Timothy Duke (cricketer)
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Timothy Duke (29 October 1799 – 25 May 1858) was an English businessman and
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 a member of the family which established
Dukes Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of Royal family, royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and above sovereign princes. As royalty or nobi ...
, the manufacturer of
cricket ball A cricket ball is a hard, solid ball used to play cricket. A cricket ball consists of a cork (material), cork core wound with String (structure), string then a leather cover stitched on, and manufacture is regulated by cricket law at first-clas ...
s. He played five first-class matches for Kent sides between 1823 and 1828.Timothy Duke
CricketArchive. Retrieved 4 August 2009.
Duke was born at
Penshurst Penshurst is a historic village and civil parishes in England, civil parish located in a valley upon the northern slopes of the Weald, Kentish Weald, at the confluence of the River Medway and the River Eden, Kent, River Eden, within the Seveno ...
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 ...
in 1799, the son of Timothy and Sarah Due (''
née The birth name is the name of the person given upon their birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name or to the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a births registe ...
'' Jeffery). His father ran the cricket ball manufacturing business, established in 1760 and at the time operating from a series of small-scale workshops as a
cottage industry The putting-out system is a means of subcontracting work, like a tailor. Historically, it was also known as the workshop system and the domestic system. In putting-out, work is contracted by a central agent to subcontractors who complete the p ...
.Carlaw D (2020) ''Kent County Cricketers A to Z. Part One: 1806–1914'' (revised edition), pp. 154–155.
Available online
at the
Association of Cricket Statisticians and Historians The Association of Cricket Statisticians and Historians (ACS) was founded in England in 1973 for the purpose of researching and collating information about the history and statistics of cricket. Originally called the Association of Cricket Stati ...
. Retrieved 16 August 2022.)
Howard R (2016
The Duke cricket ball
Penshurst Living Archive, 23 November 2016. Retrieved 17 May 2023.
After taking over the business from his father, Duke significantly developed the business, extending it to develop the manufacturing of cricket equipment, including pads and gloves, as well as partnering with a bat maker Luke Eade. In 1841 he moved the business from Penshurst to a factory at nearby
Chiddingstone Causeway Chiddingstone Causeway is a village west of Tonbridge in Kent, England. It is in the civil parish of Chiddingstone and the local government district of Sevenoaks. The village is served by Penshurst Station on the Redhill to Tonbridge Line w ...
, the first time the business had used factory production methods. By the time Duke retired, the company employed more than 80 workers.Carlaw, ''op. cit.'', p. 154. Duke's father had played cricket, and his son made his first-class debut for a Kent XI against 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 ...
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 ...
in 1823. He was a bowler, described as "very fast",Quoted by Carlaw p. 155, source unknown. and in his second match for Kent Duke took seven
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, ...
wickets at
Brighton Brighton ( ) is a seaside resort in the city status in the United Kingdom, city of Brighton and Hove, East Sussex, England, south of London. Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze Age Britain, Bronze Age, R ...
in 1825. Other than his debut match, all of Duke's top-level cricket was played against Sussex sides. He is known to have taken 11 wickets, although at the time only wickets which were out bowled were credited to the bowler on scorecards. Although he scored only 24 runs in his five first-class matches, Duke opened the batting frequently in club cricket for Penshurst and Leigh teams. Duke married Ann Wells at
Swallowfield Swallowfield is a village and civil parish in the Borough of Wokingham, Wokingham district, in Berkshire, England, about south of Reading, Berkshire, Reading, and north of the county boundary with Hampshire. The civil parish of Swallowfield al ...
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 ...
in 1824. The couple had four children. His oldest son,
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 ...
took over the running of the family business; he played one first-class match for
Kent County Cricket Club Kent County Cricket Club is one of the eighteen first-class county clubs within the domestic cricket structure of England and Wales. It represents the historic county of Kent. A club representing the county was first founded in 1842 but Ken ...
in 1855. Duke died at
East Grinstead East Grinstead () is a town in West Sussex, England, near the East Sussex, Surrey, and Kent borders, south of London, northeast of Brighton, and northeast of the county town of Chichester. Situated in the northeast corner of the county, bord ...
in
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, ...
in 1858. He was aged 58.Timothy Duke
CricInfo ESPNcricinfo (formerly known as Cricinfo or CricInfo) is a Sports journalism, sports news website exclusively for the game of cricket. The site features news, articles, live coverage of cricket matches (including Liveblogging, liveblogs and sco ...
. Retrieved 17 May 2023.


Notes


References

1799 births 1858 deaths English cricketers English cricketers of 1787 to 1825 English cricketers of 1826 to 1863 Kent cricketers People from Penshurst Cricketers from Kent {{England-cricket-bio-1790s-stub