Full Name

Edward Stead

Born

1701, Maidstone, Kent

Died

August 28, 1735, London

Also Known As

Edwin Steed

Edward Stead was one of cricket's early patrons in the 1700s who gambled heavily and recklessly at cards and dice. In his late teens he inherited large estates in Kent but by the age of 22 he was already mortgaging the land to pay his debts. However, when away from the tables he was addicted to cricket and he underwrote a number of sides, playing himself at times, often with large sums bet on them. In 1733 he fielded a side against Frederick Louis, Prince of Wales' XI at Moulsey Hurst, a game repeated in 1735. Stead died a month later, his fortune squandered.
Martin Williamson