5. Chapter 2 Early Nineteenth Century Cricket 1806-1859

1818 v Chislehurst: Bexley Fair and John
Miskin's Field which was probably the present
Ground: 'The George' as the Clubhouse of the Bexley St George's Club

The Club is fortunate that detailed scores of six matches played in the period 1802-1805 survive. The newspaper records over the next fifty years or so are more sparse, and some may refer to a Bexley Heath Club, despite it being called the Bexley Club in the reports. Nevertheless, there are a number of reports, covering every decade, which show that cricket was continuing to be played in the village. The matches were against local opposition and although some were played for money, the amounts were much less than the 500 guineas of the earlier Grand Matches. 't
A poster for 1818 advertising a match between Eleven Gentlemen of Bexley and Eleven Gentlemen of Chislehurst survives and is reproduced here. It states that the match is to be played on "The cricketing ground, Bexley". Lovegrove21 comments "there is some conjecture as to where the cricketing ground was. As well as the present site, claims have been made for the sunken field between St John's Church and Hurst Road [known in modern times as 'the golden acre'] and a meadow at the rear of the Railway Tavern which is now traversed by the railway line". Although the location of the ground is not certain, its description as "the cricketing ground" clearly shows that cricket was being played regularly on it. Two names in the Bexley team are of particular interest: "Kelsey" was a member of the family that still farms in Bexley and which has been closely associated with the Club for over 150 years. In that time there has almost always been a Kelsey - and sometimes as many as five - in the Bexley teams. The other recognisable name is "Haynes"; he was the grandfather of Basil Jones who was a prominent member in the twentieth century, being 1st XI Captain in 1926-28.
In the 1830s there are reports of several matches22,23 being played, against Camberwell, Charlton, Chislehurst and Mitcham Albion. There was a particularly exciting match in 1838, with Chislehurst winning by just two runs (Bexley 43 and 60: Chislehurst 66 and 39). The following year Bexley were well on the way to avenging this defeat "when the shades of evening put an end to the game" (Bexley 142 and 105: Chislehurst 29 and 30- 7). It was the happy custom, after these matches, for the teams to go off to a local hostelry for a meal and a convivial evening.
It is not certain that these references to Bexley teams imply a continuous existence from the early part of the century. However, there is support for this idea from the inclusion of 'T Dann'. He was almost certainly Thomas (b 1811), the son of John Dann who played for Bexley in 1802 and who supplied '"nails to Bexley Cricket Club" at about that time. As will be seen in the next chapter Thomas's son, also called Thomas, was to become a leading figure in the Club in the 1860s.

In 1840, Bexley played a match against Sevenoaks on the historic Vine ground, a fixture which happily still continues.(The cover photograph, taken in 1990, shows the 150th Anniversary match in progress.)
We should now turn our attention to the annual Bexley Fair. This was of very ancient origins, having been granted by Charter to the Archbishop of Canterbury by King Edward II in 1316. It was held until 1874 and it was the custom, at least in the period 1836-1853 to include a cricket match as part of the festivities. A poster for the Fair, dated 1840, advertising a match, is reproduced here.
Apart from giving further evidence that cricket was continuing to be played in Bexley in this period, the poster is of great interest for the light it throws on the possible first use of the present ground. It announces that the match is to be played 'on Mr Miskin's Field'. Reference to the tithes map and associated documents published in 1839 shows that John Miskin rented four fields in the neighbourhood, including the present ground. The problem is to decide which of the four was used for cricket.
The other three fields, apart from the present ground, were a meadow between the present ground and the River Cray, currently owned by an Angling Club 'Rushes Meadow' behind the present pavilion on the Upper College Farm site - arable land where Salisbury Road is now situated.
These three fields are unlikely to have been used for cricket, for the following reasons:­ the land near the river would probably have been too wet: the unpromisingly named Rushes Meadow would probably have been too remote from the village: and the arable land could not have been used for sport. This leaves the present ground, which does not suffer from these disadvantages, as the most likely to be the 'Mr Miskin's Field' of the match poster. In the tithes documents it is called 'First Meadow' and is shown the same shape and size as it is today. The evidence thus strongly suggests that the present ground was in use for matches as early as 1840.
There are reports of Fair matches taking place up to 1853, for various sums of money or, on one occasion by way of novelty, for a prize of gloves for the winning team. These matches seem mostly to have been light-hearted affairs, featuring 'married' versus 'single', or with the players in fancy dress.
Much of Bexley, including the present cricket ground, was owned by Oxford University at this time. This stems from the bequest in 1621, by William Camden the noted antiquarian, of land at Bexley to endow a Chair of History at the University. Tithes of 4s 6d [22½p] were payable for the cricket ground to the Vicar and 14s 0d [70p] to the impropriator (ie tithes' owner) Sarah Latham. The freehold remained with the University until the end of the nineteenth century.
It should be appreciated that at this time there would not have been a permanent clubhouse on the ground, although it is possible that a tent would have been erected. Instead, like many present-day village teams, the cricketers met in a local pub, The George Inn, Bexley High Street, which still flourishes. The Club in the 1840s and 50s called itself Bexley St George's and is known to have played matches against Chislehurst, Blackheath Independent, Eltham, Dulwich Victoria, Beckenham, Shoreham, Sutton-at-Hone, and Peckham Rye Albion, generally on a home-and-away basis in the same year.

