George Hanmer Leycester (12 July 1763 — 6 October 1838) was an English amateur

cricket Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven players on a cricket field, field, at the centre of which is a cricket pitch, pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two Bail (cr ...

er who made 50 known appearances 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 ...

matches between 1790 and 1808.

Life and cricket

The son of The Reverend Ralph Leycester and Susanna Hanmer, he was born at in July 1763 at

Simpson Simpson may refer to: * Simpson (name), a British surname Organizations Schools *Simpson College, in Indianola, Iowa *Simpson University, in Redding, California Businesses *Simpson (appliance manufacturer), former manufacturer and brand of w ...

, Buckinghamshire. He came of the well-known Cheshire family, the Leycesters of Tabley. Leycester was educated at

Eton College Eton College ( ) is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school providing boarding school, boarding education for boys aged 13–18, in the small town of Eton, Berkshire, Eton, in Berkshire, in the United Kingdom. It has educated Prime Mini ...

, before matriculating to

Christ Church, Oxford Christ Church (, the temple or house, ''wikt:aedes, ædes'', of Christ, and thus sometimes known as "The House") is a Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. Founded in 1546 by Henry V ...

in 1782; however, he gained his degree from

Merton College, Oxford Merton College (in full: The House or College of Scholars of Merton in the University of Oxford) is a Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. Its foundation can be traced back to the 126 ...

in 1788 and his

master's A master's degree (from Latin ) is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional prac ...

in 1790. A student

Lincoln's Inn The Honourable Society of Lincoln's Inn, commonly known as Lincoln's Inn, is one of the four Inns of Court (professional associations for Barrister, barristers and judges) in London. To be called to the bar in order to practise as a barrister ...

, he was

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 ...

in the same year that he gained his master's degree. Leycester was one of the leading cricketers in the final decade of the 1700s and the first decade of the 1800s. He made his debut in

in 1790 for the

Marylebone Cricket Club The Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) is a cricket club founded in 1787 and based since 1814 at Lord's, Lord's Cricket Ground, which it owns, in St John's Wood, London, England. The club was the governing body of cricket from 1788 to 1989 and retain ...

(MCC) against

Hornchurch Hornchurch is a suburban town in East London in the London Borough of Havering. It is located east-northeast of Charing Cross. It comprises a number of shopping streets and a large residential area. It historically formed a large ancient par ...

Lord's Old Ground Lord's Old Ground was a cricket venue in London that was established by Thomas Lord in 1787. It was used mainly by Marylebone Cricket Club for major matches until 1810, after which a dispute about rent caused Lord to relocate. Matches The firs ...

. Leycester was mainly associated with

Surrey Surrey () is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Greater London to the northeast, Kent to the east, East Sussex, East and West Sussex to the south, and Hampshire and Berkshire to the wes ...

and the MCC, but also represented

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Berkshire to the north, Surrey and West Sussex to the east, the Isle of Wight across the Solent to the south, ...

, amongst other teams.

Arthur Haygarth Arthur Haygarth (4 August 1825 – 1 May 1903) was a noted English 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 wel ...

, ''Scores & Biographies'', Volume 1 (1744-1826), Lillywhite, 1862 He was an occasional patron of cricket, his own team appearing in a first-class match in 1802. Leycester played for the Gentlemen in the inaugural and second

Gentlemen v Players Gentlemen v Players was a long-running series of cricket matches that began in July 1806 and was abolished in January 1963. It was a match between a team consisting of amateurs (the Gentlemen) and a team consisting of professionals (the Players ...

matches in 1806. In 50 first-class matches, Leycester scored 922 runs at an

average In colloquial, ordinary language, an average is a single number or value that best represents a set of data. The type of average taken as most typically representative of a list of numbers is the arithmetic mean the sum of the numbers divided by ...

of 10.35 with a highest score of 49. Leycester died at his

Portland Place Portland Place is a street in the Marylebone district of central London. Named after the 3rd Duke of Portland, the unusually wide street is home to the BBC's headquarters Broadcasting House, the Chinese and Polish embassies, the Royal Insti ...

residence in October 1838; he was survived by his widow, Charlotte Jemima.Deaths. ''

Derby Mercury The ''Derby Mercury'' was a local, broadsheet newspaper, based in Derby, Derbyshire, England. It ran from 1732 until 1900. References

Publications disestablished in 1900 1732 establishments in England Publications established in 1732 New ...

''. 26 February 1851. p. 3

References

External sources

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Leycester, George 1763 births 1838 deaths Sportspeople from Milton Keynes People educated at Eton College Alumni of Christ Church, Oxford Alumni of Merton College, Oxford Members of Lincoln's Inn English barristers English cricketers English cricketers of 1787 to 1825 Marylebone Cricket Club cricketers Old Etonians cricketers Hampshire cricketers Surrey cricketers Hampshire and Marylebone Cricket Club cricketers Non-international England cricketers Surrey and Marylebone Cricket Club cricketers R. Whitehead's XI cricketers G. Leycester's XI cricketers Marylebone Cricket Club and Homerton cricketers Gentlemen cricketers Lord Frederick Beauclerk's XI cricketers Cricketers from Buckinghamshire