Sir Henry William Russell Bencraft (4 March 1858 — 25 December 1943) was an English first-class

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, sports administrator, medical doctor, businessman and philanthropist. Bencraft was an important figure in the early history of

Hampshire County Cricket Club Hampshire County Cricket Club is one of eighteen first-class cricket, first-class county cricket, county clubs within the domestic cricket structure of England and Wales. It represents the Historic counties of England, historic county of Hamp ...

, overseeing the club from the loss of its first-class status to its reacquisition of that status, both as a player and an administrator. As an administrator, he is credited with saving Hampshire County Cricket Club from extinction in 1880, and later played a role in its reacquisition of first-class status and joining of the

County Championship The County Championship, currently known for sponsorship reasons as the Rothesay County Championship, is the only domestic first-class cricket competition in England and Wales. Established in 1890, it is organised by the England and Wales Cri ...

in 1895. Outside of Hampshire cricket, he sat on the committee of 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 ...

, then the governing body of cricket. Bencraft took an interest in other sports beside cricket and was described as a pioneer of

association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

in Southampton, holding the chairmanship of Southampton St. Mary's F.C., and was instrumental in the club's move from the

Antelope Ground The Antelope Ground, Southampton was a sports ground that was the first home of both Hampshire County Cricket Club, who played there prior to 1884, and of Southampton Football Club, who played there from 1887 to 1896 as "Southampton St. Mary's ...

to Northlands Road. He was president of the

Hampshire Football Association The Hampshire Football Association, also known as ''Hampshire FA'', is the governing body of football in the county of Hampshire, England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is loc ...

, overseeing the formation of the

Southern Football League The Southern League is a football competition featuring semi-professional clubs from East Anglia, the South and Midlands of England, and South Wales. Together with the Isthmian League and the Northern Premier League it forms levels seven a ...

. In

rugby union Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...

, he was president of the Hampshire Rugby Football Union and played for the

Trojans Trojan or Trojans may refer to: * Of or from the ancient city of Troy * Trojan language, the language of the historical Trojans Arts and entertainment Music * ''Les Troyens'' ('The Trojans'), an opera by Berlioz, premiered part 1863, part 1890 ...

. He also held administrative positions across other sporting organisations in the Southampton area. In his hometown of Southampton, Bencraft played a prominent role in business and civic life, holding appointments with a number of prominent businesses in the town, in addition to sitting on the town council and serving as a

magistrate The term magistrate is used in a variety of systems of governments and laws to refer to a civilian officer who administers the law. In ancient Rome, a '' magistratus'' was one of the highest ranking government officers, and possessed both judi ...

, which he managed alongside his medical career. He was involved in philanthropy in Southampton, raising money for a number of causes and supporting disabled soldiers during the

First World War 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 ...

Early life and education

The son of Dr. Henry Bencraft senior, he was born at

Southampton Southampton is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. It is located approximately southwest of London, west of Portsmouth, and southeast of Salisbury. Southampton had a population of 253, ...

in March 1858. As a young child he grew fond of

by playing it in local fields, often at the deanery of St Mary's Church. His education began at preparatory level at the City College,Death of Sir Russell Bencraft. ''

Southern Daily Echo The ''Southern Daily Echo'', more commonly known as the ''Daily Echo'' or simply ''The Echo'', is a regional tabloid newspaper based in Southampton, covering the county of Hampshire in the United Kingdom. The newspaper is owned by Newsquest, on ...

''. 28 December 1943. pp. 1–2 after which he went up to St Edward's School in

Oxford Oxford () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and non-metropolitan district in Oxfordshire, England, of which it is the county town. The city is home to the University of Oxford, the List of oldest universities in continuou ...

where he was head boy, playing both cricket and

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

for the school.Dr. Russell Bencraft
''

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 ...

