William Aldwin Soames (10 July 1850 – 27 December 1916) was an English cricketer. Soames was a right-handed batsman. He was born at Brighton, Sussex, and was educated at Brighton College, which his father, William Aldwin Soames, had founded in 1845, and at Trinity College, Cambridge.

William Soames
Personal information
Full name
William Aldwin Soames
Born(1850-07-10)10 July 1850
Brighton, Sussex, England
Died27 December 1916(1916-12-27) (aged 66)
City of London, England
BattingRight-handed
RelationsHenry Soames (brother), Arthur Soames (politician) (brother)
Domestic team information
YearsTeam
1875Sussex
Career statistics
Competition First-class
Matches 3
Runs scored 17
Batting average 3.40
100s/50s –/–
Top score 17
Balls bowled
Wickets
Bowling average
5 wickets in innings
10 wickets in match
Best bowling
Catches/stumpings 2/–
Source: Cricinfo, 29 September 2012

Soames made his first-class debut for Sussex against Hampshire at the Green Jackets Ground, Winchester, in 1875. He made two further first-class appearances for the county in 1875, against Hampshire at the County Ground, Hove, and Gloucestershire at the College Ground, Cheltenham.[1] In his three first-class matches for the county, he scored 17 runs at an average of 3.40, with a high score of 17.[2] His 17 runs all came in the first-innings of his first match against Hampshire, thereafter he failed to score in four consecutive innings. According to Scores and Biographies, "[he] is a good average bat and fields well at long-leg or cover-point."[3]

He died at Bank station in the City of London on 27 December 1916. His brother, Henry, played first-class cricket for Hampshire.

Career and family

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William Aldwin Soames was a solicitor with the firm of Soames & Thompson, of London. He acquired the estate at Moor Park, Farnham, Surrey. His father had been a prosperous Russian merchant and partner in Wilkie & Soames, soap makers.[4] He married (Caroline) Louisa Jackson,[5] the daughter of a Manchester merchant, by whom he had nine children, including Jack Soames, of Bergeret, Nanyuki, Kenya (today the Soames Hotel), a notorious member of the Happy Valley set who was called as a witness in the Lord Erroll murder trial.

References

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  1. ^ "First-Class Matches played by William Soames". CricketArchive. Retrieved 29 September 2012.
  2. ^ "First-class Batting and Fielding For Each Team by William Soames". CricketArchive. Retrieved 30 June 2012.
  3. ^ "Wisden - Other deaths in 1916". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 29 September 2012.
  4. ^ ‘Soames of Hamsell Manor, formerly of Sheffield Park’, Burke’s LG., 1952 ed
  5. ^ Nicholas Mander, Borromean Rings: genealogy of the Mander Family, Owlpen Press, 2011
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