Alfred Lyttelton
Encyclopedia
Alfred Lyttelton QC
(7 February 1857 – 5 July 1913) was a British politician and sportsman who excelled at both football and cricket
. During his time at university he participated in Varsity Match
es in five sports: cricket (1876–79), football (1876–78), athletics (1876) (he was selected to throw the hammer), rackets (1877–79) and real tennis
(1877–79), displaying an ability that made him arguably the pre-eminent sportsman of his generation; his only rival in terms of versatility was Oxford's Cuthbert Ottaway
. He was, among numerous other achievements, the first man to represent England at both football and cricket. Lyttelton was also a successful politician and served as Secretary of State for the Colonies
between 1903 and 1905.
, by his first wife Mary, daughter of Sir Stephen Glynne, 8th Baronet. Charles Lyttelton, 8th Viscount Cobham
, Sir Neville Lyttelton
and the Right Reverend Arthur Lyttelton were his elder brothers and Prime Minister William Ewart Gladstone
an uncle by marriage. Another relative was his great-nephew, the jazz
trumpet
er Humphrey Lyttelton
. Lyttelton was educated at Eton
– where he was President of Pop – and Trinity College, Cambridge
.
for Cambridge University
, captaining the side in 1879. After going down from university he represented Middlesex
, where he was a noted wicket-keeper
. In the course of his cricketing career, Lyttelton accumulated a total of 4,429 first-class runs at an average of 27.85, scoring seven centuries. As a wicket-keeper, he held 134 catches and stumped 70. He ranked third in the national first-class averages in 1879 with 688 runs at 28.66. While turning out for Middlesex he also represented Worcestershire
(1874–85), which was not then a first-class county.
In the early 1880s Lyttelton played four Test matches
against Australia, the most notable of which was that contested at The Oval
in 1884. In the course of this game, Australia reached a total – all but unheard-of at the time – of 500 for six and the England captain, Lord Harris, grew so desperate for a breakthrough that he asked his wicket-keeper to bowl. Grace kept wicket while Lyttelton sent down a succession of underarm lobs, succeeding, remarkably, in taking the last four Australian wickets for only 19 runs in the course of a dozen overs. He was President of Marylebone Cricket Club
in 1898.
, playing for Cambridge and Old Etonians
and winning a single cap for England
against Scotland
on 3 March 1877. As a university player, Lyttelton's most notable achievement was the hat-trick
he scored in helping Cambridge to a 5–1 victory over Oxford
in 1878. As a club player, he turned out for Etonians in the FA Cup
final of 1876, a match the team lost, after a replay, to Royal Engineers
. As an international, he scored the only goal in England's 1–3 defeat by Scotland in 1878. He was, a contemporary assessment in the Football Annual noted, "a very strong and fast forward, a splendid shot at goal, and perhaps the most dangerous forward out."
Lyttelton's brother, Edward
– a fellow England international – wrote in a private memoir:
Lyttelton's principal weapon as a forward was a unique and generally successful goalscoring technique that appears, from contemporary sources, to have been a primitive version of the 1970s Cruyff turn. Edward Lyttelton explained:
Lyttelton played in the last days of the "dribbling game", the earliest form of the Association code and a style of play that valued individualism and close ball control over passing and teamwork. In his solitary international his England team-mates were highly critical of his attempts to dribble through the entire Scotland defence by himself, and Billy Mosforth
, the Sheffield
player, ventured to draw his colleague's attention to this failing. He was silenced by an imperious put-down that has been cited as exemplifying the attitude of the earliest amateurs: "I play," the unabashed Lyttelton sneered back, "for my own pleasure."
, Sir Henry James
. He remained apolitical until his uncle's retirement, but in 1894 entered politics as a Liberal Unionist, and was elected to the House of Commons
at the 1895 general election
as Member of Parliament
for Warwick and Leamington. He was President of the Marylebone Cricket Club
in 1898. In 1900, he was sent by Colonial Secretary
Joseph Chamberlain
to South Africa
as chairman of the committee planning reconstruction following the Boer War
, a position in which he impressed South African High Commissioner Alfred Milner.
