Harry Peckham

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Harry Peckham

Born c. 1740
Nationality English
Education Winchester and New College, Oxford
Occupation Lawyer, writer
Political party Whig

Harry Peckham (born c. 1740) was a King's counsel[1] and sportsman who toured Europe and published a series of letters which are still being published over 200 years later. Peckham was a member of the committee that drew up early laws of cricket[2] including the first inclusion of the Leg before wicket rule.[3]

[edit] Biography

He went to school with Francis Noel Clarke Mundy at Winchester College and New College, Oxford[2]. He was a member of the private Markeaton Hunt. In 1762-3 Mundy commissioned a set of six portraits. Each of the subjects was in the distinctive dress of the Markeaton Hunt, consisting of a blue coat over a scarlet waistcoat and yellow breeches. These paintings hung at Mundy's ancestral home, Markeaton Hall.[4]

In 1768 he toured through Rotterdam, The Hague, Amsterdam, Antwerp, Brussels, Ghent, Paris, Rouen, and Calais. His letters home were published by George Kearsley [5] amongst a number of travel books Kearsley published in London. Peckham's writings were and are still considered witty and interesting.[2] His book records a view of Europe before the political upheavals and is considered to give a Whiggish view of how the Netherlands was a successful outcome of the union of liberty, commerce and Protestantism.[6]

In 1774, Peckham sat on the committee that formulated some early laws of cricket. They were settled and revised at the Star and Garter in Pall Mall on Friday 25 February 1774. The meeting was chaired by Sir William Draper and the committee included the Duke of Dorset, the Earl of Tankerville and other "Noblemen and Gentlemen of Kent, Hampshire, Surrey, Sussex, Middlesex, and London".[7] This meeting was one of the earlier sets of cricket rules and is acknowledged as being the first where the Leg before wicket rule was introduced.[3]

Peckham was still writing in 1783; he wrote to the 3rd Duke of Portland on 22 May 1783 from the Inner Temple.[8]

[edit] Major works

[edit] References

  1. ^ The Public and Private Life of Lord Chancellor Eldon
  2. ^ a b c Harry Peckham's Tour, Harry Peckham & Martin Brayne (Editor), ISBN 9781845886196
  3. ^ a b 'Pall Mall, South Side, Past Buildings: Nos 94-95 Pall Mall: The Star and Garter', Survey of London: volumes 29 and 30: St James Westminster, Part 1 (1960), pp. 351-352. URL. Date accessed: 08 June 2008.
  4. ^ Markeaton Portrait, David Moore-Gwyn, Sothebys.com, accessed 7 June 2008
  5. ^ Publishing history accessed 9 June 2008
  6. ^ King's College acquisitions, 2003, accessed 8 June 2008
  7. ^ Cricketana by James Mycroft, 1865
  8. ^ Nottingham University records accessed 9 June 2008