In a recent post, On Appro, I referred to my grandmother’s brother, Tommy Jameson. My Bellew grandfather was listed in The Field magazine among the best 150 shots in an article celebrating 150 years of that magazine’s publication. He represented both England and Ireland shooting clay pigeons and was a fine sporting shot. However, his brother-in-law was a greater sportsman as his obituary in Wisden in 1965 shows.
JAMESON, TOM ORMSBY, who died in a Dublin hospital on February 6, aged 72, was in the Harrow XI in 1909 and 1910, taking part in the historic “Fowler’s Match” in the second year. In that game Eton, dismissed for 67 and following on 165 behind, had lost five men for 65 before R. St. L. Fowler came to the rescue with an innings of 64. Even so, Harrow were left only 55 runs to get for victory, but they collapsed against the off breaks of Fowler, who took eight wickets for 23, and Eton snatched a remarkable win by nine runs. In the match, Fowler scored 85 runs and earned bowling figures of twelve wickets for 113 runs.
“Tommy” Jameson was a great player of ball games. He played cricket for Hampshire as an all-rounder between 1919 and 1932; he represented Gentlemen against Players on four occasions; he played twice for Ireland and made three tours abroad–with the Hon. L. H. Tennyson’s team to South Africa in 1924-25, with the Hon. F. S. G. Calthorpe’s M.C.C. team to the West Indies in 1925-26 and P. F. Warner’s M.C.C. side to South America in 1926-27, when he obtained two centuries and headed the batting averages with 42.11. In all first-class cricket he hit 4,631 runs, average 31.71, with leg-break bowling took 241 wickets for 23.92 runs each and, chiefly at slip, held 86 catches.
A fine Rackets player, he won the Army Singles Championship in 1922, 1923 and 1924: was one of the winning pair in the Inter-Regimental Doubles Championship in 1920, 1921 and 1922 and reached the final of the Amateur Singles Championship in 1924. He also won the Amateur Squash Rackets Championship in 1922 and 1923.
Eight players in “Fowler’s Match” were killed in WW I. Also playing for Harrow was Harold Alexander, later Field Marshal Alexander, Earl of Tunis, and Walter Monckton, 1st Viscount Monckton of Brenchley. While Eton won the match, Harrow, as it turned out, fielded a more distinguished eleven.