{{Short description|Slave plantation owner and cricket administrator (1774–1842)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=January 2026}} {{Use British English|date=February 2016}} {{Infobox cricketer | name = Benjamin Aislabie | image = Benjamin Aislabie.jpg | caption = Mezzotint of Aislabie painted by Henry Dawe in 1838 | country = England | fullname = Benjamin Aislabie | birth_date = {{Birth date|1774|1|14|df=yes}} | birth_place = Newington Green, London | death_date = {{Death date and age|1842|6|2|1774|1|14|df=yes}} | death_place = Regent's Park, London | batting = Right-handed | role = Batsman | club1 = Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) | year1 = {{nowrap|1808–1841}} | club2 = Surrey | year2 = 1808–1817 | club3 = Hampshire | year3 = 1819 | club4 = Kent | year4 = 1823 | club5 = Sussex | year5 = 1827 }} '''Benjamin Aislabie''' (14 January 1774 – 2 June 1842) was an English wine merchant, slave plantation owner and cricket administrator. He was the first Honorary Secretary of Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) and was influential in its early development. He also played between 1808 and 1841 as an amateur but was, statistically, one of the worst players on record.
==Early life== Aislabie was descended from John Aislabie who had been Chancellor of the Exchequer during the South Sea Bubble.<ref name=dnb/> Aislabie's father, Rawson Aislabie, was a London soap and wine merchant who lived at Stoke Newington and owned plantations in Dominica in the British West Indies; he died around 1806 leaving a will worth £60,000.<ref name=eton59/>
Aislabie was born at Newington Green in London in 1774, the youngest child of Rawson and Frances Aislabie.<ref name=dnb>Midwinter E, Clark C (2004) [https://doi.org/10.1093/ref:odnb/37099 Aislabie, Benjamin], ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography''. Retrieved 30 December 2019 {{subscription required}}</ref> He was educated at Sevenoaks School and possibly at Eton College.{{efn|There is some doubt whether Aislabie attended Eton or not. His name, according to ''Etoniana'' in 1935, does not appear on the school roll although it is possible he was omitted, attended under a different name or was only at the school for a short period.<ref name=eton59/>}} It is not known if he played at school, and he is first known to have played the sport for Homerton Cricket Club in 1795.<ref name=eton59>[https://archives.etoncollege.com/Filename.ashx?tableName=ta_etoniana&columnName=filename&recordId=59&page=11&end=14 Benjamin Aislabie], ''Etoniana'', vol. 59, 30 July 1935, pp. 137–140. Available online at Eton College Archives. Retrieved 29 December 2019.</ref><ref name=carlaw14>Carlaw, pp. 25–26.</ref>
==Cricket== Aislabie joined the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) in 1802 and played for the club between 1808 and 1841. He was President of MCC in 1823 and was the first Honorary Secretary of the club, a role he fulfilled between 1822 and his death.<ref name=carlaw14/> He was a poor administrator with the club "lurching from crisis to crisis" during his time as Secretary,<ref name=ci>[http://www.espncricinfo.com/england/content/player/8692.html Benjamin Aislabie], ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 29 December 2019.</ref><ref name=ci22feb07>Williamson M, Miller A (2007) [https://www.espncricinfo.com/story/_/id/22965290/fat-bats-roly-bowlers Fat bats and roly bowlers], ESPNcricinfo, 7 February 2007. Retrieved 29 December 2019.</ref> although he attempted to reduce the detrimental impacts of gambling on the sport during his tenure<ref name=carlaw14/> and, according to an obituary in ''The Sporting Magazine'', was "universally respected" by the club's members.<ref name=sl>[https://books.google.com/books?id=DSQGAAAAQAAJ&dq=benjamin%20aislabie%20hunting&pg=PA270 Cricket], ''The Sporting Magazine'', 1842, p. 270. Retrieved 30 December 2019.</ref> During his time as Secretary the membership of the club almost doubled from around 200 to close to 400.<ref name=dnb/>
