John Carr (cricketer, born 1892)

The son of the Reverend Edmund Carr and his wife, Edith Louisa Margaret Lillingston,[1] Carr was born at Palamcottah in British India.[2] Carr came to England by 1901, where he was educated at St. Lawrence College, Ramsgate.[2] From St. Lawrence he went up to Magdalen College, Oxford in 1904, where among his contemporaries was Edward, Prince of Wales.[3] He played football for Oxford University A.F.C.[4] He debuted in first-class cricket in 1913 for the Marylebone Cricket Club against Oxford University at Oxford,[5] making scores of 7 and 10, with Carr being dismissed in the match by Philip Davies and Basil Melle respectively.[6]

Carr served in the British Army during World War I, enlisting as a second lieutenant with the Royal Berkshire Regiment in November 1914.[7] In December 1914, he was promoted to the rank of lieutenant in December 1914.[7] He was mentioned in a letter written by the Prince of Wales in April 1915, following an encounter with Carr at the front.[3] Ill health during saw Carr placed on the half-pay list in July 1915,[8] with Carr returning to duty in July 1916, with fellow cricketer Guy Gregson-Ellis acting as his deputy.[9] Having been promoted to the rank of captain by 1917, Carr gained the rank of temporary major in June 1918.[10]

Following the war, Carr served in Germany as part of the British Army of the Rhine.[4] He relinquished the temporary rank of major in March 1920, reverting to the rank of captain when he left his service battalion, which had presumably been disbanded.[11] In July 1922, he was promoted to the temporary rank of brigade major,[12] a post he relinquished in December of the same year.[13] In September 1923, he was seconded to the Territorial Army as an adjutant.[14]

Thirteen years after his initial first-class appearance, Carr played three first-class matches for the British Army cricket team in 1926.[5] He scored 97 runs across these three matches at an average of 19.40, with a high score of 46.[15] He made his debut in minor counties cricket in that same year for Berkshire in the Minor Counties Championship.[16] After a gap of four years, he played frequently for Berkshire in 1930 and 1931, before making a final lone appearance in 1936.[16]

Carr returned to the Royal Berkshire Regiment from his secondment in April 1927,[17] where he served in British India until at least 1931.[4] He was promoted to the rank of major on a permanent basis in November 1929.[18] He retired from active service in April 1936,[19] with seniority antedated to September 1927.[20] Carr exceeded the age limit for recall in June 1948, at which point he was removed from the reserve officers list and was granted the honorary rank of lieutenant colonel.[21]

After retiring from the army, Carr took up a position as the bursar of Repton School in Derbyshire, with Carr moving with his family from the New Forest in Hampshire.[4] He later died at the Derbyshire Royal Infirmary in Derby in February 1963, following a short illness.[2]

He married Constance Ruth Smith in 1919, with the couple having three sons.[4] His youngest son, Donald, played Test cricket for England, while his grandson, John, was also a first-class cricketer.[4]

• John Carr at ESPNcricinfo