Arthur Franklin Willmer (10 January 1890 – 20 September 1916) was an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Culture, language and peoples * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England * ''English'', an Amish ter ...

first-class cricketer and

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 ...

officer. Willmer was born at Claughton to Arthur Washington Willmer, a JP and cotton broker, and his wife Janet Mary Willmer (née Cooper). He was educated at the nearby

Birkenhead School Birkenhead School is a Private schools in the United Kingdom, private, academically-selective, co-educational day school located in Oxton, Merseyside, Oxton, Wirral Peninsula, Wirral, in North West England. The school offers educational opportu ...

, where he played cricket for four years, captaining the college in his last two. From Birkenhead he went up to

Brasenose College, Oxford Brasenose College (BNC) is one of the Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. It began as Brasenose Hall in the 13th century, before being founded as a college in 1509. The l ...

to study law on an open scholarship. While studying at Oxford, Willmer made one appearance in

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

Oxford University The University of Oxford is a collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the second-oldest continuously operating u ...

against the

Free Foresters Free Foresters Cricket Club is an England, English amateur cricket club, established in 1856 for players from the Midland counties of England. It is a 'wandering' (or nomadic) club, having no home ground. The Free Foresters were founded by the ...

Oxford Oxford () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and non-metropolitan district in Oxfordshire, England, of which it is the county town. The city is home to the University of Oxford, the List of oldest universities in continuou ...

in 1912. He batted twice during the match, ending each innings unbeaten on 5 and 7 respectively. He bowled ten overs across the match with his right-arm

fast bowling Fast bowling (also referred to as pace bowling) is a type of bowling in cricket, in which the ball is delivered at high speed. The fastest bowlers bowl the ball at over . Practitioners of fast bowling are known as fast bowlers or quicks. Also ...

, conceding 36 runs. After graduating, Willmer passed both of his intermediate and final exams to be

called to the bar The call to the bar is a legal term of art in most common law jurisdictions where persons must be qualified to be allowed to argue in court on behalf of another party and are then said to have been "called to the bar" or to have received "call to ...

. He 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

Cheshire Cheshire ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Merseyside to the north-west, Greater Manchester to the north-east, Derbyshire to the east, Staffordshire to the south-east, and Shrop ...

in 1914, making two 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 ...

. He joined the Inns of Court

Officers' Training Corps The University Officers' Training Corps (UOTC), also known as the Officers' Training Corps (OTC), are British Army reserve units, under the command of the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst, which recruit exclusively from universities and focus on ...

in October 1914, before enlisting in the 9th Battalion of the

Rifle Brigade The Rifle Brigade (The Prince Consort's Own) was an infantry rifle regiment of the British Army formed in January 1800 as the "Experimental Corps of Riflemen" to provide sharpshooters, scouts, and skirmishers. They were soon renamed the "Rifle ...

in December 1914. He travelled to France in early 1915 and was severely wounded in the jaw by shrapnel in June of that year, returning to action after recovering over a period of months. He was promoted to both the temporary ranks of

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 ...

and

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 ...

in October 1915, the latter while commanding a company, however this appointment was cancelled in April 1916. Willmer was once again wounded by shrapnel during the

Battle of the Somme The Battle of the Somme (; ), also known as the Somme offensive, was a battle of the First World War fought by the armies of the British Empire and the French Third Republic against the German Empire. It took place between 1 July and 18 Nove ...

on 18 September 1916, dying from his wounds two days later at

Rouen Rouen (, ; or ) is a city on the River Seine, in northwestern France. It is in the prefecture of Regions of France, region of Normandy (administrative region), Normandy and the Departments of France, department of Seine-Maritime. Formerly one ...

. He was buried at the St. Sever Cemetery in Rouen. His brother was the histologist Nevill Willmer, while another brother, Gordon Willmer, was a judge.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Willmer, Arthur 1890 births 1916 deaths Cricketers from Birkenhead People educated at Birkenhead School Alumni of Brasenose College, Oxford English cricketers Oxford University cricketers Cheshire cricketers British Army personnel of World War I Rifle Brigade officers British military personnel killed in the Battle of the Somme Military personnel from Merseyside Cricketers from Cheshire 20th-century English sportsmen