Legh Barratt. Norfolk C.C..C. 1890 to 1908. 'Robert Slade Lucas Tour of the West Indies 1894-95'. Wonderfully evocative journal/diary handwritten by Legh Barratt whilst on the pioneering Robert Slade Lucas tour of the West Indies in 1895, the first tour of the West Indies by an English team, containing the details of the matches played, his observations of the matches and the team, the people, the culture, the islands and life in the Caribbean in the mid 1890's. The journal begins when the team arrives at Waterloo station, London on Wednesday, January 16th and about to take the train to Southampton to board the SS Medway for the voyage to the West Indies and finishes on Tuesday 16th April, the day of their departure bound for England. The red leather journal, measuring 5"x8", is written mainly in black ink, but some entries to the beginning of the journal are in pencil, has a brief title to the front end paper 'L. Barratt. R.S. Lucas XI, Marine Hotel, Barbados'. He begins his journal by describing the scene at Waterloo station 'Started from Waterloo 10am, big crowd to see us off including many people I knew. Three cheers as we left station... the team seem to be a jolly lot and full of fun. A crowd see us off at Southampton and wish us god speed. I feel as though I am going away for years instead of three months'. Barratt continues to describe the journey commenting on the bad weather, gales blowing and the ship rolling, by Sunday 20th the seas are calming and the weather warming, the team plays games including cricket on the decks during the day, music and singing in the evenings. Barratt comments that 'Smith-Turberville, Priestley, Lucas and Bromley-Davenport are at present my favourites of the team'. Hurricane gale hits them on Wednesday 23rd January and they 'shipped 500 tons of water, 700 plates smashed on the voyage'. The ship enters Bridgetown Harbour on the morning of Monday 28th January 'The ship is surrounded by blacks who sell fruit and dive in a most wonderful way for coins.... a deputation arrive to welcome the cricketers. We part with our recent friends and steam for shore, where several thousand people thronged on the landing place and cheered us. We are taken in private carriages and driven to our hotel, where a most delicious breakfast was provided. In the afternoon we went to practice.... the hospitality of the people is unbounded. The strangeness and beauty of the place is unlike anything I have seen before. Everything is provided for us free of charge. The niggers follow us about and cheer us vociferously and from what they have said they evidently want us to win'. Tuesday 29th January. the day of the start of the first match 'Everywhere we are seen we are cheered and encouraged.... the excitement of everybody was intense... thousands of people in the street on their way to the ground almost stopped the carriages.... I have never laughed more or enjoyed a day so much. Made 0. Could'nt see a ball (so soon after the voyage) ... all shops were close and a general holiday was given... Rather a watery night outside and inside'.... Wednesday & Thursday 30th & 31st January. 'Everybody in the island was on the ground, there being not a vacant seat. Tide of luck went against us and we were beaten though not disgraced'.... Thursday 31st January 'We begin today cricket match v United Services... we take the wickets first and lose several of our own wickets very cheap but the tail end put on some runs, total 248. I made 56, Sewell 40, Dawson 30. We are batting the whole day.... Am getting quite used to the faces of the niggers. I agree with Froude, they are the happiest race of people I have ever seen... Friday 1st February. 'Got them all out for 124. They followed on and made 147 for 5 wickets, thus leaving the match drawn in our favour.... the stand is each day full of ladies in their brightest colours. The greatest difficulty I have at present is the evading of drinks which are being forced down me...'. Barratt continues in a similar vein giving the day to day routine of the tour, commenting on the atmosphere, the people, the cricket, the players, the dinners and social expeditions, events and gatherings with cricket matches against Barbados. 9th February 'memorable match v Barbados... the total number of runs scored is 1385 and is the 3rd record of large scoring ever chronicled. We continue today and from the first, our fielding and bowling was very good. Several of their men lost their heads and the result was that we won the match by 24 runs. Tremendous excitement, nearly all the team are individually called out and cheered by the crowd. It was indeed a day worth living for', Antigua. 14th February 'We start match versus Antigua. Eight out of the eleven are blacks playing against us, in bare feet.... finish match with Antigua, winning in an innings by 50 [69] runs. The blacks are disgusted and one was heard to give as the reason for losing that we were such big fat men while they were a mere lot of boys. One black here remarked that if they had the same food as we, they would have beaten us', St Kitts-Nevis. 