178 years ago, barrister Henry Corry Rowley Becher introduced cricket to London.  His club played in the fields east of Eldon House. 

There has been a London Cricket Club since at least 1856 when it was listed in the first London city directory.  At that time, John G. Horne was president; Verschoyle Cronyn, vice-president and Richard Bayly, secretary and treasurer.  Days for play were Monday and Thursday afternoons at the Military Reserve grounds (now the southern part of Victoria Park facing Dufferin Avenue). 

The present club still plays on Thursdays at 6 pm. 

Pictured In the accompanying photograph are Dr. Nelson Henry Beemer (1858-1934), assistant physician at the London Asylum and later superintendent of the Ontario Hospital in Mimico (now part of Toronto) for 34 years; and Rev. Francis William Terry (1860-1936), Church of England minister for over 40 years. 

Rev. Terry was captain of the Canadian national cricket team and represented the London Asylum during eight international matches from 1891 to 1907.  He set an individual batting record of 111 runs in 1893, a record which stood for 70 years.          

Arthur

Beemer and Terry:  Sixty Years of Canadian Cricket by John E. Hall and R.O. McCulloch.  1895, opposite p. 216 (REF r796.358H143s)	Cricket field map:Bird's Eye View of London, Ontario, Canada, 1872, looking north-east.   drawn by E.S. Glover.  1872.