Upon Chamberlain's resignation, Lyttelton succeeded him as Colonial Secretary
, despite his relative political inexperience. His decision to allow Chinese indentured labor into South Africa proved highly controversial and became a major issue for the Liberals in the 1906 election. Lyttelton also attempted ambitious reforms Britain's of management of the colonies towards a more decentralized, imperial vision, but these ideas were abandoned by the Liberals who succeeded him. After the Conservatives' fall from power, Lyttelton remained active politically, opposing Welsh disestablishment and supporting women's suffrage. In the summer of 1913, he was struck in the belly during a cricket match in South Africa
. Shortly after his return to Britain, he was taken ill at the Foreign Office and an operation revealed the presence of an abscess
in his stomach. Surgery was unsuccessful and he died, in a nursing home, early in July. His funeral took place on the day of the annual Varsity cricket match, and play between Oxford and Cambridge was suspended for two minutes as a mark of respect.
, in 1885. She died in 1886, the same year she gave birth to their only child, a son, who died in 1888. Lyttelton married secondly Edith Sophy, daughter of Archibald Balfour, in 1892. They had two sons (one of whom died as an infant) and one daughter. His eldest son Oliver
became a prominent politician and businessman and was created Viscount Chandos
in 1954. Lyttelton died in July 1913, aged 56. His second wife survived him by over thirty years and died in September 1948.
Queen's Counsel
Queen's Counsel , known as King's Counsel during the reign of a male sovereign, are lawyers appointed by letters patent to be one of Her [or His] Majesty's Counsel learned in the law...
(7 February 1857 – 5 July 1913) was a British politician and sportsman who excelled at both football and cricket
Cricket
Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of 11 players on an oval-shaped field, at the centre of which is a rectangular 22-yard long pitch. One team bats, trying to score as many runs as possible while the other team bowls and fields, trying to dismiss the batsmen and thus limit the...
. During his time at university he participated in Varsity Match
Varsity match
A varsity match is a sporting fixture between two university rivals; in its original and most common form, it is used to describe meetings between Oxford University and Cambridge University.-Popular British and Irish Varsity matches:*University of Oxford v...
es in five sports: cricket (1876–79), football (1876–78), athletics (1876) (he was selected to throw the hammer), rackets (1877–79) and real tennis
Real tennis
Real tennis – one of several games sometimes called "the sport of kings" – is the original indoor racquet sport from which the modern game of lawn tennis , is descended...
(1877–79), displaying an ability that made him arguably the pre-eminent sportsman of his generation; his only rival in terms of versatility was Oxford's Cuthbert Ottaway
Cuthbert Ottaway
Cuthbert John Ottaway , one of the most talented and versatile sportsmen of the 1870s, was the first captain of the England football team and led his side in the first official international football match....
. He was, among numerous other achievements, the first man to represent England at both football and cricket. Lyttelton was also a successful politician and served as Secretary of State for the Colonies
Secretary of State for the Colonies
The Secretary of State for the Colonies or Colonial Secretary was the British Cabinet minister in charge of managing the United Kingdom's various colonial dependencies....
between 1903 and 1905.
Background and education
Lyttelton was the twelfth and youngest child of George Lyttelton, 4th Baron LytteltonGeorge Lyttelton, 4th Baron Lyttelton
George William Lyttelton, 4th Baron Lyttelton , was a British aristocrat and Conservative politician.-Early life:...
, by his first wife Mary, daughter of Sir Stephen Glynne, 8th Baronet. Charles Lyttelton, 8th Viscount Cobham
Charles Lyttelton, 8th Viscount Cobham
Charles George Lyttelton, 8th Viscount Cobham , known as The Lord Lyttelton from 1876 to 1889, was a British peer and Liberal Member of Parliament.-Biography:...
, Sir Neville Lyttelton
Neville Lyttelton
General Sir Neville Gerald Lyttelton GCB, GCVO, PC was a British Army Officer. He served as Chief of the General Staff.-Army career:...
and the Right Reverend Arthur Lyttelton were his elder brothers and Prime Minister William Ewart Gladstone
William Ewart Gladstone
William Ewart Gladstone FRS FSS was a British Liberal statesman. In a career lasting over sixty years, he served as Prime Minister four separate times , more than any other person. Gladstone was also Britain's oldest Prime Minister, 84 years old when he resigned for the last time...
an uncle by marriage. Another relative was his great-nephew, the jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
trumpet
Trumpet
The trumpet is the musical instrument with the highest register in the brass family. Trumpets are among the oldest musical instruments, dating back to at least 1500 BCE. They are played by blowing air through closed lips, producing a "buzzing" sound which starts a standing wave vibration in the air...
er Humphrey Lyttelton
Humphrey Lyttelton
Humphrey Richard Adeane Lyttelton , also known as Humph, was an English jazz musician and broadcaster, and chairman of the BBC radio comedy programme I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue...
