Hove in the Past: The Lillywhites at Hove

Judy Middleton 2002 (revised 2023)

copyright © Sussex Cricket Museum
William Lillywhite is the bowler in this game of cricket painted by John Corbet Anderson

Background

The Lillywhite name is famous in cricketing circles but perhaps the family’s connection with Hove is not so well-known. Since the Sussex County Cricket Ground is located at Hove, it is time to put the Lillywhite’s history in the area on record.

The Sussex Cricket Museum is the proud owner of a wonderful image featuring William Lillywhite playing a private game of cricket, possibly with friends and family members. In the background is the old cottage where the family lived for some years and in which presumably three of his children were born. The image was not published until 1860, and it is not clear in which year it was painted, but it must have been before 1844 when the Lillywhite family left Sussex.

The building and cottages are long-gone with the site now covered by Wilbury Road. But in the 1840s this was prime farmland, and known as Long Barn Farm, with a rural route going northwards to Patcham village.

The farmhouse was built in 1796 and there were 750 acres, stretching south to the sea, and west to the Goldstone area. In 1851 the farmer was William Marsh Rigden who employed no less than 50 labourers to farm the land. In 1850 it was reported that the farm produced wheat, barley, oats, mangold wurzel, turnips, swedes, carrots, potatoes, cabbage, clover, rye-grass, sanfoin, hay, lucerne, and peas. Besides 21 milk-cows, 28 farm horses, a few pigs and some poultry, there was also a flock of 150 Southdown ewes, 20 Southdown rams, and 150 tegs (one-year old females).

(Frederick) William Lillywhite (1792-1854)

Lillywhite was born on 13 June 1792 at Westhampnett, a village in the vicinity of Chichester. His father earned his living as a brick-maker, and he managed two large brick-fields belonging to the Duke of Richmond. It was not surprising that young William should follow his father into the same trade.

The year 1822 was a pivotal one for Lillywhite because on 11 July of that year he made his first recorded appearance in a cricket match in a team composed of men from Westhampnett, Goodwood, and Boxgrove, against a team from Midhurst. Lillywhite was heading for his 30^th birthday, and so it seems likely that he had been honing his skills as a cricketer for some time. On 15 July 1822 he married Charlotte Parker, daughter of Robert Parker, cordwainer. The marriage produced twelve children with seven of them being born at Hove, as follows:

James Lillywhite, born 29 October 1824

Charlotte Lillywhite born 1825

John Lillywhite, born 10 November 1826

Martha Lillywhite, born 1828

Frederick Lillywhite, born 23 July 1829

Caroline Lillywhite, born April 1834, died five months later, buried in St Andrew's Old Church churchyard.

Frank Harry Lillywhite, born 1835, died 1836, buried in St Andrew's Old Church churchyard.

(Sadly, both Caroline & Frank's memorials were destroyed in 1972, along with many hundreds of other memorials/headstones, when a Tesco's Supermarket car park was built over the north section of St Andrew's Old Church churchyard)

copyright © Royal Pavilion & Museums, Brighton & Hove
St Andrew’s Old Church and the village of Hove, this would have been the scene looking west from Lillywhite's Cricket Ground.
'Hove from the top of Holland Road' by James Bennett c1849.
St Andrew's can be seen here in a rural setting dominating the north side of the very small village of Hove. Aldrington Basin and Shoreham Harbour can be seen in the distance.

Their eldest son, William Lillywhite, was baptised at St Andrew’s Old Church on 24 August 1823.

copyright © D. Sharp
Royal Sovereign, Preston Street, Brighton in June 2023. where William Lilywhite was the landlord from 1837 to 1844.
The 'Gentleman of Preston Street Cricket Club' played their home matches at Lillywhite's Cricket Ground in Montpellier Road, Brighton.

In 1841, the UK Census shows the Lillywhite family living at the Royal Sovereign Inn, Preston Street, Brighton, the census shows William (49), wife Charlotte (43) and their children - Charlotte (16), James (15), John (14), Martha (13), Harry (3) and Ellen (1), their son William (18) was not at this address on the day of the census he was living 5 miles away at Southwick working as a brick maker and their son Frederick (11) was living at Goodwood Stables in 1841 with a relative, James Lillywhite aged 70.

It is remarkable that nine of the children were still alive when their father died in 1854,

copyright © Royal Pavilion & Museums, Brighton & Hove
The Hove brick kiln where William Lillywhite was the foreman
'The Brick Kiln, Hove' by Richard Henry Nibbs, March 1836. This sketch shows a ruined building without a roof standing beside a mound. In the background is the shell of the collapsed Anthaeum which fell in 1833.

