The Hon. Spencer Lyttelton

Wisden obituary

The Hon. George William Spencer Lyttelton, fourth son of Baron Lyttelton, died at his residence, Hill Street, W., on December 5th, in his 67th year. He was born in London on June 12th, 1847. Spencer Lyttelton, as he was generally called, had the family devotion to cricket, and though he did not earn the fame in the field that was won by three of his brothers-Charles, Edward, and Alfred-he had a good record, both at Eton and Cambridge. He was in the Eton Eleven in 1863, 1864, and 1865, making his first appearance at Lord's against Harrow as a member of a brilliant team, which included Alfred Lubbock-the finest school batsman of 1863-E. W. Tritton, the Hon. F. G. Pelham (afterwards Earl of Chichester), and J. Frederick. The match was drawn, Tritton scoring 91 and 58, and Lubbock 0 and 80. In the two following years Harrow were overwhelmingly strong, beating Eton by an innings and 66 runs in 1864, and by an innings and 51 runs in 1865. Spencer Lyttelton was the most successful batsman for the beaten side in 1864, playing a second innings of 50 against some admirable bowling, but he failed in 1865. His best score for Eton was 96 not out, against Winchester in 1864, he and W. S. Prideaux winning the match in great style by nine wickets. At Cambridge Mr. Lyttelton was in the eleven for two seasons- 1866 and 1867. He did nothing against Oxford in his first year, but in 1867 he was one of the heroes of an intensely interesting finish. Cambridge required only 110 to win, but five of their best wickets were down for 54, E. M. Kenney"s left-handed fast bowling being very difficult. However, Cambridge won the game without further loss, W. S. O. Warner-a fine bat and still finer racquet player, who died at the age of 27-scoring 34 not out and Lyttelton 20 not out. Spencer Lyttelton was clearly at his best as a batsman in 1867, as in that year he scored 114 at Fenner"s for the University against Cambridgeshire. Mr. Lyttelton in public affairs was best known as chief private secretary to Mr. Gladstone, 1892-94. An excellent musician, he was on the Executive Committee of the Royal College of Music.

Wisden Cricketers' Almanack