In 1838 a bust and portrait of him were commissioned for the Lord's Pavilion and he laid the foundation stone of the tennis court at the ground the same year.<ref name=eton59/> The portrait, by Henry Dawe, is still in the MCC collection; a mezzotint of it was purchased by the National Portrait Gallery in 1966.<ref name=portrait>[https://apps.lords.org/lords/tours-and-museum/museum/search-2/artefactdetails/Museum/11463?page=1 Portrait of Benjamin Aislabie], Lord's, Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC). Retrieved 30 December 2019.</ref><ref name=npg>[https://www.npg.org.uk/collections/search/portrait/mw37389/Benjamin-Aislabie Benjamin Aislabie], National Portrait Gallery. Retrieved 30 December 2019.</ref> The painting and one other of Aislabie, which were hanging in the Long Room at Lord's, were removed from display in June 2020 due to his ownership of slaves.<ref name=tory10jun20>Hoult N (2020) [https://www.telegraph.co.uk/cricket/2020/06/10/exclusive-mcc-removesbenjamin-aislabie-artwork-public-display/ Exclusive: MCC removes Benjamin Aislabie artwork from public display due to slave-owning past], ''The Daily Telegraph'', 10 June 2020. Retrieved 10 July 2020.</ref><ref name=ci29jun20>Dobell G (2020) [https://www.espncricinfo.com/story/mcc-to-review-art-collection-amid-slavery-links-of-former-secretary-1225877 MCC to review art collection amid slavery links of former secretary], ESPNcricinfo, 29 June 2020. Retrieved 8 April 2022.</ref>{{efn|The paintings were removed from display in response to a rise in awareness of the legacy of slave ownership following the Black Lives Matter protests of the summer of 2020.<ref name=tory10jun20/> The MCC also owns another portrait of Aislabie as well as the bust.<ref name=ci29jun20/>}}
He played in 56 important matches, 20 of them for MCC. His playing career was notable for him scoring only 224 runs at a meagre batting average of 3.15 runs per innings. His performances were hampered by his girth, and towards the end of his career he was so obese that he had a permanent runner and by the time of his final appearance in 1841, aged 67 and weighing {{convert|20|stone|kg}}, he needed a substitute fielder to field for him as well.<ref name=carlaw14/><ref name=ci/> Statistically he ranks as one of the worst cricketers of all time, although he enjoyed playing the sport and is the third-oldest "top-class" cricketer on record.<ref name=ci/><ref name=cc/>
Aislabie often arranged MCC matches with leading public schools. He features as a character in the cricket match at Rugby School in the novel ''Tom Brown's School Days''.<ref name=eton59/><ref name=carlaw14/>
==Business and personal life == Aislabie was a successful wine merchant operating out of the Minories in London in partnership with William Meade and Benjamin Standring, becoming the senior partner in the firm in 1802. The firm numbered Lord Nelson as one of its clients. He also inherited some of his father's estates on Dominica and continued to own plantations throughout his life, at Canefield and Morne Daniel on Dominica; he also had an interest in one in Antigua.<ref name=eton59/><ref name=carlaw14/><ref name=eton65>[https://archives.etoncollege.com/Filename.ashx?tableName=ta_etoniana&columnName=filename&recordId=65&page=8&end=9 Benjamin Aislabie], reprint of Hart FH (1882) ''History of Lee and its Neighbourhood'', pp. 8–9 in ''Etoniana'', vol. 65, 31 December 1936, pp. 230–231. Available online at Eton College Archives. Retrieved 29 December 2019.</ref> The estates, operated using slavery, were passed on to his son in his will.<ref name=cc>Mukherjee A (2017) [https://www.cricketcountry.com/articles/benjamin-aislabie-more-than-worst-first-class-cricketer-contender-637594 Benjamin Aislabie: More than worst cricketer contender], ''Cricket Country'', 27 August 2017. Retrieved 30 December 2019.</ref><ref name=ucl>[https://www.ucl.ac.uk/lbs/person/view/41897 Benjamin Aislabie – Profile & Legacies Summary], Legacies of British Slave-ownership, University College London. Retrieved 30 December 2019.