Ben Butterworth

Benjamin Butterworth (2 May 1833 – 6 January 1879[1]) was an English-born Australian cricketer. He played three first-class cricket matches for Victoria between 1857 and 1862.[2]

Ben Butterworth

Personal information
Full name	Benjamin Butterworth
Born	2 May 1833 Rochdale, Lancashire, England
Died	6 January 1879 (aged 45) Chiswick, Middlesex, England
Role	Fieldsman
Relations	Thomas Butterworth (brother)
Domestic team information
Years	Team
1856/57–1861/62	Victoria
Career statistics
Competition First-class Matches 3 Runs scored 4 Batting average 1.00 100s/50s 0/0 Top score 2 Balls bowled 0 Wickets – Bowling average – 5 wickets in innings – 10 wickets in match – Best bowling – Catches/stumpings 2/–
Source: Cricinfo, 11 October 2020

Life and career

Ben Butterworth was born in Rochdale, Lancashire, and went to Australia in the 1850s.[3] He established a business as a merchant in Castlemaine, Victoria, and married Eliza Hepburn, daughter of the prominent local pastoralist John Stuart Hepburn, at Hepburn's property at Smeaton on 9 March 1859.[4]

In cricket, Butterworth was renowned for his fielding prowess in the position of long stop, which was an important position at the time, before the development of wicket-keeping techniques in the 1880s made it obsolete at the highest levels of the game. He was considered one of the best long stops in Australia, and "as good a long stop as anyone in England".[5][6] He was chosen to play for Victoria for his long-stopping alone.[7] Before Victoria's match against the touring English team in January 1862, The Age said: "Benjamin Butterworth, as long stop, is unrivalled in the Australian colonies. Takes the ball cleanly, throws in sharply and with certainty, and covers a great extent of ground." Of his batting it said only: "A wild bat, and cannot be depended upon for runs."[8] In six first-class innings he made only four runs.[2]

He captained a Castlemaine XXII to victory over the English team in March 1862.[9] Two seasons later, in January 1864, he captained the Victorian XXII in a drawn match against the 1863-64 English team; he batted at No. 22.[10]

Butterworth was appointed a magistrate in 1863.[11] He returned to England with his growing family in the late 1860s and settled in Middlesex.[3] When the first Australian cricket team toured England in 1878, he treated them to a trip up the River Thames to Windsor Castle. The Australian cricketer Tom Horan later recalled the trip as "a picnic which is still one of the brightest gems in my cricket memory".[12]

Butterworth died at his home, "Smeaton House", in Chiswick in January 1879. Eliza survived him (and lived till 1923), along with their daughter and three young sons.[3]

See also

• List of Victoria first-class cricketers

References

1. "Ben Butterworth". CricketArchive. Retrieved 11 October 2020.
2. "Benjamin Butterworth". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 13 February 2015.
3. "Benjamin Butterworth". Ancestry.com.au. Retrieved 11 October 2020.
4. "Married". Mount Alexander Mail: 4. 11 March 1959.
5. "Cricket: The Long Stop". The Maitland Daily Mercury: 9. 18 February 1928.
6. "Cricket Chatter". The Riverine Herald: 3. 12 May 1891.
7. "Cricket Gossip". Leader: 17. 19 October 1901.
8. "The All England Cricket Match". The Age: 5. 1 January 1862.
9. "Castlemaine v HH Stephenson's XI 1861-62". CricketArchive. Retrieved 11 October 2020.
10. "Victoria v G Parr's XI 1863-64". CricketArchive. Retrieved 11 October 2020.
11. "Government Gazette". Leader: 5. 28 March 1863.
12. "Cricket Chatter". The Australasian: 20. 6 March 1897.