17th-19th February 'At the foot of the peak is a leper asylum on the edge of the sea. We went to see them... even under these circumstances they seem fairly happy and sing hymns most beautifully. We send them some of our old cricket bats'...A big Dinner was given by the reception committee in the evening, usual toast and speeches-very good one by Priestley , St Lucia/Martinique. 21st/22nd February 'Four of us go ashore for an hour. Most amusing experiences. The dress of the Martinique girls is very charming and is world-famed. Commence match with St Lucia. Good wicket, pretty little ground. I made 27.... Finish match v St. Lucia. We won by 9 wickets, St Vincent. 25th February 'Play cricket match v St. Vincent. Very awful pitch, like a gravel road, absolutely no grass. They win a one day's match amidst great excitement. Four thousand watching... I played the billiard player of St. Vincent who was very bad indeed', Trinidad. 28th February 'Start the match v Queen's Park C.C. at 11.30. We get them out for 71 and make 165. We finish cricket match and have a most exciting finish. We won by 4 wickets, getting the runs only 1 minute to time. I was batting during the exciting time making 14 not out. Immense crowd were present quite 10,000 people. Immense excitement after the match- speeches being delivered to the crowd from the steps of the pavilion... All Trinidad. Saturday 2nd March 'We all go to the Gymkhana race meeting... two large stands paddock it all just like an English racecourse. I rode in a race and jolly nearly got killed. Feel knocked out of time this morning. I realise that I shall not be able to play cricket for some time, which is very disappointing... Eventful day'. 'Commence match versus All Trinidad. Bush and I are obliged to stand out [due to the racing accident]. A very fast black bowler (Woods 6 for 39) bowls most of the team. We are 90 behind on the 1st innings. At 4.30pm whilst everyone was watching the match, a wreath of black smoke was seen to curl up from one of the principle warehouses [It was the start of a fire never before seen in the West Indies. Thousands rushed from the ground to protest their interests, houses fell like packs of cards. Over fifty warehouses and dwelling were completely destroyed and the estimated loss was one million sterling], Demerara. 16th March 'The Demerara ground is by far the best ground in the West Indies. It exactly resembles a good, fast English wicket like 'Lord's'. We had by far the best of the first day's play. Priestley coming off for the first time... continue our match v Demerara, Davenport proved unplayable on the soft treacherous wicket and we eventually won by 10 wickets' Demerara. 19th March, 'We start a return match v Demerara- I play again for the first time since my fall in Trinidad. We lost the toss and had to field out nearly all the day in the hottest sun we have yet experienced. I was not very fit so felt it more. It was a most perfect wicket and it was quite a pleasure fielding on such a beautiful ground... we should have continued the match... but rain came in torrents with no cessation from 11 o'clock until 3. It was terribly disappointing especially to Demerara C.C. as they had gone to the trouble of erecting stands at a great expense and they were robbed of half the gate money.... the day of departure from Demerara has arrived... a large party of our recent friends... came on the launch to see us off on the Dee.... Voyage to Barbados en route to Jamaica. The weather is good and the sea fairly calm... On Saturday morning we arrived at Bridgetown. I spent most of the morning writing mail letters and buying curiosities... Smith-Tuberville alias the 'Long'un' suddenly made up his mind to go home to England on the 'Don' which sailed today for Southampton. He made up his mind very suddenly and it was only 3 hours before the boat sailed that he decided. He only told Lucas anything about his going' Friday March 29th. 'At 6am in the morning we find ourselves anchored in Kingston Harbour, Jamaica. On landing... we were driven to the cricket ground to have a sumptuous lunch. We afterwards practised cricket and had Lohmann (brother of the Surrey man) to bowl to us. He is very like his brother and has a very good berth here as groundsman and professional. We start the match versus All Jamaica. We soon find they are much weaker than we are. They go in first and playing with little or no confidence only compile 72. Our innings was not completed the first day but we eventually made 215. The wicket was very good although the out fielding was rather rough..... we finished the match... winning by an innings and 90 runs. The enthusiasm over cricket does not