Lives in Cricket No 2 - Johnny Briggs

around 18,000. Briggs was born there on 3 October, 1862 almost eight hundred years after the Domesday Book appeared. His birth certificate, issued exactly a month later, records that he was the son of James and Ellen Briggs (née Banner) with the father’s occupation listed as a stocking framework knitter. The informant is recorded as Ellen Briggs, mother, of Lord Street, Sutton, who placed her X in lieu of a signature on the document. Lord Street, formerly known as Bedlam Court, has subsequently been demolished to make way for Sutton Centre School. Briggs’ father, James, would have received very low pay in his job as a stocking framework knitter, which had been one of the main occupations in the village since the first hand frames for making stockings were installed in around 1770. The connection between Sutton-in-Ashfield and the hosiery industry continues to this day. James Briggs, who was on piece work, would have earned around two shillings for a dozen cotton stockings, which would usually have taken around seven hours to make. The knitters would have to work long hours to pay for the rent of the frames they used and the houses in which they lived. So it must have been pleasing for Johnny’s family when his father was able to take up a summer job as the cricket professional with the Hornsea club on the east coast of Yorkshire. Hornsea CC was founded in the mid-1860s and proved popular with players from the East Riding and Hull. It is still going strong. Back in 1871 they engaged Andrew Crossland, the former Yorkshire player, as a professional, but only for two afternoons a week because of a lack of funds. However, the club’s financial position later became much healthier and it was then decided that they could afford to take on a full-time pro and in 1872 James Briggs was appointed for the year. He remained with Hornsea for three seasons and proved a valued acquisition, the club reporting that ‘by his careful attention to his duties and his abilities as a cricketer and groundsman he is held in high esteem’. James lived in Hornsea during the summer months with his wife and young Johnny, returning in the winter, presumably to take up his poorly-paid role as a stocking framework knitter. In a three-day match, starting on 13 July, 1874, Briggs senior played for a Hornsea and District XXII against the United South of England XI, whose line-up included the greatest player of his day, Where it all began 9