W.G. Grace

His parents were Henry Mills Grace and Martha (née Pocock), who were married in Bristol on Thursday, 3 November 1831 and lived out their lives at Downend, where Henry Grace was the local GP.

Downend is near Mangotsfield and, although it is now a suburb of Bristol, it was then "a distinct village surrounded by countryside" and about four miles from Bristol.

Henry and Martha Grace had nine children in all: "the same number as Victoria and Albert – and in every respect they were the typical Victorian family".

Grace was the eighth child in the family; he had three older brothers, including E. M. Grace (always known as "E. M."), and four older sisters.

William Gilbert Grace (18 July 1848 – 23 October 1915) was an English amateur cricketer who was important in the development of the sport and is widely considered one of its greatest players.

He was nominally amateur as a cricketer, but he is said to have made more money from his cricketing activities than any professional cricketer.

He was an extremely competitive player and, although he was one of the most famous men in England, he was also one of the most controversial on account of his gamesmanship and moneymaking.

W. G. Grace was born in Downend, near Bristol, on 18 July 1848 at his parents' home, Downend House, and was baptised at the local church on 8 August.

He was called Gilbert in the family circle, except by his mother, who apparently called him Willie, but otherwise, as "W. G.", he was universally known by his initials.

The ninth child was his younger brother Fred Grace, born in 1850.

In 1850, when W. G. was two and Fred was expected, the family moved to a nearby house called "The Chesnuts" which had a sizeable orchard and Henry Grace organised clearance of this to establish a practice pitch.

All nine children in the Grace family, including the four daughters, were encouraged to play cricket although the girls, along with the dogs, were required for fielding only.

Grace claimed that he first handled a cricket bat at the age of two.

It was in the Downend orchard and as members of their local cricket clubs that he and his brothers developed their skills, mainly under the tutelage of his uncle, Alfred Pocock, who was an exceptional coach.

Apart from his cricket and his schooling, Grace lived the life of a country boy and roamed freely with the other village boys.

One of his regular activities was stone throwing at birds in the fields and he later claimed that this was the source of his eventual skill as an outfielder.

Grace was "notoriously unscholarly".

His first schooling was with a Miss Trotman in Downend village and then with a Mr Curtis of Winterbourne.

He subsequently attended a day school called Ridgway House, run by a Mr Malpas, until he was fourteen.

One of his schoolmasters, David Bernard, later married Grace's sister Alice.

In 1863, Grace was taken seriously ill with pneumonia and his father removed him from Ridgway House.

After this illness, Grace grew rapidly to his full height of 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m).

He played first-class cricket for a record-equalling 44 seasons, from 1865 to 1908, during which he captained England, Gloucestershire, the Gentlemen, Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC), the United South of England Eleven (USEE), and several other teams.

Right-handed as both batsman and bowler, Grace dominated the sport during his career.

His technical innovations and enormous influence left a lasting legacy.

An outstanding all-rounder, he excelled at all the essential skills of batting, bowling and fielding, but it is for his batting that he is most renowned.

He is held to have invented modern batsmanship.

Usually opening the innings, he was particularly admired for his mastery of all strokes, and his level of expertise was said by contemporary reviewers to be unique.

He generally captained the teams he played for at all levels because of his skill and tactical acumen.

Grace came from a cricketing family: E. M. Grace was one of his elder brothers and Fred Grace his younger brother.

He continued his education at home where one of his tutors was the Reverend John Dann, who was the Downend parish church curate; like Mr Bernard before him, Mr Dann became Grace's brother-in-law, marrying Blanche Grace in 1869.

Grace never went to university because his father wanted him to pursue a medical career.

But Grace was approached by both Oxford University Cricket Club and Cambridge University Cricket Club.

He qualified as a medical practitioner in 1879.

In 1880, they were members of the same England team, the first time three brothers played together in Test cricket.

Grace took part in other sports also: he was a champion 440-yard hurdler as a young man and played football for the Wanderers.

In later life, he developed enthusiasm for golf, lawn bowls, and curling.

Grace began his Cricketing Reminiscences (1899) by answering a question he had frequently been asked: i.e., was he "born a cricketer"?

His answer was in the negative because he believed that "cricketers are made by coaching and practice", though he adds that if he was not born a cricketer, he was born "in the atmosphere of cricket".

His father and mother were "full of enthusiasm for the game" and it was "a common theme of conversation at home".