Sir Hubert Ashton (13 February 1898 – 17 June 1979) was an English

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 one of three or more days' scheduled duration between two sides of eleven players each and is officia ...

er,

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby ...

and politician.

Biography

Early life

Ashton was born in

Calcutta Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , List of renamed places in India#West Bengal, the official name until 2001) is the Capital city, capital of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of West Bengal, on the eastern ba ...

, India on 13 February 1898. Ashton's mother, Victoria Alexandrina Inglis, was the daughter of Sir John Eardley Wilmot Inglis, who commanded the British forces at the Siege of Lucknow, and Julia Selina Thesiger. Ashton was educated at

Winchester College Winchester College is a public school (fee-charging independent day and boarding school) in Winchester, Hampshire, England. It was founded by William of Wykeham in 1382 and has existed in its present location ever since. It is the oldest of ...

; on leaving Winchester in 1916 he joined the Royal Field Artillery and served for the rest of

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. He was awarded the

Military Cross The Military Cross (MC) is the third-level (second-level pre-1993) military decoration awarded to officers and (since 1993) other ranks of the British Armed Forces, and formerly awarded to officers of other Commonwealth countries. The MC ...

"for conspicuous gallantry and skill in leading a section of guns into a forward position near Trones Wood on 27th August, 1918, where, under heavy shell and machine-gun fire, he succeeded in destroying an enemy strong point, thereby greatly facilitating the infantry advance." After the war he went up to

Trinity College, Cambridge Trinity College is a 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 college at either Cambridge or Oxford. ...

Cricket career

As a cricketer, Ashton was a sound right-hand batsman in the outstanding

Cambridge University The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209 and granted a royal charter by Henry III of England, Henry III in 1231, Cambridge is the world' ...

sides in the years just after the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, in which he had been commissioned in the Royal Field Artillery and won the

, and he played for

Essex Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and Grea ...

in the vacations. In both 1921 and 1922 he scored more than 1,000 runs and at the end of the 1922 season, after just three years in first-class cricket, Ashton was averaging more than 46 runs per innings. His most famous exploit, though, was as a member of the amateur side assembled by

Archie MacLaren Archibald Campbell MacLaren (1 December 1871 – 17 November 1944) was an English cricketer who captained the England cricket team at various times between 1898 and 1909. A right-handed batsman, he played 35 Test matches for England, as ...

to take on the hitherto-invincible 1921

Australian cricket team The Australia men's national cricket team represents Australia in men's international cricket. As the joint oldest team in Test cricket history, playing in the first ever Test match in 1877, the team also plays One-Day International (ODI) a ...

Eastbourne Eastbourne () is a town and seaside resort in East Sussex, on the south coast of England, east of Brighton and south of London. Eastbourne is immediately east of Beachy Head, the highest chalk sea cliff in Great Britain and part of the la ...

. Bowled out for just 43 runs in the first innings, the so-called "England XI" were, at 60 for four wickets in their second innings, still 71 behind when Ashton was joined by

Aubrey Faulkner George Aubrey Faulkner (17 December 1881 – 10 September 1930) was a South African cricketer who played 25 Test matches for South Africa and fought in both the Second Boer War and World War I. In cricket, he was an all-rounder who was among ...

. Ashton hit 75 in 72 minutes, Faulkner made 153 and McLaren's side won the match by 28 runs. Ashton was named as a

Wisden Cricketer of the Year The ''Wisden'' Cricketers of the Year are cricketers selected for the honour by the annual publication ''Wisden Cricketers' Almanack'', based primarily on their "influence on the previous English season". The award began in 1889 with the naming ...

in 1922 largely on account of this innings. Ashton was involved in an extraordinary incident during the match against

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly. The non-metropolitan county of Lancash ...

. He was bowled, but both bails went up in the air and then returned to their grooves on top of the stumps, meaning that he was not out. Ashton's three brothers, Gilbert,

Percy The English surname Percy is of Norman origin, coming from Normandy to England, United Kingdom. It was from the House of Percy, Norman lords of Northumberland, derives from the village of Percy-en-Auge in Normandy. From there, it came into use ...

and Claude, also played first-class cricket; Gilbert, Hubert and Claude captained Cambridge University in the three consecutive seasons from 1921 to 1923. At the end of the 1922 cricket season Ashton joined the

Burmah Oil Company The Burmah Oil Company was a leading British oil company which was once a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index. In 1966, Castrol was acquired by Burmah, which was renamed "Burmah-Castrol". BP Amoco (now BP) purchased the company in 2000. History ...

