William Hugh Spottiswoode (12 July 1864 – 20 August 1915) was an English printer, businessman and amateur

cricketer 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 ...

Early life

Spottiswoode was born at

Belgravia Belgravia () is a district in Central London, covering parts of the areas of the City of Westminster and the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. Belgravia was known as the 'Five Fields' during the Tudor Period, and became a dangerous pla ...

in London, the eldest son of William Spottiswoode and his wife Eliza in 1864.Carlaw D (2020) ''Kent County Cricketers A to Z. Part One: 1806–1914'' (revised edition), pp. 500–501.
Available online
at the

Association of Cricket Statisticians and Historians The Association of Cricket Statisticians and Historians (ACS) was founded in England in 1973 for the purpose of researching and collating information about the history and statistics of cricket. Originally called the Association of Cricket Stati ...

. Retrieved 2020-12-21.)Foster J (1893) ''Oxford men, 1880-1892, with a record of their schools, honours and degrees. Illustrated with portraits and views'', col.570. London: James Parker & Co.
Available online
Retrieved 2019-12-19.) His father was a

Fellow of the Royal Society Fellowship of the Royal Society (FRS, ForMemRS and HonFRS) is an award granted by the Fellows of the Royal Society of London to individuals who have made a "substantial contribution to the improvement of natural science, natural knowledge, incl ...

, a mathematician and a physicist and was on the board of printers

Eyre & Spottiswoode Eyre & Spottiswoode was the London-based printing firm established in 1739 that was the King's Printer, and subsequently, a publisher prior to being incorporated; it once went by the name of Spottiswoode, Ballantyne & co. ltd. In April 1929, it ...

, the

Queen's Printer The King's Printer (known as the Queen's Printer during the reign of a female monarch) is typically a bureau of the national, state, or provincial government responsible for producing official documents issued by the King-in-Council, Ministers ...

.William Spottiswoode
Grace's Guide to British Industrial History. Retrieved 2019-12-18. His grandfather, Andrew Spottiswoode, had been MP for

Saltash Saltash () is a town and civil parish in south Cornwall, England. It had a population of 16,184 in 2011 census. Saltash faces the city of Plymouth over the River Tamar and is popularly known as "the Gateway to Cornwall". Saltash’s landmarks ...

and, briefly,

Colchester Colchester ( ) is a city in northeastern Essex, England. It is the second-largest settlement in the county, with a population of 130,245 at the 2021 United Kingdom census, 2021 Census. The demonym is ''Colcestrian''. Colchester occupies the ...

and had taken over the printing business from his uncle

Andrew Strahan Andrew Strahan (1749–1831) was an MP and printer who served as the King's Printer. Biography Andrew Strahan was the youngest son of William Strahan (1715–1785), and carried on his father's business with success, becoming one of the joint ...

in 1819.Eyre and Spottiswoode
Grace's Guide to British Industrial History. Retrieved 2019-12-18. The family lived in Bexley in

Kent Kent is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Essex across the Thames Estuary to the north, the Strait of Dover to the south-east, East Sussex to the south-west, Surrey to the west, and Gr ...

and Spottiswoode grew up there before being 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 ...

and

Balliol College, Oxford Balliol College () is a constituent college of the University of Oxford. Founded in 1263 by nobleman John I de Balliol, it has a claim to be the oldest college in Oxford and the English-speaking world. With a governing body of a master and aro ...

, where he captained his college cricket team. He did not play for either the Eton side or

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 ...

. In 1886 he was elected a member of the

Royal Institution The Royal Institution of Great Britain (often the Royal Institution, Ri or RI) is an organisation for scientific education and research, based in the City of Westminster. It was founded in 1799 by the leading British scientists of the age, inc ...

.Hugh Spottiswoode
Grace's Guide to British Industrial History. Retrieved 2019-12-18.

Business career

Spottiswoode became a partner in Eyre & Spottiswoode in 1885, soon after the death of his father in 1883.Death Of Mr, W. H. Spottiswoode, ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...

'', 23 August 1915, p.3.
Available online
at The Times Digital Archive. Retrieved 2019-12-18. ) The firm continued as Kings' Printer following the death of

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 Death and state funeral of Queen Victoria, her death in January 1901. Her reign of 63 year ...

and accession of

King Edward VII Edward VII (Albert Edward; 9 November 1841 – 6 May 1910) was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 22 January 1901 until his death in 1910. The second child and eldest son of Queen Victoria and ...

. He went on to manage the company as well as being chairman of '' The Sphere'' and ''

Tatler ''Tatler'' (stylised in all caps) is a British magazine published by Condé Nast Publications. It focuses on fashion and lifestyle, as well as coverage of high society and politics. It is targeted towards the British upper and upper-middle c ...

