John Trask (cricketer) - Revision history

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	John Ernest Trask was born on 27 October 1861 in [[Brympton]], Somerset, the son of James Trask, a prominent local gentleman.<ref name="wsfp-obit">{{cite news \|url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0001432/18960801/175/0008 \|title=The Late Surgeon Captain Trask \|work=West Somerset Free Press \|page=8 \|date=1 August 1896 \|via=[[British Newspaper Archive]] \|url-access=subscription}}</ref> After being educated at Somerset College in [[Bath, Somerset\|Bath]],<ref>{{cite news \|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/22824146/john_trasks_death_reported_in_the_pall/ \|title=The sad intelligence of the death from cholera in the Soudan of Surgeon-Captain John Trask \|work=[[The Pall Mall Gazette]] \|location=London \|page=8 \|date=28 July 1896 \|via=[[Newspapers.com]]}} {{open access}}</ref> Trask attended the [[Bristol Medical School]], and joined the [[Royal United Hospital]] in Bath as the house surgeon.<ref name="wsfp-obit"/> He entered the Army Medical Department in 1887,<ref name=BMJ /> and following a short probationary period he was commissioned on 27 July 1887.<ref>{{London Gazette\|issue=25734\|page=4697\|date=30 August 1887}}</ref> After two years at [[Aldershot]], he was posted to [[India]] for almost five years. He spent a couple of months back in England during 1895,<ref name=BMJ /> before being seconded to the [[Egyptian Army]] on 23 August 1895.<ref>{{London Gazette\|issue=26658\|page=4971\|date=3 September 1895}}</ref> Seeing service in the [[Mahdist War\|Sudan Campaign]], he was praised for his coolness and bravery during the [[Battle of Ferkeh]].<ref name="mp"/>		John Ernest Trask was born on 27 October 1861 in [[Brympton]], Somerset, the son of James Trask, a prominent local gentleman.<ref name="wsfp-obit">{{cite news \|url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0001432/18960801/175/0008 \|title=The Late Surgeon Captain Trask \|work=West Somerset Free Press \|page=8 \|date=1 August 1896 \|via=[[British Newspaper Archive]] \|url-access=subscription}}</ref> After being educated at Somerset College in [[Bath, Somerset\|Bath]],<ref>{{cite news \|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/22824146/john_trasks_death_reported_in_the_pall/ \|title=The sad intelligence of the death from cholera in the Soudan of Surgeon-Captain John Trask \|work=[[The Pall Mall Gazette]] \|location=London \|page=8 \|date=28 July 1896 \|via=[[Newspapers.com]]}} {{open access}}</ref> Trask attended the [[Bristol Medical School]], and joined the [[Royal United Hospital]] in Bath as the house surgeon.<ref name="wsfp-obit"/> He entered the Army Medical Department in 1887,<ref name=BMJ /> and following a short probationary period he was commissioned on 27 July 1887.<ref>{{London Gazette\|issue=25734\|page=4697\|date=30 August 1887}}</ref> After two years at [[Aldershot]], he was posted to [[India]] for almost five years. He spent a couple of months back in England during 1895,<ref name=BMJ /> before being seconded to the [[Egyptian Army]] on 23 August 1895.<ref>{{London Gazette\|issue=26658\|page=4971\|date=3 September 1895}}</ref> Seeing service in the [[Mahdist War\|Sudan Campaign]], he was praised for his coolness and bravery during the [[Battle of Ferkeh]].<ref name="mp"/>