. Lyttelton was educated at Eton
Eton College
Eton College, often referred to simply as Eton, is a British independent school for boys aged 13 to 18. It was founded in 1440 by King Henry VI as "The King's College of Our Lady of Eton besides Wyndsor"....
– where he was President of Pop – and Trinity College, Cambridge
Trinity College, Cambridge
Trinity College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Trinity has more members than any other college in Cambridge or Oxford, with around 700 undergraduates, 430 graduates, and over 170 Fellows...
.
Cricketing career
Lyttelton played first-class cricketFirst-class cricket
First-class cricket is a class of cricket that consists of matches of three or more days' scheduled duration, that are between two sides of eleven players and are officially adjudged first-class by virtue of the standard of the competing teams...
for Cambridge University
Cambridge University Cricket Club
Cambridge University Cricket Club is a first-class cricket team. It now plays all but one of its first-class cricket matches as part of the Cambridge University Centre of Cricketing Excellence , which includes Anglia Ruskin University...
, captaining the side in 1879. After going down from university he represented Middlesex
Middlesex County Cricket Club
Middlesex County Cricket Club is one of the 18 major county clubs which make up the English and Welsh domestic cricket structure, representing the historic county of Middlesex. It was announced in February 2009 that Middlesex changed their limited overs name from the Middlesex Crusaders, to the...
, where he was a noted wicket-keeper
Wicket-keeper
The wicket-keeper in the sport of cricket is the player on the fielding side who stands behind the wicket or stumps being guarded by the batsman currently on strike...
. In the course of his cricketing career, Lyttelton accumulated a total of 4,429 first-class runs at an average of 27.85, scoring seven centuries. As a wicket-keeper, he held 134 catches and stumped 70. He ranked third in the national first-class averages in 1879 with 688 runs at 28.66. While turning out for Middlesex he also represented Worcestershire
Worcestershire County Cricket Club
Worcestershire County Cricket Club is one of the 18 major county clubs which make up the English and Welsh domestic cricket structure, representing the historic county of Worcestershire...
(1874–85), which was not then a first-class county.
In the early 1880s Lyttelton played four Test matches
Test cricket
Test cricket is the longest form of the sport of cricket. Test matches are played between national representative teams with "Test status", as determined by the International Cricket Council , with four innings played between two teams of 11 players over a period of up to a maximum five days...
against Australia, the most notable of which was that contested at The Oval
The Oval
The Kia Oval, still commonly referred to by its original name of The Oval, is an international cricket ground in Kennington, in the London Borough of Lambeth. In the past it was also sometimes called the Kennington Oval...
in 1884. In the course of this game, Australia reached a total – all but unheard-of at the time – of 500 for six and the England captain, Lord Harris, grew so desperate for a breakthrough that he asked his wicket-keeper to bowl. Grace kept wicket while Lyttelton sent down a succession of underarm lobs, succeeding, remarkably, in taking the last four Australian wickets for only 19 runs in the course of a dozen overs. He was President of Marylebone Cricket Club
Marylebone Cricket Club
Marylebone Cricket Club is a cricket club in London founded in 1787. Its influence and longevity now witness it as a private members' club dedicated to the development of cricket. It owns, and is based at, Lord's Cricket Ground in St John's Wood, London NW8. MCC was formerly the governing body of...
in 1898.
Footballing career
Lyttelton was also a keen and skilful footballerFootball (soccer)
Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a sport played between two teams of eleven players with a spherical ball...
, playing for Cambridge and Old Etonians
Old Etonians F.C.
The Old Etonians Football Club is an English football club whose players are taken from previous attendees of Eton College, in Eton, Berkshire.-History:...
and winning a single cap for England
England national football team
The England national football team represents England in association football and is controlled by the Football Association, the governing body for football in England. England is the joint oldest national football team in the world, alongside Scotland, whom they played in the world's first...
against Scotland
Scotland national football team
The Scotland national football team represents Scotland in international football and is controlled by the Scottish Football Association. Scotland are the joint oldest national football team in the world, alongside England, whom they played in the world's first international football match in 1872...
on 3 March 1877. As a university player, Lyttelton's most notable achievement was the hat-trick
Hat-trick
A hat-trick or hat trick in sport is the achievement of a positive feat three times during a game, or other achievements based on threes. The term was first used in 1858 in cricket to describe HH Stephenson's feat of taking three wickets in three balls. A collection was held for Stephenson, and he...
he scored in helping Cambridge to a 5–1 victory over Oxford
Oxford University A.F.C.
