William Beldham

William ("Silver Billy") Beldham (5 February 1766, Wrecclesham, near Farnham, Surrey – 20 February 1862, Tilford, Surrey) was an English professional cricketer who is widely acknowledged as one of the greatest batsmen of the sport's underarm era. In 1997, he was selected by John Woodcock of The Times as one of his 100 Greatest Cricketers of All Time. In some sources, his name has been given as "Beldam" or "Beldum".

Beldham was born in the village of Wrecclesham, on the Hampshire/Surrey border just over a mile south-west of Farnham. His family had a farm at Wrecclesham.

His exact birthplace has not been precisely identified but was probably Yew Tree Cottage (built in the early 16th century) as in 1820 – the year before his retirement and move to Tilford – the house was surrendered by a William Beldham to a John Wells (the significance being that Beldham's brother-in-law was fellow cricketer "Honest" John Wells): additionally, there is a strong local tradition that this was his birthplace. He was the fourth of six children (and third son) of George Beldham (1728–1811) and Ann Benfil (or Bonfil) (1728–1793), and his ancestry in the area can be traced back at least seven generations to Allen Beldham (born mid-16th century). Nothing is known of his schooling but, as he was able to sign his name on his first marriage certificate as opposed to making a witnessed mark, it is likely he had a basic grounding.

Beldham's recorded career spanned the 1782 to 1821 seasons and is one of the longest on record by a top-class player. He is credited by CricketArchive with 189 first-class appearances from 1787 to 1821 but this is subject to the caveat that records of matches played prior to 1825 are incomplete.

The earliest mention of Billy Beldham seems to be in a reference to two players called Beldum (sic) who represented Farnham Cricket Club in its earliest known match at Odiham on Tuesday, 13 August 1782. The source provides a scorecard. Farnham, who won, included J. Wells (probably James Wells), G. Beldum (almost certainly Beldham's elder brother George) and Beldum (no initial), who scored 1 and 16. If the latter was Billy Beldham, as is possible, he would have been 16 at the time and so this was his first known match.