On the 22 June, 1713, the notorious rake, Lord John Philip Sackville (1713 – 1765) was born.
A Member of Parliament for Tamworth from 1734 to 1747, he was a keen cricketer connected for Kent, was first recorded in the 1734 season, when he and his brother Lord Middlesex, played for Kent v Sussex at Sevenoaks Vine.
1st Duke of Dorset
In 1739, Sackville played for the London Cricket Club which was having selection problems at the time.
In the 1744 season, Lord John challenged an All-England side to play against his Kent team, which Kent won with one wicket to spare. The match details are preserved in what is now cricket’s second oldest known scorecard.
Sackville became the main patron of the Kent team and captained the side in many matches until 1745 at least, but is not mentioned in records after that.
Sackville was compelled to marry Lady Frances Leveson-Gower, daughter of the 1st Earl Gower, the sister of the Duchess of Bedford in 1744, after she gave birth to his child at Woburn.
3rd Duke of Dorset
They eventually had two sons and one daughter, their son, John Frederick, later the 3rd Duke of Dorset, was a member of the famous Hambledon Club, and a leading supporter of cricket in the latter half of the eighteenth century.
Sackville refused to join the Guards when sent abroad, and was committed to a private lunatic asylum circa 1746. It is reported he became insane later in life, dying Geneva, Switzerland, aged 52.
22 June, 2019