Alexander Kearsey | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Birth name | Alexander Horace Cyril Kearsey | ||||||||||||||
| Born | (1877-12-17)17 December 1877 Burstow, Surrey, England | ||||||||||||||
| Died | 8 October 1967(1967-10-08) (aged 89) Wandsworth, London, England | ||||||||||||||
| Allegiance |  United Kingdom | ||||||||||||||
| Service |  British Army Royal Air Force | ||||||||||||||
| Years of service | 1896–1918 | ||||||||||||||
| Rank | Lieutenant colonel | ||||||||||||||
| Unit | York and Lancaster Regiment Royal Hussars Dorset Regiment King's Own Scottish Borderers | ||||||||||||||
| Battles / wars |
| ||||||||||||||
| Awards | Distinguished Service Order Order of the Karađorđe's Star Order of the Nile | ||||||||||||||
| Other work | Cricketer, military historian | ||||||||||||||
| Cricket information | |||||||||||||||
| Batting | Unknown | ||||||||||||||
| Role | Wicket-keeper | ||||||||||||||
| Domestic team information | |||||||||||||||
| Years | Team | ||||||||||||||
| 1903/04–1905/06 | Europeans (India) | ||||||||||||||
| 1913 | Buckinghamshire | ||||||||||||||
| Career statistics | |||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||
Source:ESPNcricinfo,27 June 2011 | |||||||||||||||
Alexander Horace Cyril Kearsey,DSO, OBE (17 December 1877 – 8 October 1967) was aBritish Army officer who served in theSecond Boer War and theFirst World War. He was also an Englishcricketer, but his military career limited his cricketing appearances.
The son of Francis Kearsey, he was born atBurstow Hall,Surrey.[1] He was educated at Rottingdean School andClifton College,[2] before attending theRoyal Military College, Sandhurst.
After graduating from Sandhurst, Kearsey was commissioned into theYork and Lancaster Regiment as asecond lieutenant on 7 May 1896.[3][4] He was promoted tolieutenant on 20 June 1900.[5][3] Kearsey fought in theSecond Boer War, being present at theRelief of Ladysmith. During the operations in the Relief, Kearsay was severely wounded at Venters Spruit on 20 January 1900.[3] The following month, having recovered from his injuries sufficiently enough, he took part in action atSpion Kop, Vaal Kranz and toward the end of February, action at Tucela Heights and Pieters Hill.[3] Kearsey later took part in operations inNatal from March to June 1900, including at the Battle of Laing's Nek. He also took part in operations inTransvaal Colony from May to June 1901 and operations inOrange River Colony from December 1901 to 31 May 1902.[3] Mentioned twice in dispatches during the course of the war bySir Redvers Buller, he was also mentioned in theLondon Gazette in a list of soldiers and officers who had distinguished themselves in the conflict.[6] Weeks later he was made aCompanion of the Distinguished Service Order,[7] with the insignia being presented byEdward VII on 14 March 1902.[3] Following the end of the war in June 1902 he left Cape Town on board the SSRippingham Grange, which arrived in Southampton in October 1902.[8]
Kearsey was promoted tocaptain on 12 March 1904, while the following year he was transferred to the10th Royal Hussars. He then served in theTerritorial Force as anadjutant from March 1908 to April 1911.[3]
With the outbreak of theFirst World War in the summer of 1914, Kearsey attended theStaff College, Camberley, and was promoted tomajor on 11 November 1914. At the start of the war, he was posted as part of the Embarkation Staff atSouthampton, following which he proceeded toBelgium with the 1st Life Guards, 7th Cavalry Brigade. He took part in theFirst Battle of Ypres and saw action atNeuve-Chapelle.[3] In 1915, he was attached to the staff of the 7th Cavalry Brigade, and August 1915 he was appointedbrigade major with the 1/2nd South-Western Mounted Brigade, seeing action inGallipoli. He later commanded the 5thDorset Regiment for months, till May 1916. Following this, he was appointedGS01 with the 54th Division,Egyptian Expeditionary Force, seeing action at thefirst andSecond Battle of Gaza,[3] both of which ended inOttoman victories. He later commanded 1/5thKing's Own Scottish Borderers, seeing action at the Battle of El Teb, during the course of which he was wounded. At the time he was a temporarylieutenant colonel. For his services in the conflict, Kearsey was decorated by theKingdom of Serbia with theOrder of the Karađorđe's Star, 4th Class with Swords[9] and theOrder of the Nile.[10] Transferring to the fledglingRoyal Air Force, he commanded the Cadet Wing and was appointed staff officer, 1st grade on 28 December 1918.[3] During his life, Kearsey published a number of his records including,The War Records of the York and Lancaster Regiment, South Africa, 1900–1902,1903, which detailed his time with the York and Lancaster Regiment in the Boer War.[3] He also published records of the campaign in Egypt and Palestine during the First World War.[11] He later wrote a number of books analysing military strategy.[12]
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As a cricketer, Kearsey'sbatting style is unknown, but is known he fielded as awicket-keeper.[13] While serving in theBritish Raj, he made hisfirst-class debut for theEuropeans against theParsees in 1903. He ended the Europeans first-inningsunbeaten on 0. In their second-innings, he was dismissed for 2 runs byManeksha Bulsara.[14] His second first-class appearance came for the Europeans in 1905, in a repeat of his debut match.[15] In this match, he was dismissed for aduck byJehangir Warden in the Europeans first-innings, while in their second-innings he was dismissed for 4 runs by the same bowler. Taking up position behind thestumps, he took a singlecatch and made a singlestumping.[16] He later made twoMinor Counties Championship appearances in 1913 forBuckinghamshire, againstBerkshire andWiltshire.[17] He did not appear for Buckinghamshire afterthis season.
Kearsey died inWandsworth, London, on 8 October 1967. He had married, in 1907, Hon. Frances Mitford (1875–1951), eldest daughter ofLord Redesdale. They had one daughter, Clementine (b. 1908).[18]