'' and a director of piano manufacturer John Broadwood & Sons. Whilst chairman of the Printers' Pension Corporation in 1903 he established ''Printer's Pie'', the profits of which went to the corporation and other charitable causes.Winter's Pie, ''

'', 22 November 1915, p.5.
Available online
at The Times Digital Archive. Retrieved 2019-12-18. ) He was a director of the

Royal Academy of Music The Royal Academy of Music (RAM) in London, England, is one of the oldest music schools in the UK, founded in 1822 by John Fane and Nicolas-Charles Bochsa. It received its royal charter in 1830 from King George IV with the support of the firs ...

, a committee member of the

Royal Literary Fund The Royal Literary Fund (RLF) is a benevolent fund that gives assistance to published British writers in financial difficulties. Founded in 1790, and granted a royal charter in 1818, the Fund has helped an extensive roll of authors through its lon ...

and managed the Royal Institution for a period. In 1912 he worked with Francis McClean to pioneer the use of

aerial photography Aerial photography (or airborne imagery) is the taking of photographs from an aircraft or other flight, airborne platforms. When taking motion pictures, it is also known as aerial videography. Platforms for aerial photography include fixed-wi ...

of underwater objects, taking images of the wreck of SS ''Oceana'' at

Eastbourne Eastbourne () is a town and seaside resort in East Sussex, on the south coast of England, east of Brighton and south of London. It is also a non-metropolitan district, local government district with Borough status in the United Kingdom, bor ...

and was elected to the

Royal Aero Club The Royal Aero Club (RAeC) is the national co-ordinating body for air sport in the United Kingdom. It was founded in 1901 as the Aero Club of Great Britain, being granted the title of the "Royal Aero Club" in 1910. History The Aero Club was foun ...

the same year.

Cricket

Spottiswoode was an enthusiastic cricketer. In club cricket, Spottiswoode played successfully for Bexley Wanderers and West Kent sides as well as for a range of other amateur sides, including the Eton Ramblers and Band of Brothers, an amateur side closely linked to

Kent County Cricket Club Kent County Cricket Club is one of the eighteen first-class county clubs within the domestic cricket structure of England and Wales. It represents the historic county of Kent. A club representing the county was first founded in 1842 but Ken ...

.Hugh Spottiswoode
CricketArchive. Retrieved 2019-12-18. He played three times for the County Club in 1890, including twice in first-class matches against

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ) is an area of Northern England which was History of Yorkshire, historically a county. Despite no longer being used for administration, Yorkshire retains a strong regional identity. The county was named after its county town, the ...

and

Gloucestershire Gloucestershire ( , ; abbreviated Glos.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by Herefordshire to the north-west, Worcestershire to the north, Warwickshire to the north-east, Oxfordshire ...

. In his three first-class innings he scored 51 runs with a highest score of 37 and ''

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" (or variations thereof) has been applied to ''Wi ...

'' described his lob bowling as sometimes "very successful".Mr William Hugh Spottiswoode
Obituaries in 1915, ''

Wisden Cricketers' Almanack ''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" (or variations thereof) has been applied to ''Wi ...

'', 1916. Retrieved 2019-12-19. Spottiswoode's son-in-law Gerry Crutchley and uncle Reginald Arbuthnot both played first-class cricket, Arbuthnot for Kent. His young brother, Cyril, was a member of the Old Stagers theatre group and described in his ''Wisden'' obituary as "a familiar figure at the Canterbury Week". He died in the same year as Hugh.Mt Cyril Andrew Spottiswoode
Obituaries in 1915, ''

'', 1916. Retrieved 2019-12-19.

Family and later life

Spottiswoode married Sylvia Tomlin at Westminster Abbey in 1893. The couple had two children.The Late Mr. Spottiswoode, ''

'', 25 August 1915, p.9.
Available online
at The Times Digital Archive. Retrieved 2019-12-18. ) He died of heart failure at

Llandrindod Wells Llandrindod Wells (; ; ; ) is a town and community (Wales), community in Powys, Wales. It serves as the seat of Powys County Council, and is therefore the administrative centre of Powys. The town was Historic counties of Wales, historically in ...

Radnorshire Radnorshire () was Historic counties of Wales, one of the thirteen counties of Wales that existed from 1536 until their abolishment in 1974, later becoming a Districts of Wales, district of Powys from 1974 to 1996. It covered a sparsely populat ...

in August 1915 aged 51.William Spottiswoode

CricInfo ESPNcricinfo (formerly known as Cricinfo or CricInfo) is a Sports journalism, sports news website exclusively for the game of cricket. The site features news, articles, live coverage of cricket matches (including Liveblogging, liveblogs and sco ...

. Retrieved 2019-12-18.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Spottiswoode, William 1864 births 1915 deaths Cricketers from the City of Westminster People from Westminster English cricketers Kent cricketers