CACrown ArchivesThe cinema collection
Menu
Research dossier · People & Ideas

Arnold Fothergill

Cricket player of England. (1854-1932)

Correspondence, annotated notebooks and portrait silhouettes prepared for research
People and ideasInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionSep 19, 2026
Entity authorityQ3528738 ↗
Source-derived summary

Arnold James Fothergill (26 August 1854 – 1 August 1932) was an English professional cricketer who played first-class cricket for Somerset County Cricket Club and the MCC in a career which spanned from 1870 until 1892. A left-arm fast-medium pace bowler, he appeared for England in two Test matches in 1889.

Fothergill began his career as a club professional in the north east of England. He joined Somerset as one of their first professionals in 1880, but was forced to miss most of 1881 while he qualified for the county. He was the most productive bowler for the county in their first two years of first-class cricket, but the emergence of E. W. Bastard, and later Ted Tyler and Sammy Woods, limited his opportunities with the club. He joined the ground staff at Lord's Cricket Ground in 1882, and played for the MCC until 1892, also appearing at Lord's for representative teams.

In the English winter of 1888–89, he was chosen to tour South Africa with the MCC, and played in two matches which were later designated as Test matches, though Wisden Cricketers' Almanack described them as being "arguably not even first-class." He took 119 first-class wickets during his career, of which eight came in his two Tests.

Early life and career

Arnold James Fothergill was born on 26 August 1854 in Newcastle upon Tyne, Northumberland. He began his cricket career with Northumberland Cricket Club, a private club which was a precursor to the county team. He appeared as a professional for the team from 1870 until 1879, during which time he was also employed by Benwell High Cross Cricket Club in 1870 and 1871, and Manchester Cricket Club in 1879, before moving to Somerset in 1880.

Editorial summary

Begin with the source’s own compact description: “Arnold Fothergill” is cricket player of England. (1854-1932). The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Arnold, Fothergill and Cricket, not as a finished interpretation.

Editorial reviewStrongest as a route into the people, institutions and dated events that shaped the subject’s public record. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1854, 1932, 1870, 1892—that can be checked directly. The linked authority record independently contributes the date 1854-08-26. For this dossier, Arnold, Fothergill and Cricket is the immediate research focus.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

The phrase “cricket player of England. (1854-1932)” supplies a clear boundary for inquiry. It also exposes the unanswered questions: who defined that boundary, when it became stable and which sources sit outside it.

Evidence profile

Biographical claims are most persuasive when dates, appointments and relationships can be traced to records created close to the events described. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 19, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q3528738. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1854, 1932, 1870 and 1892.

Critical limits

A concise life account rarely captures disputed attribution, private networks or the changing language used to describe a career. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Read biographical claims against dates, named institutions and the cited references. Distinguish a subject’s later reputation from evidence produced during their lifetime.

Best used for
  • Establishing names and roles
  • Building a first chronology
  • Locating cited institutions
Verify next

Personal papers, civil or court records, institutional files and the scholarship cited by the source.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “Arnold Fothergill”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow Arnold Fothergill primary sources, Arnold Fothergill archive and Arnold research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Arnold Fothergill”?
  2. Which claims depend on a single source or contested interpretation?
  3. Which primary records establish identity, chronology and institutional ties?
Subject index

Search terms from this dossier

Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from “Arnold Fothergill” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.