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The Foundation and Progress Of Illingworth St. Mary’s Cricket Club c.1884-c.1920

A Social History

Dennis O’Keefe

Contents

Acknowledgements……………………………………………………..1 Introduction .................................................................................... 2

Background................................................................................. 3 Methodology ............................................................................... 7

Chapter 1 1884: Taking Guard. .................................................... 9 Chapter 2 Vicar and Village ........................................................ 19 Chapter 3 Ambition: Cups and Oil Lamps.................................... 30 Chapter 4 Cash, Concerts and Catering...................................... 42

Finance: Payments and Patrons............................................... 42 Social Side: Teas, Glees and ‘Wardle the Whistler’.................. 46 Women: Waiting and Waltzing.................................................. 50

Conclusion ................................................................................... 55 Appendices .................................................................................. 60

Appendix 1 Illingworth Scorecards, 1877 and 1884.................. 60 Appendix 2 St. Mary’s CC, Illingworth Original Rules, 1884 ..... 62 Appendix 3 Original Rules of Todmorden CC, 1839................. 64 Appendix 4 Rules and Bye-Laws of Shibden Vale CC, 1869.... 65 Appendix 5 Minutes of the Modification of Rule 3. .................... 67 Appendix 6 Halifax Parish Cup Winners, 1906 ........................ 67 Appendix 7 Funeral of Rev. George Oldacres ......................... 68 Appendix 8 Opening of the New Ground, 12th May 1888.......... 68 Appendix 9 Extract from Committee Meeting, 23rd October 190669 Appendix 10 Extract from Report of Illingworth’s 1909 Parish Cup Victory against Clifton Britannia. ........................................................... 70 Appendix 11 Illingworth’s Application to the Yorkshire Cricket Council, October 1919 ............................................................................ 71 Appendix 12 ‘Illingworth CC’ ..................................................... 72

Maps of the Illingworth Area, 1891 .............................................. 73 Map 1 The Area to the North of St. Mary’s Church. ................. 73 Map 2 The Area to the North and East of St. Mary’s ................ 74 Map 3 Illingworth South of St. Mary’s, and Ovenden................ 75 Map 4 The Area around Dean Clough ...................................... 76

Tables .......................................................................................... 77 Table 1 St. Mary’s Illingworth CC, Members 1884.................... 77 Table 2 Clergy at St. Mary’s Church, 1877-1921..................... 79 Table 3 Balance Sheets for Illingworth CC, 1883-1905. ........... 80

Bibliography ................................................................................. 82

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Acknowledgements

This book originated as a postgraduate dissertation, submitted in 2007 as part of my MA in History at the University of Huddersfield. I would like to thank everyone at Illingworth St. Mary’s Cricket Club for their substantial help and support with this project – in particular, Andrew Smith, Dorian Brooksby, Maurice Lawton and Norman Tatham. I would also like to express my gratitude to Rob Light, Brian Heywood, Andrew Hardcastle and Dr John Hargreaves for their advice and encouragement to use their excellent work. Finally, I would like to thank Dr Peter Davies for re-igniting my contacts with Illingworth, for his enthusiasm and assistance throughout the period, and for introducing me into the Calderdale and Kirklees Cricket Heritage Project.

Dennis O’Keefe

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Introduction

As late as 1978, James Walvin held that the absence of a ‘fruitful study of the history of leisure’ was an omission in the understanding of social history itself. In sport, he found a transformation from impromptu, disorderly games to regulated versions, effected more through fundamental changes in society than from within the sports themselves.1

Other historians took up the gauntlet. Peter Bailey, finding ‘rational’ sports largely in place by the 1880s, argued that this was substantially assisted by the exigencies of the factory week.2 Hugh Cunningham identified the conflicting aspirations of the middle class - exclusivity, control and conciliation - as crucial in the reformation of leisure.3 Similarly, John Hargreaves discovered the importance of sport in middle-class strivings for social hegemony, identifying three vital periods: repression and reformation up to mid-century; accommodation to the 1880s; then challenges to bourgeois control through increasing commercialisation and class conflict.4 Cunningham also recognised working-class dependency on patronage for recreation, frequently through religious organisations, which is singularly relevant to this study. Hargreaves perceived paternalism as little other than a strategy of social control. Bailey disagreed, but nevertheless concluded that even the best-intentioned patronage emphasised class divisions, and was received cynically, rendering ventures at class conciliation largely ineffective.

With few exceptions, the social history of cricket has neglected the club game, particularly in the industrial North. Conversely, local club histories, often informative and well written, have a 1 James Walvin, Leisure and Society 1830-1950 (Longman Group, London, 1978), pp. vii-viii, 83-4, 161. 2 Peter Bailey, Leisure and Class in Victorian England: Rational Recreation and the Contest for Control, 1830-1885 (Routledge & Keegan Paul, London, 1978), pp. 169-182. 3 Hugh Cunningham, Leisure in the Industrial Revolution, c. 1780-c. 1880 (Croom Helm, London, 1980), pp. 110-198. 4 John Hargreaves, Sport, Power and Culture : a Social and Historical Analysis of Popular Sports in Britain (Polity, Cambridge, 1986), pp. 1-93.

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brief different from that of the social historian.5 Regarding local history, John A.Hargreaves’s Halifax, while providing an invaluable economic and social backdrop to the town, makes only one passing reference to cricket during the period.6 This work intends to help redress this situation.

This study will be a rare, if not unique, examination of the development of a church-based cricket club, Illingworth St. Mary’s, in the north of Halifax, from its foundation in 1884 to the years immediately following the Great War. It will assess this from a predominantly social perspective, simultaneously opening a window onto the church and the wider community, throughout an often difficult period.

The central objective of this study is to determine how a church cricket team, playing informal matches on a moorland ground, came within 40 years to be competing in a senior Yorkshire league, and representing the local community.

Background

In the half century or so following the French Revolution, fearing social and political disorder, the authorities reacted to any gathering of the lower orders, including for leisure, with suspicion and often repression. Furthermore, pre-industrial forms of recreation were incompatible with the long and regular hours demanded by the new factories. Opportunities for popular leisure were severely restricted, particularly sports which were further hampered by land enclosure and urbanisation.

From the mid-nineteenth century, however, with the demise of Chartism,7 and a more settled factory system, government, employers and their allies began to favour leisure. As well as 5 There are two fine examples at Illingworth: Kenneth Pearce’s Illingworth St. Mary’s C. C. 1884-1961, built upon in the centenary brochure, Tony Woodhouse, Illingworth St. Mary’s Cricket Club, Centenary Brochure 1884-1984. As well as being highly readable, informative and entertaining, they have provided several useful pointers for this study. 6 John A. Hargreaves, Halifax (Carnegie, Lancaster, 2nd Edition, 2003). 7 According to Kate Tiller, by 1850 in Halifax, Chartism had ‘undoubtedly lost its momentum’. Kate Tiller, ‘Late Chartism: Halifax 1847-58’ in J Epstein and D Thompson (eds) ‘The Chartist Experience’, (Macmillan, London, 1982) p.318. Quoted in Hargreaves, Halifax, p. 150.

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benevolent reasons, there were also motives of more subtle social control. Recreation was to be regulated and ‘improving’, in keeping with an age of progress, and not of the riotous pre-industrial type, such as the cricket played in Pudsey in the 1830s: with ‘no umpires, and often those who cheated the hardest won...Money was mostly played for, and frequent uproar, confusion, and even fighting took place…’8 ‘Rational recreation’ was born.

The Saturday half-holiday, crucial to team games such as cricket, become more widespread, though in Halifax it was not general until 1873.9 Income available for leisure generally increased, especially from 1860.10 However, the slowdown in textiles, ironically from 1873, hurt industrial economies such as Halifax.

The reformation of the public schools, initiated by Arnold at Rugby, was facilitated by reconstructed team sports which instilled the characteristics - such as loyalty, obedience to the rules, and leadership – of a new model ‘gentleman’, that admitted the sons of industrialists, creating a more unified ruling class.11 The resulting cult of games, as extolled most notably by Thomas Hughes, overrode intellectual attainment, with the Muscular Christian being the embodiment of Englishness, virtue and manliness.12

The consequent codifying of sports by the 1860s had a greater impact on other games, notably football. But cricket became the metaphor for fair play. And like a Victorian patent medicine, it could be dispensed to civilise the lower orders:

8 Joseph Lawson, Letters to the Young on Progress in Pudsey During the Last Sixty Years (Originally pub J.W. Birdsall, 1887 Facsimile reprint Caliban Books, Firle, 1978), pp. 81-82. 9 Hargreaves, Halifax p.172. Woolsorters and mechanics were still working a 72 hour week in 1870. Eric Webster, ‘Leisure and Pleasure in 19th Century Halifax’ in Transactions of the Halifax Antiquarian Society (1989), p. 30. 10 Geoffrey Best concluded that a worker in 1875 was between 25% and 35% better off in real terms than in 1850. Mid-Victorian Britain, 1851-75 (Weidenfeld and Nicholson, London, 1971, Paperback edition Fontana Press, London, 1985), p.111. However, there were considerable regional variations. 11 The centrality of the public schools (aided by Oxford, and particularly Cambridge) in the reforming of games and their diffusion is stressed by many social historians, perhaps most emphatically by Hargreaves, Sport, Power and Culture, pp. 38-45. 12 By the 1860s, at Eton each day 4-6½ hours were given over to work, with 5-7 hours to cricket. At Harrow up to 20 hours a week was spent on cricket, with 15 hours at Rugby. Hargreaves, Sport, Power and Culture, p. 42.

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Observe a group of Board School cricketers after they have undergone a period of friendly supervision…the batsman bowled for a duck neither shouts that ‘it ain’t fair’ nor punches the umpire…No, they have learned to ‘play the game’. And the change is not a matter of cricket only; in becoming better cricketers they have become better boys.13

The elevation to sporting paragon of the ‘gentleman-amateur’ - playing the game for its own sake, not for results or gain - has clouded the writing of most cricket history. However, Derek Birley’s revisionist study relates cricket’s association with aristocratic gambling before its Victorian conversion into a moral crusade. He describes how from 1846, mirroring these earlier wager matches, the despised professional touring sides promoted cricket around the country, even briefly threatening to take control of the game. Following the ascendancy of county cricket with its gentleman-player apartheid, Birley argues that hypocrisy and ‘shamateurism’ grew into an art form with the advent of mass leisure.14

Halifax cricket had the inspiration of touring sides on several occasions during the 1860s. In 1863 the All England XI played a Halifax and District XXII which included Illingworth’s Yorkshire and England player, Tom Emmett.15 The first day, the Halifax Guardian observed a crowd of ‘upwards of 4,000’, the second ‘not less than 10,000’. The final day with ‘the match…creating considerable excitement in the town…the attendance [was] very numerous’. Also, ‘the ladies appeared in full force’.16 Two other ‘big matches’ attracted crowds in the 13 H.B. Philpott, ‘London at School: The Story of the School Board, 1904’, from Bailey, Leisure and Class, p. 128. 14 Derek Birley, A Social History of English Cricket (Aurum, London, 2003). In the first-class game, ‘gentlemen’ as well as having separate dining rooms, hotels and gates on to the pitch to the professional players also tended to be the batsmen with the professionals performing the more arduous role of bowler. 15 The touring professionals played each other on equal terms, but against local sides competed against 15, 18 or even 22 players to even up the contest, and the betting. 16 The Halifax Guardian, 8th June 1863. The touring professionals played each other on equal terms, but against local sides competed against 15, 18 or even 22 players to even up the contest, and the betting.

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Halifax vicinity. In 1874 at Todmorden, W.G. Grace, the ultimate competitor and ‘shamateur’, but also the ‘Pele of English cricket’, played for the United South against the United North.17 And in 1878, following the birth of Test cricket, an Elland and District XVIII played the first Australian touring side.18

County games were also highly popular, when working men and women had the opportunity to attend, such as on bank holidays. In 1883 a crowd in excess of 15,000 gathered at Old Trafford for the first day of the Roses game.19 The mass national and local press enthusiastically publicised cricket, though it cost Yorkshire the championship that year.20

Birley does not examine northern league cricket in depth. This topic - more immediately relevant to the present study - is addressed by Rob Light’s investigation into West Riding cricket. He found a limited diffusion of Muscular Christianity, with Yorkshire dependent on club professionals. He argues that cricket developed in the industrialised North on the lines of association football and rugby: departing from the ‘gentleman-amateur’ model, creating one thriving on ‘competition, commercialism, spectatorship and professionalism’.21 Our study will determine which of the two models, if either, Illingworth followed.

Of the clergy at St. Mary’s, Illingworth, most were Oxbridge men (see Table 2) and could reasonably be expected to be disseminators of the reconstructed sports. They had, however,

17 Freda, Malcolm and Brian Heywood, Cloth Caps and Cricket Crazy : Todmorden and Cricket 1835-1896 (Upper Calder Valley, 2004), pp. 63, 68-9; Rowland Bowen, Cricket : A History of its Growth and Development throughout the World (Eyre and Spottiswoode, London, 1970), pp. 110-11. Stories of Grace’s interpretation of ‘playing the game’, which was as liberal as his understanding of amateurism, are legion. Birley provides several in A Social History of English Cricket. 18 The Halifax Courier, 8th June 1878. 19 Keith A. P. Sandiford, Cricket and the Victorians (Scolar Press, Aldershot, 1994), p. 124. 20 Nationally, the press expanded 600% between 1856 and 1882. Cunningham, Leisure in the Industrial Revolution, p. 176., The Halifax Guardian (1832) and The Halifax Courier (1853), both started as weeklies. They reported on, and publicised, cricket matches. The Courier alone, when it became a daily in 1892, had sales of about 13,000. Hargreaves, Halifax, pp. 91, 172. It would undoubtedly have had a readership of much more. In 1883, Yorkshire Played 16, Won 9, Lost 2. In the usual absence of guidance from the MCC, the unofficial County Championship was determined by enthusiastic sports’ journalists who adjudicated that Yorkshire’s record had been second to that of Nottinghamshire’s of Played 12, Won 4, Lost 1 Birley, A Social History of English Cricket, p. 140. 21 Rob Light, ‘The Other Face of English Cricket’ (M.A., Huddersfield University, 2002).

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more pressing concerns. The 1851 Religious Census demonstrated that over 40 per cent of the population did not attend a service. In industrial Halifax less than 50 per cent worshipped, half of those being Nonconformist.22 Furthermore, the 1870 Education Act eroded the secular requirements of the popular Sunday Schools. Especially of concern was the high absenteeism among working-class men. To retain and recruit them, the Church felt compelled to offer leisure activities, countering less respectable suppliers, particularly public-houses. Even the Nonconformists had to compete. In 1880s Pudsey, ‘Chapels now are more inviting…They have sewing classes, bazaars, concerts, and the drama; cricket and football clubs, and harriers…’23

Clergy were most involved in cricket, and teams emerged in huge numbers from religious organisations.24 Scores of such clubs appeared in Halifax, especially from the 1870s.25 Limited evidence, however, suggests that church members were the driving force, and that lip service was paid by working men to any behavioural quid pro quo.26 This study will attempt to ascertain whether the clergy or the congregation instigated the Illingworth club, and what the position was regarding recruitment and behaviour.

Methodology

The foundation year of the club will be studied in detail, determining the social composition of the membership and the influence of the church. Its development to 1920 or thereabouts will then be assessed thematically, examining: the relationship with church and community; ambition –

22 S.J.D Green, ‘The Church of England and the Working Classes in Late-Victorian and Edwardian Halifax’ in Transactions of the Halifax Antiquarian Society (1993), p. 107. 23 Lawson, Letters to the Young, p. 91. 24 A third of all cricket teams in Bolton in 1867 were linked to religious bodies. Bailey, Leisure and Class, p. 137. 25 From Andrew Hardcastle, Lost: The Former Cricket Clubs and Cricket Grounds of Halifax and Calderdale (Andrew Hardcastle and Cricket Heritage Project Publications, Halifax, 2006), Many were formed before Illingworth, such as such as St Pauls (King Cross), St John’s Bradshaw, Lee Mount Baptists, St Thomas’s (Claremount) and Sowerby St George’s, p. 10. 26 For instance, Holt, who also argued that the extent of Muscular Christianity among clergymen was exaggerated. Richard Holt, Sport and the British : a Modern History (Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1989), pp. 136-39.

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competition and improvement; finance, the social side, and the role of women.

At the heart of this study will be a thorough examination of the club’s minute books for the period, alongside its existing cashbooks, scorebooks and other contemporary sources. This will be supplemented and interpreted using additional primary sources, principally the Halifax Guardian, the Halifax Courier and the contemporary history, The Story of Saint Mary’s Illingworth.27 Population census returns will also be analysed. Secondary sources will be widely consulted for purposes of context and interpretation.