seem to run so high in Jamaica as in other colonies and there were no more than three thousand people (who paid for admission) watching the match. Several thousands who did not care to pay admission got a peep at the match from different vantage points. Many from the tops of the trees and it was very comical to see them huddled together on the boughs of some trees like a nest of rooks'... Jamaica Born. Tuesday 2nd April 'They meet with no better fate than the 'All Jamaica team' did and were eventually beaten by an innings and 97 runs. We found a scorpion in one of the cricket bags. I got it put into a jar which I still retain'... Western Jamaica, Montego Bay. Friday 5th April 'We start today the match v West Jamaica. The ground looked very cheerful with flags all round it and a band started in the morning and played all day. The stand was well filled in the afternoon. Things started rather badly for us as Priestley was bowled by the first ball and four wickets were down for about 20. However Bush and Barker made a good stand.... I took 20 and then was umpired out.... we finish match with West Jamaica winning easily by an innings and 60 runs'. North Jamaica. Monday 8th April 'We started the cricket match versus North Jamaica and found it a very bad wicket. The ball bumped a great deal and frequently just missed ones chin.... We finish match v North Jamaica winning by seven wickets. There was a very good attendance each day, carriages being drawn up along two sides of the ground'... All Jamaica. 10th/11th April 'Although we had enjoyed our stay in the country very much and had seen many wonderful sights well worth seeing, still I was not sorry to get back to Kingston and have a fixed place of abode for a few days and also to get rid of the ticks of which we all got a fresh supply in the Fern Valley'.... 'We started our last match of the tour versus All Jamaica. They made several alterations in their previous team which proved beneficial to them. Our eyes were evidently suffering a little from the long glaring drives along the dusty white coral rounds, and our fielding was far from good.... We finish the match losing by 8 wickets. This makes our 4th match lost in the West Indies. I made 10 no and 12 (in four hits). The wicket crumbled after the first 200 runs. The Jamaicans were very pleased to get one out of the five contested matches'. Monday 16th April. The day of our departure from Jamaica has arrived with all its packing, rushing about, card leaving and farewells... A great many people came to see us off and amid the usual enthusiastic farewells and waving of many handkerchiefs we steamed away from the coral strand of Jamaica where we had spent such a pleasant time'. The journal includes an original photograph of the touring team with opponents (unknown) in front of a pavilion with Barratt seated on the front row in cap and without blazer and a small original two sided printed 'Programme. Jamaica Club. Ball in honour of English Cricketers' with dances and music listed to verso, some adhesive marks to verso. There are also what appears to be Barratt's preliminary notes/writings on the start of the tour to the back of the book in pencil, which appear to have been once the front of the book. Also the names and part addresses of ten of the members of the touring party noted by Barratt. There is also a note dated 18th August 1895 suggesting that the journal might be published, it never was... The journal consists of one hundred and forty six pages of handwritten text and cuttings and contains almost 20,000 handwritten words.

A remarkably comprehensive, vivid and diverting journal/diary of this seminal tour of the West Indies undertaken one hundred and twenty six years ago. A unique insight into a player's life on tour covering both the cricket matches, travel and social history of that time. Barratt has never before left the shores of England and he often finds the sights he sees miraculous in his eyes and is filled with awe. He had never, I would imagine, have seen a person of colour up to that point in his life....... - cricket

The tourists won ten of the matches played, with two draws and four defeats. The touring team consisted of R.S. Lucas (Middlesex, Captain), M.M. Barker (M.C.C.), L. Barratt (Norfolk), R. Berens & H.R. Bromley-Davenport (Cambridge University & Middlesex), F.W. Bush (Surrey), J.M. Dawson, R.L. Marshall & A.A. Priestley (M.C.C.), R.P. Sewell (Kent & Essex), H.T. Smith-Turberville (M.C.C.), W.H. Wakefield and J.H. Weatherby. All were amateurs and only seven of the thirteen ever played first class cricket. Legh Barratt was by all accounts an accomplished all round cricketer who could bat, bowl and field well, however his other talents of billiards (which are mentioned in the journal), bridge, horse riding, the piano, fiddle and music would make him a good tourist. He was also a keen watercolourist.