</ref><ref name=ulcc>[https://www.ucl.ac.uk/lbs/claim/view/9627 Dominica 243 (Cane Field)], Legacies of British Slave-ownership, University College London. Retrieved 30 December 2019.</ref><ref name=rp9dec15>[https://runner500.wordpress.com/2015/12/09/benjamin-aislabie-lee-resident-slave-owner-possibly-the-worst-ever-first-class-cricketer/ Benjamin Aislabie – Lee Resident, Slave Owner & Possibly the Worst Ever First Class Cricketer], Running Past, 9 December 2015. Retrieved 30 December 2019.</ref> Aislabie was compensated for the loss of his slaves following passage of the Slavery Abolition Act 1833, which prohibited slavery throughout the British Empire in 1834.<ref name=tory10jun20/> He leased Lee Place in Lee, in north-west Kent,{{efn|Lee is now in the modern London Borough of Lewisham in southeast London.}} from Charles Boone between 1809 and 1823 and lived in Sevenoaks and London, including at East Park Place near Regent's Park.<ref name=dnb/><ref name=eton59/><ref name=eton65/><ref name=lew>[https://web.archive.org/web/20081201132857/http://www.lewisham.gov.uk/LeisureAndCulture/LocalHistoryAndHeritage/People/AislabieBenjamin.htm Benjamin Aislabie], Lewisham Council. Retrieved 14 April 2008. Archived 1 December 2008.</ref>
He was an overseer for Lee Parish in 1814 and was instrumental in distributing charity, including food and fuel, to the poor of the parish during the harsh winter of 1814. He allowed the parish to store coal and potatoes to distribute during the 13-week frost and employed a number of labourers during the winter.<ref name=eton65/><ref name=lew/> He was resident in Lee at the time of the anti-slavery Lee Petition and it is likely he had an opportunity to sign it, but did not, probably because of his interests in the West Indies.<ref name=tory10jun20/><ref name=lew/><ref name=lee>[http://lewisham-heritage.wikidot.com/lee-petition Lee Petition], Local History and Archives Centre, Lewisham. Retrieved 30 December 2019.</ref>
Aislabie married Anne Hodgson in 1798; the couple had 12 children, six of whom, five daughters and a son, survived into adulthood.<ref name=dnb/>{{efn|The ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' has six daughters surviving into adulthood; all other sources, including more contemporary sources such as ''Etoniana'', give the names of five daughters.}} His son, William, attended Eton and Trinity College, Cambridge and inherited his estates in Dominica.<ref name=eton59/><ref name=eton65/>
Benjamin Aislabie died at his house at Regents Park of an abscess of the throat in 1842 aged 68 and was buried at St Marylebone Parish Church.<ref name=eton59/><ref name=carlaw14/><ref name=ci/>
==Notes== {{notelist}}
==References== {{Reflist}}
== External links == * {{cricinfo|id=8692}}
==Bibliography== * {{cite book |last=Carlaw |first=Derek |title=Kent County Cricketers, A to Z: Part One (1806–1914) |publisher=ACS |location=Cardiff |year=2020 |url=https://archive.acscricket.com/books/Kent_Cricketers_A_to_Z_Part_One_Revised_Expanded.pdf}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Aislabie, Benjamin}} Category:1774 births Category:1842 deaths Category:19th-century British businesspeople Category:English slave owners Category:English cricketers of 1787 to 1825 Category:English cricketers of 1826 to 1863 Category:English cricketers Category:Epsom cricketers Category:Hampshire cricketers Category:Homerton Cricket Club cricketers Category:Kent cricketers Category:Marylebone Cricket Club cricketers Category:Non-international England cricketers Category:Old Etonians cricketers Category:Old Wykehamists cricketers Category:Presidents of the Marylebone Cricket Club Category:Secretaries of the Marylebone Cricket Club Category:St John's Wood cricketers Category:Surrey cricketers Category:Sussex cricketers Category:Merchants from the British West Indies Category:William Ward's XI cricketers Category:People from Newington Green