Michael Spurway
Encyclopedia
Michael Vyvyan Spurway was a British
civil servant in the Colonial Service
and later a businessman. He also played county cricket
for Somerset
, and served as a pilot in the RAF in the Second World War.
in Somerset
, the youngest of six children. His father, Edward Spurway
, the local rector
, died on 8 February 1914, and three elder brothers were killed in the First World War. His mother was left in difficult circumstances, bringing up her two youngest children; Spurway's surviving brother Francis Spurway
was an adult by this time.
He was educated at St Edward's School
in Oxford
, and read history at Christ Church, Oxford
. He enjoyed sports, playing cricket for his college, and winning a half Blue playing hockey
for Oxford University. He also flew with the University Air Squadron
.
in July 1929, but yielded his place in the team to his brother, Francis
, who had played irregularly for Somerset between 1920 and 1929: both were substitutes for Somerset's regular wicketkeeper, Wally Luckes
, who was ill for much of the season. Michael Spurway played against Leicestershire
at Taunton, and against Sussex
and Derbyshire
at Bath. Free-hitting, he was known as "Slogger Spurway".
His father
and an uncle Robert
also played cricket for Somerset in the late 19th century, and a cousin, Robert played for Glamorgan
in 1943.
, where he played cricket for Nigeria against the Gold Coast and also played polo
.
He moved to Cyprus
in 1939, where he also played cricket.
, flying Tiger Moth
s.
He was transferred to the Middle East in 1942, shipped out on a freighter carrying disassembled Spitfires
. The aircraft were reassembled at Takoradi on the Gold Coast
(modern Ghana
), and Spurway volunteered to fly one to Egypt, spending a week flying over the Sahara Desert, Chad
and Sudan
.
He became the commander of the Middle East Photographic Interpretation Unit in Cairo
, and then moved to Italy to join the Advanced Headquarters of the Desert Air Force
, where he commanded the Photographic Intelligence Cell. He was involved in the resettlement of refugees in Austria. By the end of the War, he held the rank of Wing Commander
, and had been mentioned in dispatches
and received the OBE
.
He was captain of the Desert Air Force cricket team when it toured England in 1945.
, administering the Marshall Plan
. He was posted to Malaya
in 1952, and became head of the Malayan Borneo Defence Secretariat. He won a trophy playing tennis in Malaya. He was then posted to Singapore
staying in the Raffles Hotel
. He played cricket for Singapore against Malaya.
He retired from the civil service in 1953, and returned to England to became a partner in a management consultancy firm, Urwick Orr, where he advised companies in the steel and brewing industries.
He became an executive director at United Breweries in 1963, and took many other directorships in the drinks industry. He also served as deputy chairman and chief executive of the steel foundry and engineering group, Lake & Elliot.
in 1976. He enjoyed country sport
s. On one occasion, he shot 250 pheasant
s at one stand with one gun; another time, he caught a salmon weighing 32 lb. He had also hunted big game
in Africa, and enjoyed fast cars, driving an Aston Martin
.
In 1998, he visited Anuradhapura
in north Sri Lanka
.
He married twice. He first married Margaret Plowden-Wardlaw in 1937. After the death of his first wife, he remarried, to Jenna. He was survived by his son, and stepson.
Following the death of Frank Shipston on 6 July 2005, Spurway was thought to be the oldest surviving county cricketer, and, at the time of his death, the last person alive to have played county cricket in the 1920s.
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
civil servant in the Colonial Service
Colonial Service
The Colonial Service was the British government service which administered Britain's colonies and protectorates, under the authority of the Secretary of State for the Colonies and the Colonial Office in London....
and later a businessman. He also played county cricket
County cricket
County cricket is the highest level of domestic cricket in England and Wales. For the 2010 season, see 2010 English cricket season.-First-class counties:...
for Somerset
Somerset County Cricket Club
Somerset County Cricket Club is one of the 18 major county clubs which make up the English and Welsh domestic cricket structure, representing the historic county of Somerset...
, and served as a pilot in the RAF in the Second World War.
Early life
Spurway and his twin sister were born in Heathfield near TauntonTaunton
Taunton is the county town of Somerset, England. The town, including its suburbs, had an estimated population of 61,400 in 2001. It is the largest town in the shire county of Somerset....
in Somerset
Somerset
The ceremonial and non-metropolitan county of Somerset in South West England borders Bristol and Gloucestershire to the north, Wiltshire to the east, Dorset to the south-east, and Devon to the south-west. It is partly bounded to the north and west by the Bristol Channel and the estuary of the...
