Julien Cahn
Encyclopedia
Sir Julien Cahn, 1st Baronet (21 October 1882, Cardiff
– 26 September 1944, Nottinghamshire
) was an entrepreneur, philanthropist and supporter of cricket.
Cahn was twice President of the Nottinghamshire
club and he personally defrayed the cost of building new stands at Trent Bridge
; he also provided a covered practice area, thus allowing county players to keep in training during the winter months.
As well his interest in playing he also represented Leicestershire on the Advisory County Cricket Committee and attended the meetings at Lord's dealing with the post-war plans. In addition to his cricket interest he was a keen hunter and was variously the Master of the Burton Woodland, Pytchley
and Fernie Hunts.
(nowadays known as GUS), he controlled a chain of between 300 and 400 stores.
By the 1920s Cahn was a very wealthy man who enjoyed his money, spending it lavishly and generously. He fell in love with cricket when as a child he often sat under Parr's tree at Trent Bridge
, listening to Arthur Shrewsbury
.
Later, in 1925 he joined the county committee at Nottinghamshire and his donations paid for much of the cost of a new scoreboard, new indoor nets and two new stands
In 1926 he finished building his new ground at West Bridgford in West Park
on Loughborough Road. This included a luxurious pavilion which was used to house a collection of ancient bats and which if necessary could be converted into a badminton court.
Having lived at Papplewick near Nottingham, in 1928 he bought Stanford Hall in South Nottinghamshire, from Kathleen Kimball at a cost of £70,000. The house was an eighteenth century red-brick building put up on the site of an earlier house by Charles Vere Dashwood and subsequently enlarged by members of the Ratcliffe family, to include the extensive terraces with far ranging views to the south over the wolds and Charnwood Forest
. Cahn commissioned another cricket pitch, a nine-hole golf course, a bowling green and enlarged the large trout lakes, complete with island. A tennis court and thatched pavilion, an enormous outdoor heated swimming pool with coral walls holding fountains and artificial caves added to the fantastic wooded parkland and formal gardens.
The house was extensively remodelled over the next decade under the direction of Sir Charles Allom
, principal of arguably the finest of the large interior decorating concerns, White Allom Ltd. Together with Queen Mary
, Sir Charles advised on the redecoration of Buckingham Palace and had many multi-millionaire clients, such as Henry Clay Frick
, whose Fifth Avenue town house now houses the Frick Collection
and whose decoration by White Allom is highly regarded. The same is true of Stanford Hall. At the same time, Allom was working on St Donat's Castle
in Wales for press magnate William Randolph Hearst
. Stanford Hall retains most of the superb interior structures and installations of Cahn's day, though most of the art moderne marble bathrooms were removed in the 1960s. The furnishings selected with Sir Charles were of the highest quality. The inclusion of many fine antiques, and the theming of the rooms by date and country gave the impression of a house that had evolved over time. By 1940 it was one of the finest and most luxurious of small country houses in the United Kingdom. Cahn died in the White Allom panelled library in 1944.
In 1931 Cahn purchased Newstead Abbey
, Lord Byron's former home and donated it to the Nottingham Corporation
at a ceremony attended by the local council and the Greek Prime Minister. Cahn was subsequently decorated by the Greek government.
In 1934 Cahn was created a Baronet with the appellation Cahn of Stanford-upon-Soar
for services to agriculture and several charitable causes. There were many instances of his contributions to charity, not least society balls held in London and elsewhere in aid of various charities.
Cahn spent many years as President of The National Birthday Trust Fund, the charity that promoted the provision of maternity services. In this capacity he became very friendly with Lucy (Cissie) Baldwin
, wife of Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin
. In 1934 Cahn helped the government of the day pay off the notorious honours fixer, Maundy Gregory
.
Apart from cricket, his other great loves were hunting and magic and illusions. Between 1926 and 1935 was the master of the Burton foxhounds (founded 1672). According to one account, his enormous wealth was seen as a godsend by the club. In his first year as master, he donated £500 towards replacing barbed wire with wooden fencing. He also gave prizemoney for the best-kept hedges. On hunt days, his party would arrive in a fleet of Rolls-Royces.
