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| Personal information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Full name | Charles Burgess Fry | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | (1872-04-25)25 April 1872 Croydon,Surrey, England | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Died | 7 September 1956(1956-09-07) (aged 84) Hampstead, London, England | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Batting | Right-handed | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bowling | Right-armfast-medium | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Relations | Beatrice Holme Sumner (wife) Stephen Fry (son) Charles Fry (grandson) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| International information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| National side | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Test debut (cap 95) | 13 February 1896 v South Africa | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Last Test | 22 August 1912 v Australia | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Domestic team information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Years | Team | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1892–1895 | Oxford University | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1893–1912 | Marylebone Cricket Club | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1894–1908 | Sussex | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1900–1902 | London County | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1909–1921 | Hampshire | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1921/22 | Europeans | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Career statistics | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Source:ESPNcricinfo,12 November 2008 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Charles Burgess Fry (25 April 1872 – 7 September 1956) was an English sportsman, teacher, writer, editor and publisher, who is best remembered for his career as acricketer.[1]John Arlott described him with the words: "Charles Fry could be autocratic, angry and self-willed: he was also magnanimous, extravagant, generous, elegant, brilliant – and fun ... he was probably the most variously gifted Englishman of any age."[2]
Fry's achievements on the sporting field included representing England at both cricket andfootball,[3] anFA Cup Final appearance forSouthampton and equalling the then-world record for thelong jump.[4] He also reputedly turned down thethrone of Albania. In later life, he suffered mental health problems, but even well into his seventies he claimed he was still able to perform his party trick: leaping from a stationary position backwards onto amantelpiece.[5][6][7][8]
Charles Burgess Fry was born at 144 St James's Road inCroydon on 25 April 1872, the son of a civil servant, Lewis John Fry, and his wife, Constance Isabella White.[9][10] Both sides of his family had once been wealthy, but by 1872 were not as prosperous.[11] At a young age, the family moved from Croydon toChislehurst in neighbouringKent.[12] It was here, in the family home that overlooked a cricket ground, where Fry began his fascination with cricket.[13] Fry began his education at Hove Lodge school, before being moved from there to Hornbrook House school, where his struggles with mathematics led to tensions with the headmaster and his wife.[14] His treatment at the school caused great psychological trauma, leaving him feeling unfufilled.[15] He returned to Holmbrook for a third year, finding that the headmaster and his wife had departed, with their reforms in the school having a positive effect on Fry's mental wellbeing, with Fry later remarking that it felt like he had entered "another and better world".[16] Amongst the improvements at the school was a greater focus on cricket, allowing Fry to hone his early skills.[16] He also demonstrated his athletic andfootballing prowess whilst at the school.[17] Academically, a switch in the curriculum toward theclassics saw Fry rise toward the top of his class.[17]
The family again relocated, this time toStreatham on account of his father's ill-health.[18] It was the intention of his parents for Fry to progress toAldenham School once he had left Hornbrook. To prepare for this, he was sent toRepton School for "practice", where he ended up winning a scholarship 'by mistake'.[18] At Repton, he won the school prizes for Latin Verse, Greek Verse, Latin Prose and French. He was also runner-up in German.[19] His weakest subject remained mathematics; he gained the headmaster's permission to studyThucydides instead and dispensed with maths for the rest of his academic career.[20] He was a member of the school's debating society.[21]
