Geoffrey Webb (cricketer)
English cricketer and naval officer
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Arthur Geoffrey Gascoyne Webb (17 August 1896 – 6 April 1981) was an English naval officer, and a cricketer, active from 1919 to 1938 who played for Leicestershire.[1] He was also an amateur artist.[2]
Life
Webb was born in Kent, at Sittingbourne or Newington, Swale, and was educated at Wellington College.[1][2][3] He joined the Royal Navy in 1914, and served during World War I, being present during the battle of Jutland, and reaching the rank of lieutenant in September 1918.[2][4]
Appearing first for a Royal Navy eleven, Webb played in five first-class matches. He was a lefthanded batsman who kept wicket. He scored 123 runs with a highest score of 57 and completed one catch with five stumpings.[1][3]
Webb remained in the navy until 1923 and the Geddes Axe. He then worked as a schoolmaster, teaching cricket. He was a colonial education officer in Nigeria. There he became an authority on the Hausa language and customs, and wrote a book and examination text, Al'adun Hausawa (1932) with Frank William Taylor (born 1887), in charge of education at Yola, Adamawa.[2][5][6][7]
During World War II, Webb was again a Royal Navy officer, becoming lieutenant-commander. He was involved as Secretary in Leicestershire County Cricket Club, and administratively in King George's Fund for Sailors. He painted in East Anglia, and exhibited.[2]
Personal life
Webb married Audrey Haggard, a niece of Rider Haggard, but she died in Nigeria in the early 1930s. He married Iris Thompson in 1935.[8]
Works
- Webb, Arthur Geoffrey Gascoyne (2008). Five Years in the White Man's Grave: An Education Officer in Nigeria, 1928-33. Legini Press.
