Oswald Cornwallis

Oswald Wykeham Cornwallis OBE (16 March 1894 – 28 January 1974) was an English Royal Navy officer and amateur cricketer. He was born in 1894 at Linton Park in Kent, the third son of Mabel and Fiennes Cornwallis. His father was the Member of Parliament for Maidstone and would later become a peer.[1] He served in both the First and Second World Wars.

Oswald Wykeham Cornwallis
Born(1894-03-16)16 March 1894
Linton Park, Kent
Died28 January 1974(1974-01-28) (aged 79)
Froxfield, Hampshire
Allegiance United Kingdom
Service/branch Royal Navy
Years of service1911 – 1944
RankCaptain
Commands heldHMS Scarborough
AwardsOfficer of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire

Cornwallis served in the Navy in both world wars, rising to the rank of Captain. He played first-class cricket for the Navy between 1920 and 1926.

Cornwallis was educated at Royal Naval College, Osborne and Royal Naval College, Dartmouth before being commissioned in the Royal Navy as a Midshipman in 1911.[1][2] He served during the First World War, rising to the rank of Lieutenant during the war, and was awarded an OBE in 1919 as a result of his war service on HMS Caroline in the 4th Light Cruiser Squadron. After the war he was promoted to Lieutenant commander and then, in 1928, to Commander and took command of HMS Scarborough between 1933 and 1935.[2]

At the beginning of the Second World War Cornwallis was serving in the Admiralty in Southampton as Liaison Officer for the Royal Naval Reserve and Merchant Navy. During the war he served as the deputy director of Naval Equipment, stationed at HMS President in London. He retired from the navy with the rank of Captain in 1944.[1][2][3]

Cricket career
Personal information
BattingRight-handed
RelationsFiennes Cornwallis (Father)
Stanley Cornwallis (Brother)
Domestic team information
YearsTeam
1920–1926Royal Navy
1921Hampshire
Career statistics
Competition First-class
Matches 4
Runs scored 91
Batting average 15.16
100s/50s 0/0
Top score 31
Catches/stumpings 0/–
Source: CricInfo, 13 December 2009

Cornwallis made his first-class cricket debut for the Royal Navy against the Army at Lord's in 1920. Cornwallis would play three matches for the Royal Navy, the last of which came against the Army, also at Lord's in 1926.[4]

Cornwallis also represented Hampshire in one first-class match in 1921 against Kent, a match in which his brother Stanley Cornwallis played for Kent. In his only first-class match for the club Cornwallis was absent in both Hampshire's innings. His brother bowled in Hampshire's first innings, but was himself absent for both Kent's innings and Hampshire's second innings. Their absence was allowed following the death of their brother, Captain Fiennes Wykeham Mann Cornwallis who was killed in the Ballyturin House Ambush near Gort in County Galway during the Irish War of Independence by the Irish Republican Army.[5][6] It is likely that Oswald never actually took to the field for Hampshire.[3][7][8]

Family and later life

Cornwallis was the son of Conservative politician and Member of Parliament for Maidstone Fiennes Cornwallis, 1st Baron Cornwallis. His brother Stanley Cornwallis served as a cavalry officer in the First World War and went on to captain Kent County Cricket Club from 1924 to 1926.[5] His oldest brother, Fiennes Cornwallis, was killed in 1921 during the Irish War of Independence.[5]

Cornwallis married Venetia Digby, the daughter of Edward Digby, 10th Baron Digby, in 1923. The couple had three children.[1] Cornwallis died in Froxfield, Hampshire on 28 January 1974.[9]

References
  1. Captain Hon. Oswald Wykeham Cornwallis, The Peerage. Retrieved 2017-05-16.
  2. Royal Navy (RN) Officers 1939-1945. Retrieved 2017-05-16.
  3. Cornwallis, Captain Oswald Wyckham, Obituaries in 1974, Wisden Cricketers' Almanack, 1975. Retrieved 2017-05-16.
  4. Oswald Cornwallis, CricketArchive. Retrieved 2017-05-16.
  5. Lewis P (2014) For Kent and Country, pp. 136–141. Brighton: Reveille Press.
  6. Ballyturin (or Ballyturn) Ambush, Gort, Galway, newspaper report identified as being from the Irish Independent, 1921-05-17, The Auxiliaries website. Retrieved 2017-05-16.
  7. Capt Fiennes Wykeham Mann Cornwallis MC, Unidentified contemporary newspaper report published on The Cairo Gang website. Retrieved 2017-05-16.
  8. Isaacs V (2000) Three new Hampshire books, CricInfo, 2000-04-30. Retrieved 2017-05-16.
  9. Oswald Cornwallis, CricInfo. Retrieved 2017-05-16.

Oswald Cornwallis at ESPNcricinfo

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