Stanley Jackson | |
|---|---|
 F. S. Jackson making an on-drive, late 1890s | |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
21 November 1870 Chapel Allerton, Leeds, Yorkshire, England |
| Died |
9 March 1947 (aged 76) Hyde Park, London, England |
Sir Francis Stanley Jackson, GCSI, GCIE, PC, KStJ[1] (21 November 1870 – 9 March 1947),[2] known as the Honourable Stanley Jackson during his playing career, was an English cricketer, soldier and Conservative Party politician.
Early life[]
Jackson was born in Leeds. His father was William Jackson, 1st Baron Allerton. During Stanley's time at Harrow School his fag was fellow parliamentarian and future Prime Minister Winston Churchill.[1] He went up to Trinity College, Cambridge in 1889.[3]
Cricket career[]
"A Flannelled Fighter"
Jackson as caricatured by Spy (Leslie Ward) in Vanity Fair, August 1902
Jackson played for Cambridge University, Yorkshire and England. He spotted the talent of Ranjitsinhji when the latter, owing to his unorthodox batting, was struggling to find a place for himself in the university side, and as captain was responsible for Ranji's inclusion in the Cambridge First XI and the awarding of his Blue. According to Alan Gibson this was "a much more controversial thing to do than would seem possible to us now".[4] He was named a Wisden Cricketer of the Year in 1894.
He captained England in 5 Test matches in 1905, winning 2 and drawing 3 to retain The Ashes.[5] Captaining England for the first time, he won all five tosses and topped the batting and bowling averages for both sides, with 492 runs at 70.28 and 13 wickets at 15.46. These were the last of his 20 Test matches, all played at home as he could not spare the time to tour. Jackson still holds the Test record for the most matches in a career without playing away from home.[6]
Gibson wrote of him as a cricketer that he had "a toughness of character, a certain ruthlessness behind the genial exterior... He does not seem to have been a particularly popular man, though he was always a deeply respected one."[4]
He was President of the MCC in 1921.
Jackson succeeded Lord Hawke as President of Yorkshire CCC in 1938 after Hawke's death and held the post until his own death in 1947.[7]
Military and political career[]
Jackson served in the Royal Lancaster Regiment of Militia in the Second Boer War, and transferred to the West Yorkshire Regiment as a Lieutenant-Colonel in 1914.
He was elected as a Member of Parliament at a by-election in February 1915,[8] representing Howdenshire (Yorkshire) until resigning his seat on 3 November 1926.[9] He served as Financial Secretary to the War Office 1922-23. In 1927 he was appointed Governor of Bengal and in that year was knighted with the GCIE and was made a member of the Privy Council. He was awarded the KStJ in 1932.
In 1932, he sidestepped and ducked five pistol shots fired at close range by a girl student named Bina Das in the Convocation Hall of the University of Calcutta. Escaping unharmed and smiling, "[e]ven before the smoke had blown away, the Governor resumed his speech amid cheers."[10] The attacker was tackled and disarmed by Lieutenant-Colonel Hassan Suhrawardy (the first Muslim Vice Chancellor of the University of Calcutta), who was knighted by the King for his heroism.[11] Later that year, Jackson was appointed GCSI.
Funeral[]
England team v. Australia, Trent Bridge 1899. Back row: Dick Barlow (umpire), Tom Hayward, George Hirst, Billy Gunn, J T Hearne (12th man), Bill Storer (wkt kpr), Bill Brockwell, V A Titchmarsh (umpire). Middle row: C B Fry, K S Ranjitsinhji, W G Grace (captain), Stanley Jackson. Front row: Wilfred Rhodes, Johnny Tyldesley. Jackson, Hirst and Rhodes are wearing their Yorkshire caps.
Jackson died in London of complications following a road accident.[12] Recalling his funeral, the Bishop of Knaresborough remarked "As I gazed down on the rapt faces of that vast congregation, I could see how they revered him as though he were the Almighty, though, of course, infinitely stronger on the leg side."
Notes[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Jackson's obituary in the 1948 Wisden Cricketers' Almanack. This gives his full name as Francis Stanley Jackson, whereas Cricinfo and CricketArchive both give his full name as Frank Stanley Jackson. This article uses the name given by Wisden.
- ↑ "Historical list of MPs: constituencies beginning with H, part 4". Leigh Rayment's House of Commons page. http://www.leighrayment.com/commons/Hcommons4.htm. Retrieved 14 January 2010.
- ↑ "Jackson, Francis (or Frank) Stanley (JK889FF)". A Cambridge Alumni Database. University of Cambridge. http://venn.lib.cam.ac.uk/cgi-bin/search.pl?sur=&suro=c&fir=&firo=c&cit=&cito=c&c=all&tex=%22JK889FF%22&sye=&eye=&col=all&maxcount=50.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Gibson, Alan (1989). The Cricket Captains of England. Pavilion Books. pp. 91–2. ISBN 978-1-85145-395-5.
- ↑ Alan Gibson wrote a book about his achievements in that series, published in 1966: Jackson's Year: The Test Matches Of 1905.
- ↑ Walmsley, Keith (2003). Mosts Without in Test Cricket. Reading, England: Keith Walmsley Publishing Pty Ltd. pp. 457. ISBN 0947540067..
- ↑ Kilburn, p.123.
- ↑ Craig, F. W. S. (1989) [1974]. British parliamentary election results 1885–1918 (2nd ed.). Chichester: Parliamentary Research Services. p. 426. ISBN 0-900178-27-2.
- ↑ Department of Information Services (9 June 2009). "Appointments to the Chiltern Hundreds and Manor of Northstead Stewardships since 1850". House of Commons Library. http://www.parliament.uk/documents/commons/lib/research/briefings/snpc-04731.pdf. Retrieved 30 November 2009.
- ↑ Five shots fired at governor Glasgow Herald, 8 February 1932, p. 11
- ↑ [trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article/21782002 Bravery Recognised] Brisbane Courier 18 February 1932, at Trove
- ↑ Kilburn, p.122.
Bibliography[]
- Hodgson, Derek (1989). The Official History of Yorkshire County Cricket Club. Ramsbury, Marlborough, Wiltshire: The Crowood Press. ISBN 1-85223-274-9.
- Kilburn, J.M. (1970). A History of Yorkshire Cricket. Stanley Paul. ISBN 0-09-101110-8.
- Woodhouse, Anthony (1989). The History of Yorkshire County Cricket Club. London: Christopher Helm. ISBN 0-7470-3408-7.
External links[]
- Cricinfo page on the Honourable Stanley Jackson, including his Wisden obituary
- "Jackson, Francis (or Frank) Stanley (JK889FF)". A Cambridge Alumni Database. University of Cambridge. http://venn.lib.cam.ac.uk/cgi-bin/search.pl?sur=&suro=c&fir=&firo=c&cit=&cito=c&c=all&tex=%22JK889FF%22&sye=&eye=&col=all&maxcount=50.
- Hansard 1803–2005: contributions in Parliament by Stanley Jackson
- www.burkespeerage.com
The original article can be found at Stanley Jackson and the edit history here.