Billy Beldham
William "Silver Billy" Beldham was an English professional cricketer who played for numerous teams between 1782 and 1821. He was born at Wrecclesham, near Farnham in Surrey, and died at Tilford, Surrey. In some sources, his name has been given as "Beldam" or "Beldum". A right-handed batting all-rounder, he is widely recognised as one of the greatest batsmen of cricket's underarm era. Using an underarm action, he bowled pitched deliveries at a fast medium pace. He generally fielded in close catching positions, mostly at slip and sometimes played as wicket-keeper.
Beldham began his career locally with Farnham Cricket Club. He was soon invited to join the Hambledon Club and became mainly associated with the county teams of Hampshire and Surrey. He regularly played for England teams from 1787 until 1820 and also in many matches for Marylebone Cricket Club.
Early life
Beldham was born on 5 February 1766 in the village of Wrecclesham, near Farnham in Surrey, where his family had a farm. His exact birthplace has not been precisely identified but may have been Yew Tree Cottage as in 1820 – the year before his retirement and move to Tilford – the house was surrendered by a William Beldham to a John Wells : additionally, there is a strong local tradition that this was his birthplace.Beldham was the fourth of six children of George Beldham and Ann Benfil , and his ancestry in the area can be traced back at least seven generations to Allen Beldham. Nothing is known of his schooling but, as he was able to sign his name on his first marriage certificate as opposed to making a witnessed mark, it is likely he had a basic grounding.
Much that is known about Beldham is based on discussions he had with the Reverend James Pycroft in 1837 when Beldham was 71 years old. Beldham's reminiscences, and those of his friend William Fennex, provide the basis of Pycroft's The Cricket Field and Oxford memories: a retrospect after fifty years. Beldham's earliest recollection of cricket is a match in 1780 when his local team, Farnham Cricket Club, defeated the Hambledon Club. He would have been 14 at the time but he told Pycroft that he overheard a remark by the Reverend Charles Powlett who said: "Here I have been thirty years raising our club, and are we to be beaten by a mere parish?" This statement suggests that the Hambledon Club was founded c.1750 but that is doubtful and David Underdown warns against "relying too much on Beldham's memory".
Cricket career
Beldham's recorded career spanned the 1782 to 1821 seasons and is one of the longest on record. The number of matches he played in cannot be computed because of missing or incomplete match scorecards but even a conservative estimate is well over 250; the CricketArchive database, for example, lists 224 but their list is limited to those matches from which they have a scorecard on the database and there are many more matches without scorecards in which he is known to have played.Using CricketArchive's 224 matches as a career sample, Beldham scored 8,112 runs in these with a highest score of 144, and took 275 wickets with a best performance of seven in one innings. He held 406 catches and completed 52 stumpings.
Farnham and Odiham (c.1782–c.1786)
The earliest mention of Billy Beldham seems to be in a reference to two players called Beldum who represented Farnham Cricket Club in its earliest known match at Odiham on 13 August 1782. Farnham, who won, included J. Wells, G. Beldum and Beldum, who scored 1 and 16. If the latter was Billy Beldham, he would have been sixteen years old. In October 1782, there was a Beldham in the Odiham team for two matches against Berkshire, and again in May the following year against Maidenhead.No Farnham matches are recorded in 1783, and only one in 1784. That was against Odiham & Alton at the Holt Pound Oval, in which both Billy & George played. This was a new ground in 1784. The Beldhams were commissioned to lay out the pitch by local landowner Lord Stawell, who was a Hambledon Club member and a Farnham player. The match against Odiham & Alton was arranged for 30 July 1784, following a postponement because of bad weather. The teams are known but not the result. The Farnham team included Stawell and the Beldham brothers. A return match was arranged at Odiham Down on 4 August but, again, there is no report of it being played.
In 1785, Farnham had a more extensive fixture list comprising matches with Alresford, a home-and-away series with Petworth – or, more accurately, Petworth, Northchapel & Tillington with six of Hambledon – which led to three matches against the Hambledon Club itself for a purse of. Farnham were outclassed in the first match at home, losing by an innings and 119 runs: the scores of the second and third games at Windmill Down have been lost, but Beldham's comments when interviewed by Pycroft some 50 years later indicate that Farnham won at least one of them, and quite possibly both for, in June 1786, Hambledon declined a challenge from Farnham. On 28 July 1786, Farnham were scheduled to play against "seven of Hambledon with four picked men from Sussex" on Northchapel Green, near Chichester. However, the result of this match has not been found. In other matches in 1786, Farnham were pitted against such varied opposition as Berkshire, Warfield, a Guildford & Godalming XXII, and a Godalming XII with four of Hambledon. Given his absence from the Hambledon scorecards that year, it is possible that Beldham played in some of the Farnham matches.