Cahn was also a celebrated illusionist, President of the Leicester Magic Circle and an influential member of the Magician's Club. In 1936, Sir Charles Allom
's son-in-law J E Redding, a constant visitor, was put in charge of the project to create a theatre-cinema on the east side of the house. J.E. Redding and Smith, and the noted cinema architect Cecil Aubrey Masey
designed this addition, in which Cahn could perform in front of his guests and friends. Stanford Hall. An air-raid shelter was also built under the theatre and the project was reported in the architectural press and locally in the Loughborough Echo as "one of the most remarkable in this country. Its lighting, furnishing, and general appointments are delightful in every respect. The fittings are modern in the extreme". Among its features are a decorated safety curtain and a series of murals painted by Beatrice MacDermott. A self-playing Wurlitzer theatre organ was bought from the Madeleine Theatre
in Paris and contributed to Cahn's repertoire of magic. The theatre continues to be used to this day, for plays, operas, musicals and concerts by amateur and professional companies and was home to The Lincoln Rep for many years in the 1950s and 1960s together with the Festival Players. Cahn was a keen supporter of music and Vladimir Horowitz
performed privately at Stanford Hall, as did Olga Lynn.
Having sold his business interests to Isaac Wolfson's Great Universal Stores in 1943, he had but one year to enjoy his house, which was surrounded by the full war-time occupation of an army transport unit. After Cahn's death at Stanford Hall, the house and part of the estate were subsequently bought by the Co-operative Union Limited to house the Co-operative College
on its move from war-blitzed Manchester. The college was based there from 1944 to 2001. Until the late 1990s it was home to thousands of students from around the globe, all given varied courses in the principles of the co-operative movement, based on the principles of self-help, which Cahn would have recognised. With the widening of access to higher education, the appeal of adult education of the kind provided by the college diminished, and there was less demend for the kind of education it offered. In 2001, Stanford Hall was sold to the property developer Raynsway and more recently was sold to Chek Whyte
Industries, who intend to restore the Hall to its former glory.
Cahn married Phyllis Muriel Wolfe on July 11, 1916. They had three children, Patience Cahn (born 1922), Albert Jonas (1924) and Richard Ian (1927). Albert Jonas assumed the baronetcy on his father's death.
His granddaughter Miranda Rijks has written 'The Eccentric Entrepreneur', the first official biography of Sir Julien Cahn published by The History Press
in 2008.
in March 1929 he made his first-class debut. Here he captained a team which included no less than eight Test cricketers - including Lord Tennyson
and Andrew Sandham
. Many years later, when his grandson visited the island he was introduced to an old Jamaican who, as a boy, had carried Cahn's bags and had been so taken with him that in his honour, he had changed his name to 'Julien Cahn'!
Although he was a first-class cricketer, he was also was a hypochondriac who in later life would often use his electric wheelchair in preference to walking. He would think nothing of using his own private train to bring Lord Horder (the King's doctor) to Stanford Hall to attend to him.
Cahn was a poor cricketer and fearful of the ball, so as a result, he batted in specially made and inflatable pads which had to be inflated by his chauffeur. His umpire John Gunn
is recorded as never having given him out by LBW - no doubt in a bid to keep the fixture.
It is recorded by Jim Swanton that "...the pads were very large, and the ball bounced readily off them for leg-byes, which the umpires conveniently forgot to signal". Also another player to appear at Stanford Hall, Philip Snow recalls playing there once when Cahn's pads deflated, "He'd no sooner come out to bat than there was a loud hissing noise. I liked him but he was a real autocrat, a martinet. He stalked off the pitch, sacked his chauffeur on the spot and declared the innings."
Cahn was also a keen bowler, throwing the ball high in the air - this often meant relying on the boundary fielders to take catches. One commentator said of his bowling style, "His bowling was not so much up and down as to and fro."
By the mid-1930s Cahn's cricket philanthropy had included support for the financially troubled Leicestershire
. He also arranged for Stewie Dempster, the New Zealand batsman, to work as his business store manager in Leicester to allow him to captain the county. "At that time," Philip Snow remarks "Dempster was regarded as the best player of slow bowling in the world. He was incredibly quick on his feet."