27 R. Oakley, The Story of Saint Mary’s Illingworth (F King & Sons Ltd, Halifax, 1924)

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Chapter 1

1884: Taking Guard

With the reformation of sports, Dennis Brailsford argued that cricket clubs became dominated by middle-class members.28 Holt took a different view, holding that the majority of sports clubs were predominantly working class, but established with the aim of middle-class control. He believed that with the formation of church clubs, the impetus generally came from the congregation not the clergy.29 Regarding northern church cricket clubs, Jack Williams took a line closer to Holt, finding mainly working-class members but relying on middle-class patronage.30 This chapter will examine how the Illingworth cricket club came to be founded when it did, who was responsible for its creation, what its social composition was, and what motivations lay behind its founding.

Illingworth’s township of Ovenden was a mainly moorland area, and the enclosure of 1814 had taken in approximately a quarter of its 5,000 acres, including some of the best land, and predominantly in the Illingworth area.31 Land for cricket pitches was at a premium; and in 1884 travel to other areas was difficult.32 Crucially, St. Mary’s had land. There were also potential opponents for any new club.33

A Muscular Christian may have inspired cricket on a regular basis at Illingworth.34 On 6th July 1878, the Reverend William 28 Dennis Brailsford, British Sport : a Social History (Lutterworth, Cambridge, 1997) , p. 90. 29 Holt, Sport and the British, pp. 137-38. 30 Jack Williams, Cricket and England : a Cultural and Social History of the Inter-War Years (Frank Cass, London, 1999), p. 20. 31 T.W. Hanson, The Story of Old Halifax, (M.T.D.Rigg, Leeds, 1993), pp. 234-5. Fields were enclosured in the less hilly ground in a radius of about 1½ miles of St Mary’s. 32 There was little road development during the 1800s in Halifax, and tramways were not to reach Illingworth until the turn of the century. A passenger rail service opened from Halifax to Queensbury via Holmfield in 1879, but the location of the stations rendered it unsuitable for regular fixtures. Travel would have been by foot, by waggonette or possibly by horse-drawn omnibus, which, however, was not a regular daily service until 1887. Alan Dingsdale, Yorkshire Mill Town : a Study of the Spatial Patterns and Processes of Urban-Industrial Growth and the Evolution of the Spatial Structure of Halifax 1801-1901 (unpublished PhD thesis, University of Leeds, 1974,) pp. 162, 164, 170. 33 For instance Ovenden Albion, Ovenden United, Dean Clough Mills and Mountain United were all within 3 miles. 34 An ‘Illingworth’ club played matches as early as the 1850s, some of which Tom Emmett the Yorkshire and England player took part in. Local cricket historian Andrew Hardcastle has discovered a team based at the White Lion Inn and playing at Cousin Lane in Ovenden. (The Halifax Courier dates 10/10/1857, 1/05/1858, 18th June 1859). There is no evidence of a connection with St Mary’s church. Hardcastle found that in 1873 Ovenden United (founded 1864) was based at the White Lion and played at

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Davies scored 35 not out for St. Mary’s Illingworth against Nursery Lane.35 He had become curate of St. Mary’s in April 1877, having graduated from Oxford the previous year.36 Three month’s later, on 21st July 1877, Illingworth St. Mary’s played Illingworth Wesleyans, their first recorded game.37 A week later, St. Mary’s Illingworth38 defeated Ovenden Albion at Illingworth, the first match listing individual scores, see Appendix 1.39 Three further games were reported in 1877. And a match played in April 1878, ‘Ovenden United v. 18 Players of Various Clubs of the District [of Ovenden]’, included three of that season’s players from ‘St. Mary’s’, demonstrating already a perception of the side as a ‘club’.40

Davies left the parish in 1879 and may have played as few as three matches.41 But he was certainly highly popular with the parishioners.42 It is very possible that he negotiated the ground at Pharaoh Lane, only a short walk from the church.43

What is certain is that much cricket was played from 1877 under the name of the church, prior to its official founding. In 1878 eight fixtures were reported and 16 in 1879. Matches were regularly played up to and including 1880, when ten

Cousin Lane, The Halifax Courier, 16th August 1873, so possibly the 1850s Illingworth team was the ancestor of Ovenden United. 35 Played at Illingworth. Scores:- St Mary’s 81 Nursery Lane 40. Reported in The Halifax Guardian, 13th July 1878. Considering the generally dreadful standard of wickets and long, grassy outfields, Davies’s was an impressive innings, which would on its own have won many games. Many cricket scores resembled today’s rugby scores. 36 His was present for a farewell service for his predecessor, Rev Israel Parkinson on 22nd April 1877, The Halifax Guardian, 13th July 1878. He had graduated at Jesus College, Oxford in 1876. His fourth class degree in Theology also hints at a preference for the sporting rather than the academic. Crockford’s Clerical Directory, 1933. p. 331. 37 The Halifax Guardian, 28th July 1877. Match played at at Illingworth Moor, St Mary’s lost heavily. Scores:- Illingworth St Mary’s 49 Illingworth Wesleyans 96 for 9. Unfortunately no individual names were given, so it is not known if he personally played in 1877. Starting from 1873, when the Saturday half-holiday became widespread in the area, no Illingworth fixtures are reported until Davies’s arrival, The Halifax Guardian and The Halifax Courier: 1873-76. It is, of course, possible (though unlikely) that games were played which were not sent to the press. But even were that so, it demonstrates that in 1877, cricket at least went up a notch by starting to publicise the matches. 38 The team appeared under different names in the The Halifax Guardian. As well as St Mary’s Illingworth, and Illingworth St Mary’s, it played as simply St Mary’s (confusingly, given the number of St Mary’s in the Halifax area) and St Mary’s Ovenden. There is no doubt, however, that it was the same side from the personnel, as fortunately the paper sometimes (though by no means always) gave the players’ individual scores. 39 The Halifax Guardian, 4th August 1877. Sadly, the bowling figures are not included at this time. 40 Ibid, 4th May 1878. The three players were H Barraclough, F Peel and F Lister. 41 It was a minimum of three. Individual scores were not always reported, and we cannot be sure, of course, how many unreported matches took place. Parochial duties would also have taken precedence over cricket. 42 The parishioners petitioned in favour of his appointment as Vicar following the death of the previous one in November 1878. This request was rejected by the Vicar of Halifax. R. Oakley, The Story of Saint Mary’s Illingworth (F King & Sons Ltd, Halifax, 1924), pp. 90-1. Unfortunately this is the only reference that Oakley makes to him. 43 This land, though Pharaoh Lane is not named specifically, was held by the St Mary’s Church as part of ‘Illingworth Glebe’ at the very least until 1898. It is shown in the deed, Patron of Illingworth Vicarage, dated 15th December 1898.

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were played.44 However, in 1881 no matches were reported, and in 1882 only two, against local opposition.45 However, a revival took place in 1883. Commencing with a fixture against Bradshaw St. John on 16th June, the Halifax Guardian reported 15 fixtures.46 On the back of this resurgence, the club was formally established in 1884.

As Vicar of Saint Mary’s since 1879, the first president of the new cricket club was the Rev. George Oldacres.47 A Cambridge undergraduate in the 1860s, he also would have been acquainted with the ‘civilising’ effects of Muscular Christianity, and the potential of sport for attracting and retaining young men. However, Oakley in his history of the church describes him as a minister of ‘single-minded and deeply religious character…An intensely serious man – not always, perhaps, disposed to make full allowance for youthful exuberance…’48

In his chapter on Oldacres, Oakley refers to the cricket club, but does not mention a driving force in its creation.49 With his marked tendency to personalise events, this would suggest that neither a clergyman nor a prominent church member was that force. In 1879, the year of his arrival, the vicar had almost certainly been instrumental in arranging two fixtures against the Church Institute of his old parish in Brighouse.50 But he was not a likely initiator of the club. Aside from the five-year hiatus and his rather severe character, he was to make only occasional appearances at the (usually higher-profile) meetings. He was a sympathetic figurehead rather than an enthusiastic supporter. 44 The Halifax Guardian, 1878-80. These would, again, be the minimum number of fixtures. Sometimes the match was advertised, sometimes the score reported, sometimes both, and almost certainly some fixtures were neither advertised nor reported on. And, of course, matches could have been cancelled for weather or other reasons. The point, however, is that the Club had regular fixtures in this period. 45 Losing to Ovenden Albion, away on 3rd June, and defeating St George’s, Ovenden at home on 8th July. Ibid, 10th June 1881 and 15th July 1882, respectively. 46 Ibid, 1883. 47 The Club President was to be the Vicar of St Mary’s until Mr Frank Fox became the first lay President in 1961. 48 Oakley, R, The Story of Saint Mary’s, p. 95. 49 Ibid, p. 99. 50 Matches were scheduled against Brighouse Church Institute, Home on 12th July 1879 and Away on 2nd August 1879, from The Halifax Courier of those dates. Unfortunately no scores were reported.

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The curate, Frederic Hughes, who arrived in 1881, was more involved in the running of the club, his professional approach being evident in the early club minutes, setting a precedent of high standards. However, considering the number of fixtures arranged and played since 1877, the parishioners’ appetite for cricket already existed. The flourishing season in 1883, combined with memories of the lean years of 1881 and 1882, appear to have prompted the demand for a more stable base. The likelihood is that the clergy made a virtue out of necessity by promoting ‘rational’ cricket and placing the stamp of the church upon it. The name decided on for the club is itself significant in this respect. St. Mary’s Cricket Club, Illingworth, indicates the primacy of the church over the area.

The general meeting of the club on 22nd February 1884 is regarded as inaugural. It is evident, however, that much had already been decided. Despite the meticulous nature of the minutes, there is no mention of the election of officers. The balance sheet for October 1884 had commenced in October 1883, suggesting that a significant meeting had then taken place, at which the Committee and officers had been appointed. Of the Committee, at least four had played for the team since 1877.51 The comprehensive nature of the club rules, agreed in 1884, indicate they had been largely determined in advance. Sufficient confidence in the viability of the club existed in March to authorise ‘the erection of a Cricket Tent’ (wooden pavilion).52 And by the first week in April the club was able to pay the £15/10/- required for the tent, despite this greatly exceeding the subscriptions which could have been collected up to that point in the season.53 Finances already existed. The decision at that meeting to send out match cards shows that the season’s fixtures had been 51 Arthur Howarth, Squire Cain, Horatio Crowther and John Hellawell from The Halifax Guardian, various. The other two committee members were Fred Horsfield and Joe Allison. The officers being Joseph Allison (senior), and Arthur Spencer. It is possible, of course, that they had played in unreported games or games without individual scores. 52 Illingworth St Mary’s Cricket Club Minute Book 1, 3rd March 1884. A club rule, 14, mentions ‘the Cricket Tent’. It is not known if this refers to an existing structure or anticipates the decision to erect the new one. 53 Minute Book 1, 7th April 1884.

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arranged. Furthermore, as observed by Kenneth Pearce, no mention is made of the ground, indicating that games would continue to be played at Pharaoh Lane.54 The February 1884 meeting was more confirmation than baptism.

The rules, see Appendix 2, embody a desire for a properly constituted club, on a sound financial footing, and playing with the demeanour expected of a church side. Rule 3,55 restricting membership to Sunday School or churchgoers, demonstrates concern for retention and recruitment.56 Rule 13 somewhat compromises this restriction, though it permits only friends from outside of the parish to play. This implies that the birth of a cricket club was a significant event in the wider community. It also betrays a fear of player shortages, as in 1881 and 1882, at a time when many cricket teams were ephemeral.

Of the seventeen rules, six (numbers 6, 8, 9, 11, 12 & 15) have a behavioural-disciplinary element. Rule 8, ‘That no member be allowed to smoke or lie down when he is engaged on the field’ is a beautiful example of a ‘rational recreation’ response to pre-industrial behaviour. Rule 9 has a particularly clerical ring to it, referring to fining ‘any member conducting himself improperly, either by word or deed’. Fines for first offences were 6d, the same as the monthly subscription.

The rules bear a strong resemblance to those of Todmorden Cricket Club in 1839, see Appendix 3. Todmorden’s have less discipline-based rules (8, 9, 12), but in an age of nearly manhood suffrage, Illingworth’s election of members is democratic, whereas Todmorden’s were ‘admitted by ballot of [solely] the Committee’. In both cases the committee is pivotal, arranging matches, selecting teams, controlling the finances, and enforcing discipline. Other similarities include the 54 Pearce, Illingworth St. Mary’s C. C. 1884-1961, p.5. 55 Oddly there are two rule 3’s, with no rule 4. 56 There were explicit acknowledgements of this in Halifax. For example Halifax Parish Church advertised its cricket club in its parish magazine in the 1880s. John A.Hargreaves, John A, ‘The Church of England in late-Victorian and Edwardian Halifax 1852-1914’ in Transactions of the Halifax Antiquarian Society (1991), p. 52.

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participation of outsiders if introduced by a member, and the primacy of subscription collection at the monthly meetings. The Rules (see Appendix 4) of a third club, Shibden Vale, formed in 1869,57 reflect electoral changes, admitting new members by a vote of all the membership. Its subscriptions are somewhat dearer then Illingworth’s, but this probably reflects the better economic times. Again, ‘strangers’ may be introduced. Like Illingworth, and unlike Todmorden, reference is made to smoking (and drinking) in Bye-Law 7 and there is a more explicit reference to improper behaviour in Bye-Law 8. These reveal considerations of behaviour control when working men are involved.

Illingworth’s rules are very much a product of Victorian morality: Muscular Christianity, with echoes of factory discipline. Based on precedents they were typical, rather than something peculiarly strict for Illingworth members. The church’s ownership, though, is explicit: the key to the cricket tent key being retained at the Church Institute (rule 14); and on dissolution of the club the tent and equipment becomes Sunday School property (16).

Though founded almost 50 years later, from a social perspective the Illingworth club can be usefully compared with that of Todmorden. The membership of the 1838 Todmorden club showed a predominance of employers and self-employed men. These people had leisure time and could afford the joining fee of 2/6d and the monthly subscriptions of 1/-, which, though soon reduced to 9d, made the annual cost for a new member still greater than the weekly wage of some workers.58 It was socially ‘exclusive’.

Illingworth, in contrast, was to be an ‘inclusive’ club. The subscription of 5/- per annum could be paid monthly on ‘easy 57 Established by John Lister, the last private occupant of Shibden Hall, the Club had connections with St Thomas Anglican Church at Claremount. Shibden Vale Cricket Club, Rules and Bye-Laws, courtesy of West Yorkshire Archive Service at Calderdale, reference SH17/JN/278/5 . 58 Heywood, Cloth Caps, p. 2.

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terms’ of 6d during the season and 4d out of season, see Appendix 2.59 The entrance fee of 1/- would be waived for annual subscriptions. By April, a junior rate had been set.60 And low subscriptions had greater potential to attract working- class males for the church.

The Illingworth membership was of a far greater social mix, with a large majority of working class men and youths, see Table 1. Based on the 1871 Census, Green determined the class structure of Halifax, below.61

Total Population 65,510 Working Population 34,936 Professional, entrepreneurial and other middle classes 2,378 Shopkeepers, independent craftsmen and lower middle classes

4,582

Working classes 27,976

This gives a working-class percentage for Halifax of 80.1, a figure of 19.9 per cent for middle and lower middle-class combined, and a value of 6.8 per cent for the narrower definition of middle class.

Employing the same categories for the first-year cricket club members, we get:

Total Known Membership, 1884 41 Occupation known (excluding clergymen and scholars) 62 28 Professional, entrepreneurial and other middle classes 6 Shopkeepers, independent craftsmen and lower middle classes 4 Working classes 18

59 By way of comparison, the cost of popular seats for the Halifax Alhambra’s, ‘Grand Opening Night’, 4th February 1884, ranged from 3d to 1/-, whilst Elliman’s Universal Embrocation cost 1/1½d a small bottle and 2/9d for the large. The Halifax Courier, 2nd February 1884. 60 The Committee meeting of April agreed a 6d entrance fee for 12-16 years olds with subscriptions of 3d per month, April – September, and 2d per month, October – March; a total of 3/- for new junior members. Minute Book 1, 7th April 1884 Most 12-16 years olds were, of course, working. 61 From Table 9 ‘Population of Halifax, Keighley and Denholme in 1871:social structure’ in S.J.D. Green, Religion in the Age of Decline : Organisation and Experience in Industrial Yorkshire, 1870-1920 (Cambridge University Press, 1996), p. 56. As Green warns, the total Working Population was determined as people NOT scholars, housewives, retired or under-fives. ‘Half-timers’, under 12 were included. So the figure is an approximation. 62 Of the 41 members, only 37 have been firmly established, eleven being scholars. For the other four, as shown in the second part of table 1, there are between two and four possibilities. However, as the occupations for the different possibilities are of the same social category, I have included them.

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Excluding the two clergymen, we arrive at a figure of 21.4 per cent for the professional and entrepreneurial class, which is over three times the average for the town. The number of lower-middle class/independent workers is low for a somewhat scattered area like Illingworth, but still slightly higher than average (14.3 per cent against 13.1 per cent). The combined middle-class membership was 35.7 per cent, one and a half times the Halifax average, the working class membership being 61.5 per cent.63 Although there is a 13 year difference in the comparison, Green found that the proportion of middle class in Halifax barely changed between 1871 and 1921.64 It is, of course, a small sample and church-going was, as now, a disproportionately middle-class affair, but Illingworth did have a significant number of members with skills that could be enlisted to establish and administer the club.

