Major Major most commonly refers to: * Major (rank), a military rank * Academic major, an academic discipline to which an undergraduate student formally commits * People named Major, including given names, surnames, nicknames * Major and minor in musi ...

John Sackville Richard Tufton, 2nd Baron Hothfield, (8 November 1873 – 21 December 1952) was a

British Army The British Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of the United Kingdom. the British Army comprises 73,847 regular full-time personnel, 4,127 Brigade of Gurkhas, Gurkhas, 25,742 Army Reserve (United Kingdom), volunteer reserve perso ...

officer, farmer and land owner 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 of three or more days scheduled duration between two sides of eleven players each and is officially adju ...

for

Kent County Cricket Club Kent County Cricket Club is one of the eighteen first-class county clubs within the domestic cricket structure of England and Wales. It represents the historic county of Kent. A club representing the county was first founded in 1842 but Ken ...

. He served during the

Second Boer War The Second Boer War (, , 11 October 189931 May 1902), also known as the Boer War, Transvaal War, Anglo–Boer War, or South African War, was a conflict fought between the British Empire and the two Boer republics (the South African Republic and ...

and

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

and succeeded to his title as the 2nd Baron Hothfield in 1926.

Early life

Tufton was born in November 1873 at Hothfield Place near Ashford in

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 ...

. He was the eldest son of

Henry Tufton, 1st Baron Hothfield Henry James Tufton, 1st Baron Hothfield (4 June 1844 – 29 October 1926), known as Sir Henry James Tufton, 2nd Baronet, from 1871 to 1881, was a British peer, Liberal Party (UK), Liberal politician and owner and breeder of racehorses. Biography ...

and his wife Alice and was educated at

Eton College Eton College ( ) is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school providing boarding school, boarding education for boys aged 13–18, in the small town of Eton, Berkshire, Eton, in Berkshire, in the United Kingdom. It has educated Prime Mini ...

between 1887 and 1892.Lewis P (2013) ''For Kent and Country'', pp.300–303. Brighton: Reveille Press. Lord Hothfield - Interest in Agriculture, ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...

'', 22 December 1952, p.8.
Available online
at The Times Digital Archive . Retrieved 2020-07-30.) He did not play cricket in the school XI but was a keen sportsman and came from a family with a "strong cricketing tradition" stretching back 150 years, his father having been President of Kent County Cricket Club in 1877.Lewis, p.301.

Army career

On leaving school in 1892, Tufton was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the 3rd Battalion of

The Royal Sussex Regiment The Royal Sussex Regiment was a line infantry regiment of the British Army that was in existence from 1881 to 1966. The regiment was formed in 1881 as part of the Childers Reforms by the amalgamation of the 35th (Royal Sussex) Regiment of Foot a ...

, a

militia A militia ( ) is a military or paramilitary force that comprises civilian members, as opposed to a professional standing army of regular, full-time military personnel. Militias may be raised in times of need to support regular troops or se ...

unit. He was promoted to

lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a Junior officer, junior commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations, as well as fire services, emergency medical services, Security agency, security services ...

in 1893 before applying to join the regular army in 1894, reverting to the rank of second lieutenant in the

1st Life Guards The 1st Regiment of Life Guards was a cavalry regiment in the British Army, part of the Household Cavalry. It was formed in 1788 by the union of the 1st Troop of Horse Guards and 1st Troop of Horse Grenadier Guards. In 1922, it was amalgamate ...

. He resigned his commission in 1896. Tufton rejoined the Royal Sussex Regiment as a lieutenant in March 1900 during the

, the first in which militia regiments were allowed to fight overseas. He was promoted to

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

on 18 August 1900 and saw active service in South Africa in reserve positions in

Orange Free State The Orange Free State ( ; ) was an independent Boer-ruled sovereign republic under British suzerainty in Southern Africa during the second half of the 19th century, which ceased to exist after it was defeated and surrendered to the British Em ...

and

Transvaal Transvaal is a historical geographic term associated with land north of (''i.e.'', beyond) the Vaal River in South Africa. A number of states and administrative divisions have carried the name ''Transvaal''. * South African Republic (1856–1902; ...

. For his service in the war, he was awarded the

Queen's South Africa Medal The Queen's South Africa Medal is a British campaign medal awarded to British and Colonial military personnel, and to civilians employed in an official capacity, who served in the Second Boer War in South Africa. Altogether twenty-six clasps wer ...

with five clasps.Hart HG (1915) ''

Hart's Army List Lieutenant-General Henry George Hart (1808–1878) was an Irish officer in the British Army, who was best known as the author, editor, and proprietor of '' Hart's Army List'', an unofficial publication recording army service. Early life Born o ...

