Cricketing Chaplain, 1756?

Is there a link between the 55th Foot, the Regiment that became the 2nd Battalion of The Border Regiment in 1881, and cricket? It is possible but there are some missing connections if we are to be certain, for example the MCC have no information.

First some facts

The first Colonel of the Regiment, Charles Perry, was the illegitimate son of the 2nd Duke of Bolton, Charles Powlett. The family name was spelt Powlett in several ways, including Paulett, Pawlet and Pawlett. The first Chaplain of the Regiment was a Charles Pawlet. He is recorded in the ‘List of the General and Field Officers as they rank in the Army...to May 1756'. Pawlet is no longer Chaplain by 1767.

Some suppositions

The Reverend Charles Powlett, born 1728, was the step-nephew of Perry. He was made Deacon in 1753 and Priest in 1754. For a month of 1754 he was Chaplain to the 5th Duke of Bolton. And again for a month in 1759 he was the 6th Duke’s Chaplain.

Then there is a gap in records until 1769 when he becomes the Vicar of Kingsclere in Hampshire, where the Powlett family were major landowners.

Country Parson

He was a leading sponsor of early cricket (and gambling) at Hambledon Cricket Club. Eighteenth Century Parsons were more likely to hunt and gamble than take Bible classes, indeed they often employed others to take services. The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography describes Reverend

Charles Powlett as“...first entering the army and then the church.”

So was he?

Was Pawlett of the 55th also the Powlett of Hambledon? The different spellings of the name are not a problem, the family used several versions. It was not unusual for Chaplains to be relatives of the Colonel. And the gaps in Charle's religious appointments match the 55th's Chaplain, Pawlett's time in North America.

An interesting life

Charles’ mother Lavinia Fenton was the actress who played ‘Polly Peachum’ in the first production of ‘The Beggar’s Opera’ in 1728. In 1754 when his father died the title passed to his uncle Harry Powlett. Charles having been born before his father married Lavinia in 1751. Charles was parson, squire and sportsman, that is he hunted and gambled. His parishes were near Hambledon, an important early cricket club. At the time the nobility saw cricket as an opportunity to gamble. Charles was part of the Committee that revised the ‘articles’ of cricket in 1774. For the first time these stipulated the width of the bat and introduced the lbw law.

Crooked

Gambling was a large part of cricket for Charles. His most outrageous gambling incident was in 1775. Hambledon played an ‘All England’ team. Charles and friends switched their bets from Hambledon to All England, who were looking the better side, then as the home team recovered, Hambledon were instructed to lose the match. Derek Birley, author of ‘A social history of English Cricket’, describes Powlett and his moneyed friends as “utterly crooked”.

Is it enough to link the 55th with cricket? Maybe , but a fascinating, maybe.

Photograph ‘4th Coy Brigade of Guards’ USA, © Gregory Starace

Peter Green