A HISTORY OF SURREY 



quently to the White Lion Meadow, its 

 trysting-place till the year 1902. There 

 is still a small club which plays on the old 

 Tilt, and another in a more distant part of 

 the village called Downside. Though a 

 Dorking man, H. Jupp was living at Cobham 

 in 1859, and it was from Cobham that he 

 went up to the Oval in that year. Latterly 

 Cobham has sent up two good players to first- 

 class cricket, Stedman, Surrey's excellent 

 wdcket-keeper, and Mr. H. B. Chinnery, a 

 son of Mr. W. Moresby Chinnery, the cham- 

 pion long-distance runner of the sixties, the 

 old Etonian who has represented Surrey 

 (captain in 1904) and Middlesex in turn. 



The Cobham Club, which is happily still 

 in a flourishing condition, has recently come 

 into occupation of a new ground in one of 

 the prettiest spots in Cobham, and a con- 

 siderable sum has been spent on the pre- 

 paration of the pitch, the erection of a new 

 pavilion, and the necessary fencing. The 

 Cobham Club is fortunate in numbering 

 among its active supporters the villagers as 

 well as the resident gentry, and the matches 

 are always productive of earnest cricket as 

 well as of good fielding. Much has been 

 done of late years in the interest of the game 

 by former presidents, including Mr. H. W. 

 Price, who held the position for thirteen 

 years, and Mr. W. M. Chinnery, and the 

 club is happy in having at the present time 

 so thorough a sportsman as Mr. Frank Cripps 

 for its president. 



The Epsom Club dates back to quite the 

 middle of the last century. The present 

 ground was not opened till i860. Henry 

 Willis, who played for Surrey once or twice 

 in 1868, was at the time captain of the club, 

 a position he held until 1876. During the 

 sixteen years of his captaincy the club was 

 very strong, numbering among its members 

 several who made high reputations on the 

 cricket field, notably the three brothers, 

 J. B., S. H., and B. N. Akroyd, G. C. Alex- 

 ander, the three Hollands, J. B. Hanley, R. 

 Henderson, R. Walters, R. Wrangham, R. 

 Gillespie, A. C. Lucas and his brothers, and 

 E. Budd. For a short time after, somewhere 

 about 1879, *^^ club practically ceased to 

 exist owing to lack of funds ; but the interval 

 was happily only very brief, and the last 

 twenty years have seen very good second-class 

 cricket on the Epsom ground, which is cer- 

 tainly one of the best in the county. The 

 advent and prestige of Mr. G. H. Longman, 

 the old Eton and Cambridge cricketer, who 

 played county cricket for Hampshire, gave 

 the club a considerable fillip, and for the last 

 few years, under the direction of Mr. F. W. 



Ledger, an enthusiastic cricketer and a most 

 capable secretary, it has flourished bravely. 

 Of late it has had its week, playing two-day 

 matches against the Free Foresters and the 

 Eton Ramblers, as well as one-day matches 

 with such clubs as the Burlington Wan- 

 derers, Merton, the Crystal Palace, and the 

 neighbouring villages of Leatherhead, Dork- 

 ing and Ewell. In the old days Tom Lockyer 

 sometimes played on the ground, later R. 

 Henderson, the Middlesex amateur, and the 

 Budds. Brockwell and Sharpe, the two 

 Surrey professionals, were occasionally to 

 be seen there at a more recent date. For 

 the last few years the Longmans, father and 

 son, Messrs. H. T. Bull, F. W. Freeman, 

 Williamson, and the two professionals, Green 

 and Edwards, have been the mainstays of 

 the Club. 



The EsHER Cricket Club was the outcome 

 of a meeting held at the Bear, Esher, it is 

 said, in 1862. There had previously been 

 an Esher Village Club, confined mainly to 

 the tradesmen of the place. The object of 

 the new club was to include all residents, and 

 notwithstanding some slight opposition on 

 the part of the village club, the new one 

 was founded successfully. A ground was 

 taken for three years, and when it was fit for 

 cricket the Esher Club commenced what has 

 proved a very prosperous career. Among 

 the best of the earlier players was H. H. 

 Stephenson (' Surrey Stephenson ') and 

 Mr. A. J. Wilkinson, who played for Middle- 

 sex and the Gentlemen against the Players, 

 W. J. CoUyer of the Surrey team, Henley, 

 Clarke and Bristow. After a time the village 

 members, preferring to return to the Green, 

 withdrew ; the club then became a strictly 

 amateur club, and such it has continued ever 

 since, with the occasional assistance of one 

 or two legitimately Esher men. Among 

 other first-class players upon whom Esher 

 could count in its earlier days was J. J. Sewell 

 of Middlesex, one of the best amateur 

 cricketers of the later sixties. In those 

 days Esher's principal opponents were Wim- 

 bledon, Chobham, Cobham, Leatherhead, 

 Epsom, Thames Ditton, Oatlands Park and 

 Weybridge. After three years' tenure the 

 old cricket field had to be given up, and the 

 ground on which the club has remained ever 

 since was taken. 



Of late years the club has lost a good deal 

 of its original character, though the Mar- 

 tineaus, the Peacheys, and others have re- 

 tained for it a certain local as well as Surrey 

 interest. Still, thanks originally to Mr. C. 

 C. Clarke it has become quite one of the 

 strongest clubs round London, numbering 



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