Whilst Dempster was undoubtedly successful in playing for Leicestershire, scoring 4,659 runs at an average
of 49.04 in 69 matches for the county, Cahn had the habit - irritating to many - of requiring him to play for his own team which greatly reduced the number of appearances he was able to make for Leicestershire. In 1938, for example, Dempster played 14 of Leicestershire's 26 games in the County Championship. A similar thing was also experienced with Jack Walsh
, who managed to take 216 wickets for Cahn's XI in 1938
, but who in the same year was only released four times for county matches.
Dempster, Walsh and Morkel
's skill meant that they would be valuable members of any county team, as would the bowler Bob Crisp
, who in 1935 alone took 107 wickets for the South Africans tourers. The Wicketkeeper Cecil Maxwell
represented the Gentlemen against the Players in 1935 solely on the strength of his Cahn team performances.
Similarly both of the England legspinners Ian Peebles
and Walter Robins
played often at both West Bridgford and Stanford Hall. The Sir Julien Cahn's XIs were often too strong for their opposition - as illustrated by the fact that minor county sides were often beaten by an innings and at West Bridgford where a fox's tail was raised after a victorious match - the tail was rarely seen down.
Cardiff
Cardiff is the capital, largest city and most populous county of Wales and the 10th largest city in the United Kingdom. The city is Wales' chief commercial centre, the base for most national cultural and sporting institutions, the Welsh national media, and the seat of the National Assembly for...
– 26 September 1944, Nottinghamshire
Nottinghamshire
Nottinghamshire is a county in the East Midlands of England, bordering South Yorkshire to the north-west, Lincolnshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south, and Derbyshire to the west...
) was an entrepreneur, philanthropist and supporter of cricket.
His cricket XI
Cahn inherited a fortune from his father and apart from his various business interests which included the development of a Hire Purchase concern largely devoted his life to sport and philanthropy. He was an avid cricket supporter and founded the Sir Julien Cahn XI which he captained and played for. The Cahn XI went on many tours, including those to:- Jamaica - 1929,
- Argentina - 1930,
- Denmark and Jutland - 1932, (see also R. P. KeigwinR. P. KeigwinRichard Prescott Keigwin was an English academic. He also played first-class cricket for Cambridge University, the Marylebone Cricket Club, Essex County Cricket Club and Gloucestershire County Cricket Club, and played hockey for Essex and England.-Early life and education:Keigwin was born in...
- who helped organise this tour) - Canada, U.S.A. and Bermuda - 1933,
- CeylonSir Julien Cahn's XI cricket team in Ceylon in 1936-37Sir Julien Cahn's cricket team toured Ceylon and Malaya in the spring of 1937.The team played nine games in all but the majority were against minor opposition...
, Malaya and Singapore - 1937 - New Zealand - 1939.
Cahn was twice President of the Nottinghamshire
Nottinghamshire County Cricket Club
Nottinghamshire 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 Nottinghamshire, and the current county champions. Its limited overs team is called the Nottinghamshire Outlaws...
club and he personally defrayed the cost of building new stands at Trent Bridge
Trent Bridge
Trent Bridge is a Test, One-day international and County cricket ground located in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, England and is also the headquarters of Nottinghamshire County Cricket Club. As well as International cricket and Nottinghamshire's home games, the ground has hosted the Finals Day of...
; he also provided a covered practice area, thus allowing county players to keep in training during the winter months.
As well his interest in playing he also represented Leicestershire on the Advisory County Cricket Committee and attended the meetings at Lord's dealing with the post-war plans. In addition to his cricket interest he was a keen hunter and was variously the Master of the Burton Woodland, Pytchley
Pytchley Hunt
The Pytchley Hunt is a fox hunting organisation formerly based near the Northamptonshire village of Pytchley, but since 1966 has had kennels close to Brixworth. The Pytchley country used to include areas of the Rockingham Forest but was split to form the Woodland Pytchley Hunt...
and Fernie Hunts.
Family background
Cahn's father was a Jewish immigrant from Germany who before World War I founded the Nottingham Furnishing Company, a huge business. Cahn, seeing a new potential market in hire purchase sales, expanded the company to the extent that his Jays and Campbells stores were to be found in most major towns across Britain. By 1943 when he retired and sold out to Great Universal StoresGUS (retailer)
GUS plc was a FTSE 100 retailing group based in the United Kingdom. GUS is an abbreviation of Great Universal Stores, the company's former name before 2001...
