielding team's players can hit the wicket with the ball in a number of ways to get a batsman out. * ...

in a match.

Early life and cricket career

Henry Arkwright was born in

Hampton Court Castle Hampton Court Castle, also known as Hampton Court, is a castellated country house in the English county of Herefordshire. The house is in the parish of Hope under Dinmore south of Leominster and is a Grade I listed building, which is the hi ...

, Herefordshire, the fourth son of John Arkwright, and the great-grandson of Sir

Richard Arkwright Sir Richard Arkwright (23 December 1732 – 3 August 1792) was an English inventor and a leading entrepreneur during the early Industrial Revolution. He is credited as the driving force behind the development of the spinning frame, known as t ...

. He was educated at

Harrow School (The Faithful Dispensation of the Gifts of God) , established = (Royal Charter) , closed = , type = Public schoolIndependent schoolBoarding school , religion = Church of E ...

, and played in the school cricket team for three years, from 1855 to 1857. He twice played in the annual match against Eton, claiming nine wickets in an innings victory in 1855, and eight wickets in a ten wicket victory in 1857. He also represented the school against 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) in 1856, claiming nine wickets. On completion of his studies at Harrow, he went up to

Trinity College, Cambridge Trinity College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by Henry VIII, King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any college at either Cambridge ...

. He made his first-class debut for the university during his first year, taking five wickets in his only bowling innings against Cambridge Town Club. He claimed six wickets in an innings against the MCC in his next match, but failed to take any wickets in the

University Match The University Match in a cricketing context is generally understood to refer to the annual fixture between Oxford University Cricket Club and Cambridge University Cricket Club. From 2001, as part of the reorganisation of first-class cricket, ...

against

Oxford 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 ...

. The following year he made his debut for

I Zingari I Zingari (from dialectalized Italian , meaning "the Gypsies"; corresponding to standard Italian ') are English and Australian amateur cricket clubs, founded in 1845 and 1888 respectively. It is the oldest and perhaps the most famous of the 'wa ...

, representing the amateur side against Harrow School, and a few weeks later played for the Gentlemen of England against the Gentlemen of Kent, the England side being captained by

Spencer Ponsonby Sir Spencer Cecil Brabazon Ponsonby-Fane, (''né'' Ponsonby; 14 March 1824 – 1 December 1915) was an English cricketer and civil servant. He was born in 1824 in Mayfair, the sixth son of John Ponsonby, 4th Earl of Bessborough. Cricket Ponson ...

, one of the I Zingari founders. Arkwright continued to represent I Zingari and other amateur sides, making occasional first-class appearances for representative amateur sides such as Gentlemen of the North, Gentlemen of the MCC and he twice played for the Gentlemen against the Players. His best bowling performance was for the Gentlemen of the MCC in 1861, when he claimed nine wickets in each innings against the Gentlemen of Kent, finishing with 18 wickets in the match. At the time, only

William Lillywhite Frederick William Lillywhite (13 June 1792 – 21 August 1854) was an English first-class cricketer during the game's roundarm era. One of the main protagonists in the legalisation of roundarm, he was one of the most successful bowlers of his ...

had taken that many wickets in a first-class match, doing so in the Gentlemen v Players fixture of 1837. Since then, only

Jim Laker James Charles Laker (9 February 1922 – 23 April 1986) was an English professional cricketer who played for Surrey County Cricket Club from 1946 to 1959 and represented England in 46 Test matches. He was born in Shipley, West Riding of York ...

has achieved the total, surpassing it when he claimed 19 wickets for

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 ...

against

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

in 1956.

Military career

In 1858, he joined the

84th Regiment of Foot The 84th (York and Lancaster) Regiment of Foot was a regiment in the British Army, raised in 1793. Under the Childers Reforms it amalgamated with the 65th (2nd Yorkshire, North Riding) Regiment of Foot to form the York and Lancaster Regiment, wit ...

as an

Ensign An ensign is the national flag flown on a vessel to indicate nationality. The ensign is the largest flag, generally flown at the stern (rear) of the ship while in port. The naval ensign (also known as war ensign), used on warships, may be diffe ...

. He was promoted to Lieutenant in 1860, and then again to Captain in 1865. He served as aide-de-camp to

James Hamilton, 1st Duke of Abercorn James Hamilton, 1st Duke of Abercorn, (21 January 1811 – 31 October 1885), styled Viscount Hamilton from 1814 to 1818 and The Marquess of Abercorn from 1818 to 1868, was a British Conservative statesman who twice served as Lord Lieutenant of I ...

Lord Lieutenant of Ireland Lord Lieutenant of Ireland (), or more formally Lieutenant General and General Governor of Ireland, was the title of the chief governor of Ireland from the Williamite Wars of 1690 until the Partition of Ireland in 1922. This spanned the Kingdo ...

in 1866.

Death

Arkwright, along with his guide and two porters, was killed in an

avalanche An avalanche is a rapid flow of snow down a slope, such as a hill or mountain. Avalanches can be set off spontaneously, by such factors as increased precipitation or snowpack weakening, or by external means such as humans, animals, and earth ...

Mont Blanc Mont Blanc (french: Mont Blanc ; it, Monte Bianco , both meaning "white mountain") is the highest mountain in the Alps and Western Europe, rising above sea level. It is the second-most prominent mountain in Europe, after Mount Elbrus, and i ...

on 13 October 1866. The bodies of those with Arkwright were soon found and buried, but his remains were not discovered for 31 years. The body, which was lacking both feet and the head, was in places well preserved; the right hand was "marvellously life-like, the ice had even preserved in it the red tint of the blood". The remains were interred in the little Protestant church at Chamonix.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Arkwright, Henry 1837 births 1866 deaths 84th Regiment of Foot officers Deaths in avalanches Natural disaster deaths in France English cricketers Cambridge University cricketers I Zingari cricketers Marylebone Cricket Club cricketers Gentlemen cricketers People educated at Harrow School Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge Gentlemen of the North cricketers Gentlemen of England cricketers Gentlemen of Marylebone Cricket Club cricketers