Sir Foster Hugh Egerton Cunliffe, 6th Baronet (17 August 1875 – 10 July 1916) was an English historian and first-class cricketer who played for Oxford University from 1895 to 1898, for Middlesex from 1897 to 1903 and for Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) from 1899 to 1903. He was killed serving in World War I.
Biography Cunliffe was born in Belgravia, Westminster, London, the son of Sir Robert Cunliffe, 5th Baronet of Acton Park, Wrexham, Denbighshire and his wife Eleanor Susan Emily Leigh daughter of Egerton Leigh. He was educated Eton College and at New College, Oxford and played cricket for the university from 1895 to 1898. In 1897 he made his debut for Middlesex and in 1899 began playing for MCC.
Cunliffe was a left-hand batsman and played 85 innings in 56 first-class matches with an average of 15.36 and a top score of 70. He was a left-arm medium pace bowler and took 235 first-class wickets with an average of 21.78 and a best performance of 8 for 26.Foster Cunliffe. Cricket Archive
Cunliffe also played non-first class county cricket for Shropshire, in two matches in 1895.Published under Association of Cricket Statisticians and Historians.
Cunliffe became a Fellow of All Souls College, Oxford and the first lecturer in military history at Oxford University, 1905–1908. in this capacity he worked closely with the history tutor C.T. Atkinson of Exeter College, Oxford.John B. Hattendorf, "The Study of War History at Oxford, 1862-1990" in Hattendorf and Malcom H. Murfett, eds. The Limitations of Military Power: Essays Presented to Professor Norman Gibbs on his eightieth birthday (London: Macmillan, 1990), p. 13, 14, 41, 57. He wrote The History of the Boer War.F. H. E. Cunliffe,The History of the Boer War, London: Methuen & Co., 1901. archive.org. Retrieved 27 June 2023. He inherited the baronetcy on the death of his father in 1905.
During World War I, Cunliffe served with the 13th (Service) Battalion, Rifle BrigadeMacDonald, Lyn, "Somme", Michael Joseph 1983. Reprinted by Penguin, 2013. pp. 110–111, 129–130. and reached the rank of major. He died of wounds at Ovillers-la-Boisselle, France. He was buried at Bapaume Post Military Cemetery, Albert, Somme.Lords Cricket Ground. Roll of HonourD.H. Rowlands, For the Duration: The Story of the Thirteenth Battalion The Rifle Brigade, Simpkin, Marshall, 1932/Uckfield: Naval & Military Press, 2023, ISBN 978-1-4745-3765-0, pp. 25, 71. He is commemorated by a prayer book in the chapel at All Souls College, Oxford.Imperial War Museum, War Memorial Register Ref 59901.
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