'', 1915, p.1202.
Available online
Retrieved 2020-07-30.) He moved with the battalion to

Saint Helena Saint Helena (, ) is one of the three constituent parts of Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha, a remote British overseas territory. Saint Helena is a volcanic and tropical island, located in the South Atlantic Ocean, some 1,874 km ...

to guard prisoners of war before returning to the

Southampton Southampton is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. It is located approximately southwest of London, west of Portsmouth, and southeast of Salisbury. Southampton had a population of 253, ...

on the ''SS Dominion'' in September 1902. Following the war, the 3rd Royal Sussex became a reserve battalion in 1908 and Tufton was appointed

, serving at the battalion's depot at

Chichester Chichester ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and civil parish in the Chichester District, Chichester district of West Sussex, England.OS Explorer map 120: Chichester, South Harting and Selsey Scale: 1:25 000. Publisher ...

.Carlaw D (2020) ''Kent County Cricketers A to Z. Part One: 1806–1914'' (revised edition), pp. 541–543.
Available online
at the

Association of Cricket Statisticians and Historians The Association of Cricket Statisticians and Historians (ACS) was founded in England in 1973 for the purpose of researching and collating information about the history and statistics of cricket. Originally called the Association of Cricket Stati ...

. Retrieved 2020-12-21.) At the outbreak of the

he volunteered for active service, moving with the battalion to

Dover Dover ( ) is a town and major ferry port in Kent, southeast England. It faces France across the Strait of Dover, the narrowest part of the English Channel at from Cap Gris Nez in France. It lies southeast of Canterbury and east of Maidstone. ...

initially and then to France in February 1915 where he was appointed Assistant

Provost Marshal Provost marshal is a title given to a person in charge of a group of Military Police (MP). The title originated with an older term for MPs, '' provosts'', from the Old French (Modern French ). While a provost marshal is now usually a senior c ...

(APM) attached to 6th Division headquarters with the rank of major. He served throughout the war, the division seeing action on the Western Front from the

Second Battle of Ypres The Second Battle of Ypres was fought from 22 April – 25 May 1915, during the First World War, for control of the tactically-important high ground to the east and the south of the Flanders, Flemish town of Ypres, in western Belgium. The ...

in 1915 through to the

Hundred Days Offensive The Hundred Days Offensive (8 August to 11 November 1918) was a series of massive Allied offensives that ended the First World War. Beginning with the Battle of Amiens (8–12 August) on the Western Front, the Allies pushed the Imperial Germa ...

and attacks on the

Hindenburg Line The Hindenburg Line (, Siegfried Position) was a German Defense line, defensive position built during the winter of 1916–1917 on the Western Front (World War I), Western Front in France during the First World War. The line ran from Arras to ...

in 1918. He was

mentioned in dispatches To be mentioned in dispatches (or despatches) describes a member of the armed forces whose name appears in an official report written by a superior officer and sent to the high command, in which their gallant or meritorious action in the face of t ...

and awarded the

Distinguished Service Order The Distinguished Service Order (DSO) is a Military awards and decorations, military award of the United Kingdom, as well as formerly throughout the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth, awarded for operational gallantry for highly successful ...

(DSO) in the

1916 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 1916 were appointments by King George V to Orders, decorations, and medals of the United Kingdom, various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by members of the British Empire. They were announced on 1 Januar ...

and received the Ordre de Léopold in 1918. The division saw service in the army of occupation following the

Armistice with Germany {{Short description, none This is a list of armistices signed by the German Empire (1871–1918) or Nazi Germany (1933–1945). An armistice is a temporary agreement to cease hostilities. The period of an armistice may be used to negotiate a peace t ...

and Tufton continued to serve as APM until April 1919 and was again mentioned in dispatches in July. He was awarded the

Order of Agricultural Merit The Order of Agricultural Merit () is an order of merit bestowed by the France, French Republic for outstanding contributions to agriculture. When it was created in 1883, it was second in importance only to the Legion of Honour within the Frenc ...

by the French government before reverting to the

Reserve of Officers The Army Reserve is the active-duty volunteer reserve force of the British Army. It is separate from the Regular Reserve whose members are ex-Regular personnel who retain a statutory liability for service. Descended from the Territorial Force ( ...