	During this posting, Trask died of [[cholera]] during the Dongola Expedition on 25 July 1896.<ref name=BMJ>{{cite journal \|date=1 August 1896 \|title=Obituary: John Ernest Trask \|journal=[[British Medical Journal]] \|volume=2 \|issue=1857 \|page=305 \|pmc=2510162 \|doi=10.1136/bmj.2.1857.305-a}}</ref> He had contracted cholera at [[Korosko]] while tending to others suffering from the disease, and after fighting the illness for a few weeks, he died on the same day as he arrived in Kosheh.<ref>{{cite news \|url=https://www.~~britishnewspaperarchive~~.~~co.uk~~/~~viewer~~/bl/~~0001578/18960808/014~~/~~0006~~ \|title=~~Personal~~ \|work=[[~~Illustrated London News~~]] \|location=London \|page=6 \|date=~~8 August~~ 1896 \|via=[[~~British Newspaper Archive~~]] ~~\|url-~~access~~=subscription~~}}</ref><ref ~~name="mp"~~>{{cite news \|url=https://www.~~newspapers~~.~~com~~/~~clip~~/~~22824212~~/~~the_morning_post~~/ \|title=~~The Nile Expedition: Death of two British Officers~~ \|work=[[~~The Morning Post~~]] \|location=London \|page=5 \|date=~~27 July~~ 1896 \|via=[[~~Newspapers.com~~]]~~}} {{open~~ access}}</ref> He was [[mentioned in dispatches]] by [[Herbert Kitchener, 1st Earl Kitchener\|Sir Herbert Kitchener]] (later Earl Kitchener), Commander-in-Chief of the Egyptian Army, in a dispatch dated 30 September 1896. As one of the seven British medical officers in the Egyptian Army, Trask was praised for his part in helping to manage the cholera outbreak.<ref>{{London Gazette\|issue=26791\|pages=6001–6006\|date=3 September 1895}}</ref> In an official notice relating to his [[estate (law)\|estate]] published in the ''[[London Gazette]]'', his address is given as 40 St James Square, [[Holland Park]].<ref>{{London Gazette\|issue=26836\|page=1776\|date=26 March 1897}}</ref>		During this posting, Trask died of [[cholera]] during the Dongola Expedition on 25 July 1896.<ref name=BMJ>{{cite journal \|date=1 August 1896 \|title=Obituary: John Ernest Trask \|journal=[[British Medical Journal]] \|volume=2 \|issue=1857 \|page=305 \|pmc=2510162 \|doi=10.1136/bmj.2.1857.305-a}}</ref> He had contracted cholera at [[Korosko]] while tending to others suffering from the disease, and after fighting the illness for a few weeks, he died on the same day as he arrived in Kosheh.<ref name="mp">{{cite news \|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/22824212/the_morning_post/ \|title=The Nile Expedition: Death of two British Officers \|work=[[The Morning Post]] \|location=London \|page=5 \|date=27 July 1896 \|via=[[Newspapers.com]]}} {{open access}}</ref><ref>{{cite news \|url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0001578/18960808/014/0006 \|title=Personal \|work=[[Illustrated London News]] \|location=London \|page=6 \|date=8 August 1896 \|via=[[British Newspaper Archive]] \|url-access=subscription}}</ref> He was [[mentioned in dispatches]] by [[Herbert Kitchener, 1st Earl Kitchener\|Sir Herbert Kitchener]] (later Earl Kitchener), Commander-in-Chief of the Egyptian Army, in a dispatch dated 30 September 1896. As one of the seven British medical officers in the Egyptian Army, Trask was praised for his part in helping to manage the cholera outbreak.<ref>{{London Gazette\|issue=26791\|pages=6001–6006\|date=3 September 1895}}</ref> In an official notice relating to his [[estate (law)\|estate]] published in the ''[[London Gazette]]'', his address is given as 40 St James Square, [[Holland Park]].<ref>{{London Gazette\|issue=26836\|page=1776\|date=26 March 1897}}</ref>

