22 Facts About Benjamin Aislabie

Benjamin Aislabie was an English wine merchant, slave plantation owner and cricket administrator.

Benjamin Aislabie was the first Honorary Secretary of Marylebone Cricket Club and was influential in its early development.

Benjamin Aislabie played cricket between 1808 and 1841 as an amateur but was, statistically, one of the worst players on record.

Aislabie was descended from John Aislabie who had been Chancellor of the Exchequer during the South Sea Bubble.

Benjamin Aislabie was born at Newington Green in London in 1774, the youngest child of Rawson and Frances Benjamin Aislabie.

Benjamin Aislabie was educated at Sevenoaks School and possibly at Eton College.

Benjamin Aislabie joined the MCC in 1802 and played for the club between 1808 and 1841.

Benjamin Aislabie was President of MCC in 1823 and was the first Honorary Secretary of the club, a role he fulfilled between 1822 and his death.

Benjamin Aislabie is often considered to have been a poor administrator with the club "lurching from crisis to crisis" during his time as Secretary, although he attempted to reduce the detrimental impacts of gambling on the sport during his tenure and, according to an obituary in The Sporting Magazine, was "universally respected" by the club's members.

The painting and one other of Benjamin Aislabie, which were hanging in the Long Room at Lord's, were removed from display in June 2020 due to his ownership of slaves.

Benjamin Aislabie played 56 first-class matches, 20 of them for MCC.

Benjamin Aislabie's playing career was notable for him scoring only 224 runs at a meagre batting average of 3.15 runs per innings.

Benjamin Aislabie's performances were hampered by his girth, and towards the end of his career he was so obese that he had a permanent runner and by the time of his final appearance in 1841, aged 67 and weighing 20 stone, he needed a substitute fielder to field for him as well.

Aislabie was a successful wine merchant operating out of the Minories in London in partnership with William Meade and Benjamin Standring, becoming the senior partner in the firm in 1802.

Benjamin Aislabie inherited some of his father's estates on Dominica and continued to own plantations throughout his life, at Canefield and Morne Daniel on Dominica; he had an interest in one in Antigua.

Benjamin Aislabie was compensated for the loss of his slaves following passage of the Slavery Abolition Act 1833, which prohibited slavery throughout the British Empire in 1834.

Benjamin Aislabie leased Lee Place in Lee, in north-west Kent, from Charles Boone between 1809 and 1823 and lived in Sevenoaks and London, including at East Park Place near Regent's Park.

Benjamin Aislabie was an overseer for Lee Parish in 1814 and was instrumental in distributing charity, including food and fuel, to the poor of the parish during the harsh winter of 1814.

Benjamin Aislabie allowed the parish to store coal and potatoes to distribute during the 13-week frost and employed a number of labourers during the winter.

Benjamin Aislabie was resident in Lee at the time of the anti-slavery Lee Petition and it is likely he had an opportunity to sign it, but did not, probably because of his interests in the West Indies.

Benjamin Aislabie married Anne Hodgson in 1798; the couple had 12 children, six of whom, five daughters and a son, survived into adulthood.

Benjamin Aislabie died at his house at Regents Park of an abscess of the throat in 1842 aged 68 and was buried at St Marylebone Parish Church.