Sir William Leese, 2nd Baronet

Sir William Leese, 2nd Baronet
Personal information
Full name
William Hargreaves Leese
Born24 August 1868
Send, Surrey, England
Died17 January 1937(1937-01-17) (aged 68)
Sidmouth, Devon, England
BattingRight-handed
RelationsJoseph Leese (father)
Vernon Leese (brother)
Neville Leese (brother)
Ernest Leese (uncle)
Oliver Leese (son)
Domestic team information
YearsTeam
1889–1890Marylebone Cricket Club
Career statistics
Competition First-class
Matches 2
Runs scored 57
Batting average 14.25
100s/50s –/–
Top score 35
Catches/stumpings 3/–
Source: Cricinfo, 21 April 2021

Sir William Hargreaves Leese, 2nd Baronet, JP (24 August 1868 – 17 January 1937) was an English barrister and first-class cricketer. Later in his career he was a solicitor with Freshfields.[1]

Life

The son of Sir Joseph Leese, he was born in August 1868 at Send, Surrey. He was educated at Winchester College,[2] where he played for the cricket eleven.[3]

From Winchester Leese went up to Trinity Hall, Cambridge, graduating B.A. in 1890. He was an enthusiastic amateur actor while at Cambridge, associated with the Footlights.[1]

A student of the Inner Temple, Leese was called to the bar in 1893.[1] He continued his interest in acting after leaving Cambridge. By 1905, Leese was a partner in the legal firm Freshfields & Co., who were solicitors for the Bank of England.[2] He succeeded to the Leese baronetcy as the 2nd Baronet upon the death of his father in July 1914. He held the post of justice of the peace for Hertfordshire.[1]

Sir William Leese died in January 1937 at Sidmouth.[3] He was succeeded as the 3rd Baronet by his son, Sir Oliver Leese, who commanded the Eighth Army and 11th Army Group in the final years of the Second World War.

Cricket

During his studies at Cambridge, Leese played first-class cricket for the Marylebone Cricket Club against Cambridge University at Fenner's in 1889, and Oxford University at Lord's in 1890.[4] He scored 57 runs in these two matches, with a highest score of 35.[5]

Leese's association with I Zingari led to him performing for the Old Stagers at the Canterbury Cricket Week; he was additionally associated with the Windsor Strollers.[1]

Leese was from a cricketing family. His father and his brothers Vernon and Neville all played first-class cricket, as did his uncle Ernest Leese and his son Charles Leese.[6]

Family

Leese married on 12 December 1893 Violet Mary Sandeman, daughter of Albert George Sandeman of the Bank of England;[2][7] the couple had three sons and a daughter, the eldest son Oliver Leese, a general of World War II, succeeding to the title.[8]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e "Leese, William Hargreaves (LS887WH)". A Cambridge Alumni Database. University of Cambridge.
  2. ^ a b c Dauglish, M. G.; Wainewright, John Bannerman (1907). Winchester College, 1836–1906: A Register. Winchester: P. and G. Wells. p. 408.
  3. ^ a b "Wisden - Obituaries in 1937". ESPNcricinfo. 2 December 2005. Retrieved 21 April 2021.
  4. ^ "First-Class Matches played by William Leese". CricketArchive. Retrieved 21 April 2021.
  5. ^ "First-Class Batting and Fielding For Each Team by William Leese". CricketArchive. Retrieved 21 April 2021.
  6. ^ Bailey, Philip; Thorn, Philip; Wynne-Thomas, Peter (1984). Who's Who of Cricketers. London: Newnes Books. pp. 607–8. ISBN 0600346927.
  7. ^ "Fashionable Marriage, Leese-Sandeman". St James's Gazette. 13 December 1893. p. 6.
  8. ^ Burke's Genealogical and Heraldic Dictionary of the Peerage, Baronetage and Knightage (99th ed.). London: Burke's Peerage Ltd. and Shaw Publishing. 1949. p. 1191.
allikas: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sir_William_Leese,_2nd_Baronet