English cricketer
Geoffrey Russell Rees Colman (14 March 1892 – 18 March 1935) was an English cricketer active in first-class cricket from 1912 to 1924.
Colman was born at Norwich to mustard manufacturer Russell James Colman, of Crown Point House, Norwich, and Edith Margaret (née Davies).[ 1] He was educated at Eton College , before attending Christ Church, Oxford . While still attending Eton, Colman made his minor counties debut for Norfolk in the 1911 Minor Counties Championship , making three appearances in that season.[ 2] His debut in first-class cricket came the following year for Oxford University against the touring South Africans at the Magdalen Ground , Oxford.[ 3] Prior to the start of World War I , Colman made 22 first-class appearances for the university.[ 3] Playing primarily as a right-handed batsman , Colman scored 946 runs, making one century score of 127 against Hampshire in 1913.[ 4] [ 5] He gained his Oxford blue in 1913.[ 6]
With the onset of war, Colman enlisted in the British Army . He served in the 7th Battalion, The Rifle Brigade on the Western Front with the rank of second lieutenant .[ 7] He later served in the Machine Gun Corps , achieving the rank of temporary captain in January 1917.[ 8] During the course of the war he was severely wounded, which would affect him in later years.[ 6]
On 25 February 1919, Colman married Lettice Elizabeth Evelyn, daughter of Charles Robert Whorwood Adeane , of Babraham Hall , Lord Lieutenant of Cambridgeshire . Their five children included Timothy Colman .[ 9] He also resumed playing minor counties cricket for Norfolk, representing his home county until 1930,[ 2] but the wounds he sustained during the war curtailed his minor counties career.[ 6] He made one final appearance in first-class cricket when he was selected to play for the combined Minor Counties cricket team in 1924 against the touring South Africans at the County Ground, Lakenham .[ 3]
As a member of the Norwich Colman's family, he served as a company director until his death at Framingham Earl , Norfolk, on 18 March 1935,[ 10] from endocarditis caused by a chest wound sustained during the war.[ 11] After his death, the thatched pavilion at the County Ground in Lakenham was erected in his memory in 1936.[ 11]
References
^ Burke's Landed Gentry, 18th edition, vol. 1, ed. Peter Townend, Burke's Peerage Ltd, 1965, p. 4
^ a b "Minor Counties Championship Matches played by Geoffrey Colman" . CricketArchive. Retrieved 23 September 2018 .
^ a b c "First-Class Matches played by Geoffrey Colman" . CricketArchive. Retrieved 23 September 2018 .
^ "First-class Batting and Fielding For Each Team by Geoffrey Colman" . CricketArchive. Retrieved 23 September 2018 .
^ "Hampshire v Oxford University, 1913" . CricketArchive. Retrieved 23 September 2018 .
^ a b c "Wisden – Obituaries in 1935" . ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 23 September 2018 .
^ "No. 28879" . The London Gazette . 25 August 1914. p. 6696.
^ "No. 29894" . The London Gazette . 6 January 1917. p. 358.
^ Burke's Landed Gentry, 18th edition, vol. 1, ed. Peter Townend, Burke's Peerage Ltd, 1965, p. 4
^ Church, Roy; Godley, Andrew (1 January 2003). The Emergence of Modern Marketing . Routledge . p. 27. ISBN 978-0714653907 .
^ a b James, Derek (18 November 2013). "Last innings for former home of Norfolk cricket at Lakenham" . Eastern Daily Press . Retrieved 23 September 2018 .
External links