Robert Henry Dewing (6 August 1863 – 6 November 1934) was an English first-class

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 and an army officer. Dewing served initially in the Caribbean with the

West India Regiment The West India Regiments (WIR) were infantry units of the British Army recruited from and normally stationed in the British colonies of the Caribbean between 1795 and 1927. In 1888 the two West India Regiments then in existence were reduced t ...

from 1884, before transferring to the

British Indian Army The Indian Army was the force of British Raj, British India, until Indian Independence Act 1947, national independence in 1947. Formed in 1895 by uniting the three Presidency armies, it was responsible for the defence of both British India and ...

around 1895, holding several commands until his retirement in 1912. He came out of retirement to serve in the

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 ...

during 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 ...

. While in

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance in South Asia. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one form or another ...

, he 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 the

Europeans cricket team The Europeans cricket team was an Indian first-class cricket team which took part in the annual Bombay Tournament and Lahore Tournament. The team was founded by members of the European community in Bombay who played cricket at the Bombay Gymkh ...

Life and military career

Dewing was born in August 1863 at

Beyton Beyton is a village and civil parish in the Mid Suffolk district of the English county of Suffolk. The village is around east of Bury St Edmunds, south-east of Thurston and north-west of Stowmarket. The main Ipswich to Bury St Edmunds road u ...

, Suffolk to the cricketer

Edward Dewing Edward May Dewing (25 April 1823 – 29 October 1899) was an English first-class cricketer and antiquarian. The son of the Reverend Edward Dewing, he was born in April 1823 at Carbrooke, Norfolk. He was educated at Harrow School, before goin ...

. He was educated in

Bury St Edmunds Bury St Edmunds (), commonly referred to locally as ''Bury,'' is a cathedral as well as market town and civil parish in the West Suffolk District, West Suffolk district, in the county of Suffolk, England.OS Explorer map 211: Bury St. Edmunds an ...

at King Edward VI School, before attending

Brighton College Brighton College is a fee-charging, co-educational, boarding and day public school for boys and girls aged 3 to 18 in Brighton and Hove, England. The school has three sites: Brighton College (the senior school, ages 11 to 18), Brighton Co ...

. From there he attended 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 ...

. He graduated from Sandhurst in August 1884, entering as a

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 ...

into the

. He served with the West India Regiment in

Jamaica Jamaica is an island country in the Caribbean Sea and the West Indies. At , it is the third-largest island—after Cuba and Hispaniola—of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean. Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, west of Hispaniola (the is ...

, Gold Coast,

Burma Myanmar, officially the Republic of the Union of Myanmar; and also referred to as Burma (the official English name until 1989), is a country in northwest Southeast Asia. It is the largest country by area in Mainland Southeast Asia and ha ...

and

Singapore Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. It is about one degree ...

. By 1895, he had transferred to the

, with promotion to the rank of

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 ...

coming in August 1895. He saw action in the

Boxer Rebellion The Boxer Rebellion, also known as the Boxer Uprising, was an anti-foreign, anti-imperialist, and anti-Christian uprising in North China between 1899 and 1901, towards the end of the Qing dynasty, by the Society of Righteous and Harmonious F ...

, and was promoted to

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 ...

on 23 August 1902. Dewing was commanding the

76th Punjabis The 76th Punjabis was an infantry regiment of the British Indian Army. It was raised by Captain Thomas Lane at Trichonopoly on 16 December 1776, as the 16th Carnatic Battalion. It was designated as the 76th Punjabis in 1903 and became the 3rd Batt ...

when he was promoted to the rank of lieutenant colonel on 26 October 1908. On visits to England between 1905 and 1912, Dewing played

minor counties cricket The National Counties, known as the Minor Counties before 2020, are the cricketing counties of England and Wales that do not have first-class status. The game is administered by the National Counties Cricket Association (NCCA), which comes unde ...

for

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 ...

, making eight appearances in the

Minor Counties Championship The NCCA 3 Day Championship or National County Championship is a season-long competition in England and Wales that is contested by the members of the National Counties Cricket Association (NCCA), the so-called national counties (previously ca ...

. While in British India, he made a single appearance in

for the

Europeans Europeans are the focus of European ethnology, the field of anthropology related to the various ethnic groups that reside in the states of Europe. Groups may be defined by common ancestry, language, faith, historical continuity, etc. There are ...

against the

Parsees The Parsis or Parsees () are a Zoroastrian ethnic group in the Indian subcontinent. They are descended from Persian refugees who migrated to the Indian subcontinent during and after the Arab-Islamic conquest of Iran in the 7th century, whe ...

Bombay Mumbai ( ; ), also known as Bombay ( ; its official name until 1995), is the capital city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of Maharashtra. Mumbai is the financial centre, financial capital and the list of cities i ...

in the 1907–08

Bombay Triangular The Bombay Tournament was an annual cricket competition held in British India between 1892 and 1946. Until 1936, matches were played on either the Gymkhana Ground in Bombay or the Deccan Gymkhana Ground in Poona, and then at the Brabourne Stadiu ...

. Batting twice in the match, he was dismissed in the Europeans first-innings without scoring by Maneksha Bulsara, while in their second-innings he was dismissed by the same bowler for 3 runs. He retired from the British Indian Army in October 1912. After returning to England, he served in the

during the

. He served with the

East Yorkshire Regiment The East Yorkshire Regiment was a line infantry regiment of the British Army, first raised in 1685 as Sir William Clifton's Regiment of Foot and later renamed the 15th Regiment of Foot. It saw service for three centuries, before eventually being ...

, before being seconded to command a training reserve battalion in March 1917. He later served with the

Bedfordshire Regiment The Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire Regiment was the final title of a Line infantry, line infantry regiment of the British Army that was originally formed in 1688. After centuries of service in many conflicts and wars, including both the World War ...

, where he commanded the 51st Graduate Battalion. He relinquished this command in February 1919. He was made an

OBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

in the

1919 New Year Honours The 1919 New Year Honours were appointments by King George V to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of the British Empire. The appointments were published in ''The London Gazette'' and ''The Times'' in Janu ...

. Dewing died at

Ipswich Ipswich () is a port town and Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough in Suffolk, England. It is the county town, and largest in Suffolk, followed by Lowestoft and Bury St Edmunds, and the third-largest population centre in East Anglia, ...

in November 1934, at the age of 71.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Dewing, Robert 1863 births 1934 deaths Military personnel from Suffolk People from Mid Suffolk District People educated at King Edward VI School, Bury St Edmunds People educated at Brighton College Graduates of the Royal Military College, Sandhurst West India Regiment officers British military personnel of the Boxer Rebellion English cricketers Suffolk cricketers Indian Staff Corps officers Europeans cricketers British Army personnel of World War I East Yorkshire Regiment officers Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire Regiment officers Members of the Order of the British Empire 19th-century British Army personnel 19th-century British military personnel 20th-century British military personnel