. Tufton was called back into service briefly during the 1921 threat of a General Strike but the army was not required to take action and he again reverted to the reserve. He relinquished his commission in 1925 after reaching the maximum age (50) for service in the reserve.

Cricket

Tufton played in 13 first-class cricket matches in the years after he first left the army between 1897 and 1899.John Tufton

CricInfo ESPNcricinfo (formerly known as Cricinfo or CricInfo) is a Sports journalism, sports news website exclusively for the game of cricket. The site features news, articles, live coverage of cricket matches (including Liveblogging, liveblogs and sco ...

. Retrieved 2020-07-30. He was on the General Committee at

between 1897 and 1909 and then again in 1914 and played club cricket regularly. He made his first-class debut for MCC against

Leicestershire Leicestershire ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. It is bordered by Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire and Lincolnshire to the north, Rutland to the east, Northamptonshire to the south-east, Warw ...

Lord's 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 May 1897 before playing in six first-class matches for Kent during the same season. Two matches for both MCC and Kent in 1898 were followed by another two for MCC in 1899, another appearance against Leicestershire marking the end of his first-class career.John Tufton
CricketArchive. Retrieved 2020-07-30. He continued to play club cricket until the 1914 season for sides including

Free Foresters Free Foresters Cricket Club is an England, English amateur cricket club, established in 1856 for players from the Midland counties of England. It is a 'wandering' (or nomadic) club, having no home ground. The Free Foresters were founded by the ...

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 ' ...

and Band of Brothers, an amateur side closely associated with Kent. He resigned his position on the Kent Committee at the start of the First World War as he opposed

Lord Harris Colonel George Robert Canning Harris, 4th Baron Harris, (3February 185124March 1932), generally known as Lord Harris, was a British colonial administrator and Governor of Bombay, best known for developing cricket administration via Marylebone ...

' position on continuing to play top-class cricket during the war.

Family life

As well as playing cricket, Tufton was a keen

lawn tennis Tennis is a List of racket sports, racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent (singles (tennis), singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles (tennis), doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket st ...

player, considered one of the best in the House of Lords. He married Lady Ierne Hastings, the third daughter of the 13th Earl of Huntingdon, in 1896 and had two sons and two daughters.Deaths, ''

'', 7 January 1935, p.1.
Available online
at The Times Digital Archive . Retrieved 2020-07-30.) Following the death of his first wife in 1935 he married Sybil Augusta Sant. He was appointed as Deputy Lieutenant of the

County of Westmorland Westmorland (, formerly also spelt ''Westmoreland''R. Wilkinson The British Isles, Sheet The British IslesVision of Britain/ref>) is an area of North West England which was historically a county. People of the area are known as Westmerians. The ...

in 1894 and inherited his father's estates in

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ) is an area of Northern England which was History of Yorkshire, historically a county. Despite no longer being used for administration, Yorkshire retains a strong regional identity. The county was named after its county town, the ...

and Westmorland in 1926. He served in the

House of Lords The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the lower house, the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster in London, England. One of the oldest ext ...

, as a Justice of the Peace in both Kent and Westmorland and was twice Mayor of

Appleby-in-Westmorland Appleby-in-Westmorland is a market town and civil parish in Westmorland and Furness, Cumbria, England, with a population of 3,048 at the 2011 Census. Crossed by the River Eden, Appleby is the county town of the historic county of Westmorland. ...

before the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

but had to sell most of land and property, mainly to his tenants, in 1947. His second wife died in 1950, and Tufton died in December 1952 aged 79 at his

Bayswater Bayswater is an area in the City of Westminster in West London. It is a built-up district with a population density of 17,500 per square kilometre, and is located between Kensington Gardens to the south, Paddington to the north-east, and ...

home. His eldest son Henry succeeded him as the 3rd

Baron Hothfield Baron Hothfield, of Hothfield in the County of Kent, is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created in 1881 for Sir Henry Tufton, 2nd Baronet, who was appointed Lord Lieutenant of Westmorland the same year and who also served bri ...

Arms

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hothfield, John Tufton, 2nd Baron 1873 births 1952 deaths English cricketers Kent cricketers Marylebone Cricket Club cricketers Companions of the Distinguished Service Order People educated at Eton College Royal Sussex Regiment officers Barons in the Peerage of the United Kingdom People from Hothfield British Army personnel of the Second Boer War British Army personnel of World War I Cricketers from Kent Sussex Militia officers Military personnel from Kent