	==Cricket career==		==Cricket career==

SondraCleland5: put up new bio

2026-08-15T17:35:03Z

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{{Short description|English cricketer}}
{{good article}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2022}}
{{Infobox cricketer
| name = John Trask
| image = Trask, JE.jpg
| country = England
| full_name = John Ernest Trask
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1861|10|27|df=yes}}
| birth_place = [[Brympton]], Somerset, England
| death_date = {{Death date and age|1896|07|25|1861|10|27|df=yes}}
| death_place = [[Kosheh, Sudan|Kosheh]], Sudan
| height = 5 ft 10 in
| batting = Right-handed
| bowling = Right-arm [[Medium pace bowling|medium]]
| role = Batsman
| family = [[William Trask]] (cousin)
| club1 = [[Somerset County Cricket Club|Somerset]]
| year1 = {{nobr|1884–1895}}
| club2 = [[Europeans cricket team|Europeans]]
| year2 = 1892–1895
| club3 = [[Mumbai cricket team|Bombay]]
| year3 = 1892–93
| type1 = First-class
| debutdate1 = 18 August
| debutyear1 = 1884
| debutfor1 = [[Somerset County Cricket Club|Somerset]]
| debutagainst1 = [[Hampshire County Cricket Club|Hampshire]]
| lastdate1 = 29 July
| lastyear1 = 1895
| lastfor1 = [[Somerset County Cricket Club|Somerset]]
| lastagainst1 = [[Kent County Cricket Club|Kent]]
| columns = 1
| column1 = [[First-class cricket|First-class]]
| matches1 = 16
| runs1 = 515
| bat avg1 = 19.07
| 100s/50s1 = 0/3
| top score1 = 78
| hidedeliveries = true
| catches/stumpings1 = 9/–
| date = 6 January
| year = 2010
| source = https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Players/3/3857/3857.html CricketArchive
}}
[[Captain (British Army and Royal Marines)|Surgeon-Captain]] '''John Ernest Trask''' (27 October 1861 – 25 July 1896) was an English Army doctor and amateur [[cricket]]er. He served in the [[Royal Army Medical Corps|Army Medical Services]] from 1887 until his death from [[cholera]] in [[Sudan]] during 1896. He was posthumously [[mentioned in dispatches]], in which he was praised for his role in managing the cholera outbreak. He is thought to have been referred to in Sir [[Arthur Conan Doyle]]'s 1918 work ''The New Revelation'', as a spirit Doyle converses with.

As a cricketer, Trask made 16 [[First-class cricket|first-class]] appearances. A batsman, he played nine times for [[Somerset County Cricket Club|Somerset]] between 1884 and 1895, and also played during his time in India. He was best known in Somerset as a prominent club cricketer for the [[Lansdown Cricket Club]] in [[Bath, Somerset]].

==Early life and Army career==
John Ernest Trask was born on 27 October 1861 in [[Brympton]], Somerset, the son of James Trask, a prominent local gentleman.<ref name="wsfp-obit">{{cite news |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0001432/18960801/175/0008 |title=The Late Surgeon Captain Trask |work=West Somerset Free Press |page=8 |date=1 August 1896 |via=[[British Newspaper Archive]] |url-access=subscription}}</ref> After being educated at Somerset College in [[Bath, Somerset|Bath]],<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/22824146/john_trasks_death_reported_in_the_pall/ |title=The sad intelligence of the death from cholera in the Soudan of Surgeon-Captain John Trask |work=[[The Pall Mall Gazette]] |location=London |page=8 |date=28 July 1896 |via=[[Newspapers.com]]}} {{open access}}</ref> Trask attended the [[Bristol Medical School]], and joined the [[Royal United Hospital]] in Bath as the house surgeon.<ref name="wsfp-obit"/> He entered the Army Medical Department in 1887,<ref name=BMJ /> and following a short probationary period he was commissioned on 27 July 1887.<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=25734|page=4697|date=30 August 1887}}</ref> After two years at [[Aldershot]], he was posted to [[India]] for almost five years. He spent a couple of months back in England during 1895,<ref name=BMJ /> before being seconded to the [[Egyptian Army]] on 23 August 1895.<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=26658|page=4971|date=3 September 1895}}</ref> Seeing service in the [[Mahdist War|Sudan Campaign]], he was praised for his coolness and bravery during the [[Battle of Ferkeh]].<ref name="mp"/>

During this posting, Trask died of [[cholera]] during the Dongola Expedition on 25 July 1896.<ref name=BMJ>{{cite journal |date=1 August 1896 |title=Obituary: John Ernest Trask |journal=[[British Medical Journal]] |volume=2 |issue=1857 |page=305 |pmc=2510162 |doi=10.1136/bmj.2.1857.305-a}}</ref> He had contracted cholera at [[Korosko]] while tending to others suffering from the disease, and after fighting the illness for a few weeks, he died on the same day as he arrived in Kosheh.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0001578/18960808/014/0006 |title=Personal |work=[[Illustrated London News]] |location=London |page=6 |date=8 August 1896 |via=[[British Newspaper Archive]] |url-access=subscription}}</ref><ref name="mp">{{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/22824212/the_morning_post/ |title=The Nile Expedition: Death of two British Officers |work=[[The Morning Post]] |location=London |page=5 |date=27 July 1896 |via=[[Newspapers.com]]}} {{open access}}</ref> He was [[mentioned in dispatches]] by [[Herbert Kitchener, 1st Earl Kitchener|Sir Herbert Kitchener]] (later Earl Kitchener), Commander-in-Chief of the Egyptian Army, in a dispatch dated 30 September 1896. As one of the seven British medical officers in the Egyptian Army, Trask was praised for his part in helping to manage the cholera outbreak.<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=26791|pages=6001–6006|date=3 September 1895}}</ref> In an official notice relating to his [[estate (law)|estate]] published in the ''[[London Gazette]]'', his address is given as 40 St James Square, [[Holland Park]].<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=26836|page=1776|date=26 March 1897}}</ref>

