Edward Stead (aka Edwin Steed) (Maidstone, Kent, 1701 – 28 August 1735 in London) was a famous patron of English, particularly Kent, cricket during its formative years in the early 18th Century. Maidstone (pronounced mādstun) is the county town of Kent, in southeast England, about 30 miles from London. ... Kent is a county in England, south-east of London. ... Events January 18 - Frederick I becomes King of Prussia. ... August 28 is the 240th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (241st in leap years), with 125 days remaining. ... Events April 16 - The London premiere of Alcina by George Frideric Handel, his first the first Italian opera for the Royal Opera House at Covent Garden. ... London (pronounced ) is the capital city of England and the United Kingdom. ... For the insect, see Cricket (insect). ... (17th century - 18th century - 19th century - more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 18th century refers to the century that lasted from 1701 through 1800. ...

Stead was something of a compulsive gambler and he sought to make money out of cricket by underwriting select XIs usually made up of players from several Kent parish teams. The Dartford Cricket Club had arguably the best parish team in the game at the time and it is almost certain that Stead used several Dartford players. It is not clear if Stead played himself but, given that his rival patrons all did, it is reasonable to assume that he was the captain of his own team as well as its patron. Dartford Cricket Club is one of the oldest in England and its origins go back to the early 18th Century, perhaps sooner. ...

Stead's teams are known to have performed in "Great Matches" for several years from 1724. He was very successful in 1728 when the report of a game in August said of his latest victory: "the third time this summer that the Kent men have been too expert for those of Sussex". Events January 14 - King Philip V of Spain abdicates the throne February 20 - The premiere of Giulio Cesare, an Italian opera by George Frideric Handel, takes place in London June 23 - Treaty of Constantinople signed. ... Events Astronomical aberration discovered by the astronomer James Bradley Swedish academy of sciences founded at Uppsala The founding of the University of Havana (Universidad de la Habana), Cubas most well-established university. ...

But Stead was not always successful and his gambling habit eventually got the better of him. We know that he died in reduced circumstances while still only 34.

His death on 28 August 1735 was reported in the Grub Street Journal (see G B Buckley's Fresh Light on Eighteenth Century Cricket, p.12) on Thursday 4 September 1735. The report says there were two accounts of his death, one that he died "near Charing Cross"; the other that he died "in Scotland Yard". August 28 is the 240th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (241st in leap years), with 125 days remaining. ... Events April 16 - The London premiere of Alcina by George Frideric Handel, his first the first Italian opera for the Royal Opera House at Covent Garden. ... George Bent Buckley (born in Yorkshire c. ... September 4 is the 247th day of the year (248th in leap years). ... Events April 16 - The London premiere of Alcina by George Frideric Handel, his first the first Italian opera for the Royal Opera House at Covent Garden. ... The Victorian Eleanor Cross at Charing Cross The name Charing Cross, now given to a district of central London in the City of Westminster, comes from the original hamlet of Charing, where King Edward I placed a memorial to his wife, Eleanor of Castile. ... New Scotland Yard, London New Scotland Yard, it blowwsssss often referred to simply as Scotland Yard or The Yard, is the headquarters of the Metropolitan Police Service, responsible for policing Greater London (although not the City of London itself). ...

References

• At the Sign of the Wicket: Cricket 1742 – 1751 by F S Ashley-Cooper in Cricket Magazine (1900) (ASW)
• Cricket Scores 1730 - 1773 by H T Waghorn (WCS)
• Early Kent Cricketers by John Goulstone (EKC)
• Fresh Light on 18th Century Cricket by G B Buckley (FL18)
• Fresh Light on Pre-Victorian Cricket by G B Buckley (FLPV)
• From the Weald to the World by Peter Wynne-Thomas (PWT)
• Sussex Cricket in the Eighteenth Century by Timothy J McCann (TJM)
• The Dawn of Cricket by H T Waghorn (WDC)