Five out of six of the original committee were working men, with the two officers being schoolteachers.65 The committee elected in October 1884 showed increased middle-class representation, with a 3:3 split. The new treasurer was a warehouseman; though the original was reinstated in January 1885 when there were difficulties producing the balance sheet.66

The high percentage of under-17s, between 16 and 19 of the membership, is striking.67 Second team vice-captain Sam Booth was only 14 when elected. Considering the high birth-rate throughout Halifax up to 1870, this may seem unsurprising, but Illingworth was not quite typical. 68 As can be

63 Extending their fathers’ social status to the eleven scholars, we get figures that contrast even more starkly with the Halifax average: 28.2% for the professional and entrepreneurial class over four times the average for the town; a combined middle class membership of 38.5% twice the Halifax average, and a working class membership of 61.5% against 80.1%. 64 Green, Religion in the Age of Decline, p. 63. Based on comparison of Censuses of 1871 and 1921. 65 1881 Census. The five were: Squire Cain, Horatio Crowther, John Hellawell, Fred Horsfield, and Arthur Howarth. The sixth committee member, Joe Allison, was a scholar in 1881. The two officers were Treasurer Joseph Allison (father of Joe) and Secretary Arthur Spencer. See table 1. 66 Arthur Howarth gave way to Joseph Allison again. Minute Book 1, 7th January1885. 67 Three of the four unestablished members could have been under 17. 68 The population of the municipal borough of Halifax during the mid-Victorian period expanded from 25,159 to 65,510 - with a third of the population in 1871 being under fifteen. The best explanation for this is earlier marriage, made possible by improved prosperity. Hargreaves, Halifax, p. 127. In 1881, in Illingworth’s parish of Ovenden, of a total population of 12,874, 2,377 were males between the ages of 10 and 30, that is of approximately cricketing age by 1884. 1881 Yorkshire Census, Ages of Males

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seen from the 1891 Ordnance Survey map of Illingworth (Maps 1-4), housing development in Ovenden was confined to the Lee Bank and Lee Mount area close to Crossley’s carpet mills at Dean Clough, and to Pellon Lane. And though the church’s baptism rate for 1861-69 was higher than average, it was not spectacularly so.69

The first game at the new club on 19th April 1884 was an internal match, in which ‘Pickles’ Side’ lost to ‘Howarth’s Side’ by 42 runs to 55.70 The first fixture proper produced a home victory against Cragg Vale United (a regular opponent since 1878) by 26 runs to 24.71 The first match that reported individual scores was at home to a Dean Clough XI on 31st May 1884, see Appendix 1.72

Comparing this team to the one which played against Ovenden Albion in 1877, there are only two players who appeared in both games, and only three from a game reported in 1878.73 Although we have continuity from 1877 in the number of fixtures played and the committee membership, this is a big turnover. It helps to explain the lull in 1881 and 1882.74 There was, though, already player continuity through the generations: Irvine Priestley, too young to play in 1881 and 1882, was the son of John S. Priestley from the 1877 fixture, becoming a club stalwart.

No official records exist for the 1884 season, but the Halifax Guardian reported 20 1st XI fixtures, including 15 results. By

and Females in Registration Sub-Districts The 1881 figures would have changed for obvious reasons by 1884, but would remain an appropriate indicator. 69 From figures produced from the ‘Illingworth St Mary’s Registry of Baptisms’, the decennial average for the period 1830-1869 was 777.5. For the 1860s it was 797, actually 35 less than for the 1830s. Of course the figures can only be an indication as they are baptisms not births, and dependent on the parents’ current affiliation to the church, and also baptisms were not always held within weeks of birth, there are instances of parents baptising their children of different ages as a ‘job lot’. Nevertheless, we have no suggestion at all of the population boom of Halifax in the same period noted in the introduction. Illingworth St Mary’s the Virgin parish records, Cat Ref D73, West Yorkshire Archive Service, Wakefield. 70 The Halifax Guardian, 26th April 1884. 71 Ibid, 3rd May 1884. 72 Ibid, 7th June 1884. 73 The 1878 game was against St Georges, 18th May 1878, reported in The Halifax Guardian, 25th May 1878. The two who played in the 1877 and 1884 game were Arthur Howarth and John Hellawell who also played in the 1878 game alongside Albert Pickles. Nicholas Woodhead who also played in the 1878 game was to later become a regular, and captain. Squire Cain who also played games in 1878 was on the first Committee. 74 Unfortunately the newspapers do not give any individual scores in 1883, with which to identify players.

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21st June, the club was sufficiently strong to play the first of two 2nd XI matches. Of the 13 clubs played by both teams, at least four had been opponents since 1877. This shows only limited continuity, but there was a rise in the quality of opposition, with new well-established opponents such as Shibden Hall, Mountain United and Brighouse I Zingari - perhaps a consequence of the club’s new status, with the promise of regular fixtures also. With the exception of Cragg Vale (via train from Halifax to Mytholmroyd) the fixtures were all within a three-mile radius of Pharaoh Lane.75 Only three of the opposing clubs were explicitly church-based - surprising for the Halifax area.76

Though a sporting curate may have been the catalyst for cricket, the drive to establish the club came from church members rather than clergy, supporting Holt’s findings. The players were mainly working class, refuting Brailsford, whose views, however, are relevant to a much earlier club, late-1830s Todmorden. Illingworth was clearly dependent on church patronage, a point that seems to reinforce Williams’ views. If Holt’s findings about clubs’ intentions of middle-class control are correct, Illingworth averted this through a strong working-class presence on the committee. Religiously exclusive, it was socially inclusive. This was essential if it wished to recruit working-class men for the church. Its rules did emphasise good behaviour, but this was typically Victorian. Overall, it had established a solid foundation.

75 Games against the nomadic Brighouse I Zingari would be purely home fixtures. 76 Bradshaw St John, St Thomas (Claremount) and Thornton Free Church.

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Chapter 2

Vicar and Village

Tony Mason argues that churches formed sports clubs largely to bolster church identity, aid recruitment and provide healthy exercise, but that there was always the possibility of something being born of which ‘in the end it could not control and which would…take forms of which the church or chapel was unlikely to approve’.77 This chapter will examine how Illingworth, founded as a purely church club, developed through engagement with the local community.

Within four years of the club’s foundation, the requirement to be a member of the church’s congregation or Sunday School had been terminally undermined.78 This change was evidently sparked as a consequence of a rule breach. Oakley wrote, ‘One of the first Nonconformists admitted [to the cricket club] was Mr. Councillor Albert Turner, now amongst our most devoted adherents and churchworkers.’79 Turner was ‘received as a member of the Club’ in May 1887, while the restriction was still in place. 80

The watershed change took place at a reconvened General Meeting on 17th October 1887.81 The intensity of the debate strengthens the view that the club had been perceived as a vehicle for church recruitment: ‘A long discussion then took place respecting some alteration of Rule 3 regarding the 77 Tony Mason, Association Football and English Society, 1863-1915 (Harvester Press, Brighton, 1980), pp.25-26. Mason here is referring to football as well as cricket clubs. 78 Minute Book 1, 22nd February 1884. 79 Oakley, R., The Story of Saint Mary’s, p. 99. The movement from Nonconformist to Anglican noted by Oakley was also in keeping with the relocation of the middle classes to the suburbs and as part of the trend of social aspirations, observed in the political sphere with the abandoning of the Liberals for the Tories. 80 Minute Book 1, General Meeting, 2nd May 1887. The phrase ‘received as a member’ would be more appropriately used in the context of joining a Church. In the Minutes in this cricket context it jumps out of the page. The usual format was ‘be made a member’ or ‘become a member’. Turner’s obituary states that he came originally to Illingworth as a worker, but formed his own worsted spinning business at Jumples Mill, Mixenden. The Halifax Daily Courier and Guardian, 17th December 1940. The most prominent churchman at St Mary’s was JT Ramsden (Oakley dedicated his book and a chapter to the Ramsdens, as well as including their family tree) who lived at Jumples and whose family had previously owned the Mill. If Turner had been introduced to the cricket club by Ramsden, there was little likelihood of his being refused. 81 There is nothing in the minutes of the original meeting of 3rd October to indicate that the adjournment was called over Rule 3. The implied reason was that it gave a deputation from the club the opportunity to meet a contractor regarding improvements to the ground.

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Constitution of the Club. After all members present had had full opportunity of expressing their opinions’, the outcome was that:

the club be opened to members not belonging to the congregation of St. Mary’s Church but only in the proportion of one to three i.e. such members shall never at any time exceed in number one fourth of the whole of the Club including themselves.82

The stressed clarification of the new arrangement, limiting the dilution of the church membership, indicates the strength of feeling. This is further evidenced by two consequent resolutions. The first, proposed by committee member and prominent churchman R.J. Hartley, prevented non-church members becoming officers or serving on the committee.83 The curate, Rev. Hughes, proposed a second, starkly undemocratic, change. All future members – including churchgoers - were to be elected by the committee alone, with ‘one black ball in four to exclude’.84 This latter amendment had increased significance owing to a rule change at the adjourned meeting of 3rd October, also instigated by Hughes, which had made all officers ex officio committee members. This now allowed the ‘church party’ on the committee, a veto on new members.85

The reaction of Hughes may be partly explained by a prevalent anxiety that working men were asserting themselves, and aiming to wrest control from middle-class

82 Minute Book 1, 17th October 1887. See appendix 5. 83 Hartley, a Civil Engineer, was in 1920 to become one of the church’s first lay Church Councillors, and he superintended the erection of memorials in the church to the war dead of the parish. He also was invaluable to the cricket club in advising on, and supervising ground improvements. Oakley, R., The Story of Saint Mary’s, pp. 124, 101. 84 Minute Book 1, 17th October 1884. 85 The resolution included the officers as part of the committee. These three officers might be expected to back the clerical line: Arthur Howarth, the Financial Secretary, seconded the curate’s resolution; Joseph Allison was a schoolteacher and John W Cooper was later Secretary of the Parochial Church Council. With there only being six original committee members these three could alone veto prospective new members. Minute Book 1, 3rd October 1884. Though, as stated in footnote 7, there is nothing in the adjourned meeting’s minutes, to this effect, it seems too much of a coincidence that Revd Hughes didn’t have the possibility of a change to Rule 3 in mind.

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providers. Bédarida notes the flourishing of Marxist writings and the foundation of the Fabian Society in 1884. There were stirrings of more militant trade union activity. And in politics, disenchanted with Liberal representation, working men were moving towards fielding their own candidates - the Independent Labour Party emerging in 1893.86 Meanwhile, in rugby the introduction of the Yorkshire Cup had witnessed tribal working-class crowds. With fears of rugby’s ‘gentleman-amateur’ ethos being usurped by an alternative culture of results and payments, this had led to the outlawing of professionalism in October 1886.87

The perception that the church had relinquished a recruitment tool was, however, almost certainly false. Despite no direct evidence for sports clubs, Green found that in Halifax other social institutions used to promote church membership were unsuccessful.88 As Oakley observed, though, the episode did highlight one area of recruitment: that of wealthy Nonconformists, part of the contemporary drift from Liberal-Dissent to Tory-Anglican.89

At Illingworth there had been no social exclusivity based on class or wealth, and now there was none of church adherence. If men were to be excluded it would be by the committee’s interpretation of their acceptability. This probably equated to Williams’ findings that those ‘who played for church teams tended to belong to what they believed were the “respectable” sections of the working class. “Roughs” are not remembered as playing for church clubs’.90 What ‘blackballing’

86 François Bédarida, A Social History of England 1851-1990 (Routledge, London, 1991), pp. 132-36. In Halifax the ILP was founded in 1893 as was the Labour Church. Green, Religion in the Age of Decline, p. 239. 87 Tony Collins, Rugby’s Great Split: Class, Culture and the Origins of Rugby League Football (Routledge, Abingdon, 2nd Edition, 2006), pp. 21-51. Halifax were the first winners of the Yorkshire Cup in 1878. 88 Green, The Church of England and the Working Classes, pp.110-16. In any event, where church membership qualifications were enforced, there was also the likelihood of a type of religious ‘shamateurism’. Williams argues that church cricket teams helped to slow down the forces of secularism in England, but produces no real evidence to support this view, Williams, Jack, Cricket and England, pp. 157-8. 89 Accompanied by their physical movement from urban areas (where chapels were strongest) to the suburbs. Turner became a Conservative Councillor. Several prominent members of St Mary’s had Tory affiliations. Geo Ramsden and William Brear were also Tory Councillors – see Chapter 4 Cash, Concerts and Catering. 90 Williams, Jack, Cricket and England, p. 151.

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did acknowledge was the ‘civilising’ limitations of Muscular Christianity.

The change to rule 3, irrespective of its trigger, came about as a consequence of growing cricketing ambition.91 The club had a new ground which was attracting better quality opposition; it was about to embark on its first competitive cricket in the new Halifax Parish Challenge Cup; and there was a shortage in depth of good players. The new ground had itself brought financial difficulties. Apart from the possibility of acquiring a professional, widening the membership would increase subscriptions and boost an appeal ‘to help us in our difficulty’ - to be made to ‘many in the neighbourhood [who] will very gladly respond to it’.92 And from this latter statement may be divined something deeper than the wish to allow friends to play: the recognition of the club’s place in the local community.

Mason’s warning analysis was only partly applicable to Illingworth. There is no indication that the members wished to take over the club. Its direction was overseen by a progressive committee, and the new qualification restrictions must even then have appeared impracticable. Furthermore, there was a continuing dependency on the church, particularly as its landlord. And there was genuine adherence to the church.93 Finally, the warm and optimistic tone of the Annual Report presented in early November that year – ‘the Committee have great pleasure in congratulating the club on the satisfactory progress made during the past year’ - struck both a

91 It was not until May 1888 that a member was accepted ‘under the new rule’. And T. Carter was by no means an outstanding cricketer. Minute Book 1, 7th May 1888 92 The Annual Report presented at a committee meeting shortly after the resumed AGM notes that the new ground hadn’t been ready for the 1887 season, but had in advance attracted better standard opposition (the teams in question nevertheless fulfilling the fixtures. The expense of the new pitch was therefore compounded by having to rent and maintain the original pitch. The only real playing weakness noticed was regarding the 2nd XI – so the club lacked strength in depth. Minute Book 1, 4th November 1887. 93 The two most dynamic members of the club in our period were Nicholas Woodhead, a prolific committee man (who proposed the fundamental change to Rule 3, but also seconded Rev Hughes ‘black ball’ amendment – perhaps as a conciliatory gesture) and especially Harry Hustwick, the most famous and influential of all the Illingworth administrators, were both ardent church men).

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conciliatory note and a desire to move on.94 And it was Rev. Hughes who proposed that ‘we have an entertainment.’95

Though the church remained supportive, the vicar, George Oldacres, was somewhat inconsistent in his dealings with the club, and did have occasional disputes with it. In 1900, irritated by a letter from Oldacres requesting 10/- for the use of the Sunday School with a 10pm close for a ‘Tea & Social’, the committee decided that ‘we don’t bother with a Social this time but that 3 of a deputation see the President & have a proper understanding as to whether we are considered outsiders or what it means.’96 Despite a satisfactory outcome, the comment that ‘he [Oldacres] hopes that there will be no more trouble in the future’ suggests that this was not an isolated incident.97

On one occasion, insisting on the payment of the ground rental, Oldacres nevertheless paid half the cost of constructing a wall.98 He later refused to lower the rental, but agreed that the vicarage coach-house could be converted into a dressing room.99 He also allowed the club to pay off bills through his bank account. It seems he was also a guarantor for the club’s account for the laying out of the new ground.100 Having reached the Halifax Parish Challenge Cup Final in 1906, the committee decided that he should take possession of the cup for the year if it were won, which it was - see Appendix 6.101

Following his death, the club secretary, treasurer and 1st XI captain, Harry Hustwick spoke of the vicar’s contribution: ‘how keenly the loss was felt and how greatly his presence and lively interest in the welfare of the club would be missed in the 94 Minute Book 1, 4th November 1887. 95 Ibid, Committee Meeting 24th October 1887. Hughes probably meant a social evening. 96 Minute Book 2, 29th January 1900. 97 Ibid 98 Illingworth St Mary’s Cricket Club Cashbook, 9th July 1888. 99 Minutes of April 2007 General Meeting & later Committee Meeting Minute Book 1, 2nd April 1897 & 15th April 1897. This had also followed a deputation from the club. 100 In the minutes of 9th May 1887 the Financial Secretary was ‘empowered to hand over £14 to the President to pay to Mr Kershaw.’ Minute Book 1 On 9th January 1888 there is the proposal 'That Financial Secretary pay President £3-5-0 which will leave £40 due to him.', Ibid, whilst for the same date in the cashbook is the entry 'Paid President Kershaw's a/c £3-5-0'. Illingworth St Mary’s Cricket Club Cashbook, 9th January 1888 Kershaw was laying the new ground. 101 Minute Book 2, 17th July 1906. The Vicar was, of course President, but the gesture demonstrates the existing church link as well as affection towards Oldacres personally.

