Edward Lyttelton
![]() Portrait byCarl Vandyk | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Personal information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Born | Westminster,London, England | 23 July 1855||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Died | 26 January 1942 Lincoln, Lincolnshire,England | (aged 86)||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Batting | Right-handed | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Role | Batsman | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Domestic team information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Years | Team | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
1875–1878 | Cambridge University | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
1878–1882 | Middlesex | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Career statistics | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Source:CricketArchive,8 October 2022 |
Edward Lyttelton(23 July 1855 – 26 January 1942) was an English schoolmaster, cleric and sportsman from theLyttelton familywho was headmaster ofEton Collegefrom 1905 to 1916. During his early years he playedfirst-class cricketforCambridge UniversityandMiddlesex.
Early life and family
[edit]Lyttelton was born atHagley,Worcestershireon 23 July 1855 toGeorge Lyttelton, 4th Baron Lytteltonand his first wife, Mary (née Glynne; 1813–1857), sister-in-law ofWilliam Gladstone.[1]
His was a sporting family, with five of his seven brothers playing first-class cricket:Alfred,Charles,George,ArthurandRobert.
Lyttelton was educated atEton Collegefollowed byTrinity College, Cambridge,[2]where he became a member and club librarian of theUniversity Pitt Club.[3]
Sporting career
[edit]![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/e0/Alfred_%26_Edward_Lyttelton_at_Eton_c1872.jpg/220px-Alfred_%26_Edward_Lyttelton_at_Eton_c1872.jpg)
![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/c0/Edward_Lyttelton_Vanity_Fair_9_May_1901.jpg/220px-Edward_Lyttelton_Vanity_Fair_9_May_1901.jpg)
A right-handed middle order batsman, Lyttelton had his best season in 1878 when he amassed 779 runs at 29.96, helping Middlesex to finish as joint Champions.[4]He scored his only first-class hundred that year, an innings of 113 which he made while playing for Middlesex against the touring Australian side, at Lord's. His century stood out as it occurred in the fourth innings, was double the next highest score in the match by either team (56) and was made despite Middlesex being bowled out for just 185.[5]According toWisden,Lyttelton's last 76 runs came in only 74 minutes.[6]In the same season, Lyttelton took the only wicket of his first-class career, Yorkshire opening batsmanGeorge Ulyett,who also batted for England. He dismissed him, caught and bowled, in a match for Cambridge University against Yorkshire.[7]Aside from Cambridge University and Middlesex he also represented theGentlemen cricket team,I Zingari,Marylebone Cricket Cluband theSouth of England cricket team.[8]
Lyttelton's only full football international came in a 7–2 defeat by Scotland on 2 March 1878.[9]Another significant achievement in the sport was playing in the1876 FA Cup Finalwith theOld Etonians F.C.,as a defender, which they lost to the Wanderers on a replay. When picked for England he had been representingCambridge University.
Teaching career and marriage
[edit]From 1880 to 1882, Lyttelton worked as an assistant master atWellington College,and then atEton College.He attendedCuddesdon Collegein 1883–1884 in preparation for his ordination in 1886.[1]
In 1888 Lyttelton married Caroline Amy West, daughter of the Very ReverendJohn West,dean ofSt Patrick's Cathedral,Dublin. They went on to have two daughters.[1]
He was appointed master ofHaileybury Collegein 1890, where he remained until 1905[1]when he became headmaster of Eton College.[1]There he introduced reforms allowing boys to enter the school without knowledge of Greek, and once there to avoid classics entirely in favour of mathematics, modern languages, science or history.[1]
His Christian principles made his position difficult after the outbreak of theFirst World War,especially following the reception to his sermon atSt Margaret's, Westminster,in March 1915, in which he argued that the whole German nation should not be condemned and that any peace settlement should be generous. This led to a public storm of protest, and following a personal spiritual crisis Lyttelton resigned his post in 1916.[1]
Clerical career and final years
[edit]Lyttelton gave up teaching and in 1917 became curate tothe ReverendRichard "Dick" SheppardatSt Martin-in-the-Fields,following which he worked as rector of the small parish ofSidestrandin Norfolk from 1918 to 1920. In 1920 he became dean ofWhitelands College,Chelsea, a teacher training college for women, acting both as lecturer on the Bible and as chaplain. He retired in 1929.[1]
He was appointed to the position of honorary canon at Norwich in 1931–1941 and during the last year of his life honorary canon at Lincoln. He died at his home, the Old Palace, Lincoln, on 26 January 1942.[1]
Publications
[edit]- Studies in the Sermon on the Mount
- The Gospel of St. Mark with notes
- What Are We Fighting For?
- Character and Religion
References
[edit]- ^abcdefghi"Lyttelton, Edward".Oxford Dictionary of National Biography(online ed.). Oxford University Press.doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/34656.(Subscription orUK public library membershiprequired.)
- ^"Lyttelton, the Hon. Edward (LTLN874E)".A Cambridge Alumni Database.University of Cambridge.
- ^Fletcher, Walter Morley(2011) [1935].The University Pitt Club: 1835–1935(First Paperback ed.). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. pp. 84–85.ISBN978-1-107-60006-5.
- ^"First-class Batting and Fielding in Each Season by Edward Lyttelton".CricketArchive.
- ^"Middlesex v Australians 1878".CricketArchive.
- ^"Edward Lyttelton".Cricinfo.
- ^"Cambridge University v Yorkshire 1878".CricketArchive.
- ^"First-class Batting and Fielding For Each Team by Edward Lyttelton".CricketArchive.
- ^"Edward Lyttelton".England F.C. Archived fromthe originalon 2 December 2008.
Further reading
[edit]Edward Lyttelton: An Appreciation (1943)by Lyttelton's brother-in-law,Cyril Alington.
- 1855 births
- 1942 deaths
- English cricketers
- Free Foresters cricketers
- Cambridge University cricketers
- Middlesex cricketers
- Gentlemen cricketers
- Head Masters of Eton College
- People educated at Eton College
- English men's footballers
- England men's international footballers
- Cambridge University A.F.C. players
- Old Etonians F.C. players
- 20th-century English Anglican priests
- I Zingari cricketers
- Lyttelton family
- Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge
- Marylebone Cricket Club cricketers
- North v South cricketers
- Gentlemen of England cricketers
- Men's association football defenders
- Younger sons of barons
- Cricketers from the City of Westminster
- People from Westminster