British landowner and politician
William Gage
|
Born
| 1695
Firle
,
Sussex
, England
|
---|
Died
| (
1744-04-23
)
23 April 1744
Firle, Sussex
|
---|
|
Sir
William Gage
CB
(1695 ? 23 April 1744) of
Firle Place
was a British landowner and politician who sat in the
House of Commons
from 1727 to 1744. He was an early patron of
cricket
, in association with his friend
Charles Lennox, 2nd Duke of Richmond
.
Early life
[
edit
]
Rear view of Firle Place
Gage was born in
Firle
,
East Sussex
, the third son of Sir John Gage, 4th Baronet, and his first wife Mary Stanley, daughter of Sir William Stanley, 1st Baronet, of Hooton, Cheshire. He succeeded his brother to the
Baronetcy
in October 1713.
[1]
Parliamentary career
[
edit
]
The Gage family were
Roman Catholic
recusants
but Sir William chose to conform to the established Church so that he could become an
MP
in 1722. His seat was the former constituency of
Seaford
and where he remained until his death in 1744.
[2]
Cricket career
[
edit
]
Sir William was a keen
cricketer
and patron who led and backed teams. One of his teams has been credited with the earliest known innings victory. He was a close friend of
Charles Lennox, 2nd Duke of Richmond
and it seems they had organised a number of cricket matches before 1725 when their involvement first becomes clear through a surviving letter that Gage wrote to Richmond in humorous terms about cricket:
[3]
[4]
My Lord Duke,
I received this moment your Grace's letter and am extremely happy your Grace intends us ye honour of making one a Tuesday, and will without fail bring a gentleman with me to play against you, One that has played very seldom for these several years.
I am in great affliction with being shamefully beaten Yesterday, the first match I played this year. However I will muster up all my courage against Tuesday's engagement. I will trouble your Grace with nothing more than that I wish you Success in everything except ye Cricket Match and that I am etc. etc.
W. Gage
Firle July ye 16th 1725
Sir William's name appears in connection with a number of matches over the next few years. A game against
Edwin Stead
's XI on 28 August 1729 is regarded as the earliest innings victory on record.
[5]
A contemporary report states that Sussex "got (within three) in one hand, as the former did in two hands, so the Kentish men threw it up".
[5]
Sir William was greatly assisted by the outstanding play of
Thomas Waymark
"who turned the scale of victory".
[5]
In August 1733, Sir William's team challenged one backed by
Frederick, Prince of Wales
at
Moulsey Hurst
for "a wager of 100 guineas".
[6]
Sir William was officially Lord Gage by then. The result of the match is unknown but it featured "11 of the best players in the county on each side".
[7]
In September 1734, his
Sussex
team played a
Kent
team led by
Lord John Philip Sackville
in the earliest match recorded at
Sevenoaks Vine
. This was won by Kent.
[8]
Apart from one minor fixture a few years later, that is the last record of Sir William in a cricketing context.
Death and legacy
[
edit
]
Gage was unmarried and died without issue aged 49 on 23 April 1744. He was succeeded in the
Baronetcy
by his cousin
Thomas Gage
who, in 1754, was raised to the
Peerage of Ireland
as Viscount Gage.
[1]
Gage did much to develop Firle Place, including the external cladding of the building in the
Georgian style
, using
Caen Stone
.
[
citation needed
]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
a
b
George Edward Cokayne
Complete Baronetage, Volume 1
1900
- ^
"GAGE, Sir William, 7th Bt. (1695?1744), of Firle, Suss"
. History of Parliament Online
. Retrieved
29 April
2019
.
- ^
Marshall, p.41.
- ^
McCann, p.4.
- ^
a
b
c
Waghorn, p.7.
- ^
McCann, pp.13?14.
- ^
McCann, p.14.
- ^
McCann, p.15.
Bibliography
[
edit
]
- John Marshall,
The Duke who was Cricket
, Muller, 1961
- Timothy J McCann
,
Sussex Cricket in the Eighteenth Century
, Sussex Record Society, 2004
- H T Waghorn
,
The Dawn of Cricket
, Electric Press, 1906