Stephen Charles (cricketer)

Stephen Flockton Charles (17 August 1858 − 24 June 1950) was an English first-class cricketer and British Army officer.

Charles was born at Kensington in August 1858. He was educated at Harrow School, before attending the Royal Military College, Sandhurst.^[1] He graduated from Sandhurst in February 1878, entering into the Middlesex Regiment as a second lieutenant,^[2] before resigning his commission with the Middlesex Regiment in April of the same year.^[3] He was serving with the Lancashire Fusiliers in 1880, with promotion to the rank of lieutenant coming in July 1880.^[4] He was promoted to the rank of captain in July 1888.^[5] He married Mina Steele Watson in 1890, with Charles seconded for service with the Auxiliary Forces in July of the same year,^[6] with him vacating the secondment in May 1893.^[7]

Charles made his debut in first-class cricket for the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) against Dublin University at Dublin in 1895. He made three further first-class appearances for the MCC in 1897, playing against Oxford and Cambridge Universities, in addition to the touring Philadelphians.^[8] He played two first-class matches for the Gentlemen in the Gentlemen v Players fixtures of 1897 and 1898.^[8] He was promoted to the rank of major in November 1897.^[9] He appeared in a first-class match for the MCC in 1899, against Derbyshire at Lord's.^[8] He was promoted to the rank of lieutenant colonel in April 1902,^[10] before retiring from active service in November 1903.^[11] He made a final appearance in first-class cricket for the MCC in 1905, against Oxford University at Lord's.^[8] In eight first-class matches, Charles scored a total of 143 runs at an average of 20.42, with a high score of 30.^[12] He played minor counties cricket for Norfolk in 1906 and 1907, making fourteen appearances in the Minor Counties Championship.^[13] He died at Wroxham in June 1950, at the age of 91.