Stanley Jackson

The Right Honourable Sir Stanley Jackson GCSI GCIE KStJ
F. S. Jackson making an on-drive, late 1890s
Financial Secretary to the War Office
In office 1922–1923
Preceded by	George Frederick Stanley
Succeeded by	Rupert Gwynne
Chairman of the Conservative Party
In office 1923–1926
Preceded by	George Younger
Succeeded by	John Davidson
Governor of Bengal
In office 1927–1932
Preceded by	The Earl of Lytton
Succeeded by	Sir John Anderson
Member of Parliament for Howdenshire
In office 1915 – 1926
Preceded by	Henry Harrison-Broadley
Succeeded by	William Henton Carver
Personal information
Full name	Francis Stanley Jackson[1]
Born	21 November 1870 Chapel Allerton, Leeds, Yorkshire, England
Died	9 March 1947 (aged 76) Hyde Park, London, England
Nickname	Jacker
Batting style	Right-handed
Bowling style	Right arm fast-medium
International information
National side	England
Test debut (cap 82)	17 July 1893 v Australia
Last Test	16 August 1905 v Australia
Domestic team information
Years	Team
1890 – 1907	Yorkshire
1890 – 1893	Cambridge University
Career statistics
Competition Tests First-class Matches 20 309 Runs scored 1,415 15,901 Batting average 48.79 33.83 100s/50s 5/6 31/76 Top score 144* 160 Balls bowled 1,587 37,516 Wickets 24 774 Bowling average 33.29 20.37 5 wickets in innings 1 42 10 wickets in match 0 6 Best bowling 5/52 8/54 Catches/stumpings 10/– 195/–
Source: Cricinfo, 11 November 2008

Sir Francis Stanley Jackson GCSI GCIE KStJ PC^[1] (21 November 1870 – 9 March 1947),^[2] known as the Honourable Stanley Jackson during his playing career, was an English cricketer, soldier and Conservative Party politician.

Early life

Jackson was born in Leeds. His father was William Jackson, 1st Baron Allerton. During Stanley's time at Harrow School his fag was fellow parliamentarian and future Prime Minister Winston Churchill.^[1] He went up to Trinity College, Cambridge in 1889.^[3]

Cricket career

"A Flannelled Fighter"
Jackson as caricatured by Spy (Leslie Ward) in Vanity Fair, August 1902

Jackson played for Cambridge University, Yorkshire and England. He spotted the talent of Ranjitsinhji when the latter, owing to his unorthodox batting and his race, was struggling to find a place for himself in the university side, and as captain was responsible for Ranji's inclusion in the Cambridge First XI and the awarding of his Blue. According to Alan Gibson this was "a much more controversial thing to do than would seem possible to us now".^[4] He was named a Wisden Cricketer of the Year in 1894.

He captained England in five Test matches in 1905, winning two and drawing three to retain The Ashes.^[5] Captaining England for the first time, he won all five tosses and topped the batting and bowling averages for both sides, with 492 runs at 70.28 and 13 wickets at 15.46. These were the last of his 20 Test matches, all played at home as he could not spare the time to tour. Jackson still holds the Test record for the most matches in a career without playing away from home.^[6]

An orthodox batsman with a penchant for forcing strokes in front of square on both sides of the wicket he was regarded as a very sound player of fast bowling. His own bowling was a brisk fast medium, with a good off cutter his main weapon. While his commitments outside of cricket limited the number of games he played he was a key member of the very strong Yorkshire sides who won 6 county championships during his career (although this did include 1901 when Jackson did not appear in the county championship). His performances in 1896 and 1898 in particular showed what his statistics could have been if he had been able to dedicate more time, scoring over 1,000 championship runs at better than 40.00 in each season and taking over 100 wickets across the two seasons at an average of under 20.^[7]

Gibson wrote of him as a cricketer that he had "a toughness of character, a certain ruthlessness behind the genial exterior... He does not seem to have been a particularly popular man, though he was always a deeply respected one."^[4]

He was President of the MCC in 1921.

Jackson succeeded Lord Hawke as President of Yorkshire CCC in 1938 after Hawke's death and held the post until his own death in 1947.^[8]

Military and political career

Jackson was a lieutenant in the Harrow Volunteers when he was on 16 January 1900 appointed captain in 3rd (Militia) Battalion of the King′s Own (Royal Lancaster Regiment).^[9] He left with his battalion in February 1900 to serve in the Second Boer War,^[10] and arrived in South Africa the following month. He transferred to the West Yorkshire Regiment as a Lieutenant-Colonel in 1914.