William Lillywhite needed to earn money to support his family, and it seems he moved to the Hove in around 1822. He was appointed to the post of foreman brick-burner to George Stevens whose kilns were situated near the sea on a site now occupied by elegant Adelaide Crescent. He also loved his game of cricket, and the only way he could keep everyone happy was by rising between 2 and 3 a.m. so that he could complete his stint at the brick kilns before making an appearance on the cricket field.

copyright © Royal Pavilion & Museums, Brighton & Hove
Temple fields, the site of the Lillywhite's Cricket Ground, The Temple was the former home of Thomas Reade Kemp (the founder of Kemp Town, Brighton), in the distance is Hove Street, St Andrew's Old Church and the brick kiln where William use to work.

By at least 1837 the Lillywhite family were to be found in Brighton, and Lillywhite became landlord of the Royal Sovereign in Preston Street. No doubt in a bid to earn more money, Lillywhite also became the proprietor of a cricket ground called Lee’s Trap Ground on Temple Fields where Montpelier Crescent is today. The cricket ground was later called Lillywhite’s Cricket Ground.

copyright © Royal Pavilion & Museums, Brighton & Hove
Sussex v Kent, 26-28 June 1843 at the Royal Cricket Ground, Brighton (where Park Crescent is today),
St Peter's Church can be seen in the background.
William Lillywhite is bowling to his great adversary Mr Fuller Pilch, the wicketkeeper is Mr Box, and the gentleman sitting on the grass in the centre to the right is Mr Wisden.
Sussex won the game by 20 runs

This following text comes from an article on English cricket published in the New York Times on 15^th September 1872, and gives an insight into William’s bowling technique which he practised on his own cricket ground near Montpelier Road, Brighton:- 'Sussex was, perhaps, the first to make a splurge in the cricketing world. Thirty years ago, on the Box's cricket ground at Brighton, the Lillywhites, Wisden, Box, Pilch and Charles Taylor were certain to draw thousands to witness their splendid play.

It was the elder Lillywhite, too, the father of the present well-known brothers of that name, who first bowled what is called round-hand in public. It is said that he had long been desirous of getting a spin on the ball which would make it shoot the moment it struck the ground.

It happened that a man named Wills, also a Sussex man, brought his wife or sister down to Lillywhite's Cricket Ground one evening to see the play. She picked up the ball and threw it, not over her shoulder as a man would do, but with that round swing of the arm peculiar to women when in the act of throwing. The ball, on striking the ground, shot forward from the spin on it, and Wills called Lillywhite's attention to the fact. He seized upon the idea, practised the action of bowling round-hand, and brought about a revolution in cricket, which gave it an immense impetus. It is no exaggeration to say that there are ten times as many cricket clubs in England today as there were thirty years ago'.

copyright © Royal Pavilion & Museums, Brighton & Hove
Brighton Herald 28 October 1843
This advert marks the end of William's mangement of his own
cricket ground, his landlord wanted the land back for house building.
Lillywhite's Cricket Ground was the venue for Gentlemen's cricket
matches for teams from the Brighton & Hove and surrounding villages,
the 'Gentleman of Preston Street' (where William lived) had their own
cricket team and used Lillywhite's Cricket Ground as their home ground.
William ran private coaching sessions at his ground which
could be booked on a hourly basis.

It is sad to record that Lillywhite left Sussex in 1844, and the cause of his departure caused such sourness that he resolved never to set foot in Brighton again, and only relented for one specially arranged match that took place in 1853.

copyright © National Library of New Zealand
Otago Daily News 30 November 1863
The above is a story told by William Lillywhite in his own
words of a coaching session he had with a 'London Dandy'.
The reporter has tried to convey William's Sussex accent
and the Dandy's accent in words.

However, after 1844 he never played cricket for the Sussex team again. The cause of all the trouble was a dispute concerning payment for a new fence. Apparently, Lillywhite did not agree with the decision made by Mr Kynaston (secretary of the MCC) or Mr Everett (a member of the MCC and Sussex Cricket Club). Lillywhite was not in receipt of the support he expected, and it was stated that their separation ‘did not take place with the natural good feeling, which ought to have existed’.

Lillywhite started off his public cricket career as a batsman. Although it was acknowledged he possessed no grace or style, he was known to be a steady player whose coolness and nerve were invaluable when a match reached a sticky point and a few runs were needed. In those days cricketers did not have the luxury of protective gloves, and his fingers were broken three times during matches, but he just got on with it, and was therefore known as a plucky player.