''. 14 April 1892. pp. 49-50 From there, he matriculated to

St George's, University of London St George's, University of London (SGUL), legally the St George's Hospital Medical School, was a public medical school from 1733 to 2024 in South London, England. It merged with City, University of London to form City St George's, University of ...

to study medicine. He played cricket and football for St George's, in addition to playing

club cricket Club cricket is a mainly amateur, but still formal form of the sport of cricket, usually involving teams playing in competitions at weekends or in the evening. There is a great deal of variation in game format although the Laws of Cricket are obse ...

for the United Hospitals. During this time, he once scored six centuries in a week with a highest score of 243. In Hampshire, he played

as a scrum-half for the

in Hampshire. Bencraft later passed the examinations to be admitted to the

Royal College of Surgeons of England The Royal College of Surgeons of England (RCS England) is an independent professional body and registered charity that promotes and advances standards of surgery, surgical care for patients, and regulates surgery and dentistry in England and Wa ...

and

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

in 1885.

Cricket career and administration

After strong performances in club cricket in Southampton, he was noticed by

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, ...

and made his debut 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 ...

for them against

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 ...

Faversham Faversham () is a market town in Kent, England, from Sittingbourne, from London and from Canterbury, next to the Swale, a strip of sea separating mainland Kent from the Isle of Sheppey in the Thames Estuary. It is close to the A2 road (Great ...

in 1876, at the age of 18. The following year during a meeting at

Winchester Winchester (, ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city in Hampshire, England. The city lies at the heart of the wider City of Winchester, a local government Districts of England, district, at the western end of the South Downs N ...

to decide whether Hampshire County Cricket Club should be wound up, he was appointed secretary of the club, replacing

Clement Booth Clement Booth (11 May 1842 – 14 July 1926) was an English first-class cricketer and administrator. Booth played first-class cricket for several teams, but was largely associated with Cambridge University, Hampshire and the Marylebone Cricket ...

. Speaking to the magazine ''

'', Bencraft stated he became secretary simply because nobody else could be found who was willing to do it.Dr. Russell Bencraft
''

''. 2 July 1896. pp. 249-50 Three years later, with the club facing extinction, Bencraft took a prominent role in saving it in his capacity as secretary. He succeeded Arthur Wood as

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

for the 1880 season, with him captaining the side until 1882. During this period, Bencraft ran the club virtually unassisted, holding the roles of captain, secretary and committee member. He relinquished the captaincy back to Arthur Wood in 1883, and played first-class cricket for Hampshire until their first-class status was revoked in 1885 following years of difficult circumstances and poor results. In the 1880s, Bencraft also played in first-class cricket for the

(MCC), making two appearances against

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 ...

1881 and Hampshire in 1885. He was subsequently succeeded as honorary secretary of Hampshire in 1885 by James Fellowes, the season in which Hampshire lost first-class status. Bencraft played an important role alongside Fellowes in Hampshire's acquisition of a new ground on land at Northlands Road, negotiations for which began in 1883 while Bencraft was still club secretary. His best season for Hampshire came during the period in which they did not hold first-class status, with him scoring 428 runs with a highest score of 195 against

Warwickshire Warwickshire (; abbreviated Warks) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England. It is bordered by Staffordshire and Leicestershire to the north, Northamptonshire to the east, Ox ...

Edgbaston Edgbaston () is a suburb of Birmingham, West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. It lies immediately south-west of Birmingham city centre, and was historically in Warwickshire. The Ward (electoral subdivision), wards of Edgbaston and Nort ...

. He captained Hampshire for a second time in 1894, succeeding

Francis Lacey Sir Francis Eden Lacey (19 October 1859 — 26 May 1946) was an English cricketer, cricket administrator and barrister. Lacey played first-class cricket for Hampshire from 1880 to 1896, either side of the club losing its first-class status betw ...

. While afforded first-class status for the 1894 season, Hampshire did not play any first-class fixtures that season, but Bencraft did lead Hampshire in their first ever

match the following season against

Somerset Somerset ( , ), Archaism, archaically Somersetshire ( , , ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel, Gloucestershire, and Bristol to the north, Wiltshire to the east ...

