Thomas Lord (born in Thirsk, Yorkshire on 23 November 1755; died in West Meon , Hampshire on 13 January 1832) was an English cricketer most famous for founding Lord's cricket ground, the ground that is now known as the Home of Cricket and the Marylebone Cricket Club.

Lord himself played for Middlesex and Epsom, but is credited with only having played 2 first-class cricket games, scoring only 12 runs and taking only 1 wicket.

Early life

Lord's father was a Roman Catholic yeoman, who had his lands sequestered for supporting the Jacobite rising in 1745 and afterwards he had to work as a labourer. The Lord family later moved to Diss, Norfolk, where Thomas Lord was brought up. Once he was out of childhood Lord moved to London and got a job as a bowler and general attendant at the White Conduit Club.

Lord's first ground

In 1786 Lord was encouraged to start his own private ground by the Earl of Winchilsea and Charles Lennox, who went on to become the fourth Duke of Richmond, who offered Lord a guarantee against any losses he might suffer. In May 1787 Lord acquired seven acres (28,000 m²) off Dorset Square, London and started his first ground, where the Marylebone Cricket Club played its home matches.

The lease on the first ground ended in 1810.

Lord's second ground

Knowing that his lease on the first ground was due to expire shortly, Lord obtained an eighty-year lease on two fields, the Brick and Great Fields at North Bank, St John's Wood. The ground was built by 1809, when the first games were played there by St John's Wood Cricket Club, which was later merged into the Marylebone Cricket Club. In 1813 Parliament decided that the Regent's Canal should be cut through the centre of the ground, thereby necessitating a further move.

Lord's third ground

Lord then moved his ground to its present site, where it opened in 1814. Lord was not, however, making enough money. Lord therefore got permission to develop the ground for a building site - a move which would have left only 150 square yards of playing area. Thankfully for cricket-lovers the world over, Lord was bought out for £5,000 by William Ward, a director of the Bank of England and future Member of Parliament in 1825.

Retirement

Lord remained in St John's Wood till 1830, when he retired to West Meon in Hampshire, where he died in 1832. Lord's son, also Thomas Lord, and born in Marylebone on 27 December 1794, was also a keen cricketer.

References

• Lord's 1787-1945 by Sir Pelham Warner ISBN 1-85145-112-9
• Cricinfo page on Thomas Lord
• Cricket Archive page on Thomas Lord's son, also called Thomas Lord