Col. Sir William Arthington Worsley, 4th Baronet (5 April 1890 – 4 December 1973), was an English landowner and

amateur An amateur () is generally considered a person who pursues an avocation independent from their source of income. Amateurs and their pursuits are also described as popular, informal, autodidacticism, self-taught, user-generated, do it yourself, DI ...

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 ...

er.

Biography

Worsley was born at

Hovingham Hall Hovingham Hall is a country house built in the Palladian style in the village of Hovingham, North Yorkshire, England. It has been the seat of the Worsley baronets#Worsley baronets, of Hovingham Hall (1838), Worsley family and the childhood home ...

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 ...

, England, the son of Sir William Henry Arthington Worsley of Hovingham, 3rd Baronet, and his wife, Lady Augusta Mary (née Chivers Bower). Worsley attended

Ludgrove School Ludgrove School is an English independent school, independent boys' Preparatory school (UK), preparatory boarding school. Ludgrove was founded in 1892 at Ludgrove Hall in Middlesex by the Old Etonian sportsman Arthur Dunn. Dunn had been employed ...

and

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 ...

. He served as a lieutenant and subsequently captain with the

Green Howards The Green Howards (Alexandra, Princess of Wales's Own Yorkshire Regiment), frequently known as the Yorkshire Regiment until the 1920s, was a line infantry regiment of the British Army, in the King's Division. Raised in 1688, it served under variou ...

(now part of the

Yorkshire Regiment The Royal Yorkshire Regiment (14th/15th, 19th and 33rd/76th Foot) (abbreviated R YORKS) is an infantry regiment of the British Army, created by the amalgamation of three historic regiments in 2006. It lost one battalion as part of the Future of ...

) in

World War I 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 ...

. He was wounded and taken prisoner. Worsley was

Lord Lieutenant of the North Riding of Yorkshire The post of Lord Lieutenant of the North Riding of Yorkshire was created in 1660, at the Restoration. It was abolished on 31 March 1974, and replaced with the office of Lord Lieutenant of North Yorkshire. From 1782 until 1974, all Lords Lieutenan ...

from 1951 to 1965. In 1967, Worsley was awarded an

honorary An honorary position is one given as an honor, with no duties attached, and without payment. Other uses include: * Honorary Academy Award, by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, United States * Honorary Aryan, a status in Nazi Germany ...

LLD by the

University of Leeds The University of Leeds is a public research university in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It was established in 1874 as the Yorkshire College of Science. In 1884, it merged with the Leeds School of Medicine (established 1831) and was renamed Y ...

. The degree was conferred on him by his daughter in her role as Chancellor of the university.

Marriage and children

Worsley married Joyce Morgan Brunner, daughter of

Sir John Brunner, 2nd Baronet Sir John Fowler Leece Brunner, 2nd Baronet (24 May 1865 – 16 January 1929) was a British Liberal Party politician. Biography Brunner was the eldest sonDictionary of National Biography: Brunner, Sir John Tomlinson of industrialist Sir John ...

, and his wife Lucy Marianne Vaughan Morgan, on 20 May 1924 at St. Margaret's, Westminster. They had four children: * Sir (William) Marcus John Worsley, 5th Baronet (6 April 1925 – 18 December 2012) * (George) Oliver Worsley (22 February 1927 – 30 November 2010), married Penelope Susanne Fleetwood Fuller (granddaughter of

Sir John Fuller, 1st Baronet Sir John Michael Fleetwood Fuller, 1st Baronet, (21 October 1864 – 4 September 1915) was a British Liberal Party politician and colonial administrator. Biography Fuller was the eldest son of George Fuller, of Neston Park, Corsham, Wiltshire ...

) * John Arthington Worsley (15 July 1928 – 2 March 2022), married Hon. Carolyn Mary Wynyard Hardinge (daughter of Caryl Hardinge, 4th

Viscount Hardinge Viscount Hardinge, of Lahore and of Kings Newton in the County of Derby, is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created in 1846 for the soldier and Tory politician Sir Henry Hardinge. His son, the second Viscount, represented ...

) * Katharine Lucy Mary Worsley (born 22 February 1933), married

Prince Edward, Duke of Kent Prince Edward, Duke of Kent (Edward George Nicholas Paul Patrick; born 9 October 1935) is a member of the British royal family. The elder son of Prince George, Duke of Kent, and Princess Marina of Greece and Denmark, he is a grandson of George ...

, thereby becoming

Duchess of Kent Duchess of Kent is the principal Courtesy titles in the United Kingdom, courtesy title used by the wife of the Duke of Kent. There have been four titles referring to Kent since the 18th century. The current duchess is Katharine, Duchess of Kent ...

Cricketer

He captained

Yorkshire County Cricket Club Yorkshire County Cricket Club is a professional Cricket club based in Yorkshire, England. The team competes in the County Championship, the top tier of English First-class cricket. Nicknamed "Vikings". Yorkshire also competes in T20 Blast, O ...

in 1928 and 1929, his only seasons of first-class cricket. He had been unable to accept the captaincy in 1924 due to business commitments. Worsley followed Major Arthur Lupton as captain, but only accepted the position after the Yorkshire committee had initially offered

Herbert Sutcliffe Herbert Sutcliffe (24 November 1894 – 22 January 1978) was an English Professionalism#Sports, professional cricketer who represented Yorkshire County Cricket Club, Yorkshire and England national cricket team, England as an opening batsman. A ...

the captaincy. Sutcliffe refused the offer after

controversy Controversy (, ) is a state of prolonged public dispute or debate, usually concerning a matter of conflicting opinion or point of view. The word was coined from the Latin '' controversia'', as a composite of ''controversus'' – "turned in an op ...

broke out over the decision. The county lost only twice whilst Worsley was captain. He was awarded his

county cap In sport, a cap is a player's appearance in a game at international level. The term dates from the practice in the United Kingdom of awarding a cap to every player in an international match of rugby football and association football. In the e ...

in 1928. A right-handed batsman, he scored 722 runs at 15.69, with a highest score of 60 against

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Berkshire to the north, Surrey and West Sussex to the east, the Isle of Wight across the Solent to the south, ...

, and took 32 catches in the field. His great-uncle,

George Cayley Sir George Cayley, 6th Baronet (27 December 1773 – 15 December 1857) was an English engineer, inventor, and aviator. He is one of the most important people in the history of aeronautics. Many consider him to be the first true scientific ...

, played four games for 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 ...

(MCC) and

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 ...

. He was President of Yorkshire County Cricket Club from 1960, until his death in 1973; and was President of the MCC in 1962.

References

External links

Cricinfo Profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Worsley, William 1890 births 1973 deaths Baronets in the Baronetage of the United Kingdom British Army personnel of World War I World War I prisoners of war held by Germany Green Howards officers Knights of the Order of St John Lord-lieutenants of the North Riding of Yorkshire People educated at Eton College People from Hovingham Presidents of the Marylebone Cricket Club Presidents of Yorkshire County Cricket Club Yorkshire cricketers Yorkshire cricket captains British World War I prisoners of war English cricketers

William Worsley William Worsley may refer to: * Sir William Worsley, 4th Baronet (1890–1973), English landowner and amateur first-class cricketer, father of Katharine, Duchess of Kent * Sir William Worsley, 6th Baronet (born 1956), British forester, farmer and ...

People educated at Ludgrove School 20th-century English landowners