His greatest success at Repton came in sport. He was a member of the cricket eleven,[22] securing his place in the school team in 1888 andcaptaining it in 1890 and 1891. In his last season at the school, hisaverage was nearly 50.[23] His cricket coach in his six years at Repton wasArthur Forman.[24] Fry alsocaptained the school football team,[25] having managed to get into the school's under-16 team at the age of 13.[21] TheFootball Annual in 1891 praised Fry describing him as "the most brilliantback the school has ever had".[26] In athletics, he ran the 100 yards in under 11 seconds and set a new schoollong jump record of 21 feet that would not be beaten until 20 years later byHarold Abrahams.[25] Amongst his rivals in athletics were the brothersLionel andRichard Palairet.[27]
In 1890, he attempted to win a scholarship to what he believed would beTrinity College, Oxford. Fry travelled to Oxford to sit the examination held in the great hall atWadham College, only then realising that the exam was being held jointly on behalf of both colleges.[28] He received offers from both colleges, but opted to attend Wadham as their senior scholar,[28] beatingF. E. Smith (later the Earl of Birkenhead) to the scholarship.[25] Excelling at Oxford as a sportsman, Fry's status brought him into the orbit of people whose fame was already spreading far beyond Oxford, such asMax Beerbohm, the writer andcaricaturist. His reputation was such at Oxford, that he was one of a select few students to be allowed to have breakfast withCecil Rhodes.[29] When Fry was only 21, the magazineVanity Fair published a caricature of him in its issue of 19 April 1894, with the comment: "He is sometimes known as "C.B."; but it has lately been suggested that he should be called 'Charles III'."[30][2] Notably, whilst a keen debater at Repton, Fry declined several invitations to join theOxford Union, largely due to time constraints with other ventures, not withstanding his academic studies and sporting endeavours.[31] He was a member of theOxford University Dramatic Society,[25] causing controversy in its 1895 production ofThe Merchant of Venice with his use of the word "hell" in one of his lines; in the 1890s, "hell" was regarded as a risqué word.[32]
In his final term at Oxford in 1895, Fry experienced his first bout of mental illness, suffering a mental breakdown.[33][34] Several factors contributed to this. During his time at Oxford, Fry had accumulated large debts.[35] In an attempt to alleviate his financial difficulties, Fry capitalised on his reputation to make some much-needed money by writing articles (including one forWisden), and some private tutoring.[36] Although such activities reduced his debts, they did not clear them and further increased the intense pressure on his time. Fry's continuing indebtedness provides the most obvious explanation for his acceptance of an offer to do some nude modelling.[36] These financial problems combined with his mother being seriously ill,[33] placed an unbearable strain on him. Although he was able to sit his final exams, he was hardly in any fit state to do so, having hardly read a line for weeks. The result was Fry scraping afourth-class degree inliterae humaniores,[25] bringing his studies at Oxford to an inglorious end. In the summer of 1895, only months after being the toast of Oxford, Fry found himself saddled with mounting debts and no way with which to repay them. In the short term, cricket came to his rescue. He was offered, and accepted, the chance to tour South Africa as a member ofLord Hawke's 1895–96 England touring party.[37]
After matriculating to Oxford, he played for a sixteen-man freshman team againstOxford University Cricket Club, scoring 92 runs. He followed up in his next match by scoring 66 of his teams 79 runs and takingsix wickets.[38] In his freshman year, he made his debut infirst-class cricket for Oxford University Cricket Club against theGentlemen of England at theUniversity Parks in Oxford.[39] He made nine first-class appearances for Oxford in 1892,[39] meeting with modest success.[38] AgainstSomerset at Oxford, Fry recorded his firstcentury (110 runs) in first-class cricket, an innings that assisted Oxford tovictory by 7 wickets.[40] By playing in the 1892University Match atLord's, he gained his firstblue. Oxford endured a tough season, failing win any of their matches, though Fry was considered one of the sides better players.[41] The following season, he made eleven appearances in first-class cricket, scoring 398 runs, though his highest score was 59 runs.[42] In 1893, he debuted for both theMarylebone Cricket Club (MCC) and the Gentlemen in theGentlemen versus Players fixture.[39]
Ahead of the 1894 season, Fry was elected captain of the cricket club, succeeding Lionel Palairet.[43] He captained Oxford to victory in the 1893 University Match, scoring anunbeaten century in Oxford's first innings.[44] Despite his century, he drew criticism for his slow scoring rate early in his innings.[45] His captaincy in the match drew praise from theIllustrated Sporting and Dramatic News, citing his good judgement infield placing and knowing when it was time to change bowlers.[46] Earlier in the season againstSussex, he scored 119 runs and shared in a partnership of 153 runs for the fourth wicket withGerald Mordaunt.[47] After excluding himself from Oxford's early home matches in 1895,[48] Fry encounteredall-round success. With Oxford's bowling being weak in 1895,[49] Fry was able to demonstrate his abilities as a right-armfast-medium bowler. He returned his career best figures of 6 for 78 in the 1895 University Match,[50] He also enjoyed success as a batsman, scoring 125 runs against Sussex on a flat wicket atHove.[49] Against Kent atMaidstone, he was dismissed one run short of his century.[49]