Later on, Lillywhite took up bowling as well. He and his colleague James (or Jem) Broadbridge revolutionized cricket with their development of round-arm bowling. This style was not universally admired, indeed traditionalists considered it not quite ‘cricket’. But nobody could quibble with the accuracy of Lillywhite’s bowling. On one famous occasion he bowled 60 balls to a noted Kent batsman, Fuller Pilch, without a single run being scored, while the 61^st ball hit the wicket. It was said that Lillywhite’s definition of a good game of cricket was ‘Me bowling, Pilch batting, and Box keeping wicket.’

A. G. Steel writing in Cricket (1885) about the famous William Lillywhite in the 1830s-1840s, 'he handled the ball as he would do a brick was a crack professional bowler at this time'.

Lillywhite first played at Lord’s on 18 and 19 June 1827 in a match between England and Sussex. The gate money came to £300 – taken in sixpences. Lillywhite continued to play in MCC’s principal matches, and in 1844 he became their principal bowler. For a wonderful period of seven years, in partnership with Hillier, they managed to defeat almost every eleven that played against the MCC. Lillywhite’s excellence soon earned him the nickname of the ‘Nonpareil Bowler’.

copyright © Royal Pavilion & Museums, Brighton & Hove
Brighton Herald 3 September 1842
William Lillywhite's benefit match of 1842 at the Lillywhite's Grounds in Brighton

In 1842 Lillywhite became the first player to be given a benefit match. This was much more than a courtesy honour because Lillywhite certainly could not claim to be a gentleman player. He was a working-class man with a large family, and any additional income was more than welcome. It is pleasant to record that the Earl of Stanford and Warrington donated £20, the Speaker of the House of Lords made a contribution, and a number of lords and gentlemen subscribed £1.

copyright © Royal Pavilion & Museums, Brighton & Hove
Brighton Herald 30 July 1853
William Lillywhite's benefit match of 1853 at Lord's

Lillywhite’s last benefit match was at Lord’s in 1853 when he was a venerable 61 years of age and could only bowl eleven overs because of illness. The match was between Sussex and England and John Lillywhite and James Lillywhite were in the Sussex team. A portrait of William Lillywhite made on that historic day depicted him wearing broad braces, a dark cravat, and a dark top hat.

Image from Cricket by W. G. Grace (1891)
The All England Eleven of 1847, from left to right:- Guy, Parr, Martingell, A. Mynn, W. Denison (cricket writer), Dean, Clarke, Felix, Pell, Hillyer, William Lillywhite (in the dark suit), Dorrington, Pilch, Sewell.

Apparently, he liked to wear a black top hat all the time he was playing, even on the hottest day. Lillywhite was described as a short, thick-set man with a sharp nose and dark eyebrows.

He was 5-ft 4-in, and weighed 11 stone 8lbs – exactly the same weight as the famous actor Edmund Keen. Amongst other treasures at Lord’s is a pencil and water-colour sketch by an artist called Felix showing the All-England Eleven of 1847, including Lillywhite. Another portrait of Lillywhite was painted by local artist Mr Earp.

It is worth reflecting on what a remarkable cricketing career Lillywhite enjoyed considering he did not start playing at Lord’s until he was aged 35.

Although today you would be considered to be in the prime of life, in Lillywhite’s day, at that age you were getting on a bit.

Indeed it was said that ‘no man ever came to Lord’s so late in life.’ He continued with his spectacular bowling until he was nearly sixty. An incredible statistic is that during the course of some 237 matches, he took no less that 1,576 wickets.

After William retired he became the cricket coach at Winchester College from 1851 until 1853, the College teams under William’s direction went on to beat both Harrow and Eton two years running at Lord's.

William Lillywhite died of cholera on 21 August 1854 at 10 Princes Terrace, Caledonian Road, Islington. He was buried near the gates of Highgate Cemetery with ‘Lillywhite’ in large letters, followed by a lengthy inscription; the monument was also adorned with an image of crossed cricket bats, and a cricket ball in the process of knocking off the bails. The splendid edifice was possible because of a public subscription.

