Silkstone Man Killed with Cricket Ball

 Silkstone Man Killed With Cricket Ball

In a previous blog we told the tragic story of the death of James Arthur Sisson, 27 year old son of Thomas Boyer Sisson, killed by a lightning strike in July 1899. But this was not the only tragic death that Thomas Boyer had to deal with.

Thirty six years earlier in the summer of 1863 his younger brother, Rowland Haigh Sisson, aged just 24, died following a cricket match in which he was struck on the head by the ball.

The Sisson family were instrumental in bringing cricket to Silkstone. The following was included in a newspaper article written in 1902, "About 1846 Mr Thomas Sisson took possession of the Pot House Corn Mill and Farm. Mr Sisson was a noted and enthusiastic cricketer, and played several matches for his county, Notts**. He was the person who introduced cricket at Silkstone and through him the first club was formed. His sons Thomas Boyer, Rowland Haigh, Albert Andrew and Owen Marriott were all noted players".

Rowland Haigh Sisson was baptised at Emley on 29th Jan 1839. He was given his middle name of Haigh as this was his mothers' maiden name. The family lived at Park Mill, Emley before moving to Silkstone when Thomas Sisson took over the corn mill at Pot House. Baptism and census records confirm that they did move to Silkstone between 1842 and 1851 when Rowland was a boy. In his History of Silkstone written in 1923, JF Prince gave a date of around 1840 as the year Thomas Sisson took over the corn mill.

Records show that Rowland had played cricket for the village team from at least 1859 when he was 20. He played in the annual Silkstone Feast matches that year against Barnsley Red Rose on the Monday and Dodworth White Rose on the Tuesday. As a bowler, he took 3 wickets on the Monday and 7 wickets on the Tuesday. A newspaper report noted that Silkstone had made their debut in their new clothes and colours at those Feast matches (in Victorian times cricket teams played in colours and not always in whites).

Cricket challenge matches were a popular feature of local feast festivities. Refreshment booths would be provided by the village innkeepers and stalls selling confectionery etc would be set up. In 1859 a gala was held in the same field as the cricket matches, while rustic sports and games and dancing took place until after dark. 

Dodworth Feast cricket matches took place on Monday 8th June and Tuesday 9th June 1863. Dodworth United CC played matches in a field belonging to Mr W Hoyland adjoining (or behind) the Chandlers Arms Inn (later re-named the Thornely Arms). A month later on the evening of Monday 6th July, a Dodworth team invited the Silkstone United cricket team to play a match there.

Rowland Haigh Sisson had taken two wickets and had made a good score with the bat when he was struck on the temple from a ball bowled by John Goldthorpe. At first there didn't appear to be any damage, in fact Rowland carried on playing, but half an hour or so later complained of being in such great pain that he couldn't carry on. The game was abandoned and Rowland was put into a cart and taken back home to Pot House Mill and Farm in Silkstone.

His mother and his older brother, Thomas Boyer Sisson, had taken over the mill and the farm when his father had died in 1857. They were at home to tend to young Rowland, but his pains did not improve and he sadly passed away at six o'clock that evening.

Rowland had married Charlotte Lamb in January, less than six months before the accident. They were expecting a child at the time of their marriage and to add to the tragic circumstances surrounding Rowland's death, Charlotte gave birth to their daughter just a couple of weeks following his death. A baby girl, christened Emmeline, was baptised at Silkstone on 26th July just 3 weeks after her father's death.

Meanwhile arrangements were made by both the Dodworth and Silkstone clubs for a benefit match to be played in Barnsley to raise money for Rowland's widow and his baby daughter.

On Monday 3rd August a Barnsley Cricket Club eleven played against a combined Silkstone and Dodworth team of 14 players at the Old Clarence Cricket Ground, Shaw Lane in Barnsley. The combined team included both Rowland's brother, Albert Sisson, and the Dodworth player John Goldthorpe. Goldthorpe must have been devastated by what had happened to Rowland and the fact that he was playing in the same team as Rowland's brother to raise money for Rowland's dependants shows that there must not have been any animosity shown to the Dodworth player.

A gala followed the match with Dodworth Brass Band playing for free which helped boost the funds raised on the day. Barnsley Cricket Club gave up the ground for free and their players waived any payments they would normally receive. They also donated the prize money won on the day back to the funds. A newspaper report at the time noted that "upwards of £7.0.0. was raised" - this would be equivalent to almost £800 in 2026.

At the annual Silkstone Feast later in August, the Silkstone United Cricket team played against "eleven Picked Players from Barnsley" on the Tuesday with Dodworth Brass Band providing entertainment afterwards. It is possible that this may also have been used as a fundraiser for Rowland's family.

Following the death of Rowland Sisson, his widow re-married nearly three years later on 5th March 1866. She married William Lawson, a labourer from Silkstone, and they made their home initially at Silkstone Common and then Dodworth Green before moving back to a house at Silkstone Cross where she passed away in 1926 at the age of 83.

Rowland's daughter Emmeline (Emma) had left the family home by the age of 17 and was working as a domestic servant for a family in Milnsbridge near Huddersfield. She married an Albert Broadbent in 1896 at the age of 33, living at Almondbury and Marsh where they brought up their only daughter Doris. She passed away in 1926 at the age of 63.

I published a book about the history of the village football and cricket teams in 2000, and there were many anecdotes and stories missing from that publication. The fact that Thomas Sisson founded the club around 1846 and that his son Rowland Sisson died taking part in the sport that the family loved were only discovered after that book was written, and hopefully this blog will give both men the recognition they deserve in the history of the village generally and cricket in particular.

Note** The article written in 1902 related to Thomas Sisson having played several matches for his county, Notts. I have not been able to verify this as yet.

Research and text - Andy Horsfield Heritage Silkstone May 2026