Evening in Sidmouth: Birth of Somerset County Cricket Club

Evening in Sidmouth: Birth of Somerset County Cricket Club

Today, in 1875, the Somerset County Cricket Club was officially established.

We all know the story of how our club was born after a two-day match between the gentlemen of Somerset and Devon in Sidmouth all of them years ago, but this year for the anniversary of its birth we thought of taking a more detailed look at the history of the clubs and the protagonists involved.

Although August 18^th, 1875 was the official founding day of our club, the history of Somerset cricket goes even further.

We can even go back in 1798 to find the first recorded county match with a team called Somerset. Eleven Bath and Somerset County Lords met eleven Wiltshire Lords in Devizes in a match where Wiltshires Gentlemen won. After the match, there was a return contest between the two sides, and it was a game that caused some fuss. After a strong victory for the Bath & Somerset team, it was claimed that several of their players were actually being prepared from other provinces.

While interest in the game at the county level waned, several club sides rose to the Somerset area, including Somerton, Langport, Milverton, Taunton, Wiveliscombe and Bath’s Lansdown Club.

The team named Somerset was reborn in 1845 for two matches against Dorset. The first at Lansdown CC led to a two-stage win over Somerset, and the second match at Dorchester saw an even stronger win, an innings and 29 runs.

Dorset received some revenge when both sides met again in Kingston Park the following year, but Somerset cricket disappeared unexplained again.

The gentleman of Somerset rose to fill the vacuum in 1860 to receive the gentlemen of Devon at Culm Vale. The parties met a further nine times until 1871.

A possible transfer to eliminate the malaise surrounding the game at the provincial level arose in Yeovil in 1865, when a committee was formed to establish the Yeovil & County Cricket Club. Unfortunately for participants, this project is not bearing fruit.

This brings us back to that celebrated day in Sidmouth in 1875 and to the important events that followed the match between the lords of Somerset and Devon.

Somerset Gentlemen won the match with eight throws, and at the end of the match the team called a meeting. The discussions were led by Pastor Alexander Colvin Ainslie (pictured below), and the proposal was simple; that Somerset should have its own County Cricket Club to compete with established counties.

The resolution was adopted and the participants agreed on three key elements that should be promoted:

1. It is desirable to hold annual matches against neighboring countries and first class clubs such as Incogniti, etc.
2. That the secretaries of Somerset’s leading cricket clubs will be informed of the subject and their cooperation will be invited.
3. Clubs with first-class fields are asked to allow the use of their fields in county matches in appropriate situations.

Edward Western, a Fullands School teacher in Taunton who was the best point for the Somerset gentlemen in the match, was asked to serve as provincial secretary, and he undertook to write the following letter and send it to potential benefactors among the Taunton elite:

Sir,

Please find attached a copy of the decisions taken in Sidmouth in August 1875 to establish a county cricket club in Somerset. The diagram is as follows:

1. That there is no county land.
2. That the club is dependent on its support through voluntary subscriptions.
3. Provincial matches are played on all provincial fields that can be selected by the committee.
4. A president, vice president, treasurer and secretary, and a committee of nine Lords, three from each provincial department, are appointed.

Matches have been played against Dorset, Devon, South Wales, Incognit and the official.

I am asked to ask you to join 10s.6d. Somerset County Club.

This appeal is being presented across the province, and it is hoped that the end result will be that it will prevent the high cost of provincial matches too heavily for individual players. otherwise many good men are left out and the county cannot do justice to itself.

I am, Sir,

With respect,

Edward Western, sir. Sec.

At first, this petition did not succeed as well as expected. There were a meager 112 subscribers and only 70 17-year-olds coming. deposited in the first bank account of Somerset County Cricket Clubs.

What about the players who performed that day?

Let’s find out a little bit about those eleven men and what they became.

Stirling Voules was appointed first captain of Somersets. He was born in 1843 in central Chinnock and was a right-handed batsman and a right-handed fast bowler. He attended Marlborough College before winning a seat at Lincoln College, Oxford, where he played for the Varsity team. After graduating, he began a career as a teacher. In 1878 he became Ashley’s principal near Market Drayton.

Edward Wright was an all rounder born in Devon in 1858. He studied at the University of Sydney, Bath, and was one of four Somerset Gentlemen players who did not play for the newly formed Somerset team. He became a police officer in the West Indies, but died at the age of 46 of injuries sustained after a riot eruption in Montego Bay.

Origin Edward Western, who became Somersets’ first secretary at that opening, are a bit mysterious. We know that he was born in May 1845, but the location of his birth is uncertain. However, we know that at a young age she had to be cared for by the Edols sisters in Brislington. The sisters took abandoned and orphaned children and gave them a home and education. Eventually he attended Fullands School and continued to teach mathematics. As mentioned earlier, he scored the best goal for the Lord of Somerset during the match in Sidmouth and as secretary his job was to arrange the matches for the newly formed County Club. After resigning from the secretary, he returned to education and eventually established a private school in Alcombe, Minehead. He lived in the city with his wife until his death at the age of 74 in 1919.