, the youngest of six children. His father, Edward Spurway
Edward Spurway
Edward Popham Spurway was an English cricketer. He was a right-handed batsman and wicket-keeper who made two first-class appearances for Somerset County Cricket Club in the late 19th century, and served as the Rector of Heathfield from 1896 until 1914.-Early and personal life:Edward Popham, the...
, the local rector
Rector
The word rector has a number of different meanings; it is widely used to refer to an academic, religious or political administrator...
, died on 8 February 1914, and three elder brothers were killed in the First World War. His mother was left in difficult circumstances, bringing up her two youngest children; Spurway's surviving brother Francis Spurway
Francis Spurway
Francis Edward Spurway was an English cricketer who played 23 first-class matches for Somerset County Cricket Club between 1920 and 1929.-Early life and military career:...
was an adult by this time.
He was educated at St Edward's School
St Edward's School (Oxford)
St. Edward's School is a co-educational independent boarding school located in Oxford, England. The school is located on the Woodstock Road in the north of the city close to the suburb of Summertown. In 2007 it was voted by the Country Life Magazine as number one in the top ten schools in the UK...
in Oxford
Oxford
The city of Oxford is the county town of Oxfordshire, England. The city, made prominent by its medieval university, has a population of just under 165,000, with 153,900 living within the district boundary. It lies about 50 miles north-west of London. The rivers Cherwell and Thames run through...
, and read history at Christ Church, Oxford
Christ Church, Oxford
Christ Church or house of Christ, and thus sometimes known as The House), is one of the largest constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England...
. He enjoyed sports, playing cricket for his college, and winning a half Blue playing hockey
Field hockey
Field Hockey, or Hockey, is a team sport in which a team of players attempts to score goals by hitting, pushing or flicking a ball into an opposing team's goal using sticks...
for Oxford University. He also flew with the University Air Squadron
University Air Squadron
University Air Squadrons are training units of the Royal Air Force which primarily provide basic flying training, force development and adventurous training to undergraduate students at British universities...
.
First-class cricket
Spurway played cricket for the Somerset Stragglers while at university. He won a place in the Somerset county team as a wicketkeeper-batsman in three games of first-class cricketFirst-class cricket
First-class cricket is a class of cricket that consists of matches of three or more days' scheduled duration, that are between two sides of eleven players and are officially adjudged first-class by virtue of the standard of the competing teams...
in July 1929, but yielded his place in the team to his brother, Francis
Francis Spurway
Francis Edward Spurway was an English cricketer who played 23 first-class matches for Somerset County Cricket Club between 1920 and 1929.-Early life and military career:...
, who had played irregularly for Somerset between 1920 and 1929: both were substitutes for Somerset's regular wicketkeeper, Wally Luckes
Wally Luckes
Walter Thomas "Wally" Luckes, born in Lambeth, London on 1 January 1901 and died at Bridgwater, Somerset on 27 October 1982, was a cricketer who played for Somerset....
, who was ill for much of the season. Michael Spurway played against Leicestershire
Leicestershire County Cricket Club
Leicestershire County Cricket Club is one of the 18 major county clubs which make up the English and Welsh national cricket structure, representing the historic county of Leicestershire. It has also been representative of the county of Rutland....
at Taunton, and against Sussex
Sussex County Cricket Club
Sussex County Cricket Club is the oldest of the 18 major county clubs which make up the English and Welsh domestic cricket structure, representing the historic county of Sussex. The club was founded as a successor to Brighton Cricket Club which was a representative of the county of Sussex as a...
and Derbyshire
Derbyshire County Cricket Club
Derbyshire County Cricket Club is one of the 18 major county clubs which make up the England and Wales domestic cricket structure, representing the historic county of Derbyshire...
at Bath. Free-hitting, he was known as "Slogger Spurway".
His father
Edward Spurway
Edward Popham Spurway was an English cricketer. He was a right-handed batsman and wicket-keeper who made two first-class appearances for Somerset County Cricket Club in the late 19th century, and served as the Rector of Heathfield from 1896 until 1914.-Early and personal life:Edward Popham, the...
and an uncle Robert
Robert Spurway
Robert Popham Spurway was an English cricketer who made 20 first-class appearances for Natal and Somerset County Cricket Club. He was a right-handed batsman and a right-arm off break bowler...
also played cricket for Somerset in the late 19th century, and a cousin, Robert played for Glamorgan
Glamorgan County Cricket Club
Glamorgan County Cricket Club is one of the 18 major county clubs which make up the English and Welsh national cricket structure, representing the historic county of Glamorgan aka Glamorganshire . Glamorgan CCC is the only Welsh first-class cricket club. Glamorgan CCC have won the English County...
in 1943.