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future.’102 The cricket club was strongly represented at the funeral (see Appendix 7) - the turnout of members demonstrating that Illingworth remained more than a nominally church club.

Rev. Hughes had been closely involved with the early administration of the club. In the first 15 months he attended about half of the (less routine) meetings. From then on, like the vicar, he tended to appear only at the general meetings.103 From mid-1884, the committee had become increasingly autonomous in the everyday direction of the club. Later curates had some involvement, several of them chairing meetings.104 Along with the vicar, most donated annual prizes for best performances. Some became more directly involved, all Oxbridge men. Four acted as auditors: H.J. Green, H.F. Booth (later vicar), W.J. Ludlow, and T. Marsden. Booth and Ludlow were on the selection committee. Green, Booth and Marsden actually turned out for the teams.105 Booth, when he became vicar on Oldacre’s death, was very sympathetic to the club. He allowed further conversion of the coach-house into a pavilion, as well as water to be connected from his yard to the dressing rooms.106

The church also provided the club with two vital financial contacts - access to its wealthy patrons, and to its wider congregation for fundraising events.107

102 October General Meeting, Minute Book 2, 3rd October 1913. 103 It is not possible to be certain how many, unfortunately attendees were not named. Except for the meetings attended by the vicar, it would have been Hughes in the chair. The chairman was not always named, though one suspects that if it were a clergyman he would have been. Neither, until April 1887 were proposers and seconders of motions named. The clergymen tended to be present at meetings dealing with financial matters. For instance, though the vicar rarely attended other than general meetings, he chaired meetings in January and February 1885, when there had been problems producing the first balance sheet. 104 Unfortunately few comprehensive committee meeting attendance lists exist. Of those that do : in 1902 the curate (Rev Booth) attended one out of 20; in 1903 there was no clerical presence; in 1905 the vicar attended one meeting; in 1919 Rev Booth (the new vicar) attended two and in 1920, there was again no clerical involvement. 105 None were notable cricketers. Rev Green played a handful of games for the 1st XI between 1894 and 1897, including a cup game, not scoring a run or taking a wicket, but winning a fielding mark with a catch. Rev Booth turned out one for the 2nd XI in 1900 scoring 4 not out. Rev Marsden played at least once, in 1911. Neither the minutes nor the surviving scorebooks for our period revealed any other clergymen playing. The scorebooks which had scores and averages for the season at the back were thoroughly checked, otherwise sampling was done, so it is possible that clergy did play, but if they did so it must have been only very occasionally. Minute Books 1-3; Illingworth St Mary’s Cricket Club Scorebooks 1889-1921. 106 Minute Book 27th September 1919 & 16th December 1919. 107 See Chapter 4 Cash, Concerts and Catering.

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From 1900, in his study of religion in Halifax, Keighley and Denholme, Green found the Church to be waning in terms of membership, attendances, and eventually finances. Increasing recreational alternatives on the Sabbath, women’s wartime work on Sundays, growing prosperity, and the emergence of popular socialism culminated in a ‘crisis of faith’. Perceiving society as irreligious, the ‘local religious classes lost heart’ during the 1920s.108 In the urban churches of Halifax, only partially explained by middle-class migration to the suburbs, there was a spectacular decline in confirmations, from 443 in 1888 to 75 in 1914.109 At St. Mary’s, Illingworth, Oakley acknowledged an ‘ebb’ in attendances due to the ‘materialism of the prosperity in pre-War years’. This was followed by a ‘flow’ at the start of the war, then by ‘ebb’ and by ‘flow’ again.110 This latter was optimistic.

As the churches declined, their capacity for supporting social and leisure organisations also diminished. Supporting Green’s findings, Williams found that northern church cricket clubs declined from the early 1920s.111 Andrew Hardcastle’s study identifies many scores of religious-based clubs formed in Halifax, with both Anglican Sunday School and Nonconformist leagues starting in Edwardian days.112 But it also reveals how few church clubs survived. Of 49 clubs that appeared during the lifetime of the Halifax & District Nonconformist League, only two remain, and of the 18 in the Anglican league, only one still exists.113 Church clubs also tended to play in lower-

108 Green, Religion in the Age of Decline, pp. 352, 367-380. 109 Hargreaves, John A, Religion and Society in the Parish of Halifax, c1740-1914, Table 38, p.301. The figures by gender were 1888: Male 133, Female 310 1914: Male 34, Female 75 110 Oakley, R., The Story of Saint Mary’s,p. 80. 111 Williams, Jack, Cricket and England, pp. 5, 157. 112 A count of cricket clubs with religious connections in the Halifax and District area, in a book of former and current sides comes to nearly 150 – and these appeared overwhelmingly before 1930. The Halifax & District Nonconformist League 1908-1939 (the ‘Sunday School’ league from 1937) had 48 clubs appearing with on average about ten teams each season. The Halifax and District Church (Sunday School) League, 1907-1915 had a total of eighteen clubs, with again, about ten teams competing each season. Hardcastle, Lost 113 For example Illingworth’s old local rivals, Illingworth Wesleyans folded in 1922. Lee Mount Baptists after several reincarnations did not survive the Second World War. Ovenden St George’s finished in 1910 and former opponents St Mary’s, Luddenden Foot in 1915. The (Halifax) Parish Church team finally folded in 1926.Hardcastle, Andrew, Lost pp. 53, 57-8.

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standard leagues. In the strong Bradford League, there was only one church side, Pudsey St. Lawrence.114

In their history of Todmorden Cricket Club, the Heywoods identify how the club developed into a force in the finest league in England through a symbiotic relationship with the local community. Flourishing or struggling with the fluctuations of the cotton industry, Todmorden CC became steeped in the culture of a northern, working-class town. The town supported the cricket team, which in turn became a source of local pride and identity.115 Geographically, Illingworth differed markedly from Todmorden. But as a moorland village with a widespread population and industry,116 it was equally in need of a focal point, something which at that time, with the demise of the churches, a cricket club could help provide.

The restrictions on non-church members of the club were lifted or fell into disuse. By 1895 they could serve on the committee.117 In the re-statement of the rules and bye-laws at the front of the third minute book in 1920, all restrictions on membership had disappeared, with the comment that ‘some of the rules have been left out of this minute book as obsolete’. The ‘blackball’ rule did remain, though there is no evidence of its having been used.118 For the first time the club was referred to in the rules as ‘Illingworth St. Mary’s Cricket Club’ - the name of the district preceding that of the church.

Illingworth’s victory in the 1909 Halifax Parish Challenge Cup signalled a demonstration of its identification with the local community:

114 A Century of Bradford League Cricket 1903-2003, Tables of League Positions, 1903-21, pp. 12-15. 115 Heywood, Freda, Malcolm and Brian, Cloth Caps. 116 There were several small mills in the Illingworth area, including Hall in Illingworth itself, Mixenden, Jumples and Hays mills at Mixenden, Forest Mill at Ovenden, and Hebble Mill at Wheatley. Just outside were Bradshaw Mills and Mountain (near Queensbury). See maps 1-4 117 At the General Meeting of 5th April 1895. Non-churchmen were still ineligible for any office. A revised and re-organised version of the rules was written up following this, and sadly the former rule 8 ‘That no member be allowed to smoke or lie down when he is engaged on the field’ was dropped. Minute Book 1. 118 Minute Book 3. Minute Book 2 covered the period 7/04/1899 to 27/09/1920.

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Much pleasure was felt in the Illingworth and Ovenden districts when the news was circulated that lllingworth had again ‘lifted’ the cup. They were well received in both places by a large crowd, people lining the route all the way to the village. The team drove from the Halifax ground in a char-a-banc by way of Hanson Lane, Pellon Lane, Crown Street, Northgate and past Dean Clough. The evening was spent in a convivial manner at the Talbot Inn, mine host giving them a hearty welcome.119

Before the club’s first victory in this competition in 1906, the demand in the district for a ‘victory parade’ had been anticipated: ‘in the event of us winning the Cup we order a Charabanc…providing of course that a reasonable charge be made.’120

The district’s enthusiasm over the club’s success in the Parish Cup was starkly contrasted with its reluctance to attend the church itself. An article in the Halifax Guardian the same week as the 1909 triumph reported:

The monthly meeting of the St. Mary’s [Illingworth] Branch of the Church of England Men’s Society [took place] under the leadership of the vicar, the Rev. Geo. Oldacres…A very brief but interesting paper on ‘Why don’t people go to Church on Sunday morning?’ was read.121

The club minutes give several clues as to its growing association with the neighbourhood. By 1990, with a membership of around 50, 140 fixture cards were required.122 In 1891, 24 fixture posters were printed, increasing to 50 in

119 Halifax Evening Courier, 6th July 1909. 120 Committee Meeting, 14th July 1906, Minute Book 2. Unfortunately, I have been unable to confirm that this did actually occur, though it would be more than likely. 121 The Halifax Guardian, 10th July 1909 The report continued that the object of the society was ‘to bring men more into touch with the Church, and to encourage men to take a more practical interest in its welfare.’ 122 Committee Meeting 17th February 1890, Minute Book 1 The precise membership at the time is not known, no figures exist for 1889. In October 1888, there were 34 playing and 18 honorary members. Notebook of Harry Hustwick, Annual Report for 1888.

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1899.123 Posters would be distributed to local businesses, pubs, clubs and other organisations. In 1901 and 1902 less posters were printed – 30 - but 200 fixture cards were ordered.124 And in 1906 after the cup success, ‘several outsiders’ assisted the club in levelling the ground.125

Club fundraising social events were often aimed at the community, and in 1919 whist drives and dances were held outside the church environs at Lee Mount Constitutional Club.126 And in 1920, the club hosted a match against the Ovenden District, which produced a £15 ‘clear profit’ for ‘the benefit of the Illingworth Nursing Association’.127

Presenting the arguments for entry into the Yorkshire Cricket Council, the club’s secretary, Harry Hustwick, made explicit references to the community:

To provide Cricket in the District of the highest class possible. That the district is not represented by such cricket. Being very Central for the villages of Ovenden, Bradshaw, Mixenden & Holmfield. That the Illingworth club being one of the oldest in the Borough of Halifax (if not the oldest) look upon as their duty to take this action.128

In 1924 Oakley, then vicar, neatly summed up the position of the club:

The story of Illingworth would be incomplete without reference to the famous ‘Illingworth S. Mary's Cricket

123 ‘That the Fixture Cards be printed same as last year (viz 150 Small Cards & 50 Posters’, Commmitee Meeting 13th March 1900, Minute Book 2. By this time, of course, league cricket was being played. 124 Ibid, 11th March 1902. 125 Ibid, 23rd October 1906. The term ‘outsiders’ was probably used to try and shame those members who weren’t doing their bit on the ground, rather than as meaning not one of the circle. 126 See Chapter 4 Cash, Concerts and Catering. 127 Ibid, 27th Spetember 1920. 128 See appendix 11. Notebook of Harry Hustwick, referring to outcome of AGM of 27th Oct 1919.

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Club’…Its conditions of membership (at first, confined to Church people) have been widened since it was formed but there are, naturally, still many keen members of S. Mary's taking an active interest in it, and its moving spirit has, for many years, been Mr. Harry Hustwick. 129

The church had established the cricket club and continued to support it. The widening of membership, though contentious, did not produce something of which it ‘was unlikely to approve’. Rather it was proud to be associated with it. As churches went into decline, so did many of their cricket clubs. At Illingworth, though, the churchman Hustwick’s vision of rooting the club in the local community was to secure its future.

129 The Story of Saint Mary’s,p. 99.

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Chapter 3

Ambition: Cups and Oil Lamps

This chapter will attempt to demonstrate that Illingworth Cricket Club was acutely ambitious by examining its involvement in competition and improvement. It will also seek to show that improvement, essentially in terms of upgrading its ground, was principally stimulated by competition and the desire to play in higher-quality cricket. This assessment will be set within the wider social context, especially considering the significance of sport in the social class system.

Discussing the view that W.G. Grace was an improbable hero for the puritanical Victorian era, Birley argues that this is ‘to underestimate the influence of the competitive ethos unleashed by the Industrial Revolution and the worship of success that came in its wake. It is also greatly to underestimate the capacity for hypocrisy in [the country].’130 What the Victorians really unleashed were efforts to restrain competition within sport. Having acquired a role in assimilating the nouveaux-riches into society, sport needed to be clearly differentiated from work, enabling them to be ‘gentlemen’ at least in the area of recreation. Games were to be played for their own sake, not for results, and most emphatically not for money. Grace was the ultimate ‘shamateur’ and stretched the rules to breaking point, having scant regard for the spirit of the game. But the MCC hypocritically embraced him as a ‘gentleman’ because he was brilliant and necessary to beat the professionals. As Brailsford argues, at root what was being defended was not amateurism but the class system.131

Illingworth played to win. Practice was taken seriously from the outset, with rules and times being established.132 Several 130 Birley, A Social History of English Cricket, p.112. 131 Brailsford, British Sport, p. 98. 132 Minute Book 1, 9th June & 6th October 1884.

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early disputes in ‘friendly’ matches indicate the competitive edge. In 1887 games against neighbouring Ovenden Albion and Bradshaw Mills ended in controversy and only off-the-field diplomacy preserved future fixtures.133 Two 2nd XI fixtures also finished in dispute in 1894, both against church sides: the Anglican Bradford St. Andrews and the Nonconformist Horton Primitives, suggesting little turning of the other cheek!134 The club, though, was prepared to stamp down on its own players’ misbehaviour. Ellis Helliwell was found ‘guilty of misconduct in the field’ and received a written warning in May 1886, and when he re-offended in April 1888 he either had to excuse his conduct or resign, which evidently happened.135

Competitive cricket took off in the West Riding inspired by both football codes.136 In Leeds, the Emsley Cup commenced in 1880, followed rapidly by, among others, the Heavy Woollen Cup (Batley, 1883), the Lumb Cup (Huddersfield, 1886) and in Halifax, from 1888, the Parish Challenge Cup. In 1887, Illingworth decided to enter the inaugural Halifax Parish Challenge Cup.137 Evidently there were no objections raised to entering what ‘purists’ would have considered ‘vulgar competition’, even with a relatively high middle-class membership.138 The decision was probably helped by the commencement of regular omnibus services to Illingworth during 1887.139

In 1888 the Football League, hugely popular in industrial areas, particularly Lancashire, provided a new model for competitive team sport. Cricket followed, the Lancashire

133 Ibid, 24th October 1887 & 5th December 1887. 134 Ibid, Annual Report for 1894. 135 Ibid, 17th May 1887 & 30th April 1888. 136 In Lancashire and the Midlands the FA Cup with Blackburn Olympic’s victory in 1883 generated huge popular enthusiasm, whereas in the West Riding it was rugby with the Yorkshire Challenge Cup in 1878 – won by Halifax – that brought out crowds in their thousands. See Collins, Rugby’s Great Split, pp.20-1. On the day after the Illingworth club was formally found, almost 30 rugby fixtures were due to be played in the Halifax area. The Halifax Guardian, 23rd February 1884. 137 Minute Book 1, 8th August 1887 There is a simple proposal by the progressive committee man Nicholas Woodhead. ‘That we enter the Halifax Parish Challenge Cup Competition ….’ 138 See table 1. 139 ‘Slater’s Directory’, 1887, quoted in Alan Dingsdale, ‘Yorkshire Mill Town : a Study of the Spatial Patterns and Processes of Urban-Industrial Growth and the Evolution of the Spatial Structure of Halifax 1801-1901’ (Ph.D., University of Leeds, 1974), p. 164.

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League being founded in 1890.140 League cricket crossed the Pennines, with the formation of the Calder Valley League in 1891, the Halifax Amateur Cricket League in 1892, and the Halifax and District Cricket League in 1894.141 Dozens of other West Riding leagues sprang up, with the Huddersfield and Leeds leagues being launched in 1892.142

The same divisions existed in cricket as within rugby. Williams notes that by 1914 most cricket in the industrial North and Midlands took place in leagues. In the South practically all clubs played friendly cricket.143 As with rugby, many saw league cricket as a threat to sportsmanship and tainted with professionalism. Williams argues that opposition to leagues was sometimes a strategy to maintain exclusivity: concern for results might have brought selection on merit rather than on social status. He found all leagues to be highly competitive, but identified professionals only at the leading clubs. Apart from the lead of football, Williams does not adequately explain why cricket took the course it did in the industrial areas.144 Light, however, found that the distinctively competitive nature of sport in the West Riding was due to the manner in which working men adapted to the reformed sports. The critical ingredient was contest. Manifested through wagers in pre-industrial times, when contest re-emerged in the rivalry between neighbouring teams it was sharply intensified by local knockout cups. These matches became popular embodiments of communal identity and prestige, which further heightened their competitive nature and appeal, leading to the leagues in the 1890s. Light discovered that of innumerable casual teams that sprang up from the 1860s, including church sides, those that became established were the ones associated with a

140 Originally as the North-East Lancashire Cricket League. Sandiford, Cricket and the Victorians, p. 55. 141 Hardcastle, Lost, p. 13. 142 Light, ‘The Other Face’, p.74. 143 In the South ‘club cricket’ is practically synonymous with the friendly game. 144 Williams, Jack, Cricket and England, pp. 27-42.