Taunton Taunton () is the county town of Somerset, England. It is a market town and has a Minster (church), minster church. Its population in 2011 was 64,621. Its thousand-year history includes a 10th-century priory, monastic foundation, owned by the ...

in 1895, which Hampshire won by 11 runs. Later in the 1895 season, he led Hampshire to victory against a strong

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 ...

team at

Sheffield Sheffield is a city in South Yorkshire, England, situated south of Leeds and east of Manchester. The city is the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire and some of its so ...

. He continued to play first-class cricket for Hampshire into the 1896 season, though had relinquished the captaincy to Teddy Wynyard following that season. In total, Bencraft played 44 first-class matches for Hampshire from 1876 to 1896, after which he retired from playing at the age of 37 to focus on his medical career. He scored 908 runs for Hampshire 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 15.65; he made two half centuries, with a highest score of 62

not out In cricket, a batsman is not out if they come out to bat in an innings and have not been dismissed by the end of an innings. The batsman is also ''not out'' while their innings is still in progress. Occurrence At least one batter is not out at ...

. Considered a safe pair of hands in the field who usually fielded at cover-point, he took 32 catches. After finishing his playing career, Bencraft maintained his connection to Hampshire County Cricket Club, holding every office at Hampshire over a 60-year period, including club president. He resigned as honorary secretary in 1905, after which the position was abolished. During an annual meeting held in the

, Bencraft encouraged the provision of schemes to help cricketers find work during the winter months, with him finding it wrong that fit and healthy men could not earn a wage outside the summer cricket season. As a member of the MCC, he served on the MCC Committee and was instrumental in the appointment of Hampshire's Lionel Tennyson to captain

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

midway through the 1921 Ashes Series.

Administrator in other sports

Bencraft was also active in sports administration outside of cricket. Described as a pioneer of

in Southampton, he succeeded Canon Basil Wilberforce as president of Southampton St. Mary's F.C., with his connections helping them secure the use of the County Ground at Northlands Road, at an annual rental of £200, when the

was sold for re-development in 1896. He held the position of club president until its conversion into a company, thereafter assisting in its development. As president of the

, he oversaw the formation of the

and presented Southampton St. Mary's with the competition trophy when they won

1896–97 Southern Football League The 1896–97 season was the third in the history of the Southern League. Southampton St.Mary's won the Division One championship. Millwall Athletic and Tottenham Hotspur applied for election to Football League. However, they were not elected so w ...

. He maintained his presidency of the Southern Football League until 1908, when he was replaced by Sydney Buxton. He was known to referee football matches, particularly in

Hampshire Senior Cup The Hampshire Senior Cup is a cup competition open to football teams affiliated with the Hampshire Football Association. The competition was founded in 1887 and has been contested every year since, except 1914 to 1919 when it was postponed due t ...

matches. He also held similar administrative positions in other sports, including as president of the Hampshire Rugby Football Union, the Southampton Civil Service Sports Association, and the Stoneham Golf Club, for which he was also a life-long member. During his tenure as president of the Hampshire Rugby Football Union, the county won the

twice in 1933 and 1936.

Life outside of sport

Like his father before him, Bencraft held the post of medical officer to the St. Mary's Workhouse. He also held a number of similar medical appointments across Southampton; he was medical officer for the

Ordnance Survey The Ordnance Survey (OS) is the national mapping agency for Great Britain. The agency's name indicates its original military purpose (see Artillery, ordnance and surveying), which was to map Scotland in the wake of the Jacobite rising of ...

, Workhouse Infirmary, the Southampton

Post Office A post office is a public facility and a retailer that provides mail services, such as accepting letter (message), letters and parcel (package), parcels, providing post office boxes, and selling postage stamps, packaging, and stationery. Post o ...

