{{short description|Scottish cricketer and British Army officer}} {{Use dmy dates|date=September 2019}} {{Infobox cricketer | name = Leslie Davidson | honorific_suffix = {{postnominals|CB|JP}} | image = | country = Scotland | fullname = William Leslie Davidson | birth_date = 31 January 1850 | birth_place = Inchmarlo, Kincardineshire, Scotland | death_date = {{Death date and age|df=yes|1915|8|3|1850|1|31}} | death_place = Rouen, Normandy, France | heightft = | heightinch = | nickname = | family = | batting = Right-handed | bowling = | role = | club1 = Marylebone Cricket Club | year1 = 1877 | columns = 1 | column1 = First-class | matches1 = 1 | runs1 = 0 | bat avg1 = 0.00 | 100s/50s1 = –/– | top score1 = 0 | hidedeliveries = true | catches/stumpings1 = –/– | date = 23 March | year = 2021 | source = http://www.espncricinfo.com/england/content/player/12064.html Cricinfo }}
'''Colonel William Leslie Davidson''' {{postnominals|CB|JP}} (31 January 1850 – 3 August 1915) was a Scottish first-class cricketer and British Army officer. After being commissioned into the Royal Horse Artillery in 1869, Davidson's military career consisted of service in Africa during the Anglo-Zulu War and Second Boer War, and the subcontinent during the Second Anglo-Afghan War. He retired from the military in 1907 with the rank of colonel, but returned to the service at the outbreak for the First World War, after which he commanded a base depot in France. He was the oldest first-class cricketer to be killed in the First World War.
==Early life and military career== Davidson was born at Inchmarlo in Kincardineshire on 31 January 1850. His father was Patrick Davidson, a professor of civil law, while his mother was Mary Anne Leslie, daughter of William Leslie, 10th Laird of Warthill.<ref name="BOOK">{{cite book|last=McCrery|first=Nigel|title=Final Wicket: Test and First Class Cricketers Killed in the Great War|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6mphCgAAQBAJ|date=30 July 2015|publisher=Pen and Sword|isbn=978-1473864191|page=157}}</ref> Deciding upon on a career in the British Army, he attended the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich. Davidson graduated top of his year in July 1869,<ref name="BOOK"/> and was commissioned into the Royal Horse Artillery as a lieutenant.<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=23514|date=6 July 1869|page=3825}}</ref> Davidson was first posted to British India in 1874 and was appointed ''aide-de-camp'' to Lord Napier in November of the following year.<ref name="JSTOR">{{cite journal |last1=Manvell |first1=Arthur G. |date=1997 |title=General Lord Napier of Magdala, Commander-in-Chief, East Indies, and Staff, 1876 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/44230076 |journal=Journal of the Society for Army Historical Research |volume=75 |issue=303 |pages=165–69 |doi= |jstor=44230076 |access-date=2021-03-25 |url-access=subscription}}</ref> Returning to Britain, he played in a first-class cricket match in 1877 for the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) against Cambridge University at Fenner's.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Players/28/28965/First-Class_Matches.html|title=First-Class Matches played by Leslie Davidson|publisher=CricketArchive|access-date=25 March 2021 |url-access=subscription}}</ref> Batting once in the match, he was dismissed without scoring by Henry Luddington.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Scorecards/2/2083.html|title=Cambridge University v Marylebone Cricket Club, 1877|publisher=CricketArchive|access-date=25 March 2021 |url-access=subscription}}</ref> Described by ''Wisden'' as a "a fine, free hitter",<ref name="WIS">{{cite book |last1=Renshaw |first1=Andrew |title=Wisden on the Great War: The Lives of Cricket's Fallen 1914-1918 |page=119 |date=2011 |publisher=Pen and Sword |volume=2nd |isbn=978-1526706980 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RYQwDwAAQBAJ |language=en}}</ref> prior to his appearance for the MCC he had played minor matches for Northamptonshire, five years prior to the formation of the county club.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Players/28/28965/28965.html|title=Player profile: Leslie Davidson|publisher=CricketArchive|access-date=25 March 2021 |url-access=subscription}}</ref> He also represented the Royal Artillery in cricket, football, rackets and billiards.<ref name="WIS"/>
