Henry Tomkinson

Henry Richard Tomkinson (28 August 1831 – 9 December 1906) was an English sportsman who represented Cambridge University in both rowing and first-class cricket.[1][2] He was born in Nantwich, Cheshire and died at Roehampton, then in Surrey, now in London.

Tomkinson was educated at Rugby School and at Trinity College, Cambridge.[2] He played cricket at Rugby as a middle-order batsman; in his single first-class match for Cambridge University he made 14 as an opening batsman against the Marylebone Cricket Club in an early-season game in 1851, and failed to score when batting further down the order in the second innings.[3] He was not selected again, and it is not known whether he batted right- or left-handed. Tomkinson appears to have turned his sporting attention next to rowing, and in 1853 he was a member of the Cambridge University rowing eight.[2] In that year, the schedule for the University Boat Race coincided with the Henley Royal Regatta, so the Boat Race was not held; however, Tomkinson was a member of the Cambridge University Boat Club crew which was defeated by Oxford in the Grand Challenge Cup at Henley, which Oxford University won.[2]

Tomkinson graduated from Cambridge University with a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1854, having been placed as 36th Wrangler in the Mathematical Tripos; the degree was converted to a Master of Arts in 1857.[2] After Cambridge, he had a varied career as a schoolmaster at Marlborough College, as a barrister, in the insurance industry, and latterly as the landowner of family estates at Reaseheath near Nantwich.[2]