Harvey Staunton was born on 21 November 1870 at Staunton Hall, Nottinghamshire and was educated at Bromsgrove School and Cambridge University. He followed his father into the church and became a Curate in 1897, serving the parishes of Boxford in Berkshire, and Pleasley Hill and Plumtree in Nottinghamshire. He was also Chaplain to Nottinghamshire County Asylum and Rector at Broughton Sulney, Notts between 1907 and 1911.
A talented sportsman who had gained a ‘blue’ in rugby union at Cambridge and played four times for Notts RFC, Harvey was a right-handed batsman who played 16 First-Class matches for Notts between May 1903 and July 1905. Most of these matches were in the County Championship, although he was also in the Notts team that was beaten by the Gentlemen of Philadelphia in June 1903. He also made 21 appearances for Notts 2nd XI in the Minor Counties Championship between June 1909 and August 1910, captaining the side. The following year he moved to India as a missionary, becoming the Chaplain at Nagpur.
In his 16 First-Class matches, he managed just 456 runs, top score 78, at an average of 19.00; he bowled only two wicketless overs.
During the war he served in Mesopotamia as a Chaplain 4th Class in the Army Chaplains’ Department. He died, aged 42, of a fever in Arzizieh on 14 January 1918 and is commemorated in a grave at North Gate War Cemetery, Baghdad.
November 2020
Nottinghamshire First-Class Number: 279