Richard Cubitt Johnson (13 October 1829 – May 1851) was an English

cricketer 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 ...

who played in two matches for

Cambridge University The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...

that are now considered to have been first-class. Cricketarchive maintains that he was baptised on 18 December 1829; the parish records at Lavenham in Suffolk make it clear he was baptised on 18 October 1829 and also record his birth date of 13 October. He was born at

Lavenham Lavenham is a village, civil parish and Wards and electoral divisions of the United Kingdom, electoral ward in the Babergh District, Babergh district, in the county of Suffolk, England. It is noted for its Lavenham Guildhall, Guildhall, Little ...

Suffolk Suffolk ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East of England and East Anglia. It is bordered by Norfolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Essex to the south, and Cambridgeshire to the west. Ipswich is the largest settlement and the county ...

and died at

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a List of cities in the United Kingdom, city and non-metropolitan district in the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It is the county town of Cambridgeshire and is located on the River Cam, north of London. As of the 2021 Unit ...

. Johnson was the eldest son of the rector of Lavenham, also named Richard Johnson, and his wife, the former Mary Ann Cubitt. He was educated at Bury St Edmunds Grammar School and at

Clare College, Cambridge Clare College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge in Cambridge, England. The college was founded in 1326 as University Hall, making it the second-oldest surviving college of the Unive ...

. He was followed to Cambridge and into the cricket team there by his younger brother,

George Randall Johnson George Randall Johnson (7 November 1833 – 24 November 1919) was a member of the New Zealand Legislative Council, and a notable cricket player in his younger days. Life Johnson was the second son of the Reverend Richard Johnson, rector of Laven ...

– whose son,

Peter Randall Johnson Peter Randall Johnson (5 August 1880 – 1 July 1959) was a cricketer who played for Cambridge University, Somerset and several amateur sides in a long first-class cricket career that stretched from 1900 to 1927. During his career, he appears to ...

, took the same path 50 years later and was then a famous

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 ...

cricketer. Johnson played cricket for Cambridge University in two matches, one each at home and away, against the

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 ...

in 1850, batting as a middle-order batsman. It is not recorded whether he batted right-handed or left-handed and the scorecards for both matches are incomplete, and so it is not recorded that he bowled, but if he did, he took no wickets. His top score of 28 came in the match at

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 ...

. Johnson died suddenly at Cambridge from typhoid fever while still an undergraduate; his close friend Edmund Keble White, who had been at school with him and was at

Trinity College, Cambridge Trinity College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any ...

– their fathers had been fellows at

Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge Gonville and Caius College, commonly known as Caius ( ), is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1348 by Edmund Gonville, it is the fourth-oldest of the University of Cambridge's 31 colleges and ...

– also died in the same typhoid outbreak.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Johnson, Richard 1829 births 1851 deaths English cricketers Cambridge University cricketers People from Lavenham People educated at King Edward VI School, Bury St Edmunds Alumni of Clare College, Cambridge Deaths from typhoid fever in the United Kingdom