William Lillywhite's Overarm Bowling Saved Cricket

Tasmanian Examiner 17^th December 1954

The above article is incorrect,
William was never a ‘London bricklayer’
but a former ‘Hove brick maker’
(see the text on the left from The Express)

William J. Bayes writing in the Saturday Evening Express (Tasmania Australia) on the 18^th December 1954, under the banner headline ‘William Lillywhite's Overarm Bowling Saved Cricket’, gave the following insight into William’s significant contribution to the history of cricket:- ‘A new art had been brought to bowling – the deception of the ‘cut’ delivery, added guile in flighting and so on. It meant that cricket was saved from the lob from what Knight, in his Press campaign for round-arm, described contemptuously as ‘the chuck-half-penny school’

Lillywhite went on to take almost 200 wickets a season with almost unfailing regularity at an average cost of only seven runs apiece. It is on record in the faded, neatly inscribed contemporary score-books that in 20 seasons he bowled only ten wides. When the first bowling catapult was set up at Cambridge, Lillywhite wagered that he would hit the stumps more often than the new monster, which was an outrage to him. Man and machine duly sent down deliveries – and Lillywhite won.

His figures over the years would have been even better but for his refusal to attempt a ‘caught and bowled’ when the batsman sent back a scorching return. That sort of thing was not William. The Lillywhite hand must run no risk of injury – not the bowling hand in all events. In match after match his captain would roar his disapproval as Lillywhite blatantly evaded holding a hot return and William would shout back, ‘hold that, would ye have me injured? and where would ye be without my bowling?’. Lillywhite was a little man, but no one could intimidate him. Playing in his tall black hat, Gladstonian like, he had an air of supreme and almost unapproachable dignity’.

In 1962 the MCC erected a tablet with the following inscription. In honour of Frederick William Lillywhite 1792-1854, a great Sussex and England cricketer, the father of round arm bowling, who as his monument in Highgate Cemetery records, achieved a world wide reputation teaching, both by precept and example, a sport in which youthful strength and spirits may be innocently enjoyed, to the exercise of the mind, the discipline of the temper and the general improvement of man.

Frederick Lillywhite (1829-1866)

He was born at Hove on 23 July 1829, son of (Frederick) William Lillywhite. Although he was never a cricketer of note like other family members, he too made an outstanding contribution to the game.

An advert from the 1860s

He produced volumes containing cricket scores together with biographical information about the players, thus providing the public with valuable information. He is also credited as being the first person to introduce score-cards, and moreover he invented a portable printing press on which to print them. At Lord’s, he set up the first private printing press in the grounds.

This image is from Frederick Lillywhite's The English Cricketer's
Trip to Canada & The United States (1860) and shows
Frederick sitting in his 'printing tent'

In 1859 he travelled with the all-professional England cricket team as official scorer and Press agent, touring the United States and Canada. Naturally, his invaluable portable printing press went with him.

It is fascinating to record that part of the official rig of that tour included a white shirt with pink spots.

copyright © Royal Pavilion & Museums, Brighton & Hove
Brighton Herald 2 December 1865
The above article credits Frederick Lillywhite with introducing the new game of ‘Foot-ball’ to Brighton and Hove schools. Interestingly the game was played under the Sheffield Rules of Football (1862-67) where the ball was kicked between ‘two rouge flags’, placed 4 yards either side of the goal posts, to score a point. If no goals were scored a match could be decided on 'rouge points'
Frederick sold footballs from his sport's shops in Ship Street and St James's Street in Brighton.
Frederick Lillywhite was one of the prime movers in bringing Rugby Football to Brighton in 1865/1866.

Later on, Lillywhite went into partnership with John Wisden in running a cricketing and cigar depot. Unfortunately, the venture only lasted for two years. Of course knowing Lillywhite’s work was vitally important to Wisden. It seems grossly unfair that the name of Wisden is today synonymous with cricketing facts and figures while the name of the man who first thought of the idea, namely Frederick Lillywhite, is forgotten.

An advert from the Educator's Guide of 1866
In 1863, Ellen the sister of Frederick, married his business partner - Thomas Ward,
the wedding took place in Camberwell and witnessed by John and James Lillywhite

James Lillywhite, senior, (1825-1882)

He was born at Hove on 29 October 1825. He is now known as ‘senior’ in order to avoid confusion with his cousin of the same name who was born in Westhampnet.

But it is true to say that they both had cricket in their genes, although as bowlers they did differ in their favoured arm with ‘senior’ using his right while ‘junior’ used his left. James Lillywhite, senior, played cricket for Sussex and Middlesex, and in 1853 he was described as a ‘very straight but difficult bowler to play having great twist caused by the delivery. He is an improving bat.’

Although nobody claimed his cricket playing was in the same category as his father, he was considered to be a first-class teacher, and he undertook coaching duties at public schools such as Westminster, Eton and Cheltenham College.