==Later military career== Davidson later saw action in South Africa in the Anglo-Zulu War of 1879, during which he was wounded in the final battle of the war at Ulundi.<ref name="BOOK"/> He was promoted to captain in January 1880,<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=24805|date=23 January 1880|page=340}}</ref> and in the same year he fought in the second phase of the Second Anglo-Afghan War.<ref name="BOOK"/> Lord Napier was appointed Governor of Gibraltar in 1876, with Davidson once again becoming his ''aide-de-camp'' from December 1881 to December 1882.<ref name="JSTOR"/> Following this he returned to service in British India, where he was promoted to major and was seconded to the Indian Ordnance Department.<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=25489|date=10 July 1885|page=3181}}</ref> Further promotions in the Royal Horse Artillery followed in January 1896, when he was promoted to lieutenant colonel,<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=26707|date=7 February 1896|page=718}}</ref> and colonel in January 1900.<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=27156|date=23 January 1900|page=431}}</ref> This coincided with his appointment to the staff of the Royal Artillery in South Africa during the Second Boer War.<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=27198|date=1 June 1900|page=3500}}</ref> He commanded the Royal Horse Artillery on their march to relieve Kimberley, and was present at several other engagements, including the Battles of Paardeberg, Poplar Grove, and Driefontein.<ref name="BOOK"/> Davidson was mentioned in dispatches for distinguished actions during the war.<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=27282|date=8 February 1901|page=846}}</ref> He vacated his position on the staff in January 1901, and was placed on the half-pay list,<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=27285|date=15 February 1901|page=1156}}</ref> but returned to the staff in October of the same year.<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=27362|date=4 October 1901|page=6485}}</ref> For his service in the war, he was decorated with the Queen's Medal, with four clasps.<ref name="TIMES">Casualties. ''The Times''. 6 August 1915.</ref> In April 1901, he was made a Companion to the Order of the Bath.<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=27306|date=19 April 1901|page=2696}}</ref> Following the war, he returned to Britain where he was Colonel of the Staff commanding the Royal Artillery, North-Eastern District, before vacating the post and being placed on the half-pay list in October 1904.<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=27720|date=7 October 1904|page=6443}}</ref> Three years later, in January 1907, he retired from the army.<ref name="JSTOR"/><ref name="London Gazette 27991">{{London Gazette|issue=27991|date=1 February 1907|page=743}}</ref>
==Later life and WWI== Davidson was appointed to be a Gentleman Usher to George V in September 1913, following the death of Sir John Ramsay Slade.<ref name="BOOK"/><ref name="London Gazette 27991"/> When the First World War began in July 1914, Davidson came out of retirement to volunteer to serve in the conflict. He was sent to France to command No. 4 General Base Depot at Rouen.<ref name="BOOK"/> While commanding the depot on 3 August 1915, he suffered a fatal heart attack attributed to "over-exertion".<ref name="WIS"/> He was the oldest first-class cricketer to die in the war, and one of the oldest British military casualties; though at 67 and 74 respectively, Henry Webber and Robert Robertson were older.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/uk-england-28872576|title=Tonbridge man died in WW1 active service aged 67 |first=Paddy |last=O'Connell |publisher=BBC News|access-date=25 March 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/world-records/oldest-soldier-to-enlist-in-wwi|title=Oldest soldier to enlist in WWI|publisher=www.guinnessworldrecords.com|access-date=25 March 2021}}</ref> Davidson's body was not repatriated, instead he was buried with full military honours at St Sever Cemetery in Rouen.<ref name="BOOK"/>
==Family== In 1887, Davidson married the Catholic Lady Theodora Keppel, daughter of William Keppel, 7th Earl of Albemarle. Their marriage necessitated his conversion to Catholicism.<ref>The Late Gentleman Usher to the King. ''Catholic Press''. 30 September 1915. p. 15</ref> The couple would have six children: four daughters and two sons, Donald and Colin. Both sons would be killed in action, Donald in the First World War and Colin in the Second World War.<ref name="WIS"/>
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== *{{cricinfo|id=12064}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Davidson, Leslie}} Category:1850 births Category:1915 deaths Category:People from Kincardine and Mearns Category:Graduates of the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich Category:Royal Horse Artillery officers Category:Scottish cricketers Category:Marylebone Cricket Club cricketers Category:British Army personnel of the Anglo-Zulu War Category:British military personnel of the Second Anglo-Afghan War Category:Converts to Roman Catholicism from Protestantism Category:British Army personnel of the Second Boer War Category:Companions of the Order of the Bath Category:Scottish justices of the peace Category:Gentlemen Ushers Category:British Army personnel of World War I Category:British military personnel killed in World War I