(nowadays known as GUS), he controlled a chain of between 300 and 400 stores.
By the 1920s Cahn was a very wealthy man who enjoyed his money, spending it lavishly and generously. He fell in love with cricket when as a child he often sat under Parr's tree at Trent Bridge
Trent Bridge
Trent Bridge is a Test, One-day international and County cricket ground located in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, England and is also the headquarters of Nottinghamshire County Cricket Club. As well as International cricket and Nottinghamshire's home games, the ground has hosted the Finals Day of...
, listening to Arthur Shrewsbury
Arthur Shrewsbury
Arthur Shrewsbury was an English cricketer, and rugby football administrator, who organised the first British Isles rugby tour to Australasia in 1888, and who was widely rated as competing with W. G...
.
Later, in 1925 he joined the county committee at Nottinghamshire and his donations paid for much of the cost of a new scoreboard, new indoor nets and two new stands
In 1926 he finished building his new ground at West Bridgford in West Park
West Park, West Bridgford
West Park is a cricket ground in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire. The ground was constructed by cricket philanthropist Sir Julien Cahn. The first recorded match on the ground was in 1928, when Sir J Cahn's XI played the touring West Indians in a non first-class match. In 1932 the ground held its...
on Loughborough Road. This included a luxurious pavilion which was used to house a collection of ancient bats and which if necessary could be converted into a badminton court.
Charnwood Forest
Charnwood Forest is an upland tract in north-western Leicestershire, England, bounded by Leicester, Loughborough, and Coalville. The area is undulating, rocky and picturesque, with barren areas. It also has some extensive tracts of woodland; its elevation is generally 600 ft and upwards, the area...
. Cahn commissioned another cricket pitch, a nine-hole golf course, a bowling green and enlarged the large trout lakes, complete with island. A tennis court and thatched pavilion, an enormous outdoor heated swimming pool with coral walls holding fountains and artificial caves added to the fantastic wooded parkland and formal gardens.
The house was extensively remodelled over the next decade under the direction of Sir Charles Allom
Charles Allom
Sir Charles Carrick Allom was an eminent British decorator, trained as an architect knighted for his work on Buckingham Palace. Among his American clients in the years preceding World War I was Henry Clay Frick, for whom Allom furnished houses in cooperation with Sir Joseph Duveen, the eminent...
, principal of arguably the finest of the large interior decorating concerns, White Allom Ltd. Together with Queen Mary
Mary of Teck
Mary of Teck was the queen consort of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Empress of India, as the wife of King-Emperor George V....
, Sir Charles advised on the redecoration of Buckingham Palace and had many multi-millionaire clients, such as Henry Clay Frick
Henry Clay Frick
Henry Clay Frick was an American industrialist, financier, and art patron. He founded the H. C. Frick & Company coke manufacturing company, was chairman of the Carnegie Steel Company, and played a major role in the formation of the giant U.S. Steel steel manufacturing concern...
, whose Fifth Avenue town house now houses the Frick Collection
Frick Collection
The Frick Collection is an art museum located in Manhattan, New York City, United States.- History :It is housed in the former Henry Clay Frick House, which was designed by Thomas Hastings and constructed in 1913-1914. John Russell Pope altered and enlarged the building in the early 1930s to adapt...
and whose decoration by White Allom is highly regarded. The same is true of Stanford Hall. At the same time, Allom was working on St Donat's Castle
St Donat's Castle
St Donat's Castle is a medieval castle in the Vale of Glamorgan, Wales, overlooking the Bristol Channel in the village of St Donat's near Llantwit Major, and about 25km west of Cardiff...
in Wales for press magnate William Randolph Hearst
William Randolph Hearst
William Randolph Hearst was an American business magnate and leading newspaper publisher. Hearst entered the publishing business in 1887, after taking control of The San Francisco Examiner from his father...
. Stanford Hall retains most of the superb interior structures and installations of Cahn's day, though most of the art moderne marble bathrooms were removed in the 1960s. The furnishings selected with Sir Charles were of the highest quality. The inclusion of many fine antiques, and the theming of the rooms by date and country gave the impression of a house that had evolved over time. By 1940 it was one of the finest and most luxurious of small country houses in the United Kingdom. Cahn died in the White Allom panelled library in 1944.
