Geoffrey Webb (cricketer)

Arthur Geoffrey Gascoyne Webb (17 August 1896 – 6 April 1981) was an English naval officer, and a cricketer, active from 1919 to 1938 who played for Leicestershire.[1] He was also an amateur artist.[2]

Life

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Webb was born in Kent, at Sittingbourne or Newington, Swale, and was educated at Wellington College.[1][2][3] He joined the Royal Navy in 1914, and served during World War I, being present during the battle of Jutland, and reaching the rank of lieutenant in September 1918.[2][4]

Appearing first for a Royal Navy eleven, Webb played in five first-class matches. He was a lefthanded batsman who kept wicket. He scored 123 runs with a highest score of 57 and completed one catch with five stumpings.[1][3]

Webb remained in the navy until 1923 and the Geddes Axe. He then worked as a schoolmaster, teaching cricket. He was a colonial education officer in Nigeria. There he became an authority on the Hausa language and customs, and wrote a book and examination text, Al'adun Hausawa (1932) with Frank William Taylor (born 1887), in charge of education at Yola, Adamawa.[2][5][6][7]

During World War II, Webb was again a Royal Navy officer, becoming lieutenant-commander. He was involved as Secretary in Leicestershire County Cricket Club, and administratively in King George's Fund for Sailors. He painted in East Anglia, and exhibited.[2]

Personal life

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Webb married Audrey Haggard, a niece of Rider Haggard, but she died in Nigeria in the early 1930s. He married Iris Thompson in 1935.[8]

Webb died in Oakham, at the age of eighty-four.[1]

Works

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  • Webb, Arthur Geoffrey Gascoyne (2008). Five Years in the White Man's Grave: An Education Officer in Nigeria, 1928-33. Legini Press.

Notes

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  1. ^ a b c d Geoffrey Webb at CricketArchive
  2. ^ a b c d e David Buckman (2006). Artists in Britain since 1945: M to Z. Art Dictionaries Limited. p. 1666. ISBN 978-0-9532609-5-9.
  3. ^ a b Bailey, Philip; Thorn, Philip; Wynne-Thomas, Peter (1984). Who's Who of Cricketers. Newnes Books. p. 1076. ISBN 0600346927.
  4. ^ "The Navy List". Internet Archive. London: HMSO. May 1920. p. 387b. Retrieved 27 September 2018.
  5. ^ "Private Papers of Lieutenant Commander A G G Webb OBE RN, Imperial War Museums". Retrieved 27 September 2018.
  6. ^ Littérature peule. KARTHALA Editions. 1 July 2005. p. 10. ISBN 9782811139810.
  7. ^ Furniss, Graham; Jaggar, Philip J. (2015). Studies in Hausa: Language and Linguistics. Taylor & Francis. p. 27. ISBN 9781317406150.
  8. ^ Webb, Geoffrey. "The Cricket Journal of Geoffrey Webb". CricketArchive. Retrieved 13 December 2018.