Robert Allan "Fitz" Fitzgerald (1 October 1834 – 28 October 1881) was an English

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 and administrator who served as

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) Secretary. Fitzgerald was born at Purley House in

Berkshire Berkshire ( ; abbreviated ), officially the Royal County of Berkshire, is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Oxfordshire to the north, Buckinghamshire to the north-east, Greater London ...

, but was brought up at Shalstone Manor, Bucks – his mother – Sarah Anne Elizabeth Purefoy Jervoise' family home. He was educated at

Harrow Harrow may refer to: Places * Harrow, Victoria, Australia * Harrow, Ontario, Canada * The Harrow, County Wexford, a village in Ireland * London Borough of Harrow, England * Harrow, London, a town in London * Harrow (UK Parliament constituency) * ...

from 1847 to 1852, playing for the

XI in 1852. He proceeded to

Trinity College, Cambridge Trinity College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any ...

, where he played for

Cambridge University The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...

in 1854 and 1856. As a right-handed batsman and a round-arm right-arm fast bowler, he represented

, MCC,

Middlesex Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a Historic counties of England, former county in South East England, now mainly within Greater London. Its boundaries largely followed three rivers: the River Thames, Thames in the south, the River Lea, Le ...

, in 46 first-class matches between 1854 and 1874. He also played for

I Zingari I Zingari (from dialectalized Italian , meaning "the Gypsies"; corresponding to standard Italian ') are English and Australian amateur cricket clubs, founded in 1845 and 1888 respectively. It is the oldest and perhaps the most famous of the ' ...

, the Gentleman of MCC,

Buckinghamshire Buckinghamshire (, abbreviated ''Bucks'') is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England and one of the home counties. It is bordered by Northamptonshire to the north, Bedfordshire to the north-east, Hertfordshir ...

and

Hertfordshire Hertfordshire ( or ; often abbreviated Herts) is a ceremonial county in the East of England and one of the home counties. It borders Bedfordshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the north-east, Essex to the east, Greater London to the ...

. Between 1854 and 1874 he played 50 matches per year and in 1866 scored over 1,000 runs. Fitzgerald was popular and witty.

Lord Harris Colonel George Robert Canning Harris, 4th Baron Harris, (3February 185124March 1932), generally known as Lord Harris, was a British colonial administrator and Governor of Bombay, best known for developing cricket administration via Marylebone ...

wrote of him: "Whether it was the magnificence of his swagger, the luxuriance of his beard, the fun that rolled out of him so easily, or the power of his swiping, I do not know, but as regards each he could not escape notice." Harris accompanied Fitzgerald on the first MCC tour abroad to North America in 1872. Fitzgerald's own book, ''Wickets in the West'' was published in 1873 and records this tour. Among the tour party was

WG Grace William Gilbert Grace (18 July 1848 – 23 October 1915) was an English cricketer who is widely considered one of the sport's all-time greatest players. Always known by his initials as "WG", his first-class career spanned a record-equalling 4 ...

who had been proposed by Fitzgerald in 1867 as a member of MCC. He succeeded

Alfred Baillie Alfred William Baillie (22 June 1830 – 10 May 1867) was a Scottish first-class cricketer and barrister who served as secretary of the Marylebone Cricket Club. The son of the Scot Colonel Hugh Duncan Baillie of Redcastle, he was born at Maryl ...

as Secretary of the MCC (1863–1876), Fitzgerald sought greater influence for MCC "off the field" and did much to help improve

Lord's Cricket Ground Lord's Cricket Ground, commonly known as Lord's, is a cricket List of Test cricket grounds, venue in St John's Wood, Westminster. Named after its founder, Thomas Lord, it is owned by Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) and is the home of Middlesex C ...

and its facilities. He became MCC's first paid secretary in 1865. Fitzgerald was brother-in-law to his close friend

Hon Sir Edward Chandos Leigh Sir Edward Chandos Leigh (22 December 1832 – 18 May 1915) was a British aristocrat of the Victorian era, a barrister by profession, and a first-class cricketer. He served as President of MCC for 1887–88. Background Born at Stoneleigh Abb ...

. They were both members of

on regular tours to Ireland; to Paris in 1867 and around the country estates of England and Wales. Both enjoyed the pleasures of touring and entertaining their hosts in amateur dramatics. This is recorded in Fitzgerald's own cricketing scrapbook and also John Lorraine Baldwin's scrapbooks dating back to the origin of the I Zingari in 1845. In 1876, Fitzgerald was asked to resign his post as MCC secretary due to deteriorating health. It has been speculated that he contracted

neurosyphilis Neurosyphilis is the infection of the central nervous system by '' Treponema pallidum'', the bacterium that causes the sexually transmitted infection syphilis. In the era of modern antibiotics, the majority of neurosyphilis cases have been report ...

, which incidentally was the same illness that killed

Lord Randolph Churchill Lord Randolph Henry Spencer-Churchill (13 February 1849 – 24 January 1895) was a British aristocrat and politician. Churchill was a Tory radical who coined the term "One-nation conservatism, Tory democracy". He participated in the creation ...

. Fitzgerald died in 1881 at his home in Chorleywood, Hertfordshire, at the age of 47. A tangible memorial to him is on display at the MCC museum: his illustrated scrapbooks recording matches played between 1859 – 1866. The book contains the earliest cricketing photographs taken. Fitzgerald was also a keen amateur photographer. Fitzgerald also wrote a humorous book titled ''Jerks in from Short Leg'' ¹published in 1865 and contributed to numerous cricketing publications including ''Bell's Life'' between 1859 – 1874. He also proof-read

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 ...

's ''Score & Biographies'' which MCC supported during his time as secretary. The Hon Sir Edward Chandos Leigh as President of MCC in 1887 paid homage to Fitzgerald. In his autobiography ''Bar, Bat and Bit'', Leigh wrote: "It was, I think, a fortunate thing for the Club and for the cricketing world generally when he (Fitzgerald) became secretary, for a new era seems to have dawned at Lord's with his arrival, and all the vast improvements which took place there owed their origin, inception, and development to his fertile brain and his untiring energy".

References

External links

''Jerks in From Short-Leg''- Google Books

"Wickets in the West" - Internet Archive, University of Alberta Libraries

at Cricinfo

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fitzgerald, Robert Allan 1834 births 1881 deaths Cambridge University cricketers English cricket administrators English cricketers Marylebone Cricket Club cricketers Middlesex cricketers People educated at Harrow School Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge Secretaries of the Marylebone Cricket Club I Zingari cricketers Gentlemen of the South cricketers North of the Thames v South of the Thames cricketers Gentlemen of Marylebone Cricket Club cricketers Non-international England cricketers 19th-century English businesspeople Cricketers from Berkshire