In 1931 Cahn purchased Newstead Abbey
Newstead Abbey
Newstead Abbey, in Nottinghamshire, England, originally an Augustinian priory, is now best known as the ancestral home of Lord Byron.-Monastic foundation:The priory of St...
, Lord Byron's former home and donated it to the Nottingham Corporation
Nottingham City Council
Nottingham City Council is the non-metropolitan district council for the unitary authority of Nottingham in Nottinghamshire. It consists of 55 councillors, representing a total of 20 wards, elected every four years. It is led by Jon Collins, of the majority Labour Party. The deputy leader of the...
at a ceremony attended by the local council and the Greek Prime Minister. Cahn was subsequently decorated by the Greek government.
In 1934 Cahn was created a Baronet with the appellation Cahn of Stanford-upon-Soar
Cahn Baronets
The Cahn Baronetcy, of Stanford-upon-Soar in the County of Nottingham, is a title in the Baronetage of the United Kingdom. It was created on 27 June 1934 for the businessman and cricket philanthropist Julien Cahn...
for services to agriculture and several charitable causes. There were many instances of his contributions to charity, not least society balls held in London and elsewhere in aid of various charities.
Cahn spent many years as President of The National Birthday Trust Fund, the charity that promoted the provision of maternity services. In this capacity he became very friendly with Lucy (Cissie) Baldwin
Lucy Baldwin, Countess Baldwin of Bewdley
Lucy Baldwin, Countess Baldwin of Bewdley, GBE, DGStJ was the wife of British Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin...
, wife of Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin
Stanley Baldwin
Stanley Baldwin, 1st Earl Baldwin of Bewdley, KG, PC was a British Conservative politician, who dominated the government in his country between the two world wars...
. In 1934 Cahn helped the government of the day pay off the notorious honours fixer, Maundy Gregory
Maundy Gregory
Arthur Maundy Gregory was a British theatre producer and political fixer who is best remembered for selling honours for Prime Minister David Lloyd George. He may also have been involved with the Zinoviev Letter, the disappearance of Victor Grayson, and the suspicious death of his platonic...
.
Apart from cricket, his other great loves were hunting and magic and illusions. Between 1926 and 1935 was the master of the Burton foxhounds (founded 1672). According to one account, his enormous wealth was seen as a godsend by the club. In his first year as master, he donated £500 towards replacing barbed wire with wooden fencing. He also gave prizemoney for the best-kept hedges. On hunt days, his party would arrive in a fleet of Rolls-Royces.
Cahn was also a celebrated illusionist, President of the Leicester Magic Circle and an influential member of the Magician's Club. In 1936, Sir Charles Allom
Charles Allom
Sir Charles Carrick Allom was an eminent British decorator, trained as an architect knighted for his work on Buckingham Palace. Among his American clients in the years preceding World War I was Henry Clay Frick, for whom Allom furnished houses in cooperation with Sir Joseph Duveen, the eminent...
's son-in-law J E Redding, a constant visitor, was put in charge of the project to create a theatre-cinema on the east side of the house. J.E. Redding and Smith, and the noted cinema architect Cecil Aubrey Masey
Cecil Massey
Cecil Aubrey Massey was an English theatre and cinema architect. Massey was a pupil of Bertie Crewe. His major works include the New Wimbledon Theatre, released in 1919 together with architect Roy Young, it is a Grade II listed Edwardian situated on The Broadway, Wimbledon, London, in the London...
designed this addition, in which Cahn could perform in front of his guests and friends. Stanford Hall. An air-raid shelter was also built under the theatre and the project was reported in the architectural press and locally in the Loughborough Echo as "one of the most remarkable in this country. Its lighting, furnishing, and general appointments are delightful in every respect. The fittings are modern in the extreme". Among its features are a decorated safety curtain and a series of murals painted by Beatrice MacDermott. A self-playing Wurlitzer theatre organ was bought from the Madeleine Theatre
Théâtre de la Madeleine
The Théâtre de la Madeleine is a theater in Paris built in the English style in 1924 on the site of a carousel. The first major success of the theatre came with the presentation of part one of The Merchants of Glory by Marcel Pagnol....
in Paris and contributed to Cahn's repertoire of magic. The theatre continues to be used to this day, for plays, operas, musicals and concerts by amateur and professional companies and was home to The Lincoln Rep for many years in the 1950s and 1960s together with the Festival Players. Cahn was a keen supporter of music and Vladimir Horowitz
Vladimir Horowitz
Vladimir Samoylovich Horowitz was a Russian-American classical virtuoso pianist and minor composer. His technique and use of tone color and the excitement of his playing were legendary. He is widely considered one of the greatest pianists of the 20th century.-Life and early...
performed privately at Stanford Hall, as did Olga Lynn.
