Thomas Beagley (5 October 1789 – 21 February 1858) was an English

professional A professional is a member of a profession or any person who work (human activity), works in a specified professional activity. The term also describes the standards of education and training that prepare members of the profession with the partic ...

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. He had two brothers

Henry Henry may refer to: People and fictional characters * Henry (given name), including lists of people and fictional characters * Henry (surname) * Henry, a stage name of François-Louis Henry (1786–1855), French baritone Arts and entertainmen ...

and

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 ...

who also 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 ...

. He was arguably the most talented of the trio, playing for Hampshire, Surrey, Suffolk,

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 ...

and the MCC during his 23-year playing career. Beagley was regarded as one of the greatest hitters of a ball in England in the 1820s up to the early 1830s.

Early life

Born into a working-class family to Stephen and Mary Beagley (née Gould), Beagley was baptised four days after his birth, on 9 November 1789. His family had lived in Farringdon since as far back as 1692, and in the

Alton Alton may refer to: People *Alton (given name) * Alton (surname) Places Australia * Alton National Park, Queensland * Alton, Queensland, a town in the Shire of Balonne Canada * Alton, Ontario * Alton, Nova Scotia New Zealand * Alton, New Zeala ...

area as far back as 1605. He had some roots in other Hampshire settlements, such as

Hartley Mauditt Hartley Mauditt is an abandoned village in the East Hampshire district of Hampshire, England. It is south of the village of East Worldham, Hampshire, East Worldham, and southeast of Alton, Hampshire, Alton, just east of the B3006 road. It is i ...

and

Bentworth Bentworth is a village and civil parish in the East Hampshire district of Hampshire, England. The nearest town is Alton, Hampshire, Alton, which lies about east of the village. It sits within the East Hampshire Hangers, an area of rolling val ...

, and was connected to families such as Fry, Carter, Page, Russell and Grant.

Career

Beagley was mainly associated with

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 70 known appearances in first-class matches from 1816 to 1839.

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 ...

, ''Scores & Biographies'', Volume 1 (1744-1826), Lillywhite, 1862 He was a specialist batsman whose highest career score was 113 *, which also happened to be the first century in a

Gentlemen v Players Gentlemen v Players was a long-running series of cricket matches that began in July 1806 and was abolished in January 1963. It was a match between a team consisting of amateurs (the Gentlemen) and a team consisting of professionals (the Players ...

match. He made his debut at

Lord's 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 ...

against the MCC for Hampshire, making a single run in the first innings, and 19 in the second. In his final match, Beagley made a total of 9 over two innings for England, against the MCC. Beagley represented All-England during the roundarm trial matches, representing the side in all three matches. Come the end of his career, his batting average was 17.10, having scored 1916 runs in 127 innings, including 15 not outs. Beagley represented Hampshire,

Suffolk Suffolk ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East of England and East Anglia. It is bordered by Norfolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Essex to the south, and Cambridgeshire to the west. Ipswich is the largest settlement and the county ...

Surrey Surrey () is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Greater London to the northeast, Kent to the east, East Sussex, East and West Sussex to the south, and Hampshire and Berkshire to the wes ...

The Bs The Bs was an occasional team that played first-class cricket in the first half of the 19th century in matches against All-England Eleven, All-England and Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC). The team ostensibly consisted of players whose surname began ...

, 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 ...

(MCC),

Godalming Godalming ( ) is a market town and civil parish in southwest Surrey, England, around southwest of central London. It is in the Borough of Waverley, at the confluence of the Rivers Wey and Ock. The civil parish covers and includes the settl ...

, England, and the South (not mentioning less notable clubs and sides). Even in his twilight years, Beagley represented the South three times in the North v South series, including the inaugural one in 1836.

References

1789 births 1858 deaths English cricketers of 1787 to 1825 English cricketers of 1826 to 1863 English cricketers Godalming Cricket Club cricketers Hampshire cricketers Left-Handed v Right-Handed cricketers Married v Single cricketers Marylebone Cricket Club cricketers Non-international England cricketers North v South cricketers Players cricketers Suffolk cricketers The Bs cricketers Marylebone Cricket Club First 8 with 3 Others cricketers Cricketers from Hampshire {{England-cricket-bio-1780s-stub