Lives in Cricket No 46 - George Raikes

86 Raikes’ Second Spell for Norfolk: The Minor Counties Championship Won altogether. Having spent eight years as what one may describe as a fairly normal curate, serving typical parishes in the Church of England, he found himself chosen to serve as chaplain to the 6 th Duke of Portland, KG GCVO TD PC DL. The Duke (1857-1943), who was christened William Cavendish-Bentinck, had the bluest of blue blood in his veins; his great, great uncle was the 1 st Duke of Wellington whilst his great-grandfather (the 3 rd Duke) served as Prime Minister. Educated at Eton, he inherited the Cavendish-Bentinck estates, located around Welbeck Abbey in the county of Nottinghamshire, from the 5 th Duke, his cousin William Cavendish- Scott-Bentinck. The 6 th Duke had a significant military career, serving in the Coldstream Guards and the Honourable Artillery Company, and reaching the rank of lieutenant-colonel before turning to matters civilian. He sat as a Tory in the House of Lords and twice held the post of Master of the Horse. In 1886 he was sworn into the Privy Council and was Chancellor of the Order of the Garter from 1937 onwards. At the coronation of King George VI, he carried the crown of Queen Elizabeth (better remembered today as “The Queen Mum”); her mother was the Duke’s cousin. The Duke was a fan of the ‘turf’, having inherited a stud farm in Nottinghamshire, and enjoyed no little success with his horses. He owned St Simon (winner of the Ascot Gold Cup in 1884) and both bred and owned Ayrshire and Donovan (winners of the Epsom Derby in 1888 and 1889 respectively). Even stronger than his love of the ponies was his fondness for shooting and, in his doorstopper of an autobiography, Men, Women and Things , he drooled at length over the skills as a marksman of his chum, Lord de Grey (the Marquis of Ripon) who slaughtered vast numbers of defenceless creatures over a long career (note 3) . He also used The ground at Welbeck Abbey. This view, taken from the pavilion, shows the Abbey itself in the background; the cricket square was in centre stage, with rugby posts visible to the left of shot and hockey goals to the right.