William Gresswell was one of those who didn’t end up playing in Somerset. The son of the shield principal, he was born in 1848. He studied at Somersetshire College in Bath before attending Brasenose College, Oxford. After graduating, he lectured on classics and English literature in Cape Town. He also wrote books on colonial history and geography while abroad. Upon his return to Somerset, he was appointed Rector of Dodington, Nether Stowey. He was a member of the Somerset Archaeological Society and helped raise funds that were used to acquire a Coleridges cottage for people in Nether Stowey. He remained in West Somerset for the rest of his life. His son named Bill continued to play more than 100 first-class matches in the province his father had helped. Bill later also became chairman of the SCCC.

William Pulman (pictured below) was born in Wellington in 1852. He studied at Uffculme High School in Devon before attending Marlborough College. He went on to be the first to get classics at St Johns College in Oxford, where he was also rewarded with blues in cricket and rowing. He played six games in Somerset before playing in Worcestershire in 1879. He was inaugurated in 1876, and in 1889 he became principal of Wellington and West Buckland. He remained in office for 43 years. She died in the city in 1936, a year after celebrating her golden wedding day.

Francis Reed was born in Ottery St Mary in 1850. He went to Exeter College in Oxford where he played cricket but was not admitted to the University XI. After graduating, he became a priest and teacher at Fullands School in Taunton. He played regularly in Somerset until 1884 as a right-handed mid-tempo bowler. He also played rugby in Somerset. He eventually became principal of Donnington Grammar School in Lincolnshire, and he won over 100 other applicants for the post. He moved to a school in Yorkshire in 1887, but two years later he lived in Middlesbrough and offered his services as a teacher. He is said to have spent several years staying at the Doss Houses, and from 1901 onwards he was regularly admitted to the Stepney Workhouse in London’s East End and to Whitechapel Hospital, where he died in 1912.

Henry Dodington was born in 1843 at Horsington House, near the Templecombe, and studied at Eton before traveling to Trinity College, Cambridge. Although he never influenced the cricket field, he was selected for the 1863 boat race. Unfortunately, a last-minute injury prevented her from appearing. In 1865 he attended Wells Theological College, where he graduated from the priesthood. He made his debut with the gentlemen of Somerset at the age of 20 in 1863 and appeared in newly formed Somerset in 1876. He continued his career in the Church and traveled extensively before becoming President of Somerset CCC in 1885. He was an avid Sagittarius and later in life had a farm in Sherbourne. He died at the age of 72 in a city hospital in 1916.

Tristram Welman (below) was a respected racket guard. He was born at Norton Manor near Taunton in 1849 and was eventually sent to St Marys Roman Catholic College in Birmingham. He came from a wealthy family and was well known socially. He made two pilgrimages to Rome, one in 1869 and the other in 1877, and Pope Pius IX awarded him the Bene Mereti Medal. He played in Somerset until 1901, when, according to Taunton Courier, age had taken away his former glory. During his career, he also played for Middlesex and MCC.

Sealy Poole was one of four players who never played in Somerset. He was born in Huntspill, near Bridgwater in 1850. He often played at Corfe CC and also performed at Fullands in Taunton. It is likely that he would have played in Somerset after 1875, but he began the position of deacon at Hereford Cathedral, so he left the area. Through Worcestershire and Norton Fitzwarren, he became principal of Chickerell in Dorset. He held this position for 42 years. In 1934 he retired to Weymouth, where he died the following year surrounded by his family.

Gordon Voules was the fourth man who did not bow to Somerset. He was born in 1839 to Brother Stirling Voules, the first captain of Somersets. He worked as the Auditor of the Admiralty and eventually received the Knighthood for his excellent service. He married in Tiverton in 1866 and moved to London for some time. He died at the age of 84 years, in 1924.

Ernest Cassan was born in Bruton in 1835. After Brunson’s Kings School, he was given a place at Magdalen Hall, Oxford. However, he was alleged to have taken seven years to complete his degree. He played cricket at the university and took nine Cambridge clubs in his only Varsity match. He played in Somerset until 1878, when he joined Dorset. He became a mainstay at Lansdown CC in Bath, and a photograph from 1863 suggests that his ability to cricket was even more significant because he appears to have a physical disability with his left arm. Bath Chronicle describes his technique as a slow or medium-sized left arm while pointing out that his left hand was paralyzed and he placed the ball in it with his right hand. He eventually hung his bat at the age of 63 in 1899. Unfortunately, he took his life on Christmas Eve 1904. The official verdict on his death is “suicide by shooting himself during a temporary madness.”

This fraternity paved the way for today’s heroes, and the rest, as they say, is history!

Many thanks to Somerset Cricket Museum for creating this article. This song would also not be possible without the following excellent publications:

• Somerset Cricketers 1876 – 1890 Stephen Hill & Barry Phillips
• Somerset Cricketers 1882-1914, Stephen Hill
• From Peter Roebuck to Jimmy to Sammy

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