James Dark
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Full name | James Henry Dark |
| Born |
14 May 1795 Marylebone, England |
| Died | 17 October 1871 (aged 76) St John's Wood, England |
| Batting style | Right-handed |
| Role | Batsman |
| Relations |
Benjamin Dark (brother) Sydney Dark (brother) |
| Domestic team information | |
| Years | Team |
| 1815 to 1826 | Middlesex |
| 1835 to 1843 | MCC |
| First-class debut | 24 August 1815 Middlesex v Epsom |
| Last First-class | 28 August 1843 Marylebone v Hampshire |
| Umpiring information | |
| FC umpired | 11 (1829–1860) |
| Source: CricketArchive, 16 June 2013 | |
James Henry Dark (1795–1871) was an English professional cricketer who later became a noted patron of the sport and was, from 1835 to 1864, the proprietor of Lord's Cricket Ground. He was the brother of Benjamin Dark.
born 24 May 1795 at Marylebone, London. An occasional wicket-keeper, Dark was mainly associated with Middlesex and he made 17 known appearances in first-class matches from 1815 to 1843. In 1835, he represented the Players in the Gentlemen v Players match at Lord's. Dark was described as "a good hitter and fieldsman". He was a respected umpire who stood intermittently from 1829 to 1860.
Dark used his earnings from cricket to become a property owner and developer. When an opportunity arose to buy the leasehold at Lord's, Dark was quick to seize it.
The current Lord's Cricket Ground was opened by Thomas Lord in 1814, the ground sited on land that Lord leased from the Eyre Estate in St John's Wood. In 1825, Lord proposed building houses on the land as he was not receiving enough revenue from cricket. There was strong opposition to his idea and he sold his leasehold interest in the ground to William Ward for £5000.
In 1835, Ward sold the leasehold to Dark who paid £2000 upfront and an annuity of £425 to the Ward family through the unexpired term of the lease from Michaelmas Day 1835 for 59 years (to 1894). The rental due to the Eyre Estate was £150 per annum.
Dark lived close by the ground in a house which was "near the present (in 1945) members' luncheon room".
Dark did much to improve Lord's. When he took over, there were two ponds on the land which frequently filled up with rubble and the playing area had a very rough surface. The ponds were eventually drained and filled in while ground maintenance relied to a large extent on sheep to keep the grass down and a small roller to even out the surface. Dark's development programme was ambitious for it included extension and improvement of the pavilion and the installation of gas lighting. He added a billiard room, a real tennis court, a running track and planted 400 trees. He struggled to improve the notoriously bad pitch and some of his extra attractions, such as pony racing and Red Indian encampments, cannot have helped the condition of the outfield.
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