Osbert Cautley Mordaunt (26 May 1876 – 20 October 1949) 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

Somerset Somerset ( , ), Archaism, archaically Somersetshire ( , , ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel, Gloucestershire, and Bristol to the north, Wiltshire to the east ...

between 1905 and 1910 and for various amateur teams in the years up to 1914. He was born at

Flax Bourton Flax Bourton is a village and civil parish in Somerset, England. The parish, with a population of 715, is situated within the unitary authority of North Somerset, on the edge of Nailsea Moor on the A370 road south west of Bristol city centre. ...

and died at

Bells Yew Green Frant is a village and civil parish in the Wealden District of East Sussex, England, on the Kentish border about three miles (5 km) south of Royal Tunbridge Wells. When the iron industry was at its height, much of the village was owned by ...

East Sussex East Sussex is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Kent to the north-east, West Sussex to the west, Surrey to the north-west, and the English Channel to the south. The largest settlement ...

Family

Mordaunt was the second son of Harry Mordaunt and Annie (his cousin, née Cautley), of

Aspley Guise Aspley Guise is a village and civil parish in the west of Central Bedfordshire, England. In addition to the village of Aspley Guise itself, the civil parish also includes part of the town of Woburn Sands, the rest of which is in the City of Milt ...

Bedfordshire Bedfordshire (; abbreviated ''Beds'') is a Ceremonial County, ceremonial county in the East of England. It is bordered by Northamptonshire to the north, Cambridgeshire to the north-east, Hertfordshire to the south and the south-east, and Buckin ...

, and a descendant of

Sir Charles Mordaunt, 6th Baronet Sir Charles Mordaunt, 6th Baronet (c. 1697 – 11 March 1778), of Walton d'Eiville in Warwickshire, was an English landowner and Tory politician who sat in the House of Commons for 40 years from 1734 to 1774. Mordaunt was the eldest son of Sir ...

. The name "Osbert" has been used by members of the Mordaunt family since the 12th century, in honour of a direct ancestor of that name; others include Canon Osbert Mordaunt, the rector of

Hampton Lucy Hampton Lucy is a village and civil parish on the River Avon, northeast of Stratford-upon-Avon in Warwickshire England. The population of the civil parish as taken at the 2011 census was 566. History The grammar school at Hampton Lucy was ...

Warwickshire Warwickshire (; abbreviated Warks) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England. It is bordered by Staffordshire and Leicestershire to the north, Northamptonshire to the east, Ox ...

and a 19th-century cricket player, also a descendant of the 6th Baronet, and the soldier and poet Thomas Osbert Mordaunt, of a senior branch of the family, the

Earls of Peterborough Earl of Peterborough was a title in the Peerage of England. It was created in 1628 for John Mordaunt, 1st Earl of Peterborough, John Mordaunt, 5th Baron Mordaunt (see Baron Mordaunt for earlier history of the family). He was succeeded by his elde ...

. Osbert Cautley Mordaunt's ancestor, Sir L'Estrange Mordaunt, 1st Baronet, descended from William, the younger brother of John, the first Baron Mordaunt; from John, the fifth Baron (created Earl of Peterborough in 1628) descended.

Cricket career

Mordaunt was a right-handed lower-order batsman and a right-arm slow bowler. He made his debut for Somerset in a single match in 1905 against

Middlesex Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a Historic counties of England, former county in South East England, now mainly within Greater London. Its boundaries largely followed three rivers: the River Thames, Thames in the south, the River Lea, Le ...

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 ...

. He made little impression in that match or in two further games in 1906, but in the very weak Somerset side of 1907 he appeared 10 times and his slow bowling took 30 wickets. His best return and the only time he took five wickets in an innings came in the game against

Gloucestershire Gloucestershire ( , ; abbreviated Glos.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by Herefordshire to the north-west, Worcestershire to the north, Warwickshire to the north-east, Oxfordshire ...

, when he took five for 68 in the first innings and four for 24 in the second, sharing the wickets in the match with Talbot Lewis (there was one

run out Run out is a method of dismissal in cricket, in which the fielding team put down the wicket of a batter who is outside their ground, usually because they are trying to score a run. Run out is governed by Law 38 of the laws of cricket. If ...

batsman). After 1907, Mordaunt played only one further match for Somerset in 1910. In 1906 and 1908, Mordaunt appeared in non-first-class matches for the Army cricket team, and a combined Army and Navy side was one of the amateur teams he played for in a handful of first-class matches against university sides after 1910.

Military career

Mordaunt joined the

Somerset Light Infantry The Somerset Light Infantry (Prince Albert's) was a light infantry regiment of the British Army, which served under various titles from 1685 to 1959. In 1959, the regiment was amalgamated with the Duke of Cornwall's Light Infantry to form the Som ...

and in 1911 was on the staff of the

Royal Military College, Sandhurst The Royal Military College (RMC) was a United Kingdom, British military academy for training infantry and cavalry Officer (armed forces), officers of the British Army, British and British Indian Army, Indian Armies. It was founded in 1801 at Gre ...

. In 1916, with the rank of major, he was promoted to acting lieutenant-colonel and seconded as an assistant director of signals. At the end of the

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 ...

, Mordaunt is cited in a report on the final fighting in Italy as Deputy Director of Signals and had been 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 ...

. In 1919 he was appointed as officer commanding the

School of Signals A school is the educational institution (and, in the case of in-person learning, the building) designed to provide learning environments for the teaching of students, usually under the direction of teachers. Most countries have systems of fo ...

, which predated the establishment the following year of the

Royal Corps of Signals The Royal Corps of Signals (often simply known as the Royal Signals – abbreviated to R SIGNALS) is one of the combat support arms of the British Army. Signals units are among the first into action, providing the battlefield communications an ...

, to which he was then permanently assigned. He retired from the army on half pay in 1924.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mordaunt, Osbert 1876 births 1949 deaths English cricketers Somerset cricketers Royal Corps of Signals officers Free Foresters cricketers Army and Navy cricketers Companions of the Distinguished Service Order L. G. Robinson's XI cricketers People from Frant Somerset Light Infantry officers British Army personnel of World War I Cricketers from East Sussex Military personnel from Somerset Academics of the Royal Military College, Sandhurst