Lord John Philip Sackville (22 June 1713 – 3 December 1765) was the second son of

Lionel Sackville, 1st Duke of Dorset Lionel Cranfield Sackville, 1st Duke of Dorset (18 January 168810 October 1765) was a British politician who served as Lord President of the Council from 1745 to 1751. He also twice served as Lord Lieutenant of Ireland from 1730 to 1737 and aga ...

. He was a keen

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 was closely connected with the sport 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 ...

. He was member of parliament (MP) for Tamworth from 1734 to 1747.

Cricket career

Sackville was first recorded as a cricketer in 1734 when he and his brother, Lord Middlesex, played for a Kent side against one from

Sussex Sussex (Help:IPA/English, /ˈsʌsɪks/; from the Old English ''Sūþseaxe''; lit. 'South Saxons'; 'Sussex') is an area within South East England that was historically a kingdom of Sussex, kingdom and, later, a Historic counties of England, ...

at Sevenoaks Vine.

H T Waghorn Henry Thomas Waghorn (11 April 1842 – 30 January 1930), was a cricket statistician and historian. He is best known for his two classic researches into cricket's early history: ''The Dawn of Cricket'' and Cricket Scores, Notes, etc. (1730 - 1773 ...

, ''Cricket Scores, Notes, etc.'' (1730–1773), Blackwood, 1899 Timothy J McCann, ''Sussex Cricket in the Eighteenth Century'', Sussex Record Society, 2004 In August 1735, Sackville captained Kent to victory against Sir William Gage's Sussex side on the same ground. He became the main patron of the Kent team and captained the side in many matches until 1745, but he is not mentioned after that. In 1739, he played for

London Cricket Club The original London Cricket Club was formed in 1722 and was one of the foremost clubs in English cricket over the next four decades, holding First-class cricket#Important matches classification, important match status. It is closely associated ...

. In 1744 Sackville challenged an England side to play against his team. Kent won, in part thanks to Sackville himself taking a catch to dismiss Richard Newland. The catch was eulogised in ''Cricket, An Heroic Poem'' (1745) by James Love. The match details were recorded and preserved in what is now cricket's second oldest known scorecard. Arthur Haygarth, ''Scores & Biographies, Volume 1'' (1744–1826), Lillywhite, 1862

Family and personal life

Sackville was a notorious rake in his youth. He was compelled to marry Lady Frances Leveson-Gower, daughter of

John Leveson-Gower, 1st Earl Gower John Leveson-Gower, 1st Earl Gower, PC (10 August 1694 – 25 December 1754) was a British Tory politician who served as Lord Privy Seal from 1742 to 1743 and again from 1744 to 1754. Leveson-Gower also served in the Parliament of Great Brita ...

and sister of the

Duchess of Bedford {{Notability, date=September 2022 Duchess of Bedford is a title given to the wife of the Duke of Bedford, an extant title in the peerage of England which was first created in 1414. Duchesses of Bedford

;1st creation (1414) *Anne of Burgundy ( ...

in 1744, after she gave birth to his child at Woburn. They eventually had two sons and one daughter. The couple's parents were furious, and the Prince of Wales compensated Sackville for any loss of income, making him a lord of his bedchamber in 1745, and thus securing him as a recruit to his party.''History of Parliament'' Two of Sackville's children were: * John Frederick Sackville, 3rd Duke of Dorset (25 March 1745 – 19 July 1799). * Mary Sackville (b. 1 April 1746). Married Sackville Tufton, 8th Earl of Thanet in 1767. Sackville was also disappointed when Lord Wilmington the late Prime Minister (d. 1743) declined to leave him his Sussex estates, worth £3-£4,000 a year. It is not clear if Wilmington's decision was made because of Sackville's messy private life, or his political inconstancy. Commissioned a captain in the 37th Regiment of Foot in 1734, he became a captain and lieutenant-colonel in the

2nd Regiment of Foot Guards The Coldstream Guards is the oldest continuously serving regular regiment in the British Army. As part of the Household Division, one of its principal roles is the protection of the Monarchy of the United Kingdom, monarchy; due to this, it often ...

on 1 May 1740. He disgraced himself by deserting from the Guards when they were sent on foreign service in 1746, and was forced to leave the Army in September. Finally, he was committed to a private lunatic asylum circa 1746, then sent abroad to exile on a very small allowance in Lausanne where

Lord Shelburne William Petty Fitzmaurice, 1st Marquess of Lansdowne (2 May 17377 May 1805), known as the Earl of Shelburne between 1761 and 1784, by which title he is generally known to history, was an Anglo-Irish Whig statesman who was the first home secr ...

met him in 1760, and commented on his dirty condition but lucid conversation. According to his descendant Robert Sackville-West, 7th Baron Sackville in his book ''Inheritance'' he became insane later in life, dying in

Geneva Geneva ( , ; ) ; ; . is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland and the most populous in French-speaking Romandy. Situated in the southwest of the country, where the Rhône exits Lake Geneva, it is the ca ...

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

, aged 52. However, his brother lived long enough to allow John Philip's son to inherit his title and become the next Duke of Dorset.

References

Bibliography

* F S Ashley-Cooper, ''At the Sign of the Wicket: Cricket 1742–1751'', ''Cricket'' Magazine, 1900 * G B Buckley, ''Fresh Light on 18th Century Cricket'', Cotterell, 1935 * Arthur Haygarth, ''Scores & Biographies, Volume 1'' (1744–1826), Lillywhite, 1862 * Timothy J McCann, ''Sussex Cricket in the Eighteenth Century'', Sussex Record Society, 2004 *

, ''Cricket Scores, Notes, etc.'' (1730–1773), Blackwood, 1899

External links

SACKVILLE, Lord John Philip (1713–65
Published in ''The History of Parliament: the House of Commons 1715–1754'', ed. R. Sedgwick, 1970. {{DEFAULTSORT:Sackville, John Philip 1713 births 1765 deaths Cricket patrons English cricketers English cricketers of 1701 to 1786 Kent cricketers Younger sons of dukes Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for English constituencies British MPs 1734–1741 British MPs 1741–1747

John John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Second E ...

18th-century English philanthropists 37th Regiment of Foot officers Coldstream Guards officers Place of birth missing