On the 12 September 1913, British and South African soldier and cricketer, Robert Burnard Stewart died in Cala, Cape Province, South Africa, aged 57 (1856-1913).

Born in Azamgarh, in the United Provinces of India, Stewart played in South Africa’s first Test match in 1889. He was educated at Wellington College in England, where he captained the First XI.

He served as an officer with the British Army in South Africa, and represented King William’s Town in the Champion Bat Tournament. In the 1879-80 tournament he was the leading batsman; in the low-scoring final, scoring a century and taking seven wickets in King William’s Town’s innings victory over the team from Port Elizabeth. In the next Champion Bat Tournament, in 1884-85, he top-scored for King William’s Town in all three matches.

When the English team toured South Africa in 1888–1889 Stewart played against the tourists in two matches for Cape Colony, the Cape Mounted Rifles, and Eastern Province. He was one of the few local batsmen to reach double figures in these matches, although his highest score was only 25, which was also the top score in Eastern Province’s first innings.

Stewart played in the Test match that followed the Eastern Province match a few days later. As it was the first match in South Africa to be considered first-class, he and all his team-mates made their first-class and Test debuts in the same match. It was Stewart’s only first-class match. He batted at number eight and made 4 and 9, and took two catches. 

12 September, 2019