Oliver Marks

Oliver Marks CMG (10 September 1866 – 24 May 1940) was an English first-class cricketer and colonial administrator.

Oliver Marks

Personal information
Full name	Oliver Marks
Born	10 September 1866 Thornton Heath, Surrey, England
Died	24 May 1940(1940-05-24) (aged 73) Brompton, London, England
Batting	Unknown
Bowling	Unknown
Relations	Geoffrey Marks (brother)
Domestic team information
Years	Team
1901	Marylebone Cricket Club
Career statistics
Competition First-class Matches 1 Runs scored 1 Batting average 1.00 100s/50s –/– Top score 1 Balls bowled 54 Wickets 0 Bowling average – 5 wickets in innings – 10 wickets in match – Best bowling – Catches/stumpings –/–
Source: Cricinfo, 14 October 2021

Life

The son of John George Marks, and nephew of Henry Stacy Marks and Frederick Walker, he was born in September 1866 in Surrey, in Thornton Heath or Beddington. He was educated at Whitgift School.^[1][2]

After leaving Whitgift School, Marks went to British Ceylon, where he was a tea planter from 1887 to 1891. From there he went to British Malaya, where he was the superintendent of a Malayan government plantation in Perak. He joined the administrative service in 1894, holding several posts before briefly being appointed British Resident at Negeri Sembilan. He was an assistant magistrate until 1896, after which he was an Assistant Secretary to the government in Perak, a post he held until 1898. From 1898 to 1903, he was Assistant Secretary to the Resident General in the Federated Malay States, after which he served as both the Secretary to High Commissioners for Malaya and Private Secretary to the governor of the Straits Settlements.^[3] By 1914, he was Acting Resident of Perak, with his duties including laying the foundation stone of St. George's Institution, Taiping. By the 1920s, Marks was the British Resident in Selangor. He was made a Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George for his colonial service in the 1922 New Year Honours.^[4]

In later life Marks was secretary of the British Malaya Association,^[5] He died in England, at Brompton in May 1940. His brother, Geoffrey, was also a first-class cricketer.

Cricketer

A keen cricketer, Marks played minor matches for Ceylon in 1890 and 1891.^[6] On a visit to England in 1901, Marks made a single appearance in first-class cricket for the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) against London County at Crystal Palace.^[7] Batting once in the MCC's only innings, he was dismissed for a single run by W. G. Grace. In London County's only innings, he bowled nine wicketless overs.^[8]

Family

Marks married in 1905 Violet Catherine Murray, daughter of Colonel Alexander Murray (1850–1910), the Colonial Engineer and Surveyor of Malaya. They had a son, Geoffrey Noel Marks.^[2][9]

References

1. Who Was Who. Vol. 3. A & C Black. 1929. p. 902.
2. Wright, Arnold; Cartwright, H. A. (1908). Twentieth century impressions of British Malaya: its history, people, commerce, industries, and resources;. London, Durban, Colombo, Perth (W. A.), Singapore, Hongkong, and Shanghai, Lloyd's Greater Britain Publishing Company, limited. p. 124.
3. Kratoska, Paul H. (1893). Honourable Intentions. Oxford University Press. pp. 441–2, 454. ISBN 9780195825480.
4. "No. 32563". The London Gazette (Supplement). 30 December 1921. p. 10714.
5. Sir Hugh Clifford. The Scotsman. 1 December 1928. p. 10
6. "Miscellaneous Matches played by Oliver Marks". CricketArchive. Retrieved 14 October 2021.
7. "First-Class Matches played by Oliver Marks". CricketArchive. Retrieved 14 October 2021.
8. "London County v Marylebone Cricket Club, 1901". CricketArchive. Retrieved 14 October 2021.
9. Ng, Yew Peng (28 September 2017). What's In The Name? How The Streets And Villages In Singapore Got Their Names. World Scientific. p. 334. ISBN 978-981-322-147-5.

External links

• Oliver Marks at ESPNcricinfo