Fry played forSurrey in 1891 (but not in any first-class fixtures),[51]Oxford University 1892–1895 (winning Blues in all four years and captaining the university in 1894, meaning that he was simultaneously not only captain of both the university cricket and football teams but president of the varsity athletics club as well)[52][43]Sussex 1894–1908 (captain 1904–1908), andHampshire, 1909–1921. First selected byEngland for thetour of South Africa in 1895–96, he captained England in his final six Test matches in 1912, winning four and drawing two. He twice scored Testcenturies: 144 v Australia in 1905 hitting 23 fours in just over3+1⁄2 hours, batting at number four,[53][54] and 129 opening the batting against South Africa in 1907.[55][56]
And he twice tookten wickets in a match: 5–75 and 5–102 for theGentlemen of England againstI Zingari in 1895,[57] and 5–81 and 5–66 for Sussex against Nottinghamshire in 1896 (a match in which he also scored 89 and 65).[58] The late 1890s saw a re-emergence of thethrowing controversy in cricket. Several professional bowlers includingArthur Mold andErnie Jones were no-balled; Mold was forced to retire. Fry's bowling action was criticised by opponents and teammates, and it was only a matter of time before he too was no-balled by umpireJim Phillips.[59]
Fry scored 94 first-class centuries, including an unprecedented six consecutive centuries in 1901. No one else has scored more consecutive hundreds. On 12 September 1901, playing for the Rest of England against Yorkshire at Lord's, he scored 105, which was his sixth consecutive first-class century.[60][61] He made his highest first-class score of 258 not out in 1911,[62] a season which led to his recall to the England Test team as captain in 1912. In 1921 Fry was once again considered for the Test side. The Selection Committee asked him to play in the First Test match at Nottingham under the captaincy ofJohnny Douglas, with a view to taking over the captaincy for the remainder of the series if, as they anticipated, things went wrong. Fry declined on the basis that there was no sense in recalling a forty-nine-year-old merely as a player, but stated that he would consider returning as captain. As England were badly beaten at Nottingham the Selection Committee again pressed Fry to return for the Second Test but once again he declined, due to poor form. Following another heavy defeat in the Second Test the Selection Committee made a further attempt to persuade Fry to return for the Third Test as captain, a job he was now keen to accept. He injured a finger taking a catch during Hampshire's match with the Australians. In the short term, the injury did not appear too serious: he scored a half-century in Hampshire's first innings and, when they followed on in reply to the Australians' massive total he top scored with 37. Furthermore, in his next match against Nottinghamshire he scored 61 in the first innings (but registered a duck in the second). It appears however that the injury was affecting his fielding more than his batting and, for last time, C.B. felt obliged to stand down from the side for the next Test.[63] Fry later commentated on cricket matches, being called "one of the most eloquentcricket commentators of all time."[64]
For both Sussex and England, he was closely associated with the outstanding cricketer PrinceRanjitsinhji, the futureJam Sahib ofNawanagar.[65] Their contrasting batting styles complemented one another (Fry being an orthodox, technically correct batsman, and Ranji being noted for his innovation, particularly his use of theleg glance). Their friendship lasted well into the 1920s, and when Ranjitsinhji became one of India's three representatives at theLeague of Nations, he took Fry with him as his assistant.[66]
Early in his career, he struggled to playslow bowling.[67] As a highly effective right-handed batsman who batted at, or near the top of the order, Fry scored 30,886first-class runs at an average of 50.22, a particularly high figure for an era when scores were generally lower than today. At the end of his cricketing career in 1921–22, he had the second highest average of any retired player with over 10,000 runs: only his Sussex and England colleagueRanjitsinhji had retired with a better career average. He headed the batting averages (qualification minimum 20 innings) for six English seasons (in 1901, 1903, 1905, 1907, 1911 and 1912). AgainstYorkshire, the strongest county bowling attack of Fry's time, he averaged a remarkable 63.60 over the course of his career, including back to back scores of 177[68] and 229[69] against them in 1904. GLJessop said that calmness was at the heart of his batting and that he was a superb judge of a run as well as being fast between the wickets.[70] In his early career Fry was an enthusiastic and successful right-arm fast-medium bowler.
