Lives in Cricket No 34 - Frank Mitchell

97 Chapter Sixteen Difficult times – and bankruptcy If Frank Mitchell was having a difficult times with his batting in 1912, the cause may not just have been age and lack of agility. Other more personal causes would have weighed heavily on his mind. He had always played as an amateur cricketer, but yet never really had the private means to do so. His paternal grandfather was a clergyman, his maternal grandfather a farmer, and his parents became a farming couple and brought up six children. The young Mitchell was never part of a family of landed gentry. The Mitchells were not and never would be amongst the great landowners of East Yorkshire. Yet when this talented player was invited to the great estates in his county to indulge in and enjoy country house cricket, and more traditional sports of racing and shooting, he would have to attend with a wide array of clothing suitable for many an occasion, and his deportment would have to meet the demands of his hosts. Some personal debts began to arise though his business travels to England for Sir Abe Bailey, and in consequence of the cricketing tours that he led. When based in London he liked to frequent the male outfitters in Savile Row, and the hatters, boot makers, hosiers and gun makers in and around Jermyn Street and the club land of St James’s Street. Bills incurred for clothing were not always paid before a return to South Africa. So he was taking a risk in coming back to England with a high profile in the late spring of 1912. Whilst the team were staying in London at De Keyser’s Royal Hotel a writ was served upon him for £192 14s 8d. It came from the Savile Row tailors of Stammwitz, Son and Giles representing the cost of clothing made and delivered to him. Staggering though it may seem, £192 in 1912 represented the equivalent of over £15,000 in 2013, and the cost today of about five individually made suits from one of the grander London tailors. Frank Mitchell did not seek to defend the action but could not pay the resultant judgement which was entered in the King’s Bench Division of the High Court of Justice on 23 May 1912. On that day Frank Mitchell was due to play for the South Africans at Worcester but rain prevented any play. He may then have had a wretched time wondering about the consequences of his default, and over the following months paid back a total of £35 before his payments stopped. He was left no monies by his father’s will. Bankruptcy proceedings thus followed, being issued by the same creditor in January 1913 and other creditors laid their debts before the court. Frank Mitchell disclosed, within his statement of assets, that he also owed £900 to a Brighton schoolmaster who had lent him that money to pay his way through Cambridge in the 1890s. No public notice of the proceedings was given until the required notice was placed within