, and his appearances thereafter were sporadic. He played for

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

and for

Burma Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John Wells explai ...

against the

Marylebone Cricket Club Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) is a cricket club founded in 1787 and based since 1814 at Lord's Cricket Ground, which it owns, in St John's Wood, London. The club was formerly the governing body of cricket retaining considerable global influence ...

(MCC) side led by Arthur Gilligan that toured India in 1926–27; he reappeared for several Essex matches in 1927; and there were a handful of first-class games across the 1930s, the last in 1939.

Football career

Ashton was also an accomplished

, playing as an amateur for all his footballing career, which began with the

Corinthians The First Epistle to the Corinthians ( grc, Α΄ ᾽Επιστολὴ πρὸς Κορινθίους) is one of the Pauline epistles, part of the New Testament of the Christian Bible. The epistle is attributed to Paul the Apostle and a co-aut ...

and then, during the 1919–20 season,

West Bromwich Albion West Bromwich Albion Football Club () is an English professional football club based in West Bromwich, West Midlands, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English football. The club was formed in 1878 and has pl ...

. He made his only appearance in the Football League in May 1925 for

Bristol Rovers Bristol Rovers Football Club are a professional football club in Bristol, England. They compete in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. They play home matches at the Memorial Stadium in Horfield, they have been ...

against

Reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of letters, symbols, etc., especially by sight or touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifaceted process involving such areas as word recognition, orthography (spelling ...

. He joined

Clapton Orient Leyton Orient Football Club is a professional football club based in Leyton, East London, England, who compete in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. They are the second oldest football club in London to play at a profess ...

in August 1926, making five appearances for them during the 1926–27 season, and then joined Gillingham in May 1927 but shortly afterwards retired from football to focus on his cricketing career.

Post-cricket and political career

Ashton later pursued a different career, first in cricket administration, as president of Essex from 1941, and then in national UK politics. He served as

High Sheriff of Essex The High Sheriff of Essex was an ancient sheriff title originating in the time of the Angles, not long after the invasion of the Kingdom of England, which was in existence for around a thousand years. On 1 April 1974, under the provisions of the ...

in 1943 and was then elected as

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members o ...

for

Chelmsford Chelmsford () is a City status in the United Kingdom, city in the City of Chelmsford district in the county of Essex, England. It is the county town of Essex and one of three cities in the county, along with Southend-on-Sea and Colchester. It ...

at the 1950 general elections and held the seat at three further UK general elections, before retiring in 1964. In the 1959 Birthday Honours, Ashton was appointed a Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire (KBE) for political and public services, and it was as Sir Hubert Ashton that he became MCC president in 1960–61. Ashton died in

South Weald South Weald is a mainly farmland and park settlement in the Borough of Brentwood in Essex, England. The civil parish of South Weald was absorbed by Brentwood Urban District in 1934. In 1931 the civil parish had a population of 6370. South Weald con ...

, Essex on 17 June 1979.

Personal life

In 1927 Ashton married Dorothy Gaitskell, sister of Hugh Gaitskell. They had two sons and two daughters.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ashton, Hubert English cricketers Cambridge University cricketers Essex cricketers Marylebone Cricket Club cricketers Gentlemen cricketers North v South cricketers Free Foresters cricketers Rangoon Gymkhana cricketers Wisden Cricketers of the Year Presidents of the Marylebone Cricket Club Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies Knights Commander of the Order of the British Empire British Army personnel of World War I Royal Field Artillery officers Recipients of the Military Cross 1898 births 1979 deaths English footballers Corinthian F.C. players West Bromwich Albion F.C. players Bristol Rovers F.C. players Leyton Orient F.C. players UK MPs 1950–1951 UK MPs 1951–1955 UK MPs 1955–1959 UK MPs 1959–1964 English Football League players High Sheriffs of Essex People educated at Winchester College Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge Burmah-Castrol Cricketers from Kolkata British sportsperson-politicians Oxford and Cambridge Universities cricketers Association football fullbacks English cricketers of 1919 to 1945 C. I. Thornton's XI cricketers British people in colonial India Burmese cricket people Church Estates Commissioners Association football people awarded knighthoods Politicians awarded knighthoods