In athletics, Fry won Blues in all four years at Oxford 1892–95, representing the university against Cambridge in the long jump in 1892, 1893, 1894 and 1895; the high jump in 1892 and the 100 yards in 1893 and 1894.[71][72] In 1892 Fry broke the British long jump record with a jump of 23 feet 5 inches (7.14 m)[73] and a year later on 4 March 1893 equalled the worldlong jump record of23 feet6+1⁄2 inches (7.176 m)[74][75] (tied with the American Charles Reber).[75] This is often incorrectly claimed to have stood as a world record for 21 years, but this length of time actually only refers to how long he held the university record, Cambridge's H. S. O. Ashington adding three-quarters of an inch to Fry's distance in 1913.[76] Fry's shared world record was broken on 5 September 1894 by Ireland's J. J. Mooney.[77]
In the first contest between universities from different countries, Oxford v Yale at theQueen's Club, West Kensington, in 1894, Fry came third in the long jump and won the 100 yards.[78][79] In addition to being an outstanding long jumper, sprinter and high jumper, Fry was also a talentedhurdler, once competing against Godfrey Shaw the champion hurdler of the time, who beat him but told him, as Fry later recalled: "He was sure if I took up hurdling seriously I might win the championship."[80][81] Fry was also president of the Oxford University athletics club in 1894.[52][82]
Apart from his other sporting achievements stated below, Fry was also a decentshot putter,[83][84]hammer thrower[83][84] andice skater, representing Wadham in the inter-College races on Blenheim lake in the winter of 1894–95 and coming close to an unofficial blue as a member of theOxford ice hockey team who took on Cambridge on the Fens,[85] as well as being a proficient golfer.[86]
 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Height | 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) | ||
| Position | Full-back | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1891–1903 | Corinthian | ||
| 1900–1902 | Southampton | 16 | (0) |
| 1902–1903 | Portsmouth | 2 | (0) |
| International career | |||
| 1901 | England | 1 | (0) |
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Fry's achievements extended to association football.
A defender with exceptional pace,[87] Fry learned his football atRepton School, where he played for and captained the school team.[88][26] While still at school he also played for the famous amateur club theCasuals, for whom he found himself turning out in an FA Cup tie at the age of sixteen.[88] Fry went on to winBlues in each of his four years atOxford University captaining the side in his third year.[52][43][89] In 1891,[90] he joined another famous amateur club,Corinthian, going on to make a total of 74 appearances for them between 1891 and 1903 scoring four goals.[91] Although extremely proud of his amateur status, he decided that entering the professional game would enhance his chance of international honours. He chose Southampton F.C. (The Saints), as the leading lights in theSouthern League, and also becauseThe Dell was conveniently close to his home. He made his debut for Southampton (as an amateur) on 26 December 1900,[92][93] againstTottenham Hotspur and went on to help them win theSouthern League title during that 1900–01 season.[94][95][96]
Fry's game was probably a little too refined for the hurly-burly ofprofessional football, he never relished the aerial challenges that were more prevalent in the professional game, but having worked tirelessly to improve his heading ability he achieved his aim of international honours when (along with Southampton's goalkeeper,Jack Robinson), he was picked to play as afull-back for England in the match againstIreland on 9 March 1901 (played in Southampton).[97][98]
The following season (1901–02), Southampton reached theFA Cup Final, playing againstSheffield United,[99][100] which was drawn 1–1,[100][101] but Southampton lost the replay, 2–1.[102][103] Although he had moments during the cup run in which he excelled, his positional play was sometimes questioned.[104][105] Fry played in all eight of the FA Cup games for Southampton that season,[106] but in only nine Southern League matches,[106][107] withBill Henderson being forced to give way whenever Fry was available.[108] The following season, he played twice atcentre forward, without success, but Southampton released him partly due to his lack of availability. Fry made 25 first-team appearances for Southampton.[106] He then joined Southampton's local rivalsPortsmouth, making his debut for them on 21 January 1903.[87] Fry made three appearances for Portsmouth (as an amateur) before retiring from football due to injury.[87]
Fry playedrugby union forOxford University, narrowly missing out on a Blue in his final year due to injury,[109][110]Blackheath, for whom he made ten appearances,[111] and theBarbarians, for whom he made three appearances.[111][112] Fry was also chosen, as he later recalled, as the "first reserve for the South against the North" – a match that was, in effect, an England trial. Unfortunately for Fry, no one pulled out before the match and, as there were no substitutions allowed in rugby at the time, he did not get to play.[113][109][111]