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community. In contrast to Williams, Light discovered professionals playing at every level by 1890.145

The Illingworth club progressed through increasingly higher-standard leagues. In 1896 it joined the local Ovenden and District League.146 Winning this competition in 1896 and 1897 brought an invitation to join the Halifax and District League, which ‘was designed as an exclusive league’.147 However, Illingworth decided to play friendlies the next season, perhaps due to indecision or concern at losing old fixtures.148 Transport may still have been a slight factor; trams did not arrive in Halifax until 1898.149 Illingworth finally entered the Halifax and District League in 1899.150 Champions in 1903, 1904 and 1912, the club, along with nine others frustrated with the league’s inability to bring in better quality sides, joined the breakaway Halifax Parish League from 1914.151

The war revealed essentially class-based attitudes to sport. Birley found that the middle classes, regarding it as the ‘national’ game, demanded that cricket cede to the war effort, which many public school men saw as an opportunity to show their mettle. With many players, particularly amateurs, volunteering, county cricket ceased as did virtually all club cricket in the South. In the industrial North, despite accusations of lack of patriotism, league cricket struggled on, though the Bradford League boomed, as county pros found

145 Light, ‘The Other Face’, pp. 63-68, 74, 82-85. The survival in Illingworth of contest is evidenced, around mid-century, by Tom Emmett who joined local boys who ‘got to the length of arranging a single wicket match, and we played for 2d a man’. ‘Old Ebor’ (A.W.Pullin), ‘Talks with Old Yorkshire Cricketers’, Reprinted from the Yorkshire Evening Post, Leeds, 1898, p. 54. Quoted in Light, ‘The Other Face’, p. 27. 146 The decision was taken in June 1895, again with no evidence of debate or opposition, just a bland statement ‘That we join the Ovenden & District League’. Minute Book 1, 18th June 1895. The league had actually commenced the previous season. There is no evidence as to why the club didn’t enter the first season, possibly wanting to see how it went, or perhaps concerns about losing some existing fixtures as a consequence. 147 Ibid, 5th July 1897. Hardcastle, Lost, p. 34. 148 Again, no reasons are given, but as the Ovenden and District League made up only half their fixtures, there was room to accommodate some longstanding fixtures, which would be lost with the Halifax league. The Ovenden and District League years’ fixtures varied little from the last friendly season of 1895, and indeed from the 1898 friendly year, but the Halifax and District League brought predominantly new opposition. Annual Reports for 1895-98, Minute Book 1. The Ovenden and District League collapsed before the 1898 season, but it isn’t known if this was before or after Illingworth’s decision to play friendlies. 149 Hargreaves, Halifax, p. 161. And even then, Illingworth would be near the end of the line. 150 The Ovenden and District League folded in 1897. 151 The other clubs were Siddal, Sowerby Bridge, Stainland, Greetland, Norwood Green, Triangle, Clifton Britannia, Lightcliffe and Ovenden. Hardcastle, Andrew, Lost, p. 64.

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employment and gave working men something to cheer about.152

Illingworth’s riposte to the war was resistance through normality. The club was able to field two teams until 1916, in which year it won the Parish League. And though it had postponed an application to the new Halifax section of the Yorkshire Cricket Council in 1915 because of the war, in 1917 it decided to arrange fixtures against the Council’s members, in order ‘to keep the club going.’153 The continuation of cricket, competitive if possible, was not regarded as unpatriotic. It did not deter Illingworth members from volunteering, and being killed.154

By 1919, the club had enjoyed great success on the field.155 Despite the contrary views of the Muscular Christians, this did not mean that Illingworth did not play fair. The report on the Parish Cup victory of 1909 notes the sporting manner in which the game was played, the enthusiastic but good-humoured crowd, and the generosity of both teams in victory and defeat - see Appendix 10. The Illingworth players remained untarnished by either their expenses for the final, or by ‘broken time payments’ paid in the 1908 competition.156

The competitive nature of the club’s members is manifested in the minutes, which abound with discussions about qualifications for batting and bowling prizes. The more subjective awarding of marks for the fielding prize was debated on no less than ten occasions between 1900 and 1920, it being believed that ‘it helps towards encouraging good fielding.’157 There was even a catching prize. The clergymen promoted such internal competition, the vicar donating a bat 152 Birley, A Social History of English Cricket, pp. 206-10. 153 Minute Book 2, 21st September 1915; 5th April 1917. The Halifax Parish League was suspended from 1916. 154 Ibid, Harry Newsholme and John Turner were killed, General Meeting 20th October 1916;J Aspinall enlisted in the Navy, Committee Meeting 20th February 1916. 155 In addition to the two Ovenden and District titles, the club had been champions of the Halifax and District League three times (1903, 1904, 1912), the Halifax Parish League twice (1916 & 1919) and won the prestigious Halifax Parish Challenge Cup in 1906, 1909 and 1914. 156 Minute Book 2, 25th June 1909. 157 Ibid, General Meeting, 1st April 1910.

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for the best batting average from the 1885 season.158 They even gave cash prizes.159

Arguments regarding selection, and concerns about the quality of umpires, were further manifestations of competitiveness. The first selection committee was formed in April 1896, with the commencement of league games.160 Its existence and composition was an object of regular debate, with occasional implications of favouritism, even when curates were involved:

After a rather heated discussion it was resolved that we again have a selection committee but that the same consist of 6 instead of 4 & in addition the Captains of their respective teams be only allowed to vote in the selection of their own teams.161

Professionalism held no moral qualms for the club. In 1889, Arthur Chapman was engaged as both player and coach.162 Though this backs Light’s findings that professionals were employed outside of the elite leagues, it was very much subject to economic circumstances. This was the only season that Illingworth could afford one.163 Illingworth also took gate-money, and made ‘broken time’ payments for a postponed cup tie.164 Coaching staff were engaged, though this was uncontentious, being established public school practice.165 Expenses were infrequently paid, usually for cup ties; though from 1922 in the Yorkshire Council players of both teams were

158 General Meeting 6th October 1884, Minute Book 1 159 For instance at the General Meeting of 1st April 1910. it was recorded that Oldacres would give 10/6d to the best batting average in each XI; Mr Ramsden 7/6d to the best bowling average in each XI (perhaps in keeping with the national favouring of bat over ball?); whilst the curate, Rev Booth was requested to donate the prize of 7/6d for each fielding prize. This was not a one-off, being ‘as last year as usual’. Minute Book 2 160 General Meeting 10th April 1896, Minute Book 1 161 General Meeting 5th October 1906 – following the season in which Illingworth first captured the Halifax Parish Challenge Cup. The previous selection committee included the curate H Booth, the new one included the curate W Ludlow. Minute Book 2 162 This was decided at the meeting of 12th November 1888. Minute Book 1. 163 For instance in 1892: ‘That seeing we cannot pay a professional we do without next season.’ Ibid, 8th April 1892. 164 2/6d per player and reserve was paid for a cup semi-final against King Cross. Minute Book 2, 26th June 1908. 165 Including Illingworth’s once Yorkshire Captain and test player, Tom Emmett who coached at Rugby. Sandiford, Cricket and the Victorians, p. 38.

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to be paid ‘bare travelling expenses’ for cup and league games.166

Competition was the prime factor in the club’s cricketing ambition. But an enormous cooperative effort was needed to improve Illingworth’s playing facilities to correspondingly higher standards. As well as labour, this effort required engineering expertise and contacts; in short, cooperation between social classes. But in Halifax, strengthening class divisions from the late 1880s meant that such accord could not be assumed.167 Despite this, the club overwhelmingly exhibited a highly productive social cohesion.

Accompanying this physical endeavour can be detected the creation of communal identity and pride, as agreed by Williams and Light and described by the Heywoods at Todmorden. A small measure, but one symbolic of growing identity, was the selection of club colours and the purchasing of caps as early as 1885; something which Todmorden CC only managed in 1896.168 A much more ambitious and expensive venture was decided upon in December 1885, the move to a better location.169 Alongside the benefits of improved facilities, the club intended this to increase membership and attract fixtures with ‘superior clubs’.170 The preparation of the ground was a laborious and protracted business, delayed for a season due to unfavourable weather. It expressed graphically the commitment in the club. Most of the work fell onto the committee and members themselves, during a period when men had limited free time and money. Following the application to the Parish Cup, development of the ground was to be on a ‘do-it-yourself’ basis: ‘we engage 166 Minute Book 3, 21st October 1921 167 Hargreaves, Halifax, p. 154. 168 Minute Book 1, 4th May & 1st June 1885 Illingworth’s colours were to be maroon and white. Todmorden only got their’s when they did, because one of their players, Johnny Horsfall decided to present caps to the players for his benefit game at Tod. Welcoming this move, the ‘Todmorden Advertiser’ of 26th June 1896 observed: ‘when the team appear all in the same headgear it will be a change for the better’. Heywood, Freda, Malcolm and Brian, Cloth Caps, p. 182. 169 Committee Meeting, 18th December 1885. An estimate of £47/5/- was accepted to lay the new ground, 1st September 1886, Minute Book 1. 170 Ibid, Annual Report 1887, 4th November 1887.

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Charles Eastwood with two horses and carts and to remove the wall and all members to be there if convenient at 2 o’clock’.171 Work on the ground continued during the winter, including the building of a new wall.172

The official opening of the club’s new home was a milestone of progress. A friendly game was played between an Illingworth XV and neighbouring Ovenden United. A flagpole was purchased, 30 posters printed and a tea provided.173 Astutely, the committee invited the brewer and club patron, J.T. Ramsden, to open the ground, and the other vice-presidents to attend. It was reported in the Halifax Guardian under the ‘Districts’ rather than the ‘Cricket’ section, signifying its importance in the community - see Appendix 8.

The annual report for that year noted that the ground

has come up to our expectations…during the season we have played 14 matches on it. We have given it a good trial & the result is most satisfactory. It is in capital order & although our achievements on it during the season have not been as good as we hoped for yet we feel sure that in future the club will be much benefitted by having such a ground to play on.174

This statement beautifully encapsulates the spirit and ambitions of the club. Considering the usually staid tone of the minutes, it fairly bursts with pride. And it neatly sets out the relationship with the on-field side of the club – not a great season - but the ground will ensure success in subsequent seasons. The new ground was available for the first taste of competitive cricket in that season’s Parish Cup.

171 17th October 1887, Minute Book 1 172 Ibid, Meetings between 30th January and 16th April 1888. 173 Ibid, 7th May 1888. 174 Annual Report for 1888, recorded in Notebooks of Harry Hustwick

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In 1893 a sub-committee was created, initially to oversee relaying of part of the pitch, and during 1894 400 yards were re-laid.175 Success in their first season in the Ovenden and District League spurred the desire to develop the facilities, and just before the start of the new season the vicar was finally persuaded to allow the conversion of his coach-house into a dressing room.176 Wherever possible the club utilised its own efforts, relaying part of the ground in 1900, repairing the building, and even saving on the hire of a horse by rolling the ground themselves.177

Again inspired by competitive achievement - Illingworth’s first success in the Halifax Parish Cup - the immense business of levelling the steeply sloping ground was proposed in August 1906.178 It was decided to ‘make a start’ by ‘trying to bring the top part of hill down to the bottom & tipping to level it up.’ One member, J.R. Hartley, a civil engineer, was to plan and supervise the alterations, and borrow ‘a dozen barrows, picks and shovels’ from Halifax Corporation’s Highways Committee. It was intended that ‘every member would volunteer to do their equal share [of the work] so that the club would not suffer, by carrying out this big undertaking.’ The enterprise started when ‘The first sod of the present job was taken off on Monday Sept 17-06.’179 Apparently, however, the euphoria of winning the cup had somewhat dissipated towards the end of October, when the committee had to appeal to some members to do their bit – see Appendix 9.180 It is uncertain how many responded, but an illuminating measure of devotion to the cause was the resolution at a later meeting to ‘get some lamps

175 Minute Book 1, 21st August 1893 & 1894 Balance Sheet. 176 Ibid, 2nd April 1897. 177 Ibid, 10th September 1900, 11th March 1901, 25th March 1903. There are numerous such examples of the ‘do it yourself’ attitude of the club, although there are also isolated examples of committee annoyance at members who were less enthusiastic in volunteering. 178 Minute Book 2, 21st August 1906. 179 Ibid, 14th & 18th September 1906. 180 Ibid, 23rd October 1906.

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& Paraffin Oil from Wilson Stocks of Queensbury so as to enable us to work in the evenings…’181

A comparatively quiet period regarding ground development ensued, until the club’s second success in the Parish Cup in 1909, reinforcing the idea that success in competition stimulated the desire to improve. Further levelling of the pitch was contemplated - continuing Hartley’s plan - by borrowing money, if necessary.182 Progress outweighed financial considerations. But despite this, and attempts to raise the money, a minimum estimate of over £90 for the work evidently proved too expensive, there being no record of this work being carried out. The switch to the new Halifax Parish League in 1914 was preceded by the revival of the ground committee, and the 1914 cup win again prompted discussion on improvements, ‘a renewal of The Top Tent’, but by now the Great War had started and ‘it was decided to do nothing of importance until the country in general be more settled.’183

The war, as on the playing side, inspired an endeavour to keep things going. The ‘patching up and improvements to the ground in general’ were to be carried out by two members ‘working short time’.184 After the war, once more, success on the field and the prospect of higher calibre cricket motivated improvement. In September 1919, having won the Halifax Parish League, the vicar allowed the remainder of the coach-house to be taken as part of a conversion to accommodate the visitors, with separate dressing rooms for each team. A member, E.H. Smith, who drew up the plan, was also to oversee the work.185 In October the application to join the Yorkshire Cricket Council (see Appendix 11) brought a

181 Ibid, October 1906, exact date not given. 182 Ibid, 5th October 1909. 183 Ibid, 3rd ‘Tent’ was a wooden pavilion. October 1913 & 9th October 1914. As described by Hargreaves, shortage of raw materials and the loss of German custom hit the textile industry of Halifax at the start of the war, though the manufacture of cloth for the military and of armaments production brought temporary boom conditions to larger firms. Hargreaves, Halifax, pp. 182-4. 184 Ibid, 16th October 1914. 185 Ibid, 27th September 1919.

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deputation to inspect Illingworth’s ground.186 To meet the required higher standards, further levelling of the ground was undertaken, at the huge cost of £200.187

The landmark first Yorkshire Council fixture was scheduled for 24th April 1920, against Elland, a club with a proud tradition going back to 1860 and who had played the Australian tourists in 1878.188 Illingworth secured two Yorkshire players, Roy Kilner and Abe Waddington, to be guests at the game.189 Unfortunately, the game was cancelled due to rain.190

Following the first Yorkshire Council season, the club paid £5 each to two members to keep the ground in order, this policy being continued the following season.191 And the arrival of the ladies brought the provision of teas, with the conversion of the ‘Top Tent’ to a refreshment pavilion. Sightscreens were also to be introduced.192

Illingworth’s progress was driven by competition. Teams played to win. Players competed fiercely for cup and league trophies, as well as for the club’s own batting, bowling and fielding awards. The club had no inhibitions about playing professionals or paying expenses, though finance severely limited this. It evolved on the ‘northern league’ template rather than the ‘gentleman-amateur’ model. But it did not confuse being competitive with being unsporting. Success on the pitch stimulated improvement to the ground. This was achieved by a massive endeavour based on cooperation which crossed boundaries of wealth and class. Improved facilities in turn raised the potential on the playing side.193 It had created in 186 Ibid, 13th October 1919. 187 Ibid, 27th October 1919. 188 See The Cricketing Heritage of Calderdale and Kirklees project, ELLAND CC, http://www.ckcricketheritage.org.uk/calderdale/elland/clubhome.htm, The Cricket History of Kirklees and Calderdale, <http://www.ckcricketheritage.org.uk> 189 Minute Book 2, 19th April 1920. The minutes refer to R Kilner and P Waddington, rather than A Waddington. 190 ‘The Yorkshire Council Days’, Illingworth St. Mary’s Cricket Club, http://www.illingworthcc.co.uk/council.html 191 Minute Book 3, 15th October 1920; 21st November 1921. 192 Ibid, 15th October 1920; 10th January 1921. 193 A good – though because of so many other factors, not infallible - indication of improvement can be seen in the scores. In 1885 the club’s innings averaged 66 and the best individual batting average was 9.78; in 1886 it was 60.9 and 8.9 the best average. The best average fell to 7.71 in 1888. In 1898 the average innings was 72. In 1904 average innings were 86, and include

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the process more than merely somewhere to play cricket. It had become a source of pride and a focal point for the local community.

one score of 212. By 1911 average scores had risen to 99, still low scores by today’s standards but a 50% increase on 1885. Annual Reports for 1885, 1886 & 1898 Minute Book 1, 1904 & 1911 scores Notebooks of Harry Hustwick,

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Chapter 4

Cash, Concerts and Catering

This chapter will assess the club’s financial dealings, its social side and the involvement of women at the club, and will examine their inter-relation.

