The Rev. The Reverend is an honorific style most often placed before the names of Christian clergy and ministers. There are sometimes differences in the way the style is used in different countries and church traditions. ''The Reverend'' is correctly ...

Charles Edward Burroughs Nepean (5 February 1851 – 26 March 1903) was an English amateur

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

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 ...

who later became a

vicar A vicar (; Latin: '' vicarius'') is a representative, deputy or substitute; anyone acting "in the person of" or agent for a superior (compare "vicarious" in the sense of "at second hand"). Linguistically, ''vicar'' is cognate with the English pr ...

in the

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britai ...

. As a cricketer he played ten first-class matches for

Oxford University Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

and

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 neighbourin ...

between 1870 and 1874, whilst in football he was in goal for

, the winning side in the 1874 FA Cup Final.

Early life and education

Nepean was born in Mayfair, London, the youngest of 13 children of Rev. Canon Evan Nepean (1800–1873) and Anne Fust. His father was the son of Sir Evan Nepean, 1st Baronet and was the Canon of

Westminster Westminster is an area of Central London, part of the wider City of Westminster. The area, which extends from the River Thames to Oxford Street, has many visitor attractions and historic landmarks, including the Palace of Westminster, Buck ...

and a

Chaplain in Ordinary ''In ordinary'' is an English phrase with multiple meanings. In relation to the Royal Household, it indicates that a position is a permanent one. In naval matters, vessels "in ordinary" (from the 17th century) are those out of service for repair o ...

Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 216 days was longer than that of any previ ...

. Nepean was educated at

Charterhouse School (God having given, I gave) , established = , closed = , type = Public school Independent day and boarding school , religion = Church of England , president ...

between 1861 and 1869 before going up to

University College, Oxford University College (in full The College of the Great Hall of the University of Oxford, colloquially referred to as "Univ") is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. It has a claim to being the oldest college of the unive ...

. At Charterhouse, he was a regular member of the school cricket XI.

Family

Nepean was one of thirteen children (six girls, seven boys). His elder brother, Augustus Adolphus Nepean (1849–1933) (known as "Dolly") was also a cricketer with Middlesex as was his nephew, Evan Alcock Nepean (1865–1906). Nepean's brother, Evan Colville Nepean (1836–1908), father of Evan Alcock Nepean, had several children, including a daughter, Emily Margaret (1867–1950). She married Felton George Randolph; their daughter, Margaret Isabel (1901–2001) married James Cassilis MacLean and in turn had a daughter, Fynvola Susan (1933–2001). Fynvola married James Murray Grant in 1957; their children included

Hugh Grant Hugh John Mungo Grant (born 9 September 1960) is an English actor. He established himself early in his career as both a charming, and vulnerable romantic lead and has since transitioned into a dramatic character actor. Among his numerous ...

(b. 1960), the actor. ' Charles Nepean died unmarried in 1903.

Sporting career

Cricket

On his arrival at Oxford, Nepean had a good reputation as a batsman. He made his debut for the

University A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase ''universitas magistrorum et scholarium'', which ...

against M.C.C. on 26 May 1870, scoring 11 and 8 in a match won by the M.C.C. by 6 wickets. His next first-class match came at the end of June against Surrey, when he played as the

wicket-keeper The wicket-keeper in the sport of cricket is the player on the fielding side who stands behind the wicket or stumps being watchful of the batsman and ready to take a catch, stump the batsman out and run out a batsman when occasion arises. T ...

, claiming three

wicket In cricket, the term wicket has several meanings: * It is one of the two sets of three stumps and two bails at either end of the pitch. The fielding team's players can hit the wicket with the ball in a number of ways to get a batsman out. ...

s, including those of Surrey's top-scorers,

Leonard Howell Leonard Percival Howell (16 June 1898 – 23 January 1981), also known as The Gong or G.G. Maragh (for ''Gangun Guru''), was a Jamaican religious figure. According to his biographer Hélène Lee, Howell was born into an Anglican family. He was one ...

and Richard Humphrey; the university won the match by 3 wickets. According to his obituary in

Wisden ''Wisden Cricketers' Almanack'', or simply ''Wisden'', colloquially the Bible of Cricket, is a cricket reference book published annually in the United Kingdom. The description "bible of cricket" was first used in the 1930s by Alec Waugh in a ...

, "his future at Oxford seemed assured, but from some cause he did not get a place in the eleven till his last year"; he was described as "an admirable batsman, with a very neat and business-like style". His next first-class appearance came in May 1873 against M.C.C. In the summer of 1873, he played regularly including the two wicket victory over

in June and the match against

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 ...

Lords Lords may refer to: * The plural of Lord Places *Lords Creek, a stream in New Hanover County, North Carolina * Lord's, English Cricket Ground and home of Marylebone Cricket Club and Middlesex County Cricket Club People *Traci Lords (born 1 ...

