Lives in Cricket No 50 - Tom Emmett

9 Early days (1841-1866) of schools, hospitals, almshouses, parks and public baths, and improved communications by rail after 1844 and horse omnibus from the 1850s. Such conditions – both bad and good - would have shaped the early life of Tom Emmett, although the family moved out to the north of the town during his childhood. At the time of the Census in 1851 and 1861 they were living in Ovenden, then a village about two miles from the centre of Halifax. Tom would have left his rudimentary education relatively early in the 1850s and begun work, inevitably in a job connected to the main local industries. Looking back in the 1890s, he commented that he became a ‘mill hand’. Specifically, in 1861, by which time he was 19, he was a ‘cloth finisher’ in wool, a role which would have involved inspecting the cloth and using a needle to make any necessary repairs to small holes or blemishes. In 1863, at the time of his marriage, he was described as a ‘cloth dresser’. Life for Emmett could easily have been the same as it was for millions of other young men in the nineteenth century had it had not been for his sporting abilities. The rapid transformation of industrial Yorkshire had a profound impact on working people and placed considerable constraints on the time for recreation of any kind. Working hours in factories and workshops were long despite some attempts to legislate, and shop hours were at the discretion of employers. Leisure activity on a Sunday – the only wholly non-working day - was frowned upon, although traditional village fairs and feasts were still held, and some old habits such as missing work on Mondays continued. The arrival of the railway in Halifax in 1844 helped to increase mobility and the opportunities for excursions and travel for those who could afford them, and also helped to open up what had been an isolated place. Leisure in many forms grew in the second half of the 19 th century in the town, and cricket was one of the first sports to get established, in advance of swimming, cycling and football. 5 In 1884, a profile of Emmett complained that ‘historians of cricket deserve severe censure for the lack of genuine information in respect of his early career.’ It is possible, however, to piece together the story from Emmett’s own memories, as well as contemporary records. The man himself claimed that he started to play cricket as soon as could walk, ‘like all Yorkshire boys do.’ He also told ‘Old Ebor’ that he had been influenced by his uncle on his mother’s side – a Dilworth – who liked cricket, and had lived close by. On another occasion, he referred to his Uncle Jack, who was one of the best round-arm bowlers of the Ovenden Club. Many years later, Emmett reflected that there had not been ‘brilliant opportunities’ for the game, and that he and his friends had played in the road, using the inside of a cricket ball they had found, which they covered with crewel work. Playing like this brought risks, and he remembered: I shall never forget one match, when I was batting at a very critical stage of the game. Talk about Gentlemen and Players! We only wanted one or two runs, and I made a tremendous hit —at least, it seemed tremendous to us. The game seemed won, but unfortunately the ball