Having sold his business interests to Isaac Wolfson's Great Universal Stores in 1943, he had but one year to enjoy his house, which was surrounded by the full war-time occupation of an army transport unit. After Cahn's death at Stanford Hall, the house and part of the estate were subsequently bought by the Co-operative Union Limited to house the Co-operative College
Co-operative College
The Co-operative College is a University in the United Kingdom which provides "inspirational learning and resources based on co-operative values and principles for individuals and organisations to support the development of sustainable co-operative, mutual and social enterprises throughout the world"...
on its move from war-blitzed Manchester. The college was based there from 1944 to 2001. Until the late 1990s it was home to thousands of students from around the globe, all given varied courses in the principles of the co-operative movement, based on the principles of self-help, which Cahn would have recognised. With the widening of access to higher education, the appeal of adult education of the kind provided by the college diminished, and there was less demend for the kind of education it offered. In 2001, Stanford Hall was sold to the property developer Raynsway and more recently was sold to Chek Whyte
Chek Whyte
Chek Whyte is a British property developer and businessman, living in Nottinghamshire.-Career:...
Industries, who intend to restore the Hall to its former glory.
Cahn married Phyllis Muriel Wolfe on July 11, 1916. They had three children, Patience Cahn (born 1922), Albert Jonas (1924) and Richard Ian (1927). Albert Jonas assumed the baronetcy on his father's death.
His granddaughter Miranda Rijks has written 'The Eccentric Entrepreneur', the first official biography of Sir Julien Cahn published by The History Press
The History Press
The History Press is one of the UK’s largest local and specialist history publishers, publishing approximately 500 books per year.Created in December 2007, The History Press has integrated core elements of the NPI Media Group within it, including all existing published titles, plus all the future...
in 2008.
Love of cricket
Although privately formed, such was the strength and quality of the various teams that he assembled that several of their matches were accorded first-class status - thus allowing him in Kingston, JamaicaKingston, Jamaica
Kingston is the capital and largest city of Jamaica, located on the southeastern coast of the island. It faces a natural harbour protected by the Palisadoes, a long sand spit which connects the town of Port Royal and the Norman Manley International Airport to the rest of the island...
in March 1929 he made his first-class debut. Here he captained a team which included no less than eight Test cricketers - including Lord Tennyson
Lionel Tennyson, 3rd Baron Tennyson
Lionel Hallam Tennyson, 3rd Baron Tennyson was known principally as a cricketer who captained Hampshire and England...
and Andrew Sandham
Andy Sandham
Andrew Sandham was an English cricketer, a right-handed batsman who played 14 Test matches between 1921 and 1930. He scored over 40,000 first-class runs, but bowled only very rarely; he took just 18 wickets in his career.Sandham made his Surrey debut in 1911, and was capped in 1913...
. Many years later, when his grandson visited the island he was introduced to an old Jamaican who, as a boy, had carried Cahn's bags and had been so taken with him that in his honour, he had changed his name to 'Julien Cahn'!
Although he was a first-class cricketer, he was also was a hypochondriac who in later life would often use his electric wheelchair in preference to walking. He would think nothing of using his own private train to bring Lord Horder (the King's doctor) to Stanford Hall to attend to him.
Cahn was a poor cricketer and fearful of the ball, so as a result, he batted in specially made and inflatable pads which had to be inflated by his chauffeur. His umpire John Gunn
John Gunn (cricketer)
John Richmond Gunn was an English cricketer who played in six Tests from 1901 to 1905....
is recorded as never having given him out by LBW - no doubt in a bid to keep the fixture.