Hambledon/Hampshire (1785–1807)
In his reminiscences to Pycroft, Beldham said that, when he was eighteen years old, he had played for Farnham against Hambledon and scored 43 facing an attack that included David Harris. He was watched by George Finch, 9th Earl of Winchilsea who was cricket's most influential patron at the time. Next spring, Winchilsea visited Beldham at the farm where he worked and arranged with his employer, Mr Hilton, for him to have time off for playing cricket. Beldham was invited to play for Hampshire in June 1785 against England at White Conduit Fields and that was the start of his career in important matches. It was also the beginning of his contract with the Hambledon Club, which continued through the latter years of the club's golden era until c.1794. In the minutes of the weekly club meeting of 26 July 1785, it was "order'd that John & James Wells, Wm. and George Beldham be seen as Players belonging to this Club and be paid their Expences when they come to play at the discretion of the stewards". He and his brother George and their brothers-in-law, John and James Wells travelled 27 miles each way between Farnham and Hambledon, usually on the day of the match. Saddle-soreness made them consider building a cart for their journeys but the government introduced a tax on vehicles and they abandoned the idea.Beldham recalled that he was paid five guineas a game in the 1780s if his team won and three guineas if they lost, plus two guineas for Tuesday's practise. Twenty years later the figures were six and four. This was a pittance compared with the money that the gentry could make from their wagers, but it was a good income compared with those of artisans and labourers: at the time the weekly wage of a farm labourer was something like seven shillings and sixpence. Thus, to take the 1788 season as an example, Beldham played in 10 known matches, his team winning six of them, for which he was paid 42 guineas, equating to slightly over two and a quarter years' wages for a farm worker.
There is no other mention in surviving sources of the June 1785 match between England and Hampshire; Beldham does not confirm that it was actually played, only planned. He may have played for Farnham in 1785 and 1786, or in Hambledon matches without surviving reports. There are several mentions of him in 1787, when he was 21, and his career was certainly underway by the end of that season, which is best remembered for the foundation of Marylebone Cricket Club following the opening of the original Lord's ground. The first Hambledon match in which Beldham is definitely recorded was not until 7–10 August 1787 when he played against Kent at the Star Inn Ground on Coxheath Common. In his summary, Haygarth said another account had called the match "Kent v England". Haygarth used Hambledon in his title because, as he said, all eleven players were "members of the Hambledon Club". Kent batted first and were all out for 140. Hambledon replied with 256 and Beldham, although he was number 10 in the order, made the second-highest score with 42 before he was again bowled by Clifford. Kent were all out for 194 in their second innings and Beldham held three catches. Hambledon finished the match with 79/8 to win by 2 wickets, Beldham scoring 14 before being caught by Clifford.
One of Beldham's finest performances was for Hambledon in a 1789 match at Lord's Old Ground against an England Thirteen. England batted first and scored 118, Beldham holding three catches. Hambledon struggled against the bowling of Robert Clifford and John Boorman. They were all out for 150 and nine of the batsmen, plus extras, scored only 17 between them. The other 133 were scored by Richard Purchase with 39 and Beldham with 94. He held two more catches as England were dismissed for 73 in their second innings. Hambledon needed 42 to win and Beldham scored 16 not out to see them through with 6 wickets in hand.
England (1787–1820)
Beldham's first match at Lord's was his known debut for England. Arthur Haygarth presents his biography of Beldham, and that of his brother-in-law John Wells, after the summary of this match. Haygarth says of both players that it was their "first recorded match", but earlier ones have been discovered by later researchers. The match was against the White Conduit Club, the Islington-based forerunner of MCC, on 20–22 June 1787. England batted first and scored 247. Beldham was number 8 in the batting order and scored 17 before he was bowled by Robert Clifford. White Conduit Club had six given men who were all leading Hampshire and Kent professionals. Beldham took two wickets, bowling Winchilsea for 3 and Edward Hussey for 21, as the club were dismissed for 112. With a first innings deficit of 135, White Conduit would normally have batted again but England took the third innings and scored 197. Beldham made the top score with 63 before he was run out. White Conduit were all out for 93, Beldham holding one catch and bowling both Joey Ring and Tom Walker.Beldham played for England teams for over thirty years until his last at the current Lord's ground on 3–5 July 1820. His performances have been recorded in 41 of these matches. His highest score for England was 91 against Hampshire at Perriam Downs on 25–28 July 1791, a four-day match that England won by an innings and 67 runs. Hampshire were all out for 79 and 129 either team of England scoring 275. Beldham, third in the order, was caught by George Leycester.
As late as June 1819, when he was 53, Beldham could still justify selection for England. There were two England v Hampshire matches that month, both at Lord's. England won the first, which was a twelve-a-side match, by an innings and 5 runs. Hampshire, batting first, were all out for 113. Beldham played as wicket-keeper and dismissed three batsman: two caught, one stumped. England scored 245 and Beldham, fifth in the order, made top score with 79. He dismissed two more batsmen in the Hampshire second innings as they were all out for 127. Haygarth's comment about Beldham's performance was: "considering he was now fifty-three years of age, very wonderful". Three weeks later, the teams met again in an eleven-a-side match which England won by 7 wickets. Hampshire were all out for 95 and England replied with 177. Beldham was number three and scored 72. In the second innings, Hampshire were all out for 141 and England scored 60/3 to win the match with a day to spare. Haygarth again commented on a "wonderful performance" by Beldham. A report of the match said Beldham was punishing the fast bowling of George Brown so much that "Brown was afraid to bowl at him".