William Josiah Sumner Hammersley (25 September 1826 – 15 November 1886) was an English-born

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 and sports journalist in

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

, Australia, one of the four men credited with setting down the original rules of

Australian rules football Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an oval field, often a modified cricket ground. Points are scored by k ...

Life

Hammersley (1826-1886) was born on 25 September 1826 at Ash, Surrey, England to father William Josiah Hammersley of England. Hammersley was educated at

Aldenham School Aldenham School is a co-educational independent school for pupils aged eleven to eighteen, located between Elstree and the village of Aldenham in Hertfordshire, England. There is also a preparatory school for pupils from the ages of five to ele ...

and at a private school in

Billericay Billericay ( ) is a town and civil parish in the Borough of Basildon, Essex, England. It lies within the London Basin and constitutes a commuter town east of Central London. The town has three secondary schools and a variety of open spaces. It is ...

. He matriculated at

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 ...

, but did not graduate with a degree. During his teens he was a prominent cricketer having debuted at Lord's on 10 June 1847 as a batsman for Cambridge. He was also a prominent shooter and footracer. Hammersley migrated to Australia in 1856. Upon his arrival in

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

he became a member of the

Melbourne Cricket Club The Melbourne Cricket Club (MCC) is a sports club based in Melbourne, Australia. It was founded in 1838 and is one of the oldest sports clubs in Australia. The MCC is responsible for management and development of the Melbourne Cricket Ground ...

. He first represented the colony of Victoria against New South Wales in the intercolonial cricked match at the Domain in January 1857 and was a regular member of the Victorian side until 1861. He worked as a sports journalist for ''

Bell's Life in Victoria The ''Australasian Post'', commonly called the ''Aussie Post'', was Australia's longest-running weekly picture magazine. History and profile Its origins are traceable to Saturday, 3 January 1857, when the first issue of ''Bell's Life in Victoria ...

'' and later ''

The Australasian The ''Australasian Post'', commonly called the ''Aussie Post'', was Australia's longest-running weekly picture magazine. History and profile Its origins are traceable to Saturday, 3 January 1857, when the first issue of ''Bell's Life in Victoria ...

'', where he was sporting editor until 1882, writing on cricket under the pen-name of "Longstop". He died on 15 November 1886 in the

suburb of

Fitzroy Fitzroy or FitzRoy may refer to: People As a given name *Several members of the Somerset family (Dukes of Beaufort) have this as a middle-name: **FitzRoy Somerset, 1st Baron Raglan (1788–1855) ** Henry Charles FitzRoy Somerset, 8th Duke of Beau ...

and was buried in the

Melbourne General Cemetery The Melbourne General Cemetery is a large (43 hectare) necropolis located north of the city of Melbourne in the suburb of Carlton North. The cemetery is notably the resting place of four Prime Ministers of Australia, more than any other nec ...

Cricketer

Hammersley was a prominent cricketer, a right-handed batsman and right-arm round-arm bowler, playing for

Cambridge University Cricket Club Cambridge University Cricket Club, first recorded in 1817, is the representative cricket club for students of the University of Cambridge. Depending on the circumstances of each individual match, the club has always been recognised as holding ...

Surrey County Cricket Club Surrey County Cricket Club (Surrey CCC) is a first-class club in county cricket, one of eighteen in the domestic cricket structure of England and Wales. It represents the historic county of Surrey, including areas that now form South London ...

and

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 ...

. Bowling for the MCC against Surrey in a match on 15 June 1848, he achieved a

hat-trick A hat-trick or hat trick is the achievement of a generally positive feat three times in a match, or another achievement based on the number three. Origin The term first appeared in 1858 in cricket, to describe H. H. Stephenson taking three wic ...

with successive dismissals of Edmund Reeves,

Nicholas Felix Nicholas Wanostrocht (5 October 1804 – 3 September 1876), known as Nicholas Felix, was an English amateur "gentleman" cricketer. He was one of the few players who – at his request – was routinely known by his pseudonym, Felix. When his fa ...

, and Charles Coltson. He captained the first Victorian XI to visit

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

for an inter-colonial match in 1857 and played a few more matches until 1861. He was the first person to use the term "

test match Test match in some sports refers to a sporting contest between national representative teams and may refer to: * Test cricket * Test match (indoor cricket) * Test match (rugby union) * Test match (rugby league) * Test match (association football) ...

" to describe important international matches, which he did during the English cricket team's tour of Australia in 1861-62.

Australian rules football

He was a personal friend of fellow Cambridge cricketer

Thomas Wentworth Wills Thomas Wentworth Wills (19 August 1835 – 2 May 1880) was an Australian sportsman who is credited with being Australia's first cricketer of significance and a founder of Australian rules football. Born in the British penal colony of New ...

and helped to give momentum to Wills's calls to form a football club. In 1859 he became a founding member of the

Melbourne Football Club The Melbourne Football Club, nicknamed the Demons, is a professional Australian rules football club that competes in the Australian Football League (AFL), the sport's elite competition. It is based in Melbourne, Victoria (Australia), Victoria, ...

and involved in popularising the club's football code. Hammersley was a prominent Melbourne FC player until 1864 however and continued to serve on the club's committee and umpire for many years until as late as 1879. Hammersley is also believed by some to have been instrumental in introducing Australian Rules to

and in the early formation of the

New South Wales Football Association The New South Wales Football Association was the governing body for Australian rules football in New South Wales between 1880 and 1893. It oversaw an Australian rules competition based in Sydney and governed the Laws of Australian Football in the ...

Family

Hammersley married Jane Thirkettle in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

on 23 September 1849. They had four children, a son and three daughters. Hammersley reportedly did not see them after emigrating to Australia. In the English Census of 1851, Hammersley and his wife Jane lived in Regents Park, London, with their 8-month-old son, also William J. Hammersley gave his occupation as 'studying for the church'. By the 1861 Census, Jane was living, without William, in Hampton Wick, on the outskirts of London, with the couple's four children. Jane described herself as an 'annuitant', and had a live-in servant.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hammersley, William 1826 births 1886 deaths Surrey cricketers Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge Cambridge University cricketers Marylebone Cricket Club cricketers Victoria cricketers Melbourne Football Club founders Journalists from Melbourne Melbourne Cricket Club cricketers Cricket historians and writers English cricketers Gentlemen of England cricketers 19th-century Australian journalists 19th-century Australian male writers Oxford and Cambridge Universities cricketers 19th-century male writers Cambridge Town Club cricketers Melbourne Football Club (pre-VFA) players Gentlemen of Kent cricketers Gentlemen of the South cricketers All-England Eleven cricketers Burials at Melbourne General Cemetery Australian male journalists