James Henry Dark (14 May 1795 – 17 October 1871) was an English

professional A professional is a member of a profession or any person who works in a specified professional activity. The term also describes the standards of education and training that prepare members of the profession with the particular knowledge and ski ...

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by str ...

er who later became a noted patron of the sport and was, from 1835 to 1864, the proprietor of Lord's Cricket Ground. He was the brother of Benjamin Dark.

Career as player and umpire

Dark was born on 24 May 1795 at

Marylebone Marylebone (usually , also , ) is a district in the West End of London, in the City of Westminster. Oxford Street, Europe's busiest shopping street, forms its southern boundary. An ancient parish and latterly a metropolitan borough, it me ...

, London. An occasional wicket-keeper, Dark was mainly associated with

Middlesex Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a historic county in southeast England. Its area is almost entirely within the wider urbanised area of London and mostly within the ceremonial county of Greater London, with small sections in neighbour ...

and he made 17 known appearances in first-class matches from 1815 to 1843. In 1835, he represented the Players in the

Gentlemen v Players Gentlemen v Players was a long-running series of English first-class cricket matches. Two matches were played in 1806, but the fixture was not played again until 1819. It became an annual event, usually played at least twice each season, exc ...

match at Lord's. Dark was described as "a good hitter and fieldsman". He was a respected umpire who stood intermittently from 1829 to 1860.Carlaw D (2020) ''Kent County Cricketers A to Z. Part One: 1806–1914'' (revised edition), p. 134.
Available online
at the

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. Retrieved 2020-12-21.)

Proprietor of Lord's

Dark used his earnings from cricket to become a property owner and developer.

Derek Birley Sir Derek Birley (31 May 1926 – 14 May 2002) was a distinguished English educationalist and a prize-winning writer on the social history of sport, particularly cricket. Life and career Born in a mining community in West Yorkshire, Birley attend ...

(1999) ''A Social History of English Cricket'', Aurum, p. 77. When an opportunity arose to buy the leasehold at Lord's, Dark was quick to seize it. The current Lord's Cricket Ground was opened by

Thomas Lord Thomas Lord (23 November 1755 – 13 January 1832) was an English professional cricketer who played first-class cricket from 1787 to 1802. He made a brief comeback, playing in one further match in 1815. Overall, Lord made 90 known appearances ...

in 1814, the ground sited on land that Lord leased from the Eyre Estate in St John's Wood. In 1825, Lord proposed building houses on the land as he was not receiving enough revenue from cricket. There was strong opposition to his idea and he sold his leasehold interest in the ground to William Ward for £5000.Warner, p.20. In 1835, Ward sold the leasehold to Dark who paid £2000 upfront and an annuity of £425 to the Ward family through the unexpired term of the lease from Michaelmas Day 1835 for 59 years (to 1894). The rental due to the Eyre Estate was £150 per annum. Dark lived close by the ground in a house which was "near the present (in 1945) members' luncheon room". Dark did much to improve Lord's. When he took over, there were two ponds on the land which frequently filled up with rubble and the playing area had a very rough surface.Warner, p.28. The ponds were eventually drained and filled in while ground maintenance relied to a large extent on sheep to keep the grass down and a small roller to even out the surface.Warner, p.31. Dark's development programme was ambitious for it included extension and improvement of the pavilion and the installation of gas lighting. He added a billiard room, a real tennis court, a running track and planted 400 trees. He struggled to improve the notoriously bad pitch and some of his extra attractions, such as pony racing and Red Indian encampments, cannot have helped the condition of the outfield. Dark brought his family into Lord's to help develop the business. His brother Ben established a bat-making business at the ground and their younger brother Robert sold a whole range of equipment including the new pads and gloves that players were beginning to prefer to

Muscular Christianity Muscular Christianity is a philosophical movement that originated in England in the mid-19th century, characterized by a belief in patriotic duty, discipline, self-sacrifice, masculinity, and the moral and physical beauty of athleticism. The mov ...

. In 1860, there was a potential crisis at Lord's when the Eyre Estate decided to sell the freehold at public auction. Dark was among many who urged MCC to bid but, for any number of reasons including a lack of vision, they did not and the ground was bought by Isaac Moses, a property speculator, for £7000. Dark resigned the leasehold in 1864 and it was taken over by MCC. In 1866, using funds advanced by William Nicholson, MCC did buy the freehold from Moses for £18,333 6s 8d, which was not good business: they should have heeded James Dark.

Character and personal life

The son of a

saddle The saddle is a supportive structure for a rider of an animal, fastened to an animal's back by a girth. The most common type is equestrian. However, specialized saddles have been created for oxen, camels and other animals. It is not k ...

r, Dark was connected with Lord's in some capacity for 59 years from 1805 to 1864 and it was said of him in Alfred D Taylor's ''Annals of Lord's and History of the MCC'': "having, perhaps, done more for MCC than any other individual".Warner, p.67. During his period of proprietorship, the ground was often referred to in common parlance as Dark's. Known as "the Boss", Dark was described as "a somewhat taciturn, silent man, out of who information was not easily extracted". Dark died on 17 October 1871 at

St John's Wood St John's Wood is a district in the City of Westminster, London, lying 2.5 miles (4 km) northwest of Charing Cross. Traditionally the northern part of the ancient parish and Metropolitan Borough of Marylebone, it extends east to west from ...

, London at the age of 76 and is buried in

Kensal Green Cemetery Kensal Green Cemetery is a cemetery in the Kensal Green area of Queens Park in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea in London, England. Inspired by Père Lachaise Cemetery in Paris, it was founded by the barrister George Frederick ...

where a red granite slab was erected with the inscription: "Sacred to the Memory of Mr James Henry Dark, who died October 17th 1871, aged 76. For many years Proprietor of Lord's Cricket Ground".Warner, p.68.

References

Bibliography

Arthur Haygarth Arthur Haygarth (4 August 1825 – 1 May 1903) was a noted amateur cricketer who became one of cricket's most significant historians. He played first-class cricket for the Marylebone Cricket Club and Sussex between 1844 and 1861, as well as num ...

(1862) ''Scores & Biographies'', Volumes 1–3 (1744–1846), Lillywhite *

Pelham Warner Sir Pelham Francis Warner, (2 October 1873 – 30 January 1963), affectionately and better known as Plum Warner or "the Grand Old Man" of English cricket, was a Test cricketer and cricket administrator. He was knighted for services to sport in ...

(1846) ''Lord's 1787 – 1945'', Harrap, * {{DEFAULTSORT:Dark, James 1795 births 1871 deaths English cricketers English cricketers of 1787 to 1825 English cricketers of 1826 to 1863 Middlesex cricketers Marylebone Cricket Club cricketers English cricket umpires Players cricketers Cricket patrons Cambridge Town Club cricketers