These games were not without incident, as the following reports from Bell's Life in London(Bell's Life in London records that Bexley won the match, but adds 'The score as sent in is unintelligible' -this is the first known example of administrative incompetence in the Club's history, but not the last!) for 1846 describe vividly. Peckham Rye Albion had been beaten in a match at Bexley (Peckham 34 and 54: Bexley 66 and 25-2), but they wrote to the newspaper complaining "The Bexley umpire gave out one of the Peckham side (leg before wicket) when the ball struck the man only on the wrist and went off into slip's hands, which catch he missed". They also challenged the eligibility of two of the Bexley players.
The Bexley Secretary wrote back to the editor "The account of the match between the St George's Club, Bexley and the Peckham Rye Albion Club sent to you last week is a very unfair one. Mr Watson and Mr Ambrose were not given to the Bexley Club_ as stated, as they are members of it, and their names were in the list sent to the Alb10n two days before the match was played. In regard to the umpire being ignorant of the game, I assure you he is this day standing for Oswald Smith Esq of Blendon Hall [in a match] against John Burnett Esq of May Place and has done so annually for seven years, having Hollis of Blackheath opposed to him. This, I think, is proof that he is competent to stand as umpire, and I believe him to be an honest one - Your obedient servant, G Whiting".
There seems to have been no lasting ill-feeling, for a return match was played at Peckham Rye later in the season. Peckham avenged their earlier defeat; it is not known whether the same umpire officiated. Incidentally, the complaint about the ineligibility of Watson and Ambrose may have had some validity, as both frequently played for the Bexley Heath and Dartford Clubs at about this time. Later in 1846 Bexley twice played Blackheath Independent on Blackheath. Bexley won the first match but were beaten by an innings and 144 runs in the return. One of the Blackheath batsmen, Sams, scored 108 and this is the earliest known century in a match involving Bexley.
At a pre-season meeting23 held in 1850 it was announced that the Club would be playing on "a piece of new turf laid down under the supervision of Stephen Cannon Esq, surveyor, and Mr Coppinger, host of the club house" (ie The George Inn). This is the first known reference to any form of ground preparation. It is not certain where this ground was. A poster for a match in 1850 against Dulwich is reproduced here but it refers only to "the Cricket Ground, Bexley", without giving a precise address*. Normally reports simply state 'at Bexley' but one report23 for 1851 says 'the match was played on the St George's Ground, Bexley', which may have been the present ground or perhaps a paddock behind The George. Incidentally, the name 'Kelsey' appears in team lists for the Bexley St George's Club, providing further evidence of continuity between earlier and later periods in the Club's history. The Cannon family also had an association with the Club for over a century. For many years they owned the old water mill and the adjacent meadows. From time-to-time the mill pond had to be drained for cleaning and on those occasions Mr Cannon was able to give trout to virtually all the families in Bexley.
Protective clothing was starting to be worn for cricket, with padded tubular India Rubber batting gloves, padded wicket keeping gauntlets, leg guards and spiked shoes now on sale. Contemporary pictures of cricket matches in the 1840s show the players wearing tall beaver hats, which they kept on their heads even when bowling or keeping wicket.

There are no known reports of the Bexley St George's Club after 1852. Edward Coppinger had moved from The George by that date to Bexley Heath, and his departure may have affected the cricketing activity of the village.
What is certain, however, is that in 1860 cricket in the village was invigorated by the arrival on the scene of Thomas Dann, Junior. He laid the foundations for Bexley to become one of the leading clubs in the country in the 1870s and 80s.