, scoring 22 and 50 (his top first-class score), helping Cuthbert Ottaway to gain a victory by three wickets and for Nepean to obtain his

blue Blue is one of the three primary colours in the RYB colour model (traditional colour theory), as well as in the RGB (additive) colour model. It lies between violet and cyan on the spectrum of visible light. The eye perceives blue when ...

. On the strength of his performances for Oxford he was selected for the Gentlemen in the first

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 to be played at the

Prince's Cricket Ground Prince's Cricket Ground in Chelsea, London was a cricket ground, created by the brothers George and James Prince as part of the Prince's Club, on which 37 first-class matches were played between 1872 and 1878. The ground was built on in 1883. T ...

, in Chelsea. The Gentleman won the match by an innings and 54 runs, with A. N. Hornby and W.G. Grace scoring 104 and 70 respectively, and Grace and his brother

Fred Fred may refer to: People * Fred (name), including a list of people and characters with the name Mononym * Fred (cartoonist) (1931–2013), pen name of Fred Othon Aristidès, French * Fred (footballer, born 1949) (1949–2022), Frederico Ro ...

claiming 11 wickets between them. This match came between Nepean's two appearances for

against M.C.C. in June 1873 (when Nepean was again wicket-keeper) and against his former university in June 1874. Both matches ended in defeats for the county side. Following his

ordination Ordination is the process by which individuals are consecrated, that is, set apart and elevated from the laity class to the clergy, who are thus then authorized (usually by the denominational hierarchy composed of other clergy) to perform v ...

, he no longer played first-class cricket, although he was a member of the

Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...

committee, thus keeping him in touch with the game.

Football

At Oxford, Nepean also played football, winning a blue. In November 1870, he was selected by Arthur Kinnaird to represent "Scotland" in the second pseudo-international match against the English side, organised by Charles Alcock. The Scottish XI was made up from players from London and the Home Counties with "Scottish connections". (In his biography of Arthur Kinnaird, Andy Mitchell says that Nepean's "closest link to Scotland was a cousin who married a Scot.") According to the report on the match played at the

Kennington Oval The Oval, currently known for sponsorship reasons as the Kia Oval, is an international cricket ground in Kennington, located in the borough of Lambeth, in south London. The Oval has been the home ground of Surrey County Cricket Club since it ...

on 19 November 1870, "proceedings were commenced with a kick-off by C.E.B. Nepean on behalf of the Scottish team". The English won the match with a single goal from

R.S.F. Walker Lieutenant-Colonel Robert Sandilands Frowd Walker (13 May 1850 – 16 May 1917), also known as R. S. F. Walker, was a prominent figure in British Malaya, Malaya during the British colonial era in the late 19th century. During his youth he was a ...

; for the "Scotch", "C.E.B. Nepean . . . was a perfect rock in the way of defence". Oxford univ afc 1874

Nepean retained his place in the Scottish team for the next three games, playing in various positions. In the match on 25 February 1871, Nepean scored the Scottish goal in a 1–1 draw; the match report says "about a quarter of an hour after the kick-off a loud shout proclaimed the fall of the English goal – an achievement entirely due to the play of C.E. Nepean". With England equalising through R.S.F. Walker, the match ended "leaving the question of supremacy undecided". The report comments: "to C. E. Nepean, Q. Hogg and W. H. Gladstone was mainly due the successful defence of he Scottishlines against a series of well-organised attacks". In the last of the pseudo-internationals, played on 24 February 1872, Nepean played in goal for part of the game, alternating with M. J. Muir Mackenzie; this match ended in a 1–0 victory for the English, with a goal from J. C. Clegg. In 1872,

entered a team in the

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competit ...

for the first time, reaching the final against the Wanderers. Nepean had become the university's first-choice goalkeeper but was unavailable for the final, which was won 2–0 by the Wanderers. The university reached the final again in 1874; this time Nepean was available to play in goal. In the match against the Royal Engineers, Nepean repeatedly thwarted the Engineers' attempts on goal. Oxford won the match 2–0 and secured the cup. He was also a member of the Wanderers club.

Later career

On leaving Oxford in 1874, Nepean entered the

and in 1876 he was appointed as

of Lenham in Kent. In 1894, he was appointed as vice-chairman at the inaugural meeting of Lenham Parish Council. He died on 26 March 1903 at Lenham, aged 52 years and 49 days.

Sporting honours

Oxford University *

winner: 1874

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Nepean, Charles 1851 births 1903 deaths 19th-century English Anglican priests Alumni of University College, Oxford Association football goalkeepers Cricketers from Greater London England v Scotland representative footballers (1870–1872) English cricketers of 1864 to 1889 English cricketers English footballers FA Cup Final players Footballers from the City of Westminster Gentlemen cricketers Jenner family (Wales) Middlesex cricketers Old Carthusians F.C. players Oxford University A.F.C. players Oxford University cricketers People educated at Charterhouse School People from Mayfair Wanderers F.C. players People from Lenham Wicket-keepers