Fry's party trick was to leap from a stationary position on the floor backwards onto amantelpiece; he would face the mantelpiece, crouch down, take a leap upwards, turn in the air, and bow to the gallery with his feet planted on the shelf. Persuasion would occasionally get him to perform this turn at country houses, much to the interest of the guests.[5][7][8]
In 1896 Fry took up a teaching position atCharterhouse.[51] Two years later in 1898 he left the profession, moving on to a successful and much more lucrative and less time-consuming career in journalism. He later recalled: "I could earn by journalism three times the income for the expenditure of a tenth of the time."[114] In December 1908 he became the Captain Superintendent of theTraining ShipMercury,[115][64] a nautical school primarily designed to prepare boys for service in theRoyal Navy; this was run by his wifeBeatrice from 1885 to 1946, she having founded the school with her lover (and father of her illegitimate children), the rich banker Charles Hoare. She subjected the boys, 'hounded from morn to night', to 'barbarities' including ceremonial floggings of extreme violence and forced boxing matches inflicted as punishment.[116] Fry held this position until he resigned to make way for a younger man in 1950.[117] Eventually he was given the rank of captain in theRoyal Naval Reserve (RNR).[118]Alan Gibson wrote: "He ... would stride about in his uniform looking, as I think it wasRobertson-Glasgow who said, every inch like six admirals."[119] Interviewed about theMercury, and his role in its development, he was addressed as 'Commander C. B. Fry'.[120]
As far back as his time at Wadham College, Fry had been interested in politics, but admitted: "I take a great interest in heaps of things that I know nothing about ... politics for one".[121]
In 1920 when his friend and former Sussex team-mate Ranjitsinhji was offered and accepted the chance to become one of India's three representatives at the newly createdLeague of Nations inGeneva he took Fry with him as his assistant.[66] It was whilst working for Ranjitsinhji at the League of Nations, in Geneva, that Fry claimed to have been offered the throne of Albania.[122][123] Whether this offer genuinely occurred has been questioned, but Fry was definitely approached about the vacant Albanian throne and therefore seems to have been considered a credible candidate for the post.[124][125]
He stood (unsuccessfully) as aLiberal candidate for parliament for theBrighton constituency in 1922.[126] Fry's presence certainly brought some welcome glamour and excitement to the election, and his campaign was given extra colour by the appearance, at an election meeting, of DameClara Butt, the opera singer (and a close personal friend of the Frys).[127] He won 22,059 votes, 4,785 fewer than the Conservative victor.
He later fought the seat ofBanbury in 1923, losing by just 219 votes,[128] and theOxford by-election in 1924, where he was defeated by 1,842 votes.[129]
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Unionist |  YRt Hon. George Clement Tryon | 28,549 | 32.0 | ||
| Unionist | YSir Alfred Cooper Rawson | 26,844 | 30.0 | ||
| Liberal | Charles Burgess Fry | 22,059 | 24.7 | ||
| Ind. Unionist | H Wheater | 11,913 | 13.3 | ||
| Majority | 4,785 | 5.3 | |||
| Turnout | 70.1 | ||||
| Unionisthold | Swing | ||||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Unionist | Albert James Edmondson | 12,490 | 45.8 | −0.7 | |
| Liberal | Charles Burgess Fry | 12,271 | 45.0 | +15.6 | |
| Labour | Ernest Nathaniel Bennett | 2,500 | 9.2 | −14.9 | |
| Majority | 219 | 0.8 | −16.3 | ||
| Turnout | 27,261 | 76.0 | −0.4 | ||
| Unionisthold | Swing | -8.2 | |||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Unionist | Robert Bourne | 10,079 | 47.8 | +3.9 | |
| Liberal | Charles Burgess Fry | 8,237 | 39.1 | −17.0 | |
| Labour | Kenneth Martin Lindsay | 2,769 | 13.1 | N/A | |
| Majority | 1,842 | 8.7 | N/A | ||
| Turnout | 21,085 | 80.3 | |||
| Unionistgain fromLiberal | Swing | +10.5 | |||
Books by Fry include:
He is also believed to have written much ofThe Jubilee Book of Cricket (1897), of which the nominal author was Ranji.[135] He wrote prefaces and introductions for a number of other cricket books, and wrote articles on cricket and football forThe Strand Magazine in the early years of the 20th century.[136] In the 1930s, he wrote a column for the LondonEvening Standard, which covered many topics.[129] The column was credited with a considerable increase in the paper's circulation.[119] He launched and editedC. B. Fry's Magazine. In his magazine he promoted toys such as thediabolo. A History and Bibliography of Fry's Magazine was published in December 2022 by Sports History Publishing.