, Hollybrook Children's Home, and Messrs Edwin Jones & Co. Bencraft's association with medical institutions in Southampton extended to administration, where he was an honorary treasurer of the Royal South Hants Hospital and Southampton Hospital, helping to raise between £30,000 and £40,000 for both hospitals during his tenure. He also lent his assistance to the Free Southampton Eye Hospital. He was also actively involved in several local companies and was a director of three of the biggest companies in Southampton; these were the

, Southampton Gas Company, and Edwin Jones & Co. He was appointed director of the Southern Daily Echo in 1904, subsequently becoming its deputy chairman and later chairman in 1932. With the Southampton Gas Company, he was appointed director in 1914 and was appointed its chairman in 1928, a post he continued to hold on his 75th birthday. The company named a collier ''Sir Russell'' in his honour; it was later sunk by enemy action during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. His business association with Edwin Jones & Co. had begun in 1896, when he was appointed to its board. In 1911, he was appointed to the Southampton Chamber of Commerce. Bencraft had additional business interests in Southampton, as chairman of the Southampton Trustee Savings Bank, a local director of the Royal Exchange Assurance Company, and director of the Chapel Tramways Company. Bencraft was noted for his philanthropic interests in Southampton. He was chairman of The Hampshire Girls Orphanage, retaining the chairmanship until he relinquished it due to ill health toward the end of his life. He did much to assist military personnel in Southampton during the First World War, helping to raise money for disabled soldiers and contributions toward a church for military personnel on Southampton Common. His civic duties extended to Bencraft being appointed a

in 1895, an appointment he held for nearly fifty years. He was also a councillor, representing the All Saints Ward from November 1889 to 1902. Bencraft was

knighted A knight is a person granted an honorary title of a knighthood by a head of state (including the pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church, or the country, especially in a military capacity. The concept of a knighthood ...

in the

1924 New Year Honours The 1924 New Year Honours were appointments by King George V to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by members of the British Empire. They were published in ''The London Gazette'' on 1 January 1924. The recipients of ...

for services to medicine, with a banquet held to celebrate his knighthood in February 1924. During the Second World War, his house, where he had lived since his birth on Winn Road, was destroyed in a

Luftwaffe The Luftwaffe () was the aerial warfare, aerial-warfare branch of the before and during World War II. German Empire, Germany's military air arms during World War I, the of the Imperial German Army, Imperial Army and the of the Imperial Ge ...

air raid. Following the destruction of his home, Bencraft and his wife (who had been married since 1889) moved to the village of

Compton and Shawford Compton and Shawford is a civil parish in the City of Winchester district, immediately southwest of the city, in Hampshire, England. Its main settlements are the villages of Compton and Shawford. Description The word ''compton'' means ''vill ...

near

. He was a

Freemason Freemasonry (sometimes spelled Free-Masonry) consists of fraternal groups that trace their origins to the medieval guilds of stonemasons. Freemasonry is the oldest secular fraternity in the world and among the oldest still-existing organizati ...

and was a past master of the Twelve Brothers Lodge in Southampton. Six months after having his left leg

amputated Amputation is the removal of a limb or other body part by trauma, medical illness, or surgery. As a surgical measure, it is used to control pain or a disease process in the affected limb, such as malignancy or gangrene. In some cases, it is ...

above the knee, Bencraft died at Compton and Shawford on

Christmas Day Christmas is an annual festival commemorating the birth of Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a religious and cultural celebration among billions of people around the world. A liturgical feast central to Christianity, Chri ...

in 1943, aged 85; his wife had predeceased him the previous year. His funeral took place five days later at St Mary's Church. His nephew,

Ernest Read Ernest Read CBE (22 February 1879 – 9 October 1965) was an English conductor, organist, and music educator. He had a profound impact on the development of music education within England during the first half of the 20th century, and publishe ...

, was also a first-class cricketer.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bencraft, Russell 1858 births 1943 deaths Cricketers from Southampton People educated at St Edward's School, Oxford Alumni of St George's, University of London 19th-century English medical doctors English cricketers Hampshire cricketers English cricket administrators Hampshire cricket captains Marylebone Cricket Club cricketers Fellows of the Royal College of Surgeons of England Fellows of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh 20th-century English medical doctors Southampton F.C. directors and chairmen English football referees English rugby union executives Councillors in Hampshire English justices of the peace English businesspeople in shipping English businesspeople in retailing English philanthropists English Freemasons Knights Bachelor Cricket people awarded knighthoods English amputees Physicians with disabilities British scientists with disabilities British lawyers with disabilities Burials in Hampshire