6. REV. T. HARDING 1862-1874

Thomas Harding is the earliest known President. He is recorded as being President in 1862 but may have held office from a much earlier date. He became Vicar of Bexley in 1833 and held the living for forty-one years and it is likely that if the Club had a President before 1862 it was Mr. Harding.

As President it was his happy custom to give a cricket bat to the colt making the highest score in the annual youth match between the Young Gentlemen and the Young Players. (The 'Gentlemen' were public schoolboys, the 'Players' were the sons of local shop keepers. farmers et al. They were all Under 16. The
recipient in 1870 was John Shuter, who went on to play for Surrey and England.

In the nineteenth century the Vicar, the Squire and the Doctor had much influence in village life and they considered it their duty, as well as their right to play a leading role in the community. In this way Mr. Harding was involved in many local educational and charitable causes, as well as in the activities of St. Mary's Church. On the cricketing front he saw the revitalisation of the Club in the l860’s when the dynamic Thomas Dann Junior, was Secretary-Treasurer.
It is interesting to note that in the photograph Mr. Harding is wearing a stock round his neck, not a “dog collar". The latter gradually became the fashion for clergymen after about 1845.
The photograph, which was probably taken about 1865, suggests that Mr. Harding was not very concerned about the latest fashions in dress.