Henry James Tufton, 11th Earl of Thanet (2 January 1775 – 12 June 1849) was a peer in the peerage of England and a noted English

cricket Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven players on a cricket field, field, at the centre of which is a cricket pitch, pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two Bail (cr ...

er of the 1790s.

Biography

Henry Tufton belonged to an aristocratic family that was prominent in cricketing and other sporting circles. His parents were

Sackville Tufton, 8th Earl of Thanet Sackville Tufton, 8th Earl of Thanet (Lord Thanet) (1733–1786) was an English nobleman. Life He was the second son of Sackville Tufton, 7th Earl of Thanet. Tufton received his early education at Westminster School. He was hereditary High Sherif ...

(1733–1786), and Mary Sackville (1746–1778), who was the daughter of Lord John Philip Sackville and the sister of John Frederick Sackville, 3rd Duke of Dorset. Sackville and Dorset were famous patrons of

Kent Kent is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Essex across the Thames Estuary to the north, the Strait of Dover to the south-east, East Sussex to the south-west, Surrey to the west, and Gr ...

cricket. One of Tufton's older brothers was the Honourable John Tufton (1773–1799), who was also a noted amateur cricketer. Henry Tufton succeeded his elder brother Charles Tufton, 10th Earl of Thanet as 11th Earl of Thanet in April 1832. He served as hereditary High Sheriff of Westmorland from 1832 until his own death. He was member of parliament (MP) for Rochester 1796–1802, for Appleby 1826–1832. He was

Lord Lieutenant of Kent This is a list of people who have served as Lord-Lieutenant of Kent. Since 1746, all Lords Lieutenant have also been Custos Rotulorum of Kent. Lords Lieutenant of Kent * Sir Thomas Cheney 1551 – 1558 * William Brooke, 10th Baron Cobham 3 July ...

1841–1846.

Cricket career

Tufton was a wicketkeeper-batsman who is believed to have been right-handed and made his debut in important matches for Surrey and Sussex in a game against All-England at the original

Lord's Cricket Ground Lord's Cricket Ground, commonly known as Lord's, is a cricket List of Test cricket grounds, venue in St John's Wood, Westminster. Named after its founder, Thomas Lord, it is owned by Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) and is the home of Middlesex C ...

in June 1793.

Arthur Haygarth Arthur Haygarth (4 August 1825 – 1 May 1903) was a noted English amateur cricketer who became one of cricket's most significant historians. He played first-class cricket for the Marylebone Cricket Club and Sussex between 1844 and 1861, as wel ...

in ''Scores and Biographies'' said of Tufton that he "was a successful batsman and wicket-keeper during his short career, which terminated when he was only twenty-six years of age. In the match between the Marylebone Club against the Thursday and Montpelier on 13 July 1796, he stumped six and caught two". In all, Henry Tufton played in 77 important matches until July 1801. His final game was for

Marylebone Cricket Club The Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) is a cricket club founded in 1787 and based since 1814 at Lord's, Lord's Cricket Ground, which it owns, in St John's Wood, London, England. The club was the governing body of cricket from 1788 to 1989 and retain ...

(MCC) versus Homerton Cricket Club at the original

. Haygarth adds that when Tufton "was travelling in France in 1803, he was seized on Napoleon's orders (along with the rest of the English) as a prisoner; nor did he on his return to England resume the game f cricket He was at one time member of Parliament for Rochester".

Private life

Henry Tufton did not marry and was the last of the Earls of Thanet. He was buried in the family vault at Rainham Church in Kent. Haygarth says he had no monument and only an inscription on his coffin that stated in 1849: ::''HENRY TUFTON'', ::''Earl of Thanet'', ::''Hereditary High Sheriff of the county of Westmorland'', ::''Late Lord Lieutenant of Kent'', ::''Died June 12, 1849'' ::''IN THE 75TH YEAR OF HIS AGE''

Arms

References

* ''Fresh Light on 18th Century Cricket'' by

G B Buckley George Bent Buckley (1885 – 26 April 1962) was an English surgeon and a celebrated cricket historian and an authority on the early days of the game. Buckley was born in Saddleworth, then part of Yorkshire, the son of Arthur and Jane Buckl ...

(FL18) * ''Scores & Biographies, Volume 1'' by

(SBnnn)

External links

CricketArchive
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Thanet, Henry Tufton, 11th Earl of Thanet, Henry Tufton, 11th Earl of Thanet, Henry Tufton, 11th Earl of English cricketers English cricketers of 1787 to 1825 Thanet, Henry Tufton, 11th Earl of Marylebone Cricket Club cricketers Surrey cricketers Kent cricketers Middlesex cricketers Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for English constituencies Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for English constituencies UK MPs 1801–1802 UK MPs 1826–1830 UK MPs 1830–1831 UK MPs 1831–1832 UK MPs who inherited peerages British MPs 1796–1800 High sheriffs of Westmorland Surrey and Marylebone Cricket Club cricketers Earls of Thanet Recipients of payments from the Slavery Abolition Act 1833 Middlesex and Marylebone Cricket Club cricketers