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White Heather Club (cricket)

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First English women's cricket club (1887–1957)

The White Heather Club was a women’s cricket club founded in 1887 in Nun Appleton, Yorkshire which is often noted as the first cricket club for women. It was founded 'in consequence of the large amount of cricket at Normanhurst, Glynde, and Eridge,' the Sussex manor houses of the founders. In women's cricket, it developed out of country-house cricket and informal women's and mixed teams. An amateur club which drew mainly from the upper classes, it predated semi-professional women’s cricket such as the Original English Lady Cricketers. It was followed by a small number of other women’s clubs such as the Dragonflies and the Clifton Ladies' Club.

The Club was founded in the summer of 1887 by eight ladies, most of them from aristocratic backgrounds. By 1891 its membership had grown to fifty. The players wore the club's colours of pink, white and green on their ties, blazers and boaters.

The Club toured the country playing other women’s teams. From 1908 the team had a regular fixture against Miss Evelyn Tubb's Eleven in Oxfordshire. There was also an annual Married vs. Single game. Presidents of the club included Lucy Baldwin, who hosted a General Meeting of the club at her home at 10 Downing Street while her husband, Stanley Baldwin, was Prime Minister.

As part of a general decline in the membership of cricket clubs after World War II, the White Heather Club was dissolved in 1957.

Founders

  • The Hon. M. Brassey
  • The Hon. Beatrice Brassey (married name Stacey)
  • Lady Milner
  • Lady Idina Nevill (wife of Thomas Brassey, 2nd Earl Brassey)
  • Lady Henry Nevill
  • The Hon. Maud Lawrence
  • Miss Chandos-Pole
  • Miss Street

Notable members

  • Lucy Ridsdale, who averaged 62 with the bat in 1892, the year she married Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin.
  • Dorothy Heseltine, founder of a Hampshire ladies' eleven, and her sister Sylvia Heseltine, founder of Finmere Ladies' team (daughters of John Postle Heseltine).
  • Nona Hermon-Worsley (daughter of Robert Hermon-Hodge). In 1935 she played for Milney Manor against the White Heather Club, making 73 runs and taking seven wickets for 38.

References

  1. "White Heather | British cricket club | Britannica". www.britannica.com. Retrieved 2024-10-05.
  2. "women's cricket". Oxford Reference. Retrieved 2024-10-05.
  3. ^ Velija, Philippa (2015-06-13). Women's Cricket and Global Processes: The Emergence and Development of Women's Cricket as a Global Game. Springer. ISBN 978-1-137-32352-1.
  4. ^ Duncan, Isabelle (2013-05-28). Skirting the Boundary: A History of Women's Cricket. Biteback Publishing. ISBN 978-1-84954-611-9.
  5. ^ Salway, Paul (2018). A Novel Match at Cricket: A History of Women's Cricket in an English Shire. Paragon Publishing. pp. 49–52. ISBN 978-1-78222-597-3.
  6. McCrone, Kathleen E. (2024-11-01). Sport and the Physical Emancipation of English Women: 1870-1914. Taylor & Francis. p. 152. ISBN 978-1-040-27956-4.
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