Finance: Payments and Patrons Cricket has inherent financial disadvantages. Its season is short and subject to the weather. It has never been a spectator sport to the extent of football. As a recreational activity, it is particularly vulnerable to economic conditions. Sandiford and Williams both identify the financial difficulties of most Victorian cricket clubs, and their innumerable methods of raising money: appeals; ground letting; bazaars; patronage and assistance from sister football teams; with their main income from subscriptions and gate-money. Sandiford holds that the majority of league clubs sought to generate a profit.

Some in larger leagues, such as the Lancashire, succeeded.194 Todmorden CC in the 1890s had match-day receipts of between £15 and £40, requiring only seven or eight matches to pay the season’s two professionals.195 At Halifax, cricket was heavily subsidised by football (rugby), the two clubs having earlier merged.196

Unlike Halifax, Illingworth had no football team to support it, nor the potential for large gates like the town-based Todmorden CC. To make matters worse, its ambitions of higher-quality cricket depended on improving a hilly ground during difficult economic times. Funding development on two fronts brought recurrent problems. But for many at the club, cricket was not a business but a passion. The financial 194 Sandiford, Cricket and the Victorians, pp. 56-7; Williams, Cricket and England, pp. 173-5. 195 Heywood, Cloth Caps, pp. 152, 174. 196 Collins, Rugby’s Great Split, pp.16, 83. The original name of the cricket team was Halifax Trinity, the merger with football being in 1876.

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situation at Illingworth cannot be adequately understood on the basis of profit and loss. It must be judged in terms of ambition restrained by prudence. The scale of Illingworth’s activities can be gauged in financial terms up to 1905 - see Table 3.197 The club was in the red during 1887 with the move to the new ground, in the economically difficult year of 1901, and during 1903-04. It made small yearly profits and losses on 11 occasions each. As the minutes also consistently demonstrate, Sandiford’s profit motivation was not applicable to Illingworth.

Subscriptions were generally a third to a half of total revenue.198 They were also a problem. Within two months of the club’s foundation, some members were being chased.199 A year later, all those in arrears were to ‘be written to demanding payment.’200 The stress of collecting subs evidently caused the treasurer to tender his resignation. Though rejected, this provoked a rule change, in which anyone three months in arrears would ‘be considered a non-member’.201 Recurrences of delayed subscriptions led to a ‘naming and shaming’ policy being written into the bye-laws.202 In 1887 subs were increased to help finance the change of ground.203 Six years later, with foreign competition hurting the textile industry in Halifax, and even the huge worsted manufacturer Akroyd in trouble, subscriptions were lowered to 6/-.204 Only following entry to the Yorkshire Cricket Council did the cost return to 7/6d ‘free of tax’.205

197 Unfortunately during the period of this study, records only survive from 1885 to 1905 in either the minutes or the cashbook, and then rarely in the form of concise annual balance sheets. 198 Minute Book 1, For example, the Annual Report of 1893 shows subscriptions of £21/3/9d out of total receipts of £46/1/7d; that of 1898 £13/18/6d out of £38/15/5 – both include balance brought forward in the total receipts. 199 Ibid, 7th April 1884. 200 Ibid, 13th April 1885. 201 Ibid, 4th May 1885. The amendment was to rule 6. The club made a loss that year, but a balance in hand from 1884 kept it in the black. AGM 5TH October 1885. 202 Minute Book 2, Bye-Laws at front. 203 Minute Book 1, 2nd May 1887. They were raised to 7/6d from 5/-, a big increase reflecting the expense incurred by the new pitch. Monthly subscriptions were 8d, and under-16s were half price. The end of the all-church membership in October was probably partially motivated by financial considerations. 204 Ibid, 7th April 1893. Hargreaves, Halifax, pp. 130-31. 205 Minute Book 2, 8th March 1920. The tax was the new entertainment tax.

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Going against the findings of Williams and Sandiford, gates were not Illingworth’s second major source of funding. Gate money was taken, the first piece of income amounting to 4d.206 Fitting the northern industrial model, Illingworth’s gates rose with competitive cricket, especially when successful. The takings for friendlies in 1895 were 16/11d, but the following year, during the victorious first campaign in the Ovenden and District League, they reached £4/19/6d.207 In 1897 gate money did fall to £3/6/3½d, but in 1898 with the return to friendly cricket, it dropped to 16/6½d, the pre-league level: additional incentive for the return to league cricket in 1899.208 However, even league gates generated usually under 10 per cent of total income.209

Contributions illustrated members’ commitment to the club. With a debt on the new ground of £60, a special subscription raised £10/3/6d in 1887; with another to finance pitch relaying raising £8/12/6d in 1902.210 Similar schemes were also established in 1909, 1910 and 1919. And in 1920, a member cleared the debt of £6/12/7d outstanding for alterations required by the Yorkshire Cricket Council.211

Illingworth courted wealthy patrons, and with church members it had an advantage. These approaches corresponded with ground improvements or particularly hard times. In 1886 with the move to the new ground, the brewer J.T. Ramsden and two manufacturers, Paul Speak and William Mossman, were invited to become vice-presidents.212 A subscription of £1 is shown for Mossman in 1887, and for Speak in 1888 as well as

206 Minute Book 1, Reported at committee meeting of 6th June 1884. 207 Ibid, Balance sheets for 1895 & 1896. The breakdown of gates is illuminating. League games were only half of the fixtures, but brought in £4/3/10½ compared to 14/- for ‘Ordinary’ fixtures. There was also gate-money of 1/10d for the 2nd XI fixtures. Of course, there may have been different charging methods, but clearly people were prepared to pay to watch league cricket with a successful side. 208 Ibid, Balance sheets for 1897 & 1898. 209 This is based on the available evidence. Even in the Ovenden and District championship winning year, gates were only just over 12%: £4/19/8½d out of total receipts of £40/13/1½d. Ibid, Annual Report for 1896. And in 1905, the last year for which figures exist, out of a total income of £46/19/7, gates in the Halifax & District League amounted to £4/5/1½d. Calculated from Cashbook receipts for year 1905. 210 Ibid, Annual Report 1887. Minute Book 2, 25th November 1901; actual subscriptions detailed towards end. 211 Dr L Brathwaite. Minute Book 3, 15th October 1920. 212 Minute Book 1, Rule 2 was amended to allow multiple vice-presidents. 4th October 1886.

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one of £2/2/- from Miss Moss, a renowned church benefactor.213 In 1901, with the textile industry continuing to struggle,214 and subscriptions difficult to collect, appeals were made to the 15 vice-presidents, including the Mayor, William Brear.215 By 1903 there were 19 vice-presidents.216 Though figures have not survived, several references in the minutes evidence their value, this being typical in 1907: ‘The Secretary was asked to write in due course to all those who had kindly allowed their names to stand as V.P. to once again honour us with their generosity thanking them for past favours, adding too any names he thinks likely.’217

Illingworth exploited their ground, renting it for grazing from 1887.218 It hired it to ‘the football club’ on two occasions: in 1888 for £1 with a 5/- refund if the walls remained ‘in good repair’, and in 1889 for £2 with the proviso ‘if they do not collect gate money we do’.219 The improving ground was let for increasingly prestigious cricket fixtures. It hosted Illingworth Wesleyans versus Nursery Lane as early as 1888.220 In 1908 it let the ground to the Halifax and District League for a second team ‘playing off match’ between Pellon Church and Siddal; and three years later for a relegation decider between Ovenden and Elland Edge.221 The club also hosted community events such as a band in 1893 and the Ovenden Flower Show two years later.222

Although prepared to contemplate debt to benefit the cricket, there was a reluctance to take on outside loans, which evidently aborted the ground-levelling proposal of 1909. A 213 Cashbook, 1st August 1887 for Mossman, 6th February 1888 for Speak and Miss Moss. Miss Jane Moss, the daughter of a former vicar of the church, Anthony Moss, had made several gifts to the church. The Speaks and Mrs Mossman were also church benefactors. Oakley, The Story of Saint Mary’s, pp. 69-70, 86-7, 93-4. 214 Green, Religion in the Age of Decline, p. 50. 215 Minute Book 2, 2nd October 1903. 216 Ibid, They included four members of the Ramsden family, Paul Speak Jnr, a JP, F Walker, and Alderman Brear. 2nd October 1903. 217 Ibid, 4th October 1907. 218 Minute Book 1, 21st March 1887. 219 Ibid, 19th November 1888; September 1889 (day not given). It is not known if this was a church side, and it was only mentioned twice, perhaps because of the high rental on the second occasion, perhaps to protect the pitch. 220 Ibid, 3rd September 1888 221 Minute Book 2, 14th September 1908; 21st September 1911. 222 Minute Book 1, 5th June 1893; 31st June 1895.

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loan ‘free of interest’ as part of the funding for the work in 1920 was from key members themselves: a total of £60, including £20 from Harry Hustwick.223 This showed prudence, but commitment to cricket even more so.

Illingworth, as if supporting the ideas of Sandiford and Williams, had a constant financial struggle. It had additional money difficulties with small crowds, a ground requiring huge development, and with bringing in subscriptions during tough economic times. The club pursued any available options in order to raise money. In this, and especially through its committee and officers, it demonstrated an energy and tenacity in keeping with its cricket, and was typified by self-reliance.

Social Side: Teas, Glees and ‘Wardle the Whistler’

Huggett and Williams note that in the 1920s sports clubs outnumbered those for other activities.224 The cricket club also provided some social opportunities when these were in short supply in Illingworth. It had the benefit of the church’s schoolroom for functions.

The club’s social activities, held in the close season, had two main purposes. Firstly, to foster esprit de corps, corresponding mainly to the annual dinner. Secondly, to raise money through fundraising events. The club’s largest ground developments can be identified through social activity. Much of the club’s minutes are devoted to their organisation.225

Held usually in November, the dinner was an all-male occasion with the presentation of prizes and entertainment provided by members, or guests who received a free ticket. It was intentionally inclusive: in 1894 it was decided, ‘That any member who can’t afford to come to Dinner be allowed to

223 Minute Book 2, 3rd November 1919. And this was in addition to the special subscription. 224 Huggins, Mike and Williams, Jack, Sport and the English 1918-1939 (Routledge, Abingdon, 2006), p.88. 225 Particularly in Minute Book 2, covering 1900-1920.

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come after by paying 6d’.226 It was not a boisterous affair. In 1892 a toast was proposed to ‘The Bishop and Clergy of the Diocese’ and ‘Songs and glees were given during the evening by members and friends’.227 With the club supplying the beer, it almost without exception made a small loss.228

The dinner often provided a free ‘thank you’ for the vice-presidents. During years of high dependency on patronage, the event became increasingly ‘high-brow’ and risked becoming socially exclusive. The 1907 dinner, attended by 59 people, was very formal. The Rev. Booth ‘was supported by’ the vice-presidents and the mill-owning Calverts; there were gramophone selections and a recitation by Councillor Ramsden, whose ‘elocution was much admired’.229 The following year, 21 fewer people attended. For 1909, a smoking concert was held instead, as it would prove more popular.230 The year after, the club held a cheaper supper, with a comic singer and ‘Wardle the Whistler’ providing the entertainment. 56 people attended.231 Despite the 9/1d loss, the dinner had become inclusive again. In 1913, 68 people attended.232

The war disrupted the dinner. The 1914 event was postponed because: ‘a) The School may be required for billeting purposes on very short notice. b) A large number of members not being able to be present owing to work over-time.’233 The latter reason reflected the general situation in Halifax, with textiles receiving a short-term boost through government demand for cloth for military uniforms. Overtime dropped from the end of 1917 due to government restrictions on the use of wool. Some firms, including the giant Crossley carpet

226 Minute Book 1, 10th January 1904. The dinner was held on 30th January 1894 rather than November 1893 as the venue, the new school was not ready (6th October 1893). 227 The Halifax Guardian, 19th November 1892. 228 The dinner though not referrred to as such, was effectively a subsidised event. For instance in 1888 it lost £1/1/6d. Cashbook, entries for Annual Dinner 6th November 1888. And in 1919, even with 89 attending, it still lost £3/7/0½d. Minute Book 2, 19th December 1919. The dinner was, though not referrred to as such, effectively a subsidised event. 229 Minute Book 2, 11th November 1907. 230 Four vice-presidents were paid for, and there was the usual loss, of £1/18/10d. Ibid, 25th November 1908. 231 Ibid, 8th November 1910 & 7th February 1911. The beef and potato supper cost only 1/3d. 232 Ibid, 9th January 1914. 233 Ibid, 13th November 1914.

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manufacturer, went into armaments’ production.234 It is unclear whether the 1914 dinner was held, but 54 people attended in 1915, though this was the last such event until 1919.235

Commencing with a concert in 1886 explicitly ‘in aid of the Cricket Club’,236 social events were held on an almost unbroken annual basis (and sometimes more often), including throughout the war, and they aimed to make a profit. Whereas the 1886 dinner lost money, the concert made a profit of £4/4/6d, with receipts of £6/15/-, over a fifth of the club’s 1887 revenue.237 For the February 1887 ‘entertainment’ 500 bills were printed, indicating expected demand, and £2/5/1d profit made.238 The events were generally open to the community, and were to become local annual social occasions.

‘Tea and Social’ functions became a financial lifeline of the club. The first, in 1892, had 500 programmes printed, was advertised in the local papers on two weekends, and generated receipts of £9/19/10½d with a profit of £5/1/6d.239 From 1898 Shrove Tuesday became their regular date. Club members provided much of the food and acted as waiters. The wives of vice-presidents presided at the tables during 1903-06.240 As with the cricket, the socials continued during the war, though the 1915 event was delayed ‘owing to expected soldiers (false alarm)’.241

To further ambitious ground improvement schemes, a profitable ‘society’ fundraising method was employed in 1907 and 1910.242 ‘At Homes’, common throughout Halifax, were evenings of orchestral and concert music, dramatic performances, dancing and supper, much in keeping with the

234 For the war’s effect on the town’s industry, see Hargreaves, John A, Halifax, pp. 182-184. 235 Minute Book 2, 5th November 1915. 236 Minute Book 1, 1st September 1886. 237 Cashbook, November 1886. 1887 revenue was £32/19/9d. 238 Cashbook, February 1887. Receipts were £4/7/4. 239 Minute Book 1, 31st October 1892. Cashbook, Entries for 19th November 1892. 240 Minute Book 2, Tea & Social, 1903-06, back of book. 241 Ibid, 30th March 1915. 242 Stimulated by victories in the Halifax Parish Challenge Cup in 1906 and 1909. The 1909-10 scheme never got off the ground, being too expensive.

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Edwardian age. 243 They were generally hosted by local ‘pillars of society’. The church’s own ‘At Homes’, in November 1906, generated receipts of over £60; hosts included the clergy, the Ramsdens and the Speaks.244 The 1907 cricket club event took place over three evenings, 29-31st January. 200 season tickets and 200 individual tickets were printed.245 Alongside the clergymen, the hosts included Speak and his daughter, Geo. Ramsden, Mrs Sutcliffe Brear and Miss N. Braithwaite. These were prominent church families, many of whom reflected the Anglican-Conservative party link.246 £38/9/2d was made, with receipts of £51/13/11d - greater than any entire annual revenue up to 1905.247 This change in tone led to the sophisticated annual dinners in 1907 and 1908. The 1910 event made about £25 profit.248

Without a series of social events held during winter 1919-20, the club may never have achieved its ambition of joining the Yorkshire Cricket Council. £200 of ground improvements were a prerequisite for entry. As Hargreaves found, following the war there was a huge appetite for dancing in Halifax, and tea dances boomed.249 Illingworth capitalised on the post-war euphoria and the demand for dancing in the district. A concert on 7th February 1920 attracted an audience of 285 people. Four whist drive and dances took place between 18th November 1919 and 23rd March 1920, outside of the church environment at Lee Mount Constitutional Club (between Halifax and Illingworth) with club members, including the vicar, sponsoring prizes. The ‘Shrove Tuesday’ social, ‘being an 243 They were often used by churches for fundraising. As well as Illingworth St Mary’s, in the district they were also employed by St Georges, Ovenden Wesleyans and Wheatley Wesleyans, in addition to Brighouse Liberal Association. The Halifax Guardian, 10th & 17th November 1906; 2nd February 1907. 244 Ibid, 24th November 1906. 245 Minute Book 2, 7th & 10th January 1907. 246 See Oakley, The Story of Saint Mary’s, especially Appendices III – VI & VIII, pp. 123-128, 130. A bazaar on behalf of Ovenden Conservatives in 1904 refers to Alderman Brear, Mrs Ramsden, and Braithwaite. The Halifax Guardian , 13th February 1904. Geo Ramsden was a Councillor and Chairman of the Illingworth Ward Conservative Association. Though he did stand successfully as a Municipal Reform candidate. The Halifax Guardian, 3rd November 1906; 2nd November 1907; 30th November 1907. Councillor Albert Turner was also Conservative. 247 Minute Book 2, Receipts and Expenses for ‘At Homes’ 1907, located at back of book. The closest annual revenue was in 1888, with £49/11/7d – see table 3. 248 Ibid, 12th April 1910. No precise figures are given in the minute book. They were probably in a cashbook. 249 Hargreaves, John A, Halifax, pp. 172, 216.