His broadcasting career began in 1936 with commentary for the BBC on a match between Middlesex and Surrey. He declined to join the panel onAny Questions but in 1945 began a successful stint onThe Brains Trust.In 1946 he was one of theBBC radio commentary team for the Tests between England andIndia.[137] In 1953 he gave a 3-hour interview to the BBC which was edited down to 30 minutes for the programmeFrankly Speaking. In 1955, he was surprised byEamonn Andrews for the fifth episode of the new television showThis Is Your Life.[138][139] Amongst the friends gathered to relive his best moments wereJack Hobbs andSydney Barnes.[138][140]
In the 1920s, Fry's mental health started to deteriorate severely. He had encountered mental health problems earlier in his life, experiencing a breakdown during his final year at Oxford, which meant that, although academically brilliant, he achieved a poor degree. In the late 1920s, he had a major breakdown and became deeply paranoid. He reached breaking point in 1928 during a visit to India, becoming convinced that an Indian had cast a spell on him.[141] For the rest of his life, he dressed in bizarrely unconventional clothes.[142] He recovered enough to become a popular writer on cricket and other sports, and even into his sixties he entertained hopes of becoming a Hollywood star. At one point when he was staying inBrighton he was supposed to have gone for a walk along the beach early in the morning and suddenly shed all his clothes, trotting around stark naked.[142]
In 1934, as reported in his 1939 autobiography,Life Worth Living,[113] he visited Germany with the idea of forging stronger links between the uniformed British youth organisations, such as theBoy Scouts, and theHitler Youth, so that both groups could learn from each other. Fry metAdolf Hitler who greeted him with aNazi salute which he returned with a Nazi salute of his own.[143][144] He failed to persuadevon Ribbentrop thatNazi Germany should take up cricket to Test level. Some members of theHitler Youth were welcomed atTSMercury, and Fry was still enthusiastic about them in 1938, just prior to the outbreak of war.[145] Fry's laudatory statements about Hitler persisted through his autobiography's third impression in July 1941[146] but appear to have been purged in the fourth impression (1947).
He retired from his position at TSMercury in 1950, and died in 1956, inHampstead, London.[145][147] The English writer and criticNeville Cardus wrote the following words for Fry's obituary:[148]
Fry must be counted among the most fully developed and representative Englishmen of his period; and the question arises whether, had fortune allowed him to concentrate on the things of the mind, not distracted by the lure of cricket, a lure intensified by his increasing mastery over the game, he would not have reached a high altitude in politics or critical literature. But he belonged – and it was his glory – to an age not obsessed by specialism; he was one of the last of the English tradition of the amateur, theconnoisseur, and, in the most delightful sense of the word, thedilettante.
His ashes were buried in the graveyard ofRepton Parish Church, next to Repton School's Priory. In 2008, his grandson, Jonathan Fry (chairman of the governors at Repton), was in attendance at the rededication of Fry's grave, which was inscribed with, "1872 C B Fry 1956. Cricketer, scholar, athlete, Author – The Ultimate All-rounder'.
In 1898, Fry marriedBeatrice Holme Sumner (1862–1946),[149] daughter of Arthur Holme Sumner, of Hatchlands Park, Guildford, Surrey;[150][151] they had three children. Beatrice was ten years Fry's senior, and known for her 'fiery, strong-willed, aggressive' personality; she was reckoned to be 'a cruel and domineering woman', and Fry 'lived in fear of her for the duration of their marriage', as 'she made him thoroughly miserable and he tried to stay away from her as much as possible'. His unhappy marriage impacted Fry's mental health; his daughter-in-law observed: 'I should think anyone would have a breakdown married to her".[152] At Beatrice's death, they had been married for 48 years; Fry 'adjusted to her death with great equanimity and even her children showed all the freedom of the newly liberated'.[152][116] Their sonStephen later said: 'My mother ruined my father's life'.[153] He and his son,Charles Fry, also played first-class cricket.
Southampton F.C.
TwoBrighton & Hove buses (429 and 829) were named "C B Fry" in his honour.[154]
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| Sporting positions | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | English national cricket captain 1912 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Sussex county cricket captain 1904–1906 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Sussex county cricket captain 1907–1908 | Succeeded by |
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| People | |
| Other | |