Michael Falcon (21 July 1888 – 27 February 1976) was a British Conservative Party politician and an 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 played

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 ...

from 1908 to 1936. Falcon was the son of Michael Falcon of Horstead House,

Norwich Norwich () is a cathedral city and district of the county of Norfolk, England, of which it is the county town. It lies by the River Wensum, about north-east of London, north of Ipswich and east of Peterborough. The population of the Norwich ...

and his wife Isabella (née Mordy) from

Workington Workington is a coastal town and civil parish in the Cumberland district of Cumbria, England. The town is at the mouth of the River Derwent on the west coast, south-west of Carlisle and north-east of Whitehaven. At the 2021 census the ...

in Cumberland. He was educated at

Harrow School Harrow School () is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school (English boarding school for boys) in Harrow on the Hill, Greater London, England. The school was founded in 1572 by John Lyon (school founder), John Lyon, a local landowner an ...

and at

Pembroke College, Cambridge Pembroke College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge, England. The college is the third-oldest college of the university and has over 700 students and fellows. It is one of the university's larger colleges, with buildings from ...

, where he graduated

B.A. A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree ...

and

LL.B. A Bachelor of Laws (; LLB) is an undergraduate law degree offered in most common law countries as the primary law degree and serves as the first professional qualification for legal practitioners. This degree requires the study of core legal subje ...

in 1910, and 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 1911 at the

Inner Temple The Honourable Society of the Inner Temple, commonly known as the Inner Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court and is a professional association for barristers and judges. To be called to the Bar and practice as a barrister in England and Wa ...

. During

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

he was a captain in the

Territorial Force The Territorial Force was a part-time volunteer component of the British Army, created in 1908 to augment British land forces without resorting to conscription. The new organisation consolidated the 19th-century Volunteer Force and yeomanry in ...

from 1915 to 1918. He was elected at the 1918 general election as the Member of Parliament (MP) for East Norfolk, and held the seat until his defeat at the 1923 general election. He was mainly associated with

Cambridge University Cricket Club Cambridge University Cricket Club, established in 1820, is the representative cricket club for students of the University of Cambridge. The club was recognised as holding first-class cricket, first-class status until 2020. The university played ...

and

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), of which he was a member. He played

Minor Counties The National Counties, known as the Minor Counties before 2020, are the cricketing counties of England and Wales that do not have first-class status. The game is administered by the National Counties Cricket Association (NCCA), which comes unde ...

cricket with

Norfolk County Cricket Club Norfolk County Cricket Club is one of twenty National County Cricket Clubs within the domestic cricket structure of England and Wales. It represents the historic county of Norfolk. The club is a member of the National Counties Championship ...

from 1906 to 1946, and captained the team from 1912 to 1946. He made 89 appearances in first-class matches, but never played in the County Championship. In 1921

AC MacLaren Archibald Campbell MacLaren (1 December 1871 – 17 November 1944) was an English cricketer who captained the English cricket team, England cricket team at various times between 1898 and 1909. A right-handed Batting (cricket), batsman, he ...

said Falcon was the best fast bowler in England and regretted that he was not selected for the Ashes that summer. He played in MacLaren's England XI in August 1921 which beat the previously undefeated Australians at Eastbourne, distinguishing himself by taking 6/67 in Australia's first innings.

Personal life

Falcon was married in 1930 to Kathleen Gascoigne, the daughter of Captain G. C. O. Gascoigne. They had five children, Mary, Sybil, Anne, Michael and Rachel. His brother,

Harry Harry may refer to: Television * ''Harry'' (American TV series), 1987 comedy series starring Alan Arkin * ''Harry'' (British TV series), 1993 BBC drama that ran for two seasons * ''Harry'' (New Zealand TV series), 2013 crime drama starring Oscar K ...

, was also a first-class cricketer.

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Falcon, Michael 1888 births 1976 deaths Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies UK MPs 1918–1922 UK MPs 1922–1923 Alumni of Pembroke College, Cambridge Members of the Inner Temple 20th-century English judges Territorial Force officers Military personnel from Norwich British Army personnel of World War I English cricketers Cambridge University cricketers Marylebone Cricket Club cricketers Norfolk cricketers Gentlemen cricketers Free Foresters cricketers Minor Counties cricketers Gentlemen of England cricketers British sportsperson-politicians Oxford and Cambridge Universities cricketers Cricketers from Norwich H. D. G. Leveson Gower's XI cricketers C. I. Thornton's XI cricketers L. G. Robinson's XI cricketers P. F. Warner's XI cricketers People educated at Harrow School