1751.2

Cricket Lore: Ball Kills the Prince of Wales, Pretty Slowly

Salience	Noteworthy
Tags	Famous, HazardFamous, Hazard
Location
City/State/Country:	London, England
Modern Address
Game	CricketCricket
Immediacy of Report	Contemporary
Age of Players	AdultAdult
Holiday
Notables
Text	RIP, sweet Prince. [The prince was the father of King George III.] [A] "Death of Frederick Lewis, Prince of Wales, as a result of a blow on the head from a cricket ball." [B] "It's generally said his late Royal Highness the Prince of Wales got a Blow on his Side with a Ball about two Years ago, playing at Cricket, which diversion he was fond of, and 'tis thought was the Occasion of his Death . . . ."
Sources	[A] John Ford, Cricket: A Social History 1700-1835 [David and Charles, 1972], page 17. Ford does not give a citation. [B] London Advertiser, March 26, 1751.
Warning
Comment	In Pastime Lost (U Nebraska Press, 2019, p 26), David Block writes that "Whether Frederick's death was the consequence of a lingering cricket injury has been the subject of debate ever since, with most modern observers . . . expressing skepticism." Today, some fans of the old game of Royal tennis believe that it was a (stuffed) tennis ball that felled the Prince. Note: You've seen the Prince before, as a bass ball player. See 1749.2 Edit with form to add a comment
Query	Edit with form to add a query
Source Image	[[Image:\|left\|thumb]]
External Number
Submitted by	David Block
Submission Note	Email of 9/16/2020
Has Supplemental Text

Comments