Cricket and social status in the early nineteenth century: the career of Richard Cheslyn 1797–1858

ABSTRACT The maintenance of social status was important in cricket in the early nineteenth century as the upper classes participated increasingly in a game where they competed with their social inferiors. They could only play as amateurs; gentlemen did not get paid. This was not a problem for most but it was for some. Playing cricket had to be supported financially (outside of the village level) and this paper examines the manner in which Richard Cheslyn was able to play the game while maintaining his status as a gentleman between the 1820s and 1850s. Cheslyn was born the heir to a landed estate in Leicestershire and brought up accordingly. However, by the time he came of age the prospect of his inheritance was in doubt and disappeared entirely soon afterwards. Forced to seek alternative forms of support, he found a partial answer in cricket. An enthusiastic (if not first-rate) player, he was able, for a period, to finance his participation in the game and maintain his status and lifestyle through organising matches and gambling. When all else failed, he was rescued through a network of influential friends, gained in large part from his role in Leicestershire cricket.