Here we have one of the greatest beards in cricket, William Gilbert Grace, born in 1848. And yes, the first part of the caption on this card is absolutely right, for he qualified as a medical doctor in 1879.
In 1880 he, his elder brother Edward and his younger brother Fred had all appeared on the same England team, the very first time three brothers had taken the field together.
Curiously, at the time of our card, he was not just a cricketer, for he had founded another sports club, the English Bowling Association, in the very same year, 1903. And also in that year he would become their President, as well as captain the England team in the first ever international bowling competition, held at Crystal Palace - though, as usual, "international" was a bit of a misnomer, for the teams came from Scotland, Ireland, and Wales.
As for "London County", which appears on our card as his club, this was a team he also formed, after leaving the County side of Gloucestershire in 1899, the same year he decided to retire from his medical practice.
The entry for ths issuer in our original "Directory of British Cigarette Card Issuers (Past and Present)", reference book RB.7, published in 1946, is short, only :
J. GABRIEL & SON.
(now J. Gabriel, Sons & Co.)Now making cigars only.
320 Walworth Road, London, S.E.17
"Nutrose", "Straight Cut Virginia"
It is only when you get to their entry in our original World Tobacco Issues Index that you realise they were actually a fairly prolific issuer for a company of their size - though of all their sets, "Actresses-HAGG", "Beauties-GRACC", Home and Colonial Regiments", "Pretty Girls-BAGG" and "Types of Colonial Troops", plus our set "Cricketers Series", not a single one was only issued by them.
The listing for our set reads as follows :
- CRICKETERS SERIES. Sm. 69 x 37. Black and white. Nd. (20).See H.29... G4-3
As for H.29, that is the handbook uniform to that catalogue, in which it is revealed that the set was actually issued by several other companies.
- H.29. CRICKETERS SERIES (titled series). Fronts per Fig.29 in black and white. Numbered series of 20.
Pre-1919
Anonymous, plain back
Baker [A. Baker & Co. Ltd. of London - no prices shown in catalogue]
Charlesworth & Austin [Ltd., also of London - catalogued as odds 10/- to 25/-, sets £25]
Faulkner [also of London - catalogued as odds 20/- to 60/-, no sets available]
Gabriel [J. Gabriel of London - no prices shown in catalogue]
Glass [W. G. Glass & Co. Ltd, of Bristol - catalogued as odds only - 35/- to 100/-]
Newbegin [E. J. Newbegin of Sunderland - no prices shown in catalogue]
Rutter [I. Rutter & Co. of Mitcham - catalogued as odds only - 25/- to 75/-]
The list just shows their surnames, so I have added the full company names, and also the retail prices quoted by the London Cigarette Card Company in 1950, because the handbook was actually issued by them, and stated to be "for use with Catalogue of Comparative Values, Part 1" :
The full list of cards in our set are as follows :
- J. T. Hearne, Middlesex
- Tom Hayward, Surrey
- Mr. C. B. Fry, Surrey
- R. Abel, Surrey
- Mr. Owen, Essex
- K. S. Ranjitsinjhi , Sussex
- T. Richardson, Surrey
- Dr. W. G. Grace, London County
- Mr. A. E. Stoddart, Middlesex
- Mr. G. L. Jessop, Glo`stershire
- Lord Hawke, Yorkshire
- W. G. Quaife, Warwickshire
- Shrewsbury, Notts
- Brockwell, Surrey
- Briggs, Lancashire
- Mr. F. S. Jackson, Yorkshire
- Mr. D. L. A. Jephson, Surrey
- Mr. S. M. J. Woods, Somerset
- Mr. L. C. H. Palairet, Somerset
- Mr. J. R. Mason, Kent