==Cricket career==
According to his obituary in the ''West Somerset Free Press'', Trask was best known in Somerset for his cricketing ability, rather than his medical career.<ref name="wsfp-obit"/> He played for [[Lansdown Cricket Club]] during his youth alongside his brother, Charles,{{sfn|Hill|2016|pp=84–85}} and his cousin, [[William Trask]]. In 1882 William played in [[Somerset County Cricket Club]]'s inaugural [[first-class cricket]] match, and he was a regular in the side throughout the 1880s.{{sfn|Hill|2016|pp=31–32}} John Trask joined his cousin in the county side during 1884, making his debut against [[Hampshire County Cricket Club|Hampshire]]. During the match, a large victory for Somerset, Trask batted once and scored 30 runs.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Scorecards/2/2887.html |title=Somerset v Hampshire: County Match 1884 |work=CricketArchive |access-date=22 September 2018 |url-access=subscription }}</ref> He played twice more for the county the following summer with less success. Poor results in 1885 saw Somerset lose their first-class status for the following seasons.{{sfn|Foot|1986|pp=23–28}} Trask did turn out for the county during an 1886 match against [[Warwickshire County Cricket Club|Warwickshire]], but did not then appear for Somerset again until 1890.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Players/3/3857/Miscellaneous_Matches.html |title=Miscellaneous matches played by John Trask (13) |work=CricketArchive |access-date=22 September 2018 |url-access=subscription }}</ref> During his two-year posting in Aldershot from 1887, Trask was made captain of the Aldershot Division cricket team. He was a prolific batsman in club cricket, scoring 185 for Lansdown against Corsham in 1884, and 165 for Netley against Sarisbury Green during his training in 1887.{{sfn|Ashley-Cooper|Haygarth|2004|pp=382–383}}

During 1890, he was available for Somerset again. They had not been admitted back into first-class cricket, and their matches were against a variety of first- and second-class teams. Trask played in six of the thirteen matches, and scored 132 runs at an average of 14.66.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://cricketarchive.com/cgi-bin/player_oracle_reveals_results2.cgi?playernumber=3857&opponentmatch=exact&playername=R&resulttype=All&matchtype=&teammatch=exact&startwicket=&homeawaytype=All&opponent=&endwicket=&wicketkeeper=&searchtype=InningsList&endscore=&playermatch=contains&branding=cricketarchive&captain=&endseason=1890&startscore=&team=Somerset&startseason=1890 |title=Player Oracle Reveals Results: JE Trask where team is Somerset in 1890 |work=CricketArchive |access-date=24 September 2018 |url-access=subscription }}</ref> His highest score that year was 63 runs, which he made against [[Staffordshire County Cricket Club|Staffordshire]] during an innings victory for Somerset.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Scorecards/128/128436.html |title=Staffordshire v Somerset: Other matches in England 1890 |work=CricketArchive |access-date=24 September 2018 |url-access=subscription }}</ref> In all, Somerset won twelve of their thirteen fixtures, and [[Tie (cricket)|tied]] the remaining one. They were the best non-first-class county, winning the so-called 'Second-class County Championship'. In doing so, the county side earned readmission into first-class cricket for the following 1891 season.{{sfn|Foot|1986|pp=27–28}}

