South Yorkshire Times, October 13th, 1933
Great Figure In Local Cricket
A Wombwell Pioneer
Seth Kilner, of Field House, Stairfoot, died on Saturday at the age of 68. He was head of a well-known family of cricketers, father of Norman Kilmer. the Warwickshire player, and of the late Roy Kilner, the Yorkshire and England cricketer. Mr. Kilner represented Wombwell cricket of the old school and his life was steeped in the game. He had been living in retirement for two years, and some time ago had to have a leg amputated. A native of Kirkheaton, Mr. Kilner was brought to Dodworth as a child, and while still in the ‘teens moved to Wombwell. He began to work at Mitchell Main and eventually rose to the position of under Manager in the Barnsley seam. He married a. daughter of the late Mr. William Washington a leading public man in Wombwell, who managed of Mitchell Main and Darfield Main for 30 years. Mr. and Mrs. Kilner went into the Halfway House Hotel, Wombwell, when it was built about thirty years ago, and held the licence until their retirement.
For half a century Mr. Kilner was identified with Wombwell and district cricket. Many great cricketers have visited the Halfway House Hotel and enjoyed the hospitality of “Seth” and his family. Roy often brought home his cricketing “pals” and many of them looked upon the place as their “second home.” Mr. Kilner was a quiet unassuming man. The closing years of his life were shadowed by physical suffering and by family bereavement. Mr. Kilner was one of the pioneers of local cricket. He once told a “South Yorkshire Times” reporter that they had their “knock out teams in the eighties and that they always provoked keen rivalry and good fun.
‘The present generation,’ he said, “has a good deal to be thankful for, for they play cricket under far better conditions than we ever dreamed of.” In 1882 he began to play for “Wombwell Rising Star.” He was then only 17. The field was in Station Lane. Wombwell, and the pitch was so bad that they had difficulty in arranging home matches. Nothing daunted by the failure of this club, Mr. Kilner and later enthusiasts started another in connection with Wombwell Reading Room, a hay chamber over a stable behind a pawnshop in High Street. Using a field on the canal bank behind Wombwell Gas Works, the club lasted only two years. The local cricketing “star” in Mr. Kilner’s early days was not the pampered darling we now know.
Mr. Kilner and his friend, Mr. W. H. Priestley, spent all their pocket money on cricket bags and a hat each. “Those,” he said, “were the first proper bags to come into Wombwell.” The next cricketing venture with which Mr. Kilner was identified was the “Wombwell Cricket Club.” Ground difficulties again proved insuperable, and this club also expired after a short but glorious history. It was in the year 1886 that Seth Kilner joined Mitchell Main. “We had been playing on the Mitchell Main pitch when the possibilities of establishing a good club there dawned upon me,” he said. “It was certainly the best ground in the district, sad Mr. Washington and other officials of Mitchell Main having promised their help, I joined Mitchell Main and persuaded ‘Jim’ Lisle (who died in 1907) and Tom France to go with me. At that time there was no dressing room at Mitchell Main, and it was unusual thing for the players to turn out in ordinary attire. They simply doffed their coats and were ‘ready.’ Frank Thompson reckoned one of the best bowlers and often used to bowl in clogs! Nevertheless, we turned out some good cricketers. Frank and George Heppinstall went to Altofts and figured as their principal bowlers for years.” Mitchell Main has had its ups and downs, but it has become the centre of a big tradition. Always it has stood high in the competitive game in South Yorkshire, and it is doubtful whether any club of the size has turned out so many first-class players.”
And throughout all those years Mr. Kilner has been a central figure in Mitchell Main cricket. His highest aggregate for Mitchell Main in one season was 209 in 15 innings (in 1896) ad his highest score was 53. In 1901 he had a better average, 125 scored in 10 innings. As a bowler his best season was 1895 when he took 44 wickets for 210 runs. The following season 1896) he took 48 wickets for 287. About the year 1909 he dropped out of the playing ranks. Notable players associated with him in that period were W. Beasley, S. Woodcock, J. Silverwood, W. H. Whittlestone, J. W. Robinson, A. Jagger, L. Marshall, J. T. Brown, R. Needham, J. Needham, W. H. Whitehead, Irving Washington, T. Lee, E. Russell, J. Senior. D. Thomas, Luther Holmes, T. Thorpe, W. Lees, A. H. Ackroyd, T. Elliott. W. Stothard, and A. Williams.
Roy Kilner’s career with Mitchell Main commenced in a match against Swinton on September 7th, 1905. In 1910 he scored 605 fans including 100 not out) in 22 innings, and the same year played his first game for Yorkshire. In 1914 he again played two games for Mitchell Main, scoring in one 102 not out. Mr. Kilner had seven sons (all of whom gained some renown in cricket), and three daughters. Bernard, who formerly played for Mitchell Main, fell in the war, and one of the daughters died about three years ago. The tragic death of Roy, which occurred at the height of his career on his return from a tour in India in 1929, was a blow from which Mr. Kilner never recovered. Norman has just completed a fine season with Warwickshire and Colin and Kenneth are still in local cricket. Gordon, another son, is manager at Darfield Main. The war was a great strain on the Kilner family, for four of the sons served abroad. County cricketers and former cricket associates Mr. Kilner attended the funeral at Wombwell on Tuesday. The service in Wombwell Parish Church was conducted by the Rev. A. N. Cook, who also officiated at the graveside. The coffin was carried into the church by eight cricket colleagues of Mr. Kilner. They were R. Robinson, E. Russell, F. S. Woodcock. D. Thomas, R. Wild, J. Senior and W. Stothard.
Evidence of the esteem in which Mr. Kilner had been held in the Wombwell district was shown by the crowds which formed outside the Parish Church and along the route to the cemetery. The mourners included Mrs. S. Kilner and Mr. Norman Kilner (son), Mr. and Mrs Gordon Kilner (son and daughter-in-law). Mr. Kenneth and Miss Dorothy Kilner (son and daughter). Mr. and Mrs. Colin Kilner (son and daughter-in-law). Mr. Donald Kilner and Miss Jessie Kilner (son and Dr. L. Taylor (son-in-law), Mrs. Roy Kilner, Miss. S. Owram, Mr. and Mrs. Clayton, Mr. and Mrs. Harris, Mr. and Mrs. Barrett, Mr. and Mrs. H. Kilner, Mr. and Mrs. W. Kilner, Mr. and Mrs. W. Belshaw, Miss Myers, Mr. and Mrs. Fletcher, Mr. and Mrs. Dallas, Mr. and Mrs. Washington, Mr. and Mrs. Hiles.
There was also present Mr. George Macauley (the Yorkshire County cricketer), Mr. A. Dolphin (the former Yorkshire player and now county umpire). Mrs. Waddington (wife of Mr. Abe Waddington the former Yorkshire County player), Mr. C. Utting (captain of Mitchell Main Cricket Club), Mr. and Mrs. J. G. Taylor, Mr. A. E. Menton, Mr. Tom Knowles, Mr. E. Washington (Bolton-on- Dearne), Mr and Mrs. W. Ashton (Wombwell), Mrs. E. Weston (Barnsley), Mrs. R. Lambert, Mrs. H. Wilde (Wombwell), Mr. and Mrs H. Copeland. In addition to wreaths from the family and friends were floral tributes from Mr. and Mrs. H. Bunnis, officials of Darfield Main Colliery, members of Wombwell Conservative Club, the staff of Mitchell Main Colliery, and members and officials of Mitchell Main Cricket Club.