An advert from the 1860s

In 1872 he founded Lillywhite’s Cricketer’s Annual, and this continued to be published until 1900, by which time it was known as James Lillywhite’s Cricketing Annual. It was popularly known as ‘Red Lillywhite’ because of the colour of the cover.

John Lillywhite (1826-1874)

He was born at Hove on 10 November 1826, son of (Frederick) William Lillywhite. He inherited a love of cricket, and it was remarkable how good he was at it because his eyesight was very poor. Despite this he earned the nickname of ‘Mud Bowler’ because he was so effective on a wet wicket. He was something of an all-rounder too because he was also remembered as a sound, right-handed batsman.

He played for Sussex from 1850 to 1869, and in 1871 he was given a benefit match at the Brunswick Cricket Ground. It was a three-day event, and it is astonishing to note that 13,000 people turned up to watch the proceedings, while the money collected amounted to £700. Perhaps the crowd were also interested in seeing the celebrated W. G. Grace in action, and he obliged them by scoring 217 runs, the highest innings ever made at the ground.

Above is a description of John given by W. G. Grace
in his book, Cricket (1891) under the chapter,
'Players I Have Met'

In 1850 John Lillywhite opened a sports shop at 10 Princes Terrace, Caledonian Road, Islington. He made it a family affair by inviting his father, and his brothers James and Frederick to join him. It was a tragedy when his father contracted cholera while there and died in 1854. Frederick soon left to pursue his own commercial activities.

An advert from the 1860s

However, the name of Lillywhite lived on because from 1890 Lillywhite’s had the responsibility of equipping the England women’s cricket team. In the early days, the ladies wore calf-length dresses adorned with sashes and sailor-collars – it was a wonder they could move at all.

An advert from the Educator's Guide of 1866

Lillywhite’s also had the foresight to diversify into other sports, and by 1925 they could provide equipment for no less than 34 different sports. During the Second World War they provided boots for the paratroopers, and equipped the skiing battalion in Norway. Lillywhite’s were Royal Warrant holders.

Image from Cricket by W. G. Grace (1891)
The United South of England Eleven of 1871,in the back row in the dark suit is John Lillywhite, now retired from playing and acting as an umpire for the team, and on the far right is his cousin, James Lillywhite junior, sitting in the centre is W. G. Grace

James Lillywhite, junior (1842-1929)

He was known as ‘junior’ to distinguish him from his cousin James Lillywhite, senior, who was born at Hove. All rather confusing. James Lillywhite, junior was born at Westhampnet on 23 February 1842 the son of John Lillywhite, a brickmaker.

He made a startling debut playing for Sussex on 16 June 1862 when he took fourteen wickets for 57 runs. Alfred D. Taylor described his bowling thus, ‘left hand, round arm, high, slow, straight and very rarely off the wicket.’

Above is a description of James given by W. G. Grace
in his book, Cricket (1891) under the chapter,
'Players I Have Met'

In August 1881 The Gentleman of England played The Players of England at the Sussex County Cricket Ground in a benefit match for James Lillywhite junior, in recognition of his 19 years service to the County. According to W. G. Grace, James played in every Sussex County Cricket match between 1862 to 1881.

He played cricket for 24 years, and first-class cricket for 20 years. In 1877 he became the first England Test Match captain in Melbourne, and he helped to promote three further tours of Australia. Like his cousin James, he was well-known as a cricket coach, and he was also a Test Match umpire.

In retirement James was a cricket coach at various educational institutions namely - Oxford, Harrow, Cheltenham College and Trinity College Dublin.

James Lillywhite junior maintained a home in the Westhampnet (West Sussex) throughout his life and is buried in St Peter's Church churchyard in the village.

*******

On 12^th April 2014, Adam Trimingham wrote in the Argus, ‘The Lillywhites were one of the most remarkable sporting families in Sussex for more than a hundred years. They made a huge mark on cricket, fundamentally changing the way in which it was played’.

Sources

Argus

Brighton Herald

Educator's Guide (1866)

Encyclopaedia of Hove and Portslade

Grace, W. G. Cricket (1891)

Internet

Lillywhite, F. The English Cricketer's Trip to Canada and the United States (1860)

National Library of Australia

National Library of New Zealand

New York Times

Otago Daily News

Royal Pavilion & Museums, Brighton & Hove

Steel, A. G. Cricket (1885)

With thanks to the Sussex Cricket Museum and N. Sharp for the use of their images

09 April 2022

The Lillywhites at Hove