William Andrew Pike

Heriot’s Cricket Club, Edinburgh

Club Professional 1896-1906

William Andrew Pike was born on 12 March 1863 in Keyworth, Nottinghamshire to Andrew

Pike (Framework Knitter) and Sarah Pike nee Armstrong. His father was born 1837 in

Keyworth and his mother was born 1836 in Stanton on the Wolds, a village near Keyworth.

They were married in 1857 in Keyworth.

William had eight other brothers and sisters

Sarah Ann Emma Joseph Henry

Born 1858 Born 1859 Born 1861 Born 1865

Died 1930 Died 1878 Died 1944 Died 1940

Maria Miriam Horace Edgar

Born 1866 Born 1868 Born 1873 Born 1878

Died 1963 Died 1947 Died 1963 Died 1944

Williams parents Andrew and Sarah to

the left. Courtesy of Robert Pike of

Alberta, Canada and Linda Reid of

Hobart, Tasmania, Australia

1871 census the family were living at

Selby Lane, Keyworth.

1881 Old Lane, Keyworth.

1891 Deepdale Lane, Keyworth

William was a railway labourer in 1881

and a framework knitter from 1891-

1901.

This must have been his winter jobs in

between being a cricket professional.

This is a press photo for the Keyworth football team in the 1884-85 season. William sitting on

the left. Courtesy of Barry Baker.

William married Sarah Rebecca Pike 1893 in Nottingham. Sarah was born 1864 in Keyworth

to Peter Pike (Hosiery Manufacturer) and Elizabeth Pike nee Lane. In the 1901 census William

and Sarah were listed as living in Main Street, Keyworth.

William and Sarah never had any children.

In 1896 William was employed by Heriot’s cricket club in Edinburgh to be their professional

for the season which he did up to 1901. In 1902 the club moved to a new ground called

Goldenacre, owned by the George Heriot’s School Trust. William became

groundsman/professional starting on 28 Shillings a week from 1902 to 1906. This would have

meant he lived in Edinburgh on a permanent basis and he was given a free house and coal as

part of the arrangement.

The ground had been built in 1901 but was not ready for cricket until 1902. This would have

also been William and Sarah’s living quarters as well which was the case for the groundsman

until the 1980’s.

Find below a picture from 1901 and a more recent one.

The 27 June 1905 was a sad day as William’s wife Sarah died at Leith General Hospital. This

was from complications after a recent heart operation, Sarah was only 41. Things did not

improve as his father Andrew died on 3 February 1906 aged 69. His mother Sarah died 1922

aged 86. Both died in Keyworth.

Sarah Pike Death Certificate courtesy of the National Records for Scotland

William was travelling back to Nottingham on 24 August 1906 when he fell from a moving

train near Hawick in the Scottish Borders. He suffered a compound fracture to his brain. The

newspaper report below is quite graphic.

The Scotsman newspaper from 25 August 1906.

There was a benefit game arranged for William. This would help him as he was going into

business in Edinburgh after realising, he could no longer play cricket. This was played at the

Grange in Stockbridge which is near Heriot’s Goldenacre ground. The game was over two

days from 27 to 28 June 1907 and featured a lot of the best players in Scotland at the time.

As you can see from the two articles below, there was a good turnout of spectators.

William sadly passed away on 10 July 1907 at the Royal Infirmary, Edinburgh. The death was

certified by his brother Edgar.

William Pike Death Certificate courtesy of the National Records for Scotland

The Scotsman Thursday 11 July 1907

The Scottish Referee Friday 12 July 1907

William is on a gravestone in Keyworth which I imagine was erected by his brother Edgar. I

am unable to find a grave location for his wife Sarah.

William Andrew Pike

Cricket Career Keyworth

The Pike family have a rich tradition in Keyworth going back over 150 years. William’s father

Andrew played for the club in 1853.

Williams brothers played for the club. Edgar seems to have the most association with the club

as he is listed as being involved in the club from 1899-1931.

Find below William’s stats taken from the excellent Keyworth Cricket History website.

1885 Keyworth photo courtesy of Barry Baker at the club. As you can see quite a few Pike’s

as well as Simpson’s and Tomlinson’s. William is forth from the right standing.

William Lane Pike was the brother of William’s wife Sarah. He was one of Keyworth’s greatest

bowlers,

George Heriot’s William joined the club as a professional in 1896. He replaced David Beaton who was the

clubs first professional in 1895.

His first match was against Carlton which was a draw. William opened the batting and got 17

before being caught. He also bowled 9 overs 1 wicket for 18 runs.

The next match was against Grange, who were one the top sides in the country at the time.

His 51 not out was the top score in a drawn match. 9 overs were bowled with no wickets for

29.

His best bowling performance was 7/42 against Clackmannan County on 20 June 1896 in a

game Heriot’s lost, being 36 all out.

The card from the Heriot’s book is below. Please note that the Clackmannan bowler Harry

Bolton took all 10 Heriot’s wickets at the cost of 9 runs. Also notice that the bowling figures

are balls not overs. In them days it was 5 balls an over.

Harry Bolton strangely was also a Keyworth great who played for various Scottish clubs.

Please find below from the Keyworth Cricket History website.

1896 was a good start to his career at Heriot’s where he ended up top run scorer with 249

runs and took 30 wickets in 20 appearances.

The 1897 season was William’s best season for the club where he topped the runs column

again with 298 and took 19 wickets in 19 appearances. He had a top score of 91 against

Grange in a winning draw on 1 May. Also took 2/36 with the ball.

Below is the newspaper report of the match and scorecard.

The best bowling performance of the 1897 season was 6/29 on 29 May against

Stewartonians. He bowled 24 overs and had 8 maidens.

1899 season from the club history book where William created a new 1st wicket partnership

record with Jack Firth.

In later years William never really got to those heights. He was hardly used as a bowler from

1898 onwards. His best batting performance was 78 on 8 July 1904 in an away win against

Cupar.

William Pike’s last game for Heriot’s which had been noted by David M Clark.

W A Pike (Pro) 127 Appearances

Batting

Year Total Inns Not Out Average Best Wickets Best Catches

1896 246 18 1 14.47 51 30 7/42 2

1897 298 19 1 16.56 91 19 6/29 9

1898 216 16 2 15.43 64 2 2/28 4

1899 293 11 1 29.30 70 6 2/9 2

1900 114 8 0 14.25 38 3 2/12 3

1901 117 11 0 10.64 28 4 3/21 5

1902 42 7 0 6.00 12 2 1/0 5

1903 136 5 2 45.33 67 2 1/0 1

1904 208 8 1 29.71 78 1 1/0 3

1905 29 7 1 4.83 10 2

1906 199 13 1 16.58 39 1

Total 1898 123 10 16.80 91 69 7/42 37

Below are some team pictures featuring William

1896

William 2nd from left seated

1899

William 1st on the left seated

1900

William 3rd from the left seated

I hope you have enjoyed this PDF and I would like to thank Barry Baker and Keyworth Cricket

Club for their assistance.

I would also recommend the following websites.

http://www.keyworthcrickethistory.co.uk/

https://www.keyworthcc.net/

https://www.pitchero.com/clubs/heriotscc/

https://www.pitchero.com/clubs/heriotscc/a/heriots-archive-57656.html