Geoffrey Russell Rees Colman (14 March 1892 – 18 March 1935) was an English

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 striki ...

er active in first-class cricket from 1912 to 1924. Colman was born at Norwich to mustard manufacturer Russell James Colman, of Crown Point House, Norwich, and Edith Margaret (née Davies). He was educated at Eton College, before attending

Christ Church, Oxford Christ Church ( la, Ædes Christi, the temple or house, '' ædēs'', of Christ, and thus sometimes known as "The House") is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. Founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII, the college is uniqu ...

. While still attending Eton, Colman made his minor counties debut for Norfolk in the 1911

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 ...

, making three appearances in that season. His debut in first-class cricket came the following year for Oxford University against the touring South Africans at the Magdalen Ground, Oxford. Prior to the start of World War I, Colman made 22 first-class appearances for the university. Playing primarily as a right-handed batsman, Colman scored 946 runs, making one

century A century is a period of 100 years. Centuries are numbered ordinally in English and many other languages. The word ''century'' comes from the Latin ''centum'', meaning ''one hundred''. ''Century'' is sometimes abbreviated as c. A centennial or ...

score of 127 against Hampshire in 1913. He gained his Oxford blue in 1913. With the onset of war, Colman enlisted in the British Army. He served in the 7th Battalion, The Rifle Brigade on the Western Front with the rank of

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 ...

. He later served in the Machine Gun Corps, achieving the rank of temporary

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

in January 1917. During the course of the war he was severely wounded, which would affect him in later years. On 25 February 1919, Colman married Lettice Elizabeth Evelyn, daughter of Charles Robert Whorwood Adeane, of Babraham Hall, Lord Lieutenant of Cambridgeshire. Their five children included Timothy Colman. He also resumed playing minor counties cricket for Norfolk, representing his home county until 1930, but the wounds he sustained during the war curtailed his minor counties career. He made one final appearance in first-class cricket when he was selected to play for the combined Minor Counties cricket team in 1924 against the touring South Africans at the

County Ground, Lakenham The County Ground in Lakenham, Norwich, Norfolk was a cricket ground for over two hundred years, hosting both first-class and List A cricket. Five first-class games, all involving touring international sides, were played here between 1912 and 19 ...

. As a member of the Norwich Colman's family, he served as a company director until his death at

Framingham Earl Framingham Earl is a small village and civil parish in the English county of Norfolk. The village is located north-west of Loddon and south-east of Norwich. History Framingham Earl's name is of Anglo-Saxon origin and derives from the Old Eng ...

, Norfolk, on 18 March 1935, from endocarditis caused by a chest wound sustained during the war. After his death, the thatched pavilion at the County Ground in Lakenham was erected in his memory in 1936.

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Geoffrey Colman
at ESPNcricinfo
Geoffrey Colman
at CricketArchive {{DEFAULTSORT:Colman, Geoffrey 1892 births 1935 deaths Cricketers from Norwich People educated at Eton College Alumni of Christ Church, Oxford English cricketers Norfolk cricketers Oxford University cricketers British Army personnel of World War I Rifle Brigade officers Machine Gun Corps officers Minor Counties cricketers 20th-century British businesspeople Deaths from endocarditis Colman family People from South Norfolk (district) Military personnel from Norwich British military personnel killed in World War I