John Pelly (cricketer)

John Pelly
Personal information
Full name
John Noel Pelly
Born15 June 1888
Ware, Hertfordshire, England
Died6 June 1945(1945-06-06) (aged 56)
Hove, Sussex, England
BattingUnknown
Career statistics
Competition First-class
Matches 1
Runs scored 5
Batting average 2.50
100s/50s –/–
Top score 5
Catches/stumpings –/–
Source: Cricinfo, 17 December 2019

John Noel Pelly CBE (15 June 1888 – 6 June 1945) was an English first-class cricketer and Royal Navy officer.

The son of Edmund Nevill Richard Pelly and Emma Mary Fowler, he was born in June 1888 at Ware, Hertfordshire.[1] He graduated from the Britannia Royal Naval College and in May 1908 he was a sub-lieutenant.[2] He was promoted to the rank of lieutenant in December 1910.[3] He served in the First World War and shortly after the conclusion of the war he was promoted to the rank of lieutenant commander in December 1918.[4] His next promotion, to commander, came in June 1925.[5] The following year he made a single appearance in first-class cricket for the Royal Navy against the British Army cricket team at Lord's.[6] Batting twice in the match, Pelly was dismissed in the navy first-innings without scoring by Kenneth Mackessack, while in their second-innings he was dismissed for 5 runs by Robert Melsome.[7]

Pelly was placed on the retired list at his own request in June 1934, at which point he was granted the rank of captain.[8] He came out of retirement during the Second World War and was placed in command of the HMS King Alfred shore establishment at Hove in 1939.[9] He was made a CBE in the 1942 Birthday Honours.[10] He continued to command HMS King Alfred throughout the war, before collapsing suddenly and dying at the establishment on 6 June 1945.[9]

  1. ^ "Captain John Noel Pelly". www.thepeerage.com. Retrieved 18 December 2019.
  2. ^ "No. 28213". The London Gazette. 8 January 1909. p. 232.
  3. ^ "No. 28452". The London Gazette (Supplement). 2 January 1911. p. 5.
  4. ^ "No. 31123". The London Gazette. 14 January 1919. p. 716.
  5. ^ "No. 33063". The London Gazette. 3 July 1925. p. 4452.
  6. ^ "First-Class Matches played by John Pelly". CricketArchive. Retrieved 18 December 2019.
  7. ^ "Army v Royal Navy, 1926". CricketArchive. Retrieved 18 December 2019.
  8. ^ "No. 34065". The London Gazette (Supplement). 29 June 1934. p. 4140.
  9. ^ a b Shipbuilding and Shipping Record (65th ed.). 1945. p. 575.
  10. ^ "No. 35586". The London Gazette. 5 June 1942. p. 2481.