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annual affair’ was also held, on 17th February 1920.250 The programme of events produced receipts of £78/17/4d, with a profit of £52/8/10d.251

The club’s social events were crucial for funding its development, while simultaneously enhancing its position in the local community.

Women: Waiting and Waltzing Birley in his generally excellent reappraisal of cricket’s social history confesses to neglecting the subject of women and cricket. He compounds this omission by making reference to ‘tea-ladies [and] other worthy but patronised female auxiliaries.’252 Williams, more profoundly, discovered that although women rarely played cricket or were involved in running clubs, they were crucial to the male game at every level. Through subscriptions and gate-money they provided vital finance. They supported fundraising events, and encouraged their men to play. And despite their ‘domestic’ roles, such as providing teas, they found this rewarding, with otherwise rare opportunities to socialise with other women and men.253 In this light, the contribution made by women to Illingworth Cricket Club will be assessed.

On 15th October 1920 the following proposal was carried at Illingworth: ‘That we invite and allow Ladies to become members of the club.’254 Kenneth Pearce describes this as giving the ladies ‘their emancipation’.255 This may appear a condescending view but, as Bédarida found, during the Victorian age women had come to occupy a subordinate, domestic role as a consequence of the patriarchal industrial 250 Minute Book 2, 3rd November 1919. 251 Ibid, The concert had receipts of £25/18/1d and a profit of £17/15/2d; the whist drive and socials £45/18/6d and £29/12/6d respectively; and the ‘Shrove Tuesday’ £7/-/9d and £5/1/2d. Figures calculated from details given in meetings of: 12th February 1920; 24th November 1919, 8th December 1919, 15th January 1920, 29th March 1920; and 23rd February 1920. 252 Birley, A Social History of English Cricket, pp.352-3. 253 Williams, Cricket and England, pp. 106- 11. Perhaps surprisingly, Williams found that women constituted 10-20% of county club membership. At Yorkshire CCC, though, in 1920 it was only 3.4%. 254 1920 AGM, proposed by 1st XI captain Tom Farrar and seconded by vice captain, J Aspinall. Minute Book 3, 15th October 1920. 255 Pearce, Kenneth, Illingworth St. Mary’s C.C., p. 23.

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system, a position entrenched by its apparent naturalness. A very limited independence was slowly achieved through their labour value, bringing legal safeguards for wives and their property. Similarly, only following the Great War transforming women’s roles did the female suffrage movement achieve any success.256 This analysis requires some qualification. Gains made by single women could be surrendered on marriage, and as Bédarida notes, less than 10 per cent of married women worked in 1911 and under 9 per cent in 1921.257 Working-class women were last in the pecking order. In Halifax in 1870, females earned only between a third and a half of the male wage, limiting independence and leaving little disposable income for recreation.258 Furthermore, contemporary attitudes left very few social opportunities available to unaccompanied females outside of church circles.

Female participation in sport was particularly problematic, challenging the cult of games, in which ‘manliness’ was an integral factor. Women themselves feared jeopardising their ‘respectability’. Holt discovered that beyond privileged girls’ schools, especially Roedan, which did pioneer cricket, female sport came under scornful attack, and there were no opportunities for ordinary girls.259 A women’s fixture was held at Walsden near Todmorden in 1893, the local newspaper being typically snide: ‘Whether those of the feminine gender are as fit to indulge in the good old English pastime as those of the opposite sex I do not care to argue, but evidently…they seem to think they are’.260

Unsurprisingly, there is no record up to 1920 of women’s cricket at Illingworth. Only following the birth of the Yorkshire Women’s Cricket Federation, founded in 1931, were there

256 Bédarida, François, a Social History of England 1851-1990, pp. 117-23. 257 Ibid, p. 270. 258 Webster, Eric, ‘Leisure and Pleasure in 19th Century Halifax’ in Transactions of the Halifax Antiquarian Society, 1989, p. 30. 259 Holt, Richard, Sport and the British : a Modern History, pp. 117-28. 260 The Todmorden Advertiser, 10th June 1893. Quoted in Heywood, Cloth Caps, p. 137.

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teams from Halifax.261 The only Illingworth ladies team, before the 1950s, was one that played the ‘Gentlemen’ to celebrate the opening of a new refreshment hut in 1938.262 Women were spectators at Illingworth games, though there is only one indirect reference to this, in 1919.263

Probably as a sin of omission, there is no mention of any female involvement in the club until December 1898. This was regarding the provision of food for a ‘Tea Party’.264 The next reference is in February 1903, for a ‘Tea and Social’.265 The wives and daughters of members baked and prepared the tables; while those of the vice-presidents and key members ‘presided’ at the table.

Prior to the first “At Home’, a ‘Special Meeting’ was held, at which ‘the ladies were a prominent factor as they took the matter up in a very whole hearted manner & promised their services in whatever capacity [was] required such as promising to look after the refreshments, etc’. The ladies clearly enthused about their role in the event. But no cricket matters were discussed at this meeting.266 For the 1910 ‘At Homes’, reference was made to the hard work of ‘our Lady Friends for which they receive our best thanks.’267 Though records in the minutes are rare, the appearance of women in subsequent socials suggests that they did not feel unappreciated. It was the womenfolk of key members who were most involved, as with the ladies who ‘offered their help in getting tea ready & waiting at the tables’ for the 1920 tea

261 Williams, Jack, Cricket and England, p. 97. 262 Woodhouse , Tony, Illingworth St. Mary’s Cricket Club, p. 110. For more on women’s cricket at Illingworth listen to ‘Oral History - Maurice Lawton’ on ‘Women Cricketers’, The Cricketing Heritage of Calderdale and Kirklees Project, ‘ILLINGWORTH ST.MARY'S CC’, The Cricket History of Kirklees and Calderdale, <http://ckcricketheritage.org.uk/calderdale/illingworth/clubhome.htm>, 2006 263 Minute Book 2, The reference was in a discussion about the proposed alterations to the pavilion. 27th Sepetember 1919. 264 Minute Book 1, 12th December 1898. 265 Minute Book 2. Back of book. 266 Ibid, 15/01/1907, and record at back of book. 267 Ibid, 12/04/1910. This made £25 profit.

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and concert.268 Female support on the social side mirrored male direction of the cricketing side.

The hugely successful concert of February 1920 was organised by Mrs T. Amiss, wife of a committee man.269 And in the month before the admittance of women to the club, Mrs Tom Farrar, spouse of the next 1st XI captain (who proposed the ladies motion), was to arrange another whist drive and dance.270 Ladies were now organisers as well as caterers.

The introduction of lady members was doubtless, like other advances for women, one consequence of women’s efforts during the war.271 It was also an acknowledgement of their contribution to the securing of the club’s place in the Yorkshire Cricket Council. It was opportune for the club, which at the same meeting, ‘decided to have refreshments for the coming season, this to be formed by a committee of Ladies and have the management of all refreshment in the top tent.’272

The refreshment committee was formed of 22 women, with Mrs Fred Howarth, wife of a committee member, elected secretary and treasurer. A sub-committee of six was elected by ballot to organise a motor excursion to Kilnsey Cragg.273 This was a new social venture, furthering the integration of the ladies into the club. Again the officers and sub-committee mirrored the male hierarchy.274 The committee reported a profit for the 1921 season.275 There is, however, no evidence

268Ibid, They were the wives of Harry Hustwick, (Secretary and Treasurer); Edgar Smith (Asst Secretary); Arthur White, John Aspinall, J A Jenkinson, M Helliwell (Committee); Percy Howarth (1st XI Vice Captain); John Horsfield (2ndt XI Vice Captain). The ninth member was C Sutcliffe, who, although we cannot be certain, was very likely a relative of James Sutcliffe (1st XI Captain) or Edgar Sutcliffe (2nd XI Captain). Reference from 22nd January 1920. 269 Ibid, 19th November 1919. 270 Ibid, 27th September 1920. 271 On the national political stage, the 1918 Representation of the People Act had given women over thirty the vote. But this was probably the least that could have been given without provoking the suffragettes. Many women were still disenfranchised, including ones who had, for example worked in munitions production, as was the case in Halifax. Only in 1928 did women achieve equal voting rights. 272 1920 AGM, Minute Book 3, 15th October 1920. 273 Ibid, 14th March 1921. 274 Ibid, The Secretary and Treasurer was the wife of a committee man. Of the six members of ladies’ sub committee, one was the wife of the joint Secretary, three the wives of committee men, and one the wife of the 1st XI Captain. Perhaps surprisingly, Mrs Harry Hustwick was not elected (she may not, of course have put herself forward), Mrs J W Driver taking the sixth place. 275 Ibid, Special General Meeting, 21st November 1921. No figure is given for the profit.

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of women contributing or even attending the general meetings in 1921.

The involvement of women at Illingworth supports Williams’ view over Birley’s. There is no doubting the vital contribution that women made to the development and success of the cricket club, nor that they found their roles rewarding. By 1921, though not directly involved in the cricketing side, they were in a formal, democratic organisation, running their own area of the club, and very successfully too. It was, arguably, a form of emancipation.

Overall the three themes had a common core. Women enabled the social events which in turn provided the crucial finance needed to advance lllingworth Cricket Club on the field.

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Conclusion

Walvin argued that the history of leisure was an integral part of social history, and that sport developed predominantly through changes in society.276 This study has sought to establish how an informal church team, playing cricket on an inhospitable pitch, came within four decades to be representing its district in a senior Yorkshire league. It has attempted to demonstrate that this development did reflect the wider social changes in society which took place from the late-Victorian period to the years immediately following the Great War. Cricket had a particular role in the period; as the Heywoods neatly put it, first-class cricket was ‘in many respects a microcosm of class riddled Victorian England.’277

However, Illingworth St. Mary’s Cricket Club’s history was also shaped by the particular nature of its situation and by the ways in which groups and individuals responded to both these general and specific conditions. And it is here that this study hopes to make an original contribution.

Hargreaves identified in the formative decades of the Industrial Revolution the suppression of recreation as the factory system was introduced. He also noted the crucial reconstruction of sports, initiated by the public schools, into the codified versions that are largely recognisable today.278 From the mid-nineteenth century advantages were detected in these reformed sports, which could help to create a ‘healthy moral and orderly work-force.’279 The introduction of the Saturday half-holiday was vital, with sports teams springing up in its wake. It was, however, not evenly introduced, becoming widespread in Halifax only from 1873. Cricket matches are not

276 Walvin, Leisure and Society, pp. vii-viii, 83-4, 161. 277 Heywood, Cloth Caps, p. 181. 278 Hargreaves, Sport, Power and Culture, pp. 20-45. 279 Holt, Sport and the British, p. 136.

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reported for Illingworth St. Mary’s until four years after this date. The time restriction to a single afternoon also intensified the game. It could not be the leisurely affair of county cricket which took place over days.

Cunningham observed the working-class need for patronage for recreational purposes, frequently through the churches.280 The 1851 Religious Census had highlighted the decline in church-going, with the main abstainers being working-class males. The clergy perceived the provision of sports facilities as a way to lure working men into church. At Illingworth, the initial church membership qualification and the strong reaction to its effective abolition in 1887 strongly indicate that the clergy did hold this belief. However, this belief was almost certainly false, as Green’s investigation into other church-based social organisations in Halifax has demonstrated.281 As this study discovered, the strong probability is, in any event, that the initial momentum for the club came from the ordinary church members rather than the clergy. Much informal cricket had preceded its foundation, though this may have been sparked by an earlier curate, the Rev. Davies in 1877.

Hargreaves' view of paternalism as a mere instrument of social control, and Bailey's argument that patronage accentuated class divisions and was received with cynicism, are not well supported at Illingworth.282 In the first case, although the club’s rules on conduct were stringent, they were typical of the Victorian period, and neither caused resentment nor prevented disputes. The ending of the church membership qualification also demonstrated democracy in action. In the second case, it is true that the committee courted wealthy patrons when the club was most in need, and this did lead to ‘highbrow’ annual dinners which briefly hinted at class divisiveness. But, far more importantly, relations with the 280 Cunningham, Leisure in the Industrial Revolution, pp. 178-82. 281 Green, The Church of England and the Working Classes 282 Hargreaves, Sport, Power and Culture, p. 24., Bailey, Leisure and Class in Victorian England, p. 172.

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clergy and their sympathisers following the watershed 1887 meeting were rapidly re-established.

The normal social cohesion both within the club and with its patrons was one of its strengths and was essential to Illingworth’s efforts to develop both their cricket and their ground. This class cooperation should not be assumed nor underestimated. During the 1880s had begun the stirrings of socialism and increased conflict in the workplace in Halifax as nationally. Furthermore, sport itself exhibited often bitter social divisions. The reformed sports had attained a role in accommodating the new industrial middle classes into society. In the process, cricket was allocated an unlikely prominence in social history, becoming the metaphor for Englishness and fair play, and the ‘gentleman-amateur’ became the sporting paragon. Cricket must be played for its own sake, not for results or reward. But in the industrial North, as observed by Sandiford and Williams, and explained by Light, the pre-industrial spirit of contest resurfaced in matches between neighbouring rivals and was intensified by the new cup and league competitions, creating a different type of cricket involving professionalism and spectatorship.283 It put local pride at stake and helped to forge communal identities. It was cricket’s equivalent of professional football or rugby league. All of this was anathema to the ‘gentleman-amateur’, or, as Brailsford argues, a challenge to middle-class social hegemony.284

Without any doubt, to address another specific objective of this study, Illingworth’s cricket fitted the northern industrial model. The club was fiercely competitive, ascended into higher-standard leagues, employed a professional, took gate-money and paid talent money and even broken-time payments. And yet, this did not precipitate any ruptures on the

283 Sandiford, Cricket and the Victorians, pp. 55-58. Williams, Cricket and England pp.27-37. Light, ‘The Other Face’ 284 Brailsford, British Sport, p98.

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lines of social class. Nor did it bring objections from the clergy who, being predominantly Oxbridge men, might have been considered the praetorian guard of Muscular Christianity. Rather, the clergy were sympathetic and often actively supportive. They sponsored club awards for performance. Curates appeared on selection committees and even played occasional games, albeit though not very successfully. This might suggest, as Holt believes, that there were less Muscular Christian clergymen than often thought.285 Alternatively, it might mean that there was a modification of the principles of Muscular Christianity in the context of a northern industrial environment. And perhaps a realisation that competition and even payment did not necessarily equate to bad sportsmanship.

From the 1920s, church teams went into decline as congregations continued to fall. Illingworth had avoided this shrinking player-base in 1887, by opening up to the community. In doing so it not only improved its potential for players, but also that for spectators and for the fundraising social events which were to became part of the local social calendar.

Other factors on the macro scale were also reflected at Illingworth. Despite the socially inclusive nature of the club, the decline of textiles in the area resulted in problems collecting, and even a reduction in the cost of, subscriptions, and an increased dependency on patrons. The Great War, naturally, had an impact. Ignoring the dominant ‘gentleman-amateur’ line that cricket should cease during hostilities, the club responded through ‘normality’, playing initially competitive and then friendly games, though being eventually able to field only one side. It also continued its social programme, with the exception of the dinner being abandoned, initially because members were working overtime due to government demand 285 Holt, Sport and the British, p. 139.

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for cloth for uniforms. The change in perception of women’s roles during the war was doubtless instrumental in the admittance to the club of lady members in 1920, though acknowledgement of their efforts in catering, and especially in the fundraising social events of 1919-20 which were imperative to financing the ground improvements necessary to enter the Yorkshire Cricket Council, was certainly a factor.

The single most remarkable factor about Illingworth found in this study was the extraordinary application of the practical Victorian values of self-reliance, cooperation and sheer hard work in the development of their hilly ground. This produced a venue for good cricket. But it went beyond that. It was cathedral-building, a colossal enterprise that they knew they would never see completed, and that would continue through the generations. They built for the future. The recurrence of surnames and the involvement and contributions of the women show that they had created a family club.286 And they had also created a club for the community.

To what degree the findings of this study would have been recognised by those involved in the development of Illingworth St. Mary’s Cricket Club, it is impossible to be certain. What we can be certain of is how flesh-and-blood men and women enhanced their lives through cricket.

286 See appendix 12

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Appendices

Appendix 1 Illingworth Scorecards, 1877 and 1884.