Pre-war career
Spurway joined the Colonial Service after graduating in 1931. He served in NigeriaNigeria
Nigeria , officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a federal constitutional republic comprising 36 states and its Federal Capital Territory, Abuja. The country is located in West Africa and shares land borders with the Republic of Benin in the west, Chad and Cameroon in the east, and Niger in...
, where he played cricket for Nigeria against the Gold Coast and also played polo
Polo
Polo is a team sport played on horseback in which the objective is to score goals against an opposing team. Sometimes called, "The Sport of Kings", it was highly popularized by the British. Players score by driving a small white plastic or wooden ball into the opposing team's goal using a...
.
He moved to Cyprus
Cyprus
Cyprus , officially the Republic of Cyprus , is a Eurasian island country, member of the European Union, in the Eastern Mediterranean, east of Greece, south of Turkey, west of Syria and north of Egypt. It is the third largest island in the Mediterranean Sea.The earliest known human activity on the...
in 1939, where he also played cricket.
RAF service
He left the Colonial Service in November 1940, and joined the RAF as a pilot. Aged 31, he was put on training duties, and became a flying instructor at FairoaksFairoaks Airport
Fairoaks Airport is a private airfield on the edge of the village of Chobham, north of Woking, Surrey. The airport is operated by Fairoaks Airport Ltd, owned by Albermarle Fairoaks Airport Ltd....
, flying Tiger Moth
Tiger moth
Tiger moths are moths of the family Arctiidae.Tiger moth may also refer to:*de Havilland Tiger Moth, an aircraft; an aerobatic and trainer tailwheel biplane*de Havilland DH.71 Tiger Moth, an earlier monoplane produced by de Havilland...
s.
He was transferred to the Middle East in 1942, shipped out on a freighter carrying disassembled Spitfires
Supermarine Spitfire
The Supermarine Spitfire is a British single-seat fighter aircraft that was used by the Royal Air Force and many other Allied countries throughout the Second World War. The Spitfire continued to be used as a front line fighter and in secondary roles into the 1950s...
. The aircraft were reassembled at Takoradi on the Gold Coast
Gold Coast (region)
The Gold Coast was the region of West Africa which is now the nation of Ghana. Early uses of the term refer literally to the coast and not the interior. It was not until the 19th century that the term came to refer to areas that are far from the coast...
(modern Ghana
Ghana
Ghana , officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country located in West Africa. It is bordered by Côte d'Ivoire to the west, Burkina Faso to the north, Togo to the east, and the Gulf of Guinea to the south...
), and Spurway volunteered to fly one to Egypt, spending a week flying over the Sahara Desert, Chad
Chad
Chad , officially known as the Republic of Chad, is a landlocked country in Central Africa. It is bordered by Libya to the north, Sudan to the east, the Central African Republic to the south, Cameroon and Nigeria to the southwest, and Niger to the west...
and Sudan
Sudan
Sudan , officially the Republic of the Sudan , is a country in North Africa, sometimes considered part of the Middle East politically. It is bordered by Egypt to the north, the Red Sea to the northeast, Eritrea and Ethiopia to the east, South Sudan to the south, the Central African Republic to the...
.
He became the commander of the Middle East Photographic Interpretation Unit in Cairo
Cairo
Cairo , is the capital of Egypt and the largest city in the Arab world and Africa, and the 16th largest metropolitan area in the world. Nicknamed "The City of a Thousand Minarets" for its preponderance of Islamic architecture, Cairo has long been a centre of the region's political and cultural life...
, and then moved to Italy to join the Advanced Headquarters of the Desert Air Force
Desert Air Force
The Desert Air Force , also known chronologically as Air Headquarters Western Desert, Air Headquarters Libya, AHQ Western Desert, the Western Desert Air Force, Desert Air Force, and the First Tactical Air Force , was an Allied tactical air force initially created from No...
, where he commanded the Photographic Intelligence Cell. He was involved in the resettlement of refugees in Austria. By the end of the War, he held the rank of Wing Commander
Wing Commander (rank)
Wing commander is a commissioned rank in the Royal Air Force and the air forces of many other Commonwealth countries...
