Lives in Cricket No 29 - AN Hornby

47 and awarded the Military Cross. Two years later he went back to Canada and became known as the ‘hermit of the north’ for living with limited supplies off the ‘barren lands’ of the North-West Territory. He successfully advocated the creation of a wildlife sanctuary in the area of the Thelon River, but in 1927 he and two companions died of starvation after spending a year in a cabin there. His body wasn’t found until 1929, two years after his mother died. Hornby Point and Hornby Fort were named after him, and he has been the subject of several biographies and plays. With one in Australia, one in South Africa and one in Canada, the Hornby boys obviously had itchy feet. The year after A.N. wed, Hornby’s younger brother, Charles Herbert, married Ada’s sister Marguerite. The marriages helped ensure the financial security of the Hornby brothers for the foreseeable future. After 1881, when Charles was a farmer in Northamptonshire, both described themselves on censuses as ‘living on own means’. An all-round sportsman A.N. rode to hounds from an early age and kept a stable of up to a dozen horses in Cheshire, three for his wife and the rest for himself. A fearless, and some would say, reckless rider, he drove his horses hard and in one season three were killed under him. As the Athletic Times told its readers on 30 August 1887: ‘If you were a horse it does not sound like a good idea to join his stable.’ The article went on: ‘The hunters all show signs of their master’s courage as swollen knees and bandaged shins are seen in every stall.’ Vanity Fair ’s view in 1891 also underlined Hornby’s fearless demeanour in the saddle, stating: ‘He is among the best riders to hound in Cheshire, among whom he is quite the boldest.’ He was a good shot and loved blazing away at small birds and animals – and one or two gamekeepers, it was reputed! In 1887 A.N. leased the shooting rights at Dorfold Hall from his hunting friends, the Roundells. It was within easy reach of his home at Parkfield. He was also a useful boxer and occasionally sparred with professionals. When he toured Australia in 1878 Hornby engaged Married to Sport