Archer Windsor-Clive (6 November 1890 – 25 August 1914) was an English first-class

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 st ...

er and

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gur ...

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

for

Cambridge University , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , established = , other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...

between 1910 and 1912. He served in 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 fig ...

with the

Coldstream Guards The Coldstream Guards is the oldest continuously serving regular regiment in the British Army. As part of the Household Division, one of its principal roles is the protection of the monarchy; due to this, it often participates in state ceremoni ...

and was killed in action on 25 August 1914. He was the first first-class cricketer to be killed in the war.

Life and military career

Windsor-Clive was born at Hewell Grange near

Redditch Redditch is a town, and local government district, in north-east Worcestershire, England, approximately south of Birmingham. The district has a population of 85,000 as of 2019. In the 19th century, it became the international centre for the ...

to Robert Windsor-Clive, 1st Earl of Plymouth, and his wife, Alberta Victoria Sarah Caroline. He was educated at

Eton College Eton College () is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school in Eton, Berkshire, England. It was founded in 1440 by Henry VI of England, Henry VI under the name ''Kynge's College of Our Ladye of Eton besyde Windesore'',Nevill, p. 3 ff. i ...

, where he played for the college cricket team from 1907 to 1909. From there 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. ...

. While studying at Cambridge he made his debut in

for

against

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 G ...

Fenner's Fenner's is Cambridge University Cricket Club's ground. History Cambridge University Cricket Club had previously played at two grounds in Cambridge, the University Ground and Parker's Piece. In 1846, Francis Fenner leased a former cherry orch ...

in 1910. He played first-class cricket for Cambridge until 1912, making seven appearances. In his seven matches, he scored 108 runs with a high score of 22, while with his left-arm medium pace bowling he took 3 wickets with best figures of 3 for 56. In addition to playing first-class cricket, Windsor-Clive 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 un ...

for Glamorgan between 1908 and 1912, making four appearances in the

Minor Counties Championship The NCCA 3 Day Championship (previously the Minor Counties Cricket 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 cou ...

. He was commissioned as a

second lieutenant Second lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces, comparable to NATO OF-1 rank. Australia The rank of second lieutenant existed in the military forces of the Australian colonies and Australian Army until 1 ...

in the

Territorial Force The Territorial Force was a part-time volunteer component of the British Army, created in 1908 to augment British land forces without resorting to conscription. The new organisation consolidated the 19th-century Volunteer Force and yeomanry i ...

. In December 1913, he was transferred from the Territorial Force to the

, at which point he was promoted to the rank of

lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations. The meaning of lieutenant differs in different militaries (see comparative military ranks), but it is often ...

. Shortly after the beginning of hostilities in the

, Windsor-Clive left for France with the 3rd Battalion aboard the on 12 August 1914. The battalion soon reached

Harveng Harveng ( wa, Harvent) is a village of Wallonia and a district of the municipality of Mons, located in the province of Hainaut, Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in N ...

in Belgium, where they set up defensive positions. The following day the allied Retreat from Mons began. The Coldstream Guards fell back to Landrecies, where they defended the north-western sector of the town. At some point between 19:00 and 20:00 on 25 August 1914, Windsor-Clive was killed by a German shell, which also killed his

batman Batman is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character was created by artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger, and debuted in the 27th issue of the comic book '' Detective Comics'' on March 30, 1939 ...

, Frank Lethbridge. He was the first first-class cricketer to fall in the war. His body was recovered and he was buried at the Landrecies Communal Cemetery. His brother-in-law,

Hugo Charteris Hugo Francis Guy Charteris MC (11 December 1922 – 20 December 1970) was a noted British novelist and screenwriter, the author of nine novels, 17 television screenplays and numerous children's books and short stories. Early life Charteris wa ...

, was also a first-class cricketer.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Windsor-Clive, Archer 1890 births 1914 deaths Sportspeople from Redditch People educated at Eton College Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge English cricketers Glamorgan cricketers Cambridge University cricketers Coldstream Guards officers British Army personnel of World War I British military personnel killed in World War I Younger sons of earls Military personnel from Worcestershire