4th August 1877 St. Mary’s Illingworth

Ovenden Albion

J Wilson 0 A Wilson 3 T Ramsden 6 F Brenard 0 H Brear 2 W Kitchen 4 William Priestley 0 S Turner 0 A Howarth 4 CA Trigg 2 E Hodgson 3 J Wilkinson 0 E Broomhall 25 JH Nichol 5 F Stansfield 1 T Turner 0 JS Priestley 0 TH Tate 1 L Hitchen 1 F Whitley 3 J Hellawell (not out)

7 G Hooson (not out)

0

extras 4 extras

3

53 21

31st May 1884 Illingworth St. Mary’s

Dean Clough XI

A Howarth 2 F Crossley

1 R Sunderland 2 WA Patterson

8 H Crowther 10 A Wilson

0 A Pickles 9 S Greenwood

1 F Horsfield 0 LL Hughes

5 J Hellawell 0 T Hodgson

0

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H Whitley 0 F Thorp 1

RJ Hartley 4 L Pickles 3

A Spencer 2 L Dickenson 2

I Priestley 0 A Stockton 0

B Lassey (not out)

3 JB Dewhirst (not out)

2

extras 3 extras 5

35 28

Unfortunately, bowlers and their figures were not given at this time.

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Appendix 2 St. Mary’s CC, Illingworth Original Rules, 1884

(Courtesy of Illingworth St. Mary’s Cricket Club)

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Appendix 3 Original Rules of Todmorden CC, 1839

Courtesy of Brian Heywood

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Appendix 4 Rules and Bye-Laws of Shibden Vale CC, 1869

Officers and Rules (Courtesy of West Yorkshire Archive Service, Calderdale)

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Bye-Laws of Shibden Vale CC

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Appendix 5 Minutes of the Modification of Rule 3.

Appendix 6 Halifax Parish Cup Winners, 1906

The Vicar, Rev. George Oldacres is top row, second from left. The two curates are Revs. Horace Booth and Walter Ludlow. The vicarage can just be made out in the top right hand side of the photo.

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Appendix 7 Funeral of Rev. George Oldacres Monday 8th September 1913. Cricket Club Members present. Representing Cricket Team:

W Uttley J Braithwaite J Sutcliffe Snr H Midgley A Sunderland E Feather A White C Pickles E Sutcliffe P Howarth P Feather J Pickles L Town

Also present from Cricket Club: H Hustwick (a pall-bearer) TW Rothery Note: These are the only members whose names appeared and can be identified from the newspaper’s report, so it shows only the minimum number that attended. Source: Halifax Evening Courier, 9th September 1913

Appendix 8 Opening of the New Ground, 12th May 1888

The Halifax Guardian, Saturday 19th May 1888

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Appendix 9 Extract from Committee Meeting, 23rd October 1906

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Appendix 10 Extract from Report of Illingworth’s 1909 Parish Cup Victory against Clifton Britannia.

Halifax Evening Courier, 6th July 1909.

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Appendix 11 Illingworth’s Application to the Yorkshire Cricket Council, October 1919

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Appendix 12 ‘Illingworth CC’ Anyone who has not visited the Illingworth field, say since their entry into the [Yorkshire] Council, would surely marvel now at the vast improvement that has been effected. They have faith at Illingworth, the faith that removes mountains, though the transforming of a hilly pasture into a really good cricket field has not been accomplished by just saying “Be thou removed”. No, they’re ALL workers at Illingworth and a real happy family. And “the fair sex” too are no whit behind in their endeavours, as the success of the recently instituted catering department fully testifies. There’s a brotherliness always among cricketers which other sports and pastimes don’t seem to quite achieve – or inspire. And nowhere in this district is this spirit more in evidence than on this windswept corner of the hills. Quoted in the ‘The Halifax Courier and Guardian’, Sports Supplement 21st May 1921 From ‘1921 Brotherliness & Vast Improvement.pdf’, The Cricketing Heritage of Calderdale and Kirklees Project, The Cricket History of Kirklees and Calderdale, <http://www.ckcricketheritage.org.uk/calderdale/illingworth/clubhome.htm>, 2006

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Maps of the Illingworth Area, 1891 Ordnance Survey Maps 1891 of Illingworth and the Ovenden District (Courtesy of Calderdale Reference Library)

Map 1 The Area to the North of St. Mary’s Church. Note the lack of housing developments.

St. Mary’s Church is circled at the very bottom of the map. The original ground at Pharaoh Lane was almost due north of the church and east of Mutton Hall.

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Map 2 The Area to the North and East of St. Mary’s

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Map 3 Illingworth South of St. Mary’s, and Ovenden Note the developments to the south-east around Pellon.

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Map 4 The Area around Dean Clough

Also shows Akroyden. Again, note the industry and housing around Dean Clough

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Tables

Table 1 St. Mary’s Illingworth CC, Members 1884 Details from 1881 Census of Members that have been established. In order of joining.

Member Age Occupation (inc. Father’s where Scholar)

Rev. George Oldacres 37 Vicar of ISM Rev. Frederick L Hughes 27 Curate of ISM Joseph Allison 50 Schoolmaster Arthur Spencer 15 Pupil Teacher Arthur Howarth 22 Piece Warehouseman Squire Cain 28 Fly Grinder Horatio Crowther 16 Dyehouse Labourer John Hellawell 20 Worsted Overlooker Joseph W Allison 14 Scholar (Father: Schoolmaster) Thomas Priestley 17 Pupil Teacher School William Heginbottom 36 Cotton Spinner/Woolcomber Sidney Jowett 34 Waste Dealer Milford Clayton 29 Worsted Overlooker

Albert Ogden 13 Scholar (Fr: Tailor employing 3 Men & 2 Boys)

James B Allison 11 Scholar (Father: Schoolmaster) Irvine Priestley 11 Worsted Spinner John William Cooper 12 Scholar (Father: Mger Carpet Works)Willis Uttley 11 Worsted Millhand

Harry Whitham 11 Scholar (Father: Overlooker In A Cotton Mill)

Ronald F Sunderland 15* Manager of Electrical Works

Richard J Hartley 20 Civil Engineer Driver Robertshaw 18 Cabinet Maker Walter Hoyle 11 Worsted Mill Hand Nelson Tidswell 8 Scholar (Father:Mechanic (S M)) John W Hustwick 12 Mill Hand (Tex) Harry Hustwick 9 Scholar (Father: Teamer (Carter) ) Edwin Sutcliffe 10 Scholar (Father: Carpet Weaver) Harry H Mitchell 7 Scholar (Father:Cotton Minder)

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George Greenwood 44 Sexton & Stone Cutter

Irvine Butterfield 11 Scholar (Grandfather: Farmer 14 Acres)

Sam Booth 11 Worsted Spinner Herbert Mason 15 Scholar (Father: Farmer 11 acres) Albert Pickles 16 Cotton Piecer Benjamin Lassey 13 Worsted Mill Hand

Sutcliffe Hitchen 15* Foreman, yarn room

Hirst Whitley † 19 Clerk William Robertshaw‡ 28 Wool Broker

* Located only in 1891 Census. 10 years deducted from age. † Found in report of match v Dean Clough XI, 31/05/1884 reported in The Halifax Guardian, 7th June 1884 ‡ Found in report of match v Mountain United 2nd XI, 19/07/1884 reported in The Halifax Guardian, 26th July 1884 The following are the possibilities for the four unaccounted members, 1881 Census Member Age Occupation Fred Horsfield 11 Worsted Doffer OR 17 Worsted Doffer Harry Wilson 12 Worsted Spinner OR 12 Worsted Spinner John Pickles 30 Carpet Weaver OR 26 Machine Oiler Joe Sutcliffe 15 Mill Hand (Textiles) OR 21 General Labourer OR 14 Delver (Stone) OR Joe B. Sutcliffe 12 Worsted Doffer

Player unaccounted for in Census: Timnel, played v St Thomas 2nd XI, 2/08/1884, reported in The Halifax Courier, 9th August 1884

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Table 2 Clergy at St. Mary’s Church, 1877-1921 Vicars William Gillmor (MA, Oxon.) 1836-1878 George Oldacres (MA, Cantab.) 1879-1913 Horace Fearne Booth (MA Cantab.) 1913-1923 Curates William Taliesyn Davies (MA, Oxon.) 1877-1879 Frederick Llewellyn Hughes (MA, Cantab.) 1881-1889 Joseph Wilkinson-Newsholme (BA, Cantab.) 1891-1893 Harry John Green (MA, Oxon.) 1893-1899 John William Gladstone Bennett (St Aidan’s Theological College) 1897-1900 Horace Fearne Booth 1900-1910 Alfred Ogilvy (MA, Oxon.) 1900-1904 William Edward Wynne (BA, Trinity College Dublin) 1904-1905 Walter James Ludlow (MA, Oxon.) 1905-1909 Tom Marsden (MA, Cantab.) 1910-1915 Hugh George Potter (MA, Cantab.) 1913-1915 Herbert Edwards (LTh, Dunelm) 1913-1919 Walter Edwin Mountford 1919-1926† Source: Oakley, R., The Story of Saint Mary’s Illingworth. Appendices I & II, p. 122. † Mountford was curate at Holy Trinity Oswestry from 1826. Found on web page ‘Walter Edwin Mountford’, at the internet site People of Stoke-on-Trent, <http://www.thepotteries.org/people/mountford_walter.htm>, 26/12/2002

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Table 3 Balance Sheets for Illingworth CC, 1883-1905.

Financial Period (Oct-Oct)

Receipts Payments C/F

(1883-) 1884 £25/4/5½d £22/15/3d £2/9/2½d (Profit)

1885 £17/8/8½d £15/14/2d £1/14/6½d (Loss)

1886 £15/10/- £12/16/7½d £2/13/4½d (Profit)

1887 £32/19/9½d £34/5/4½d - £1/5/7d (Loss)

1888 £49/11/7½d £44/15/4d £4/16/3½d (Profit)

1889 £45/6/7d £35/17/7d £9/9/- (Profit)

1890 £24/5/1½d £18/15/- £5/10/1½d (Loss)

1891 £44/7/5½d £44/5/7d 1/9½d (Loss)

1892 £36/14/1½d £32/8/5½d £4/5/8d (Profit)

1893 £46/1/7d £32/16/8d £13/4/11d (Profit)

1894 £38/9/6½d £38/13/4½d £6/16/2d (Loss)

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1895 £30/15/3d £23/7/3½d £7/8/2d (Profit)

1896 £40/13/1½d £33/16/10½d £6/16/3d (Loss)

1897 £47/14/- £35/1/6½d £12/12/5½d (Profit)

1898 £38/15/5d £33/6/2 £5/9/3d (Loss)

1899 £44/7/6d £39/6/9½d £5/-/8½ (Loss)

1900 £36/9/10d £36/3/5d 6/5d (Loss)

1901 £43/6/0½d £45/5/4d - £1/19/9 (Loss)

1902 £36/6/9½d £33/1/9d £3/5/0½d (Profit)

1903 £46/10/6½d £50/11/2½d - £4/-/8d (Loss)

1904 £44/8/7½d £47/11/9½d - £3/3/2d (Profit)

1905 £46/19/7d £42/15/8d £4/3/11d (Profit)

Receipts/Payments include amount brought forward from previous financial year. Changes in Carried Forward amounts, therefore, show year on year profit or loss. Sources: Illingworth St. Mary’s Cricket Club: Minute Book 1 and Cashbook

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Bibliography Manuscripts Illingworth St. Mary’s Cricket Club Minute Books, 1- 3, covering years 1884-1938 Illingworth St. Mary’s Cricket Club Scorebooks, covering years 1889-1921 Illingworth St. Mary’s Cricket Club Cashbook, covering years 1885-1905 ‘Illingworth St. Mary’s Registry of Baptisms’ (ref WDP 73/1/2/2) in Illingworth St. Mary’s the Virgin Parish Records, (Cat Ref D73, West Yorkshire Archive Service, Wakefield Patron of Illingworth Vicarage, (Deed: 15th December 1898 held at West Yorkshire Archive Service, Wakefield, Deed Ref Year 1898 Volume 56 Page 625 Deed 283) Notebooks of Harry Hustwick, covering 1885-1904 & 1919 Printed Primary Sources The Halifax Courier (various dates) The Halifax Guardian (various dates) Halifax Evening Courier (various dates) Holmes, R. S., History of Yorkshire County Cricket 1833-1903 ( A.Constable, London, 1904) Lawson, Joseph, Letters to the Young on Progress in Pudsey During the Last Sixty Years (Originally pub J.W. Birdsall, 1887 Facsimile reprint Caliban Books, Firle 1978)

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Oakley, R., The Story of Saint Mary’s Illingworth (F King & Sons Ltd, Halifax, 1924) Shibden Vale Cricket Club, Rules and Bye-Laws (1869, Courtesy of West Yorkshire Archive Service, Calderdale, reference SH17/JN/278/5) Secondary Sources Bailey, Peter, Leisure and Class in Victorian England: Rational Recreation and the Contest for Control (Routledge & Keegan Paul, London, 1978) Bédarida, François, A Social History of England 1851-1990 (Routledge, London, 1991) Best, Geoffrey, Mid-Victorian Britain, 1851-75 (Weidenfeld and Nicholson, London, 1971, Paperback edition Fontana Press, London, 1985) Birley, Derek, A Social History of English Cricket (Aurum, London, 2003) Bowen, Rowland, Cricket : A History of its Growth and Development throughout the World (Eyre and Spottiswoode, London, 1970) Brailsford, Dennis, British Sport : a Social History (Lutterworth, Cambridge, 1997) Crockford’s Clerical Directory (London,1933) Collins, Tony, Rugby’s Great Split: Class, Culture and the Origins of Rugby League Football (Routledge, Abingdon, 2nd Edition, 2006) Cunningham, Hugh, Leisure in the Industrial Revolution, c. 1780-c. 1880 (Croom Helm, London, 1980)

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Dingsdale, Alan, ‘Yorkshire Mill Town : a Study of the Spatial Patterns and Processes of Urban-Industrial Growth and the Evolution of the Spatial Structure of Halifax 1801-1901’ (Ph.D., University of Leeds, 1974) Gash, Norman, Aristocracy and People : Britain 1815-1865 (Edward Arnold, London, 1979 in the ‘The new history of England’ series) Green, S.J.D, Religion in the Age of Decline : Organisation and Experience in Industrial Yorkshire, 1870-1920 (Cambridge University Press, 1996) Green, S.J.D, ‘The Church of England and the Working Classes in Late-Victorian and Edwardian Halifax’ in Transactions of the Halifax Antiquarian Society (1993) Hanson, T. W., The Story of Old Halifax (M.T.D.Rigg, Leeds, 1993) Hardcastle, Andrew, Lost: The Former Cricket Clus and Cricket Grounds of Halifax and Calderdale (Andrew Hardcastle and Cricket Heritage Project Publications, Halifax, 2006) Hargreaves, John, Sport, Power and Culture : a Social and Historical Analysis of Popular Sports in Britain (Polity, Cambridge, 1986) Hargreaves, John A, Halifax (Carnegie, Lancaster, 2nd Edition, 2003) Hargreaves, John A, ‘The Church of England in late-Victorian and Edwardian Halifax 1852-1914’ in Transactions of the Halifax Antiquarian Society (1991) Hargreaves, John A, ‘Religion and Society in the Parish of Halifax, c1740-1914’ ((Ph.D., University of Huddersfield, 1991)

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Heywood, Freda., Heywood, Malcolm., Heywood, Brian, Cloth Caps and Cricket Crazy : Todmorden and Cricket 1835-1896 (Upper Calder Valley, 2004) Holt, Richard, Sport and the British : a Modern History (Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1989) Huggins, Mike and Williams, Jack, Sport and the English 1918-1939 (Routledge, Abingdon, 2006) Hunt, E. H, Regional Wage Variations in Britain 1850-1914 (Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1973) Light, Rob, ‘The Other Face of English Cricket’ (M.A., University of Huddersfield, 2002) Mason, Tony, Association Football and English Society, 1863-1915 (Harvester Press, Brighton, 1980) Sandiford, Keith A. P., Cricket and the Victorians (Scolar Press, Aldershot, 1994) Thompson, E. P., The Making of the English Working Class ( Penguin Books, Harmondsworth 1980, Reprinted 1982 Originally published Gollancz, London, 1963) Walvin, James, Leisure and Society 1830-1950 (Longman Group, London, 1978) Webster, Eric, ‘Halifax at the Great Exhibition, 1851’ in Halifax Antiquarian Society Contents, Accounts and Reports (1980) Webster, Eric, ‘Leisure and pleasure in 19th century Halifax’ in Transactions of the Halifax Antiquarian Society (1989) Williams, Jack, Cricket and England : a Cultural and Social History of the Inter-War Years (Frank Cass, London, 1999)

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Club Histories Pearce, Kenneth, Illingworth St. Mary’s C. C. 1884-1961 Woodhouse , Tony, Illingworth St. Mary’s Cricket Club, Centenary Brochure 1884-1984 League History A Century of Bradford League Cricket 1903-2003 Online Resources Illingworth St. Mary’s Cricket Club, <http://www.illingworthcc.co.uk/council.html The Cricketing Heritage of Calderdale and Kirklees Project, The Cricket History of Kirklees and Calderdale, <http://www.ckcricketheritage.org.uk>, 2006

People of Stoke-on-Trent, <http://www.thepotteries.org/people/mountford_walter.htm>, 26/12/2002