John D'Ewes Evelyn Firth (21 February 1900 – 21 September 1957) was a schoolboy

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 str ...

er at

Winchester College Winchester College is a public school (fee-charging independent day and boarding school) in Winchester, Hampshire, England. It was founded by William of Wykeham in 1382 and has existed in its present location ever since. It is the oldest of ...

during 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 ...

. He went on to become a

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britai ...

clergy Clergy are formal leaders within established religions. Their roles and functions vary in different religious traditions, but usually involve presiding over specific rituals and teaching their religion's doctrines and practices. Some of the ter ...

man.

Early life

He was born in

Nottingham Nottingham ( , locally ) is a city and unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England. It is located north-west of London, south-east of Sheffield and north-east of Birmingham. Nottingham has links to the legend of Robi ...

, the son of John Benjamin Firth and his wife Helena Gertrude.

Cricketer

A leg-break and googly bowler, Firth took all 10 wickets for 41 runs in a match against

Eton College Eton College () is a public school in Eton, Berkshire, England. It was founded in 1440 by Henry VI under the name ''Kynge's College of Our Ladye of Eton besyde Windesore'',Nevill, p. 3 ff. intended as a sister institution to King's College, ...

in 1917 and was named as a

Wisden Cricketer of the Year The ''Wisden'' Cricketers of the Year are cricketers selected for the honour by the annual publication ''Wisden Cricketers' Almanack'', based primarily on their "influence on the previous English season". The award began in 1889 with the naming ...

among a selection of five public school bowlers in the 1918 almanack, there being no

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 officia ...

to report on. In a first-class career of just four matches, Firth played twice 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 th ...

and twice for

Nottinghamshire Nottinghamshire (; abbreviated Notts.) is a landlocked county in the East Midlands region of England, bordering South Yorkshire to the north-west, Lincolnshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south, and Derbyshire to the west. The trad ...

Career

Firth became a schoolmaster and chaplain at Winchester College and wrote several books about the school, where his nickname was "Budge" Firth. He later became Master of the Temple and was canon emeritus of

Winchester Cathedral The Cathedral Church of the Holy Trinity,Historic England. "Cathedral Church of the Holy Trinity (1095509)". ''National Heritage List for England''. Retrieved 8 September 2014. Saint Peter, Saint Paul and Saint Swithun, commonly known as Winches ...

at the time of his death, which occurred in Winchester. Firth wrote the biography of Dr Montague Rendall (1862-1950), former Headmaster of Winchester College.J. D'E. Firth, ''Rendall of Winchester. the Life and Witness of a Teacher'' (Geoffrey Cumberledge/Oxford University Press, London 1954).

References

People educated at Winchester College Wisden Cricketers of the Year Oxford University cricketers Nottinghamshire cricketers Cricketers from Nottingham English cricketers 1900 births 1957 deaths Alumni of Christ Church, Oxford Schoolteachers from Hampshire 20th-century English Anglican priests Masters of the Temple {{England-cricket-bio-1900s-stub