Archie Wickham

Archdale Palmer Wickham (9 November 1855 – 13 October 1935) was an Anglican clergyman, first-class cricketer and entomologist.

Archie Wickham
Archie Wickham
Personal information
Full nameArchdale Palmer Wickham
Born(1855-11-09)9 November 1855
South Holmwood, Surrey, England
Died13 October 1935(1935-10-13) (aged 79)
Highbridge, Somerset, England
BattingRight-handed
BowlingUnknown
RoleWicket-keeper
Domestic team information
YearsTeam
1876–1878Oxford University
1881–1890Norfolk
1891–1907Somerset
First-class debut25 May 1876 Oxford University v Marylebone Cricket Club
Last First-class11 July 1907 Somerset v Warwickshire
Career statistics
Competition First-class
Matches 93
Runs scored 760
Batting average 8.83
100s/50s 0/0
Top score 28
Balls bowled 10
Wickets 0
Bowling average –
5 wickets in innings 0
10 wickets in match 0
Best bowling 0/3
Catches/stumpings 90/60
Source: CricketArchive, 13 March 2010

Clerical career

Archie Wickham was educated at Marlborough College and New College, Oxford, where he read Classics. He then prepared for the priesthood at Leeds Clergy School and was ordained. After three curacies he was vicar of Martock, Somerset, from 1888 to 1911 and a prebendary of Wells Cathedral from 1904 to 1911. He was then vicar of East Brent, Somerset, from 1911 until his death in 1935.[1]

Cricket career

Wickham played 82 matches for Somerset County Cricket Club between 1891 and 1907. He also played for a number of representative teams and for Oxford University, and played second-class cricket for Norfolk County Cricket Club from 1881 to 1890. A wicket-keeper and right-handed batsman, he scored 760 career first-class runs, and claimed 90 catches and 60 stumpings.[2] He had a distinctive wicket-keeping stance, bending low with his feet more than a metre apart.[3]

Playing for Somerset against Hampshire in the County Championship in 1899, he kept throughout Hampshire's innings of 672 for 7 without conceding a bye. This remained a record in the Championship until 2002.[3] In 1901, playing for Somerset against Oxford University, he kept wicket for both sides: when the Oxford wicketkeeper was injured during the match, Wickham volunteered to stand in briefly for him. It is the only known instance in first-class cricket of a player keeping wickets for both sides in the same match.[3]

He was not noted for his batting, and usually batted at number 11. However, when he made his highest first-class score of 28, he top-scored in Somerset's second innings as they struggled in vain to avoid an innings defeat against Gloucestershire in 1900.[4]

Personal life

Wickham was also a renowned amateur entomologist, specializing in the Lepidoptera.[5] In 1917 he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Entomological Society.[6] His collection of butterflies numbered many thousands.[7] After his death his collection of specimens and manuscripts was lodged at the British Museum.[8]

He and his first wife, Emily Helena McPherson Baldwin, had a daughter and two sons. She died in 1890.[7] He and his second wife, Harriet Elizabeth Strong, who came from a family of vicars and brewers, had a son and two daughters.[8][7]

References
  1. WICKHAM, Rev. Prebendary Archdale Palmer, Who Was Who, A & C Black, 1920–2016 (online edition, Oxford University Press, 2014)
  2. "Player Profile: Archive Wickham". CricketArchive. Retrieved 13 March 2010.
  3. Dhole, Pradip. "Rev. AP Wickham: The man who kept wickets for both sides in a First-Class match". Cricket Country. Retrieved 1 January 2019.
  4. "Gloucestershire v Somerset 1900". Cricinfo. Retrieved 1 January 2018.
  5. Patrick Armstrong, The English Parson-naturalist: A Companionship between Science and Religion, Gracewing Publishing, Leominster, 2000, p. 99.
  6. Pelham Warner, "Rev. A. P. Wickham", The Cricketer Annual 1935, p. 87.
  7. "Reverend Archdale Palmer Wickham". Wickham family ancestry. Retrieved 1 January 2019.
  8. "Rev. Archdale Palmer Wickham". East Brent History Portal. Retrieved 1 January 2019.
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