He was elected as a Member of Parliament at a by-election in February 1915,^[11] representing Howdenshire (Yorkshire) until resigning his seat on 3 November 1926.^[12] He served as Financial Secretary to the War Office 1922-23. In 1927 he was appointed Governor of Bengal and in that year was knighted with the GCIE and was made a member of the Privy Council. In 1928 while he was Governor of Bengal, he inaugurated The Malda District Central Co-operative Bank Ltd in Malda District of Bengal to promote co-operative movements. He was awarded the KStJ in 1932.

In 1932, he sidestepped and ducked five pistol shots fired at close range by a girl student named Bina Das in the Convocation Hall of the University of Calcutta. Escaping unharmed and smiling, "[e]ven before the smoke had blown away, the Governor resumed his speech amid cheers."^[13] The attacker was tackled and disarmed by Lieutenant-Colonel Hassan Suhrawardy (the first Muslim Vice Chancellor of the University of Calcutta), who was knighted by the King for his heroism.^[14] Later that year, Jackson was appointed GCSI.

Funeral

England team v. Australia, Trent Bridge 1899. Back row: Dick Barlow (umpire), Tom Hayward, George Hirst, Billy Gunn, J T Hearne (12th man), Bill Storer (wkt kpr), Bill Brockwell, V A Titchmarsh (umpire). Middle row: C B Fry, K S Ranjitsinhji, W G Grace (captain), Stanley Jackson. Front row: Wilfred Rhodes, Johnny Tyldesley. Jackson, Hirst and Rhodes are wearing their Yorkshire caps.

Jackson died in London of complications following a road accident.^[15] Recalling his funeral, the Bishop of Knaresborough remarked "As I gazed down on the rapt faces of that vast congregation, I could see how they revered him as though he were the Almighty, though, of course, infinitely stronger on the leg side."

See also

• History of Test cricket (1890 to 1900)

Notes

1. Jackson's obituary in the 1948 Wisden Cricketers' Almanack. This gives his full name as Francis Stanley Jackson, whereas Cricinfo and CricketArchive both give his full name as Frank Stanley Jackson. This article uses the name given by Wisden.
2. "Historical list of MPs: constituencies beginning with H, part 4". Leigh Rayment's House of Commons page. Retrieved 14 January 2010.
3. "Jackson, Francis (or Frank) Stanley (JK889FF)". A Cambridge Alumni Database. University of Cambridge.
4. Gibson, Alan (1989). The Cricket Captains of England. Pavilion Books. pp. 91–2. ISBN 978-1-85145-395-5.
5. Alan Gibson wrote a book about his achievements in that series, published in 1966: Jackson's Year: The Test Matches Of 1905.
6. Walmsley, Keith (2003). Mosts Without in Test Cricket. Reading, England: Keith Walmsley Publishing Pty Ltd. p. 457. ISBN 0947540067..
7. Coldham, James. FS Jackson.
8. Kilburn, p.123.
9. The London Gazette: no. 27156. p. 433. 23 January 1900.
10. "The War - Embarcation of Troops". The Times (36064). London. 13 February 1900. p. 11.
11. Craig, F. W. S. (1989) [1974]. British parliamentary election results 1885–1918 (2nd ed.). Chichester: Parliamentary Research Services. p. 426. ISBN 0-900178-27-2.
12. Department of Information Services (9 June 2009). "Appointments to the Chiltern Hundreds and Manor of Northstead Stewardships since 1850" (PDF). House of Commons Library. Retrieved 30 November 2009.
13. Five shots fired at governor Glasgow Herald, 8 February 1932, p. 11
14. [trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article/21782002 Bravery Recognised] Brisbane Courier 18 February 1932, at Trove
15. Kilburn, p.122.

Bibliography

• Hodgson, Derek (1989). The Official History of Yorkshire County Cricket Club. Ramsbury, Marlborough, Wiltshire: The Crowood Press. ISBN 1-85223-274-9.
• Kilburn, J.M. (1970). A History of Yorkshire Cricket. Stanley Paul. ISBN 0-09-101110-8.
• Woodhouse, Anthony (1989). The History of Yorkshire County Cricket Club. London: Christopher Helm. ISBN 0-7470-3408-7.

External links

• Cricinfo page on the Honourable Stanley Jackson, including his Wisden obituary
• "Jackson, Francis (or Frank) Stanley (JK889FF)". A Cambridge Alumni Database. University of Cambridge.
• Hansard 1803–2005: contributions in Parliament by Stanley Jackson
• www.burkespeerage.com