, and had been mentioned in dispatches
Mentioned in Dispatches
A soldier Mentioned in Despatches is one whose name appears in an official report written by a superior officer and sent to the high command, in which is described the soldier's gallant or meritorious action in the face of the enemy.In a number of countries, a soldier's name must be mentioned in...
and received the OBE
Order of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...
.
He was captain of the Desert Air Force cricket team when it toured England in 1945.
Post-war career
He returned to Cyprus after leaving the RAF, returning to the civil service and becoming chairman of the Nicosia Race Club. He returned to London in 1950, serving in the Colonial OfficeColonial Office
Colonial Office is the government agency which serves to oversee and supervise their colony* Colonial Office - The British Government department* Office of Insular Affairs - the American government agency* Reichskolonialamt - the German Colonial Office...
, administering the Marshall Plan
Marshall Plan
The Marshall Plan was the large-scale American program to aid Europe where the United States gave monetary support to help rebuild European economies after the end of World War II in order to combat the spread of Soviet communism. The plan was in operation for four years beginning in April 1948...
. He was posted to Malaya
Federation of Malaya
The Federation of Malaya is the name given to a federation of 11 states that existed from 31 January 1948 until 16 September 1963. The Federation became independent on 31 August 1957...
in 1952, and became head of the Malayan Borneo Defence Secretariat. He won a trophy playing tennis in Malaya. He was then posted to Singapore
Singapore
Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...
staying in the Raffles Hotel
Raffles Hotel
Raffles Hotel is a colonial-style hotel in Singapore, and one of the world's most famous hotels. The hotel was established by the famous Armenian Sarkies Brothers. Opened in 1887, it was named after Singapore's founder Sir Stamford Raffles. Managed by Fairmont Raffles Hotels International, it is...
. He played cricket for Singapore against Malaya.
He retired from the civil service in 1953, and returned to England to became a partner in a management consultancy firm, Urwick Orr, where he advised companies in the steel and brewing industries.
He became an executive director at United Breweries in 1963, and took many other directorships in the drinks industry. He also served as deputy chairman and chief executive of the steel foundry and engineering group, Lake & Elliot.
Later life
He retired to the West CountryWest Country
The West Country is an informal term for the area of south western England roughly corresponding to the modern South West England government region. It is often defined to encompass the historic counties of Cornwall, Devon, Dorset and Somerset and the City of Bristol, while the counties of...
in 1976. He enjoyed country sport
Country sport
A country sport or field sport is one of the traditional rural or blood sports of hunting with various types of hound , shooting , and fishing or angling...
s. On one occasion, he shot 250 pheasant
Pheasant
Pheasants refer to some members of the Phasianinae subfamily of Phasianidae in the order Galliformes.Pheasants are characterised by strong sexual dimorphism, males being highly ornate with bright colours and adornments such as wattles and long tails. Males are usually larger than females and have...
s at one stand with one gun; another time, he caught a salmon weighing 32 lb. He had also hunted big game
Big game hunting
Big game hunting is the hunting of large game. The term is historically associated with the hunting of Africa's Big Five game , and with tigers and rhinos on the Indian subcontinent. In North America, animals such as bears and bison were hunted...
in Africa, and enjoyed fast cars, driving an Aston Martin
Aston Martin
Aston Martin Lagonda Limited is a British manufacturer of luxury sports cars, based in Gaydon, Warwickshire. The company name is derived from the name of one of the company's founders, Lionel Martin, and from the Aston Hill speed hillclimb near Aston Clinton in Buckinghamshire...
.
In 1998, he visited Anuradhapura
Anuradhapura
Anuradhapura, , is one of the ancient capitals of Sri Lanka, famous for its well-preserved ruins of ancient Lankan civilization.The city, now a UNESCO World Heritage Site, lies 205 km north of the current capital Colombo in Sri Lanka's North Central Province, on the banks of the historic...
in north Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka is a country off the southern coast of the Indian subcontinent. Known until 1972 as Ceylon , Sri Lanka is an island surrounded by the Indian Ocean, the Gulf of Mannar and the Palk Strait, and lies in the vicinity of India and the...
.
He married twice. He first married Margaret Plowden-Wardlaw in 1937. After the death of his first wife, he remarried, to Jenna. He was survived by his son, and stepson.
Following the death of Frank Shipston on 6 July 2005, Spurway was thought to be the oldest surviving county cricketer, and, at the time of his death, the last person alive to have played county cricket in the 1920s.