Lives in Cricket No 19 - Frank Sugg

Chapter Two Family Background and Early Days Sugg is not a very common surname – it is Saxon in origin and apparently meant either a sow or a sparrow, probably originally a nickname – and the main concentration of Suggs in the first half of the nineteenth century was to be found in the western counties. 7 While agriculture was the main source of employment, Frank Sugg’s grandfather, William Nathaniel Sugg, was an iron founder. Frank’s father, Hubert Henri Sugg, was born in Exeter in 1833. Hubert was actually christened Hubert Honary, Honary being an old family name of the Suggs (suggesting perhaps that the family was one of some standing), but Hubert’s birth certificate gave his second name as Henri and this is the name by which he was generally known thereafter. The 1851 census lists Hubert as an accountant and it may well be that as a young man he was working in such a capacity in his father’s business. There was a considerable migration of population in the nineteenth century from the agricultural areas of the country to London and to the industrial towns of the Midlands and the North. At some stage Hubert joined the tide and moved from Devon to Sheffield. We do not know precisely when or why he went to Sheffield, though his connections with the iron trade might have been a factor. Once settled in Sheffield, Hubert qualified as a solicitor, in which profession he was to earn a good living. In Sheffield Hubert met Ellen Howe, two years his senior, whose father was also a solicitor. The couple were married in March 1858. Their first child, Emily, was born in Sheffield in 1860. Shortly after this event, Hubert moved his family to Ilkeston, a small town in Derbyshire close to the border with Nottinghamshire. The reasons for this move are not known. Interviewed in 1896, Frank said ‘it was only during a chance visit of my parents to Derbyshire that I 12 7 This information from Christopher Sugg, Origins and Migrations of Sugg Families in England, 2003. There is no mention of Frank Sugg and his family in this booklet but Christopher helped me with information on Frank Sugg’s family.