Oxford University Association Football Club is an English football club representing the University of Oxford.-History:Formed in 1872, the club was a giant of the 1870s, winning the FA Cup 2-0 against Royal Engineers in 1874 and finishing the competition as runners up in 1873, 1877 and 1880, the...
in 1878. As a club player, he turned out for Etonians in the FA Cup
FA Cup
The Football Association Challenge Cup, commonly known as the FA Cup, is a knockout cup competition in English football and is the oldest association football competition in the world. The "FA Cup" is run by and named after The Football Association and usually refers to the English men's...
final of 1876, a match the team lost, after a replay, to Royal Engineers
Royal Engineers A.F.C.
The Royal Engineers Association Football Club is an association football team representing the Corps of Royal Engineers, the "Sappers", of the British Army. In the 1870s it was one of the strongest sides in English football, winning the FA Cup in 1875 and being Cup Finalists in four of the first...
. As an international, he scored the only goal in England's 1–3 defeat by Scotland in 1878. He was, a contemporary assessment in the Football Annual noted, "a very strong and fast forward, a splendid shot at goal, and perhaps the most dangerous forward out."
Lyttelton's brother, Edward
Edward Lyttelton
Rev. Hon. Edward Lyttelton was an English sportsman, schoolmaster and clergyman. He played first-class cricket for Cambridge University and Middlesex as well as representing the England national football team.-Life:...
– a fellow England international – wrote in a private memoir:
There have been other players more deft at dribbling, there have been a few, very few, of greater speed, and there have been heavier players, but I never knew one who combined the three great essentials, and added to them a surprising accuracy at kicking goals and "bunting" his opponents. This last faculty he exercised by dint of a jerk of his hips, not as ordinarily by lowering the shoulder, and so the aggressor could see no sign of the terrific impact coming. Once playing against Royal Engineers I saw him make a run down from one end of the field to the other and floor four men on the way - the last two having charged him simultaneously from both sides, and both rebounding on their backs - and shoot the goal at the end.
Lyttelton's principal weapon as a forward was a unique and generally successful goalscoring technique that appears, from contemporary sources, to have been a primitive version of the 1970s Cruyff turn. Edward Lyttelton explained:
He would run towards the corner and then swiftly turn inwards, running parallel to the back line, and some ten yards from it. At this point he was pursued probably by three of the opponents, barely keeping up. This continued till he got opposite the further goal post, and then one huge foot was smartly dropped on the ball, stopping it dead, and of course the pursuers all ran a yard or so too far, not suspecting the sudden pull up; thus he had a clear shot at the goal.
Lyttelton played in the last days of the "dribbling game", the earliest form of the Association code and a style of play that valued individualism and close ball control over passing and teamwork. In his solitary international his England team-mates were highly critical of his attempts to dribble through the entire Scotland defence by himself, and Billy Mosforth
Billy Mosforth
William Mosforth was an English football player. He played for several Sheffield clubs but in his later career played mainly for Sheffield Wednesday before finally settling at United...
, the Sheffield
Sheffield
Sheffield is a city and metropolitan borough of South Yorkshire, England. Its name derives from the River Sheaf, which runs through the city. Historically a part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, and with some of its southern suburbs annexed from Derbyshire, the city has grown from its largely...
player, ventured to draw his colleague's attention to this failing. He was silenced by an imperious put-down that has been cited as exemplifying the attitude of the earliest amateurs: "I play," the unabashed Lyttelton sneered back, "for my own pleasure."
Professional and public career
On coming down from Cambridge, Lyttelton took up the law, and served as legal private secretary to the Attorney GeneralAttorney General for England and Wales
Her Majesty's Attorney General for England and Wales, usually known simply as the Attorney General, is one of the Law Officers of the Crown. Along with the subordinate Solicitor General for England and Wales, the Attorney General serves as the chief legal adviser of the Crown and its government in...
, Sir Henry James
Henry James, 1st Baron James of Hereford
Henry James, 1st Baron James of Hereford GCVO, PC, QC , known as Sir Henry James between 1873 and 1895, was an Anglo-Welsh lawyer and statesman. Initially a Liberal, he served under William Ewart Gladstone as Solicitor General in 1873 and as Attorney-General between 1873 and 1874 and 1880 and 1885...
