William John Humble-Crofts (9 December 1846 – 1 July 1924), born William Humble, was an English clergyman 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 played for

Derbyshire Derbyshire ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. It borders Greater Manchester, West Yorkshire, and South Yorkshire to the north, Nottinghamshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south-east, Staffordshire to the south a ...

between 1873 and 1877.

Biography

Humble was born in

Sutton Scarsdale Sutton Scarsdale is a village in Derbyshire, England. It is in the North East Derbyshire district. It is very close to the M1 motorway. It is in the civil parish of Sutton cum Duckmanton. The settlement is notable for a large, ruined former sta ...

and was educated at

Exeter College, Oxford Exeter College (in full: The Rector and Scholars of Exeter College in the University of Oxford) is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England, and the fourth-oldest college of the university. The college was founde ...

, and took Holy Orders. In 1869 he was playing for Staveley against an All England XI and in 1874 for Worksop against the same team. Humble made his debut for Derbyshire in the 1873 season and scored 11 in his first innings against

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated ''Lancs'') is a ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Cumbria to the north, North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Greater Manchester and Merseyside to the south, and the Irish Sea to ...

in a match which Derbyshire lost. In the 1874 season he played three first-class matches, and 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 ...

he made his top score of 19. He also played a couple of miscellaneous games for Derbyshire. In the 1877 season he played two first-class matches for Derbyshire which were both against

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, ...

, in one of which Derbyshire's victory was spearheaded by a century by John Platts. Humble also played for Gentlemen of Derbyshire and later for

Free Foresters Free Foresters Cricket Club is an England, English amateur cricket club, established in 1856 for players from the Midland counties of England. It is a 'wandering' (or nomadic) club, having no home ground. The Free Foresters were founded by the ...

. Humble was a right-handed batsman lower-middle order batsman and played 10 innings in 6 first-class matches. He made a top score of 19 with an average of 8.55. Humble changed his name to Humble-Crofts in 1879. He was vicar of Clayton-cum- Frickley, Yorkshire, in 1881, and in 1882 became rector of Waldron, East Sussex.Kelly's Directory 1911, Waldron, East Sussex
/ref> He remained in this living until his death there at the age of 78. Humble-Crofts' nephew, Archibald White, was club captain of

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 ...

between 1912 and 1918.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Humble, William 1846 births 1924 deaths Alumni of Exeter College, Oxford 19th-century English Anglican priests 20th-century English Anglican priests English cricketers Derbyshire cricketers People from North East Derbyshire District Cricketers from Derbyshire