It is recorded by Jim Swanton that "...the pads were very large, and the ball bounced readily off them for leg-byes, which the umpires conveniently forgot to signal". Also another player to appear at Stanford Hall, Philip Snow recalls playing there once when Cahn's pads deflated, "He'd no sooner come out to bat than there was a loud hissing noise. I liked him but he was a real autocrat, a martinet. He stalked off the pitch, sacked his chauffeur on the spot and declared the innings."
Cahn was also a keen bowler, throwing the ball high in the air - this often meant relying on the boundary fielders to take catches. One commentator said of his bowling style, "His bowling was not so much up and down as to and fro."
By the mid-1930s Cahn's cricket philanthropy had included support for the financially troubled Leicestershire
Leicestershire County Cricket Club
Leicestershire County Cricket Club is one of the 18 major county clubs which make up the English and Welsh national cricket structure, representing the historic county of Leicestershire. It has also been representative of the county of Rutland....
. He also arranged for Stewie Dempster, the New Zealand batsman, to work as his business store manager in Leicester to allow him to captain the county. "At that time," Philip Snow remarks "Dempster was regarded as the best player of slow bowling in the world. He was incredibly quick on his feet."
Whilst Dempster was undoubtedly successful in playing for Leicestershire, scoring 4,659 runs at an average
Batting average
Batting average is a statistic in both cricket and baseball that measures the performance of cricket batsmen and baseball hitters. The two statistics are related in that baseball averages are directly descended from the concept of cricket averages.- Cricket :...
of 49.04 in 69 matches for the county, Cahn had the habit - irritating to many - of requiring him to play for his own team which greatly reduced the number of appearances he was able to make for Leicestershire. In 1938, for example, Dempster played 14 of Leicestershire's 26 games in the County Championship. A similar thing was also experienced with Jack Walsh
Jack Walsh
John Edward "Jack" Walsh, born at Walcha, New South Wales on 4 December 1912 and died at Wallsend, New South Wales on 20 May 1980, was an Australian cricketer who played nearly all of his cricket in England....
, who managed to take 216 wickets for Cahn's XI in 1938
1938 English cricket season
The 1938 English cricket season was notable for England's remarkable total at The Oval with Len Hutton contributing a record 364.-Honours:*County Championship - Yorkshire*Minor Counties Championship - Buckinghamshire...
, but who in the same year was only released four times for county matches.
The power of his XIs
As result of both his financial pull and the colour of his cricket, his invitation teams were able to keep the loyalty of many of the top players - something that was often to the disadvantage of the establishment clubs.Dempster, Walsh and Morkel
Denys Morkel
Denijs Paul Beck Morkel was a South African cricketer who played for Western Province in 1924 and later in 16 Tests for South Africa from 1927 to 1932....
's skill meant that they would be valuable members of any county team, as would the bowler Bob Crisp
Bob Crisp
Robert James Crisp DSO MC was a South African cricketer who played in nine Tests from 1935 to 1936 before living for a while in England. He appeared for Rhodesia, Western Province, Worcestershire and South Africa. Though his Test bowling average lay over 37.00, Crisp had a successful first-class...
, who in 1935 alone took 107 wickets for the South Africans tourers. The Wicketkeeper Cecil Maxwell
Cecil Maxwell
Cecil Reginald Napp Maxwell was an English cricketer.Cecil Maxwell represented the Gentlemen versus the Players at Lord's in 1935. He played in 44 first-class matches for Nottinghamshire , M.C.C...
represented the Gentlemen against the Players in 1935 solely on the strength of his Cahn team performances.
Similarly both of the England legspinners Ian Peebles
Ian Peebles
Ian Alexander Ross Peebles was a cricketer who played for Oxford University, Middlesex, Scotland and England. After retiring from cricket he became a cricket writer, working as a journalist on The Sunday Times and as the author of many books on cricket.Peebles had one of the strangest...
and Walter Robins
Walter Robins
Robert Walter Vivian Robins was a dynamic English cricketer and footballer.Walter Robins was born in Stafford and was educated at Highgate School and Cambridge University. He played football for Nottingham Forest and first-class cricket for Middlesex, Cambridge University and England...
played often at both West Bridgford and Stanford Hall. The Sir Julien Cahn's XIs were often too strong for their opposition - as illustrated by the fact that minor county sides were often beaten by an innings and at West Bridgford where a fox's tail was raised after a victorious match - the tail was rarely seen down.