. He remained apolitical until his uncle's retirement, but in 1894 entered politics as a Liberal Unionist, and was elected to the House of Commons
British House of Commons
The House of Commons is the lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, which also comprises the Sovereign and the House of Lords . Both Commons and Lords meet in the Palace of Westminster. The Commons is a democratically elected body, consisting of 650 members , who are known as Members...
at the 1895 general election
United Kingdom general election, 1895
The United Kingdom general election of 1895 was held from 13 July - 7 August 1895. It was won by the Conservatives led by Lord Salisbury who formed an alliance with the Liberal Unionist Party and had a large majority over the Liberals, led by Lord Rosebery...
as Member of Parliament
Member of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
for Warwick and Leamington. He was President of the Marylebone Cricket Club
Marylebone Cricket Club
Marylebone Cricket Club is a cricket club in London founded in 1787. Its influence and longevity now witness it as a private members' club dedicated to the development of cricket. It owns, and is based at, Lord's Cricket Ground in St John's Wood, London NW8. MCC was formerly the governing body of...
in 1898. In 1900, he was sent by Colonial Secretary
Secretary of State for the Colonies
The Secretary of State for the Colonies or Colonial Secretary was the British Cabinet minister in charge of managing the United Kingdom's various colonial dependencies....
Joseph Chamberlain
Joseph Chamberlain
Joseph Chamberlain was an influential British politician and statesman. Unlike most major politicians of the time, he was a self-made businessman and had not attended Oxford or Cambridge University....
to South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
as chairman of the committee planning reconstruction following the Boer War
Second Boer War
The Second Boer War was fought from 11 October 1899 until 31 May 1902 between the British Empire and the Afrikaans-speaking Dutch settlers of two independent Boer republics, the South African Republic and the Orange Free State...
, a position in which he impressed South African High Commissioner Alfred Milner.
Upon Chamberlain's resignation, Lyttelton succeeded him as Colonial Secretary
Secretary of State for the Colonies
The Secretary of State for the Colonies or Colonial Secretary was the British Cabinet minister in charge of managing the United Kingdom's various colonial dependencies....
, despite his relative political inexperience. His decision to allow Chinese indentured labor into South Africa proved highly controversial and became a major issue for the Liberals in the 1906 election. Lyttelton also attempted ambitious reforms Britain's of management of the colonies towards a more decentralized, imperial vision, but these ideas were abandoned by the Liberals who succeeded him. After the Conservatives' fall from power, Lyttelton remained active politically, opposing Welsh disestablishment and supporting women's suffrage. In the summer of 1913, he was struck in the belly during a cricket match in South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
. Shortly after his return to Britain, he was taken ill at the Foreign Office and an operation revealed the presence of an abscess
Abscess
An abscess is a collection of pus that has accumulated in a cavity formed by the tissue in which the pus resides due to an infectious process or other foreign materials...
in his stomach. Surgery was unsuccessful and he died, in a nursing home, early in July. His funeral took place on the day of the annual Varsity cricket match, and play between Oxford and Cambridge was suspended for two minutes as a mark of respect.
Family
Lyttelton married firstly Octavia Laura, daughter of Sir Charles Tennant, 1st BaronetSir Charles Tennant, 1st Baronet
Sir Charles Clow Tennant, 1st Baronet Scottish businessman, industrialist and Liberal politician.-Biography:...
, in 1885. She died in 1886, the same year she gave birth to their only child, a son, who died in 1888. Lyttelton married secondly Edith Sophy, daughter of Archibald Balfour, in 1892. They had two sons (one of whom died as an infant) and one daughter. His eldest son Oliver
Oliver Lyttelton, 1st Viscount Chandos
Oliver Lyttelton, 1st Viscount Chandos KG, PC, DSO, MC was a British businessman who was brought into government during the Second World War, holding a number of ministerial posts.-Background, education and military career:...
became a prominent politician and businessman and was created Viscount Chandos
Viscount Chandos
Viscount Chandos, of Aldershot in the County of Southampton, is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created in 1954 for the businessman and public servant Oliver Lyttelton. He was the son of the politician and sportsman the Hon...
in 1954. Lyttelton died in July 1913, aged 56. His second wife survived him by over thirty years and died in September 1948.