Trask then travelled to India with the Army, where he remained for four and a half years. During his time in the country he was involved in establishing the presidency matches,<ref name="wsfp-obit"/> in which he made six first-class appearances for the [[Europeans cricket team]], and also played for [[Mumbai cricket team|Bombay]]. It was during this time that he reached his highest score in first-class cricket, making 78 [[Batting order (cricket)|opening]] against [[Parsees cricket team|Parsees]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Scorecards/4/4055.html |title=Europeans v Parsees |work=CricketArchive |access-date=22 September 2018 |url-access=subscription }}</ref> He played six more matches for Somerset on his return home in 1895, but left again after a couple of months to assume his Army posting in Egypt.<ref name="wsfp-obit"/><ref>{{cite web| url = https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Players/3/3857/3857.html | title = John Trask |work=CricketArchive |access-date=22 September 2018 |url-access=subscription }}</ref>

==Arthur Conan Doyle's ''The New Revelation''==
{{Quote box
| quote =In answer to my questions it claimed to be the spirit of one whom I will call Dodd, who was a famous cricketer, and with whom I had some serious conversation in Cairo before he went up the Nile, where he met his death in the Dongolese Expedition. We have now, I may remark, come to the year 1896 in my experiences.<ref name="tnr">{{cite book |title=The New Revelation |last=Conan Doyle |first=Arthur |authorlink=Arthur Conan Doyle |year=2007 |publisher=Cosimo |orig-year= 1918 |location=New York |isbn=978-1-60206-365-5 |page=19 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ui6_eW4zYdEC}}</ref>
| source = – Arthur Conan Doyle – ''The New Revelation''
| width =30%
| align =left
}}
Trask was thought to have been referred to in Sir [[Arthur Conan Doyle]]'s 1918 work ''The New Revelation''. Doyle gives his own views and thoughts on the relationship between spiritual revelations and conventional religious dogma. Within ''The New Revelation'', he makes reference to a conversation held with a spirit he chooses to call (for the purposes of the book) Dodd. [[Andrew Lycett]], author of ''The Man Who Created Sherlock Holmes; The Life and Times of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle'', claims that this spirit is in fact that of John Trask.<ref>{{cite book |title=The Man Who Created Sherlock Holmes; The Life and Times of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle |last=Lycett |first=Andrew|authorlink=Andrew Lycett |year=2007 |publisher=Weidenfeld & Nicolson |location=London |isbn=978-1-4165-4580-4 |page=480}}</ref> Dodd is described as a famous cricketer that Doyle spoke to in Cairo, who had since died as part of the Dongolese Expedition. He then remarks that the event occurred in 1896.<ref name="tnr"/> These statements all support the assertion that the spirit is Trask, as his posting to the Egyptian Army would likely have seen him in Cairo, while his death is well documented as occurring during the Dongolese Expedition of 1896. His cricketing exploits in England and India may well have also been known to Doyle, who himself played ten first-class matches for the [[Marylebone Cricket Club]] (MCC).<ref>{{cite web|url=https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Players/11/11019/11019.html |title=Player Profile: Arthur Conan Doyle |publisher=CricketArchive |access-date=2010-01-06}}</ref>

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Bibliography==
* {{cite book |last1=Ashley-Cooper |first1=F. S. |authorlink1=F. S. Ashley-Cooper |last2=Haygarth |first2=Arthur |authorlink2=Arthur Haygarth |title=M. C. C. Cricket Scores and Biographies |volume=XV |year=2004 |orig-year=1925 |publisher=Roger Heavens |location=Little Eversden, Cambridgeshire |isbn=1-900592-44-4}}
* {{cite book | title = Sunshine, Sixes and Cider: The History of Somerset Cricket | last=Foot | first=David | year = 1986 | publisher=[[David & Charles]] |location=[[Newton Abbot]], [[Devon]] | isbn = 0-7153-8890-8}}
* {{cite book | title = Somerset Cricketers 1882 – 1914 |last=Hill |first=Stephen |year=2016 |publisher=Halsgrove |location=Wellington, Somerset |isbn=978-0-85704-291-0}}

==External links==
*{{cricketarchive|ref=Archive/Players/3/3857/3857.html}}
*{{cricinfo|ref=ci/content/player/21573.html}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Trask, John}}
[[Category:1861 births]]
[[Category:1896 deaths]]
[[Category:Deaths from cholera]]
[[Category:English cricketers]]
[[Category:Somerset cricketers]]
[[Category:Cricketers from Yeovil]]
[[Category:Royal Army Medical Corps officers]]
[[Category:British military personnel killed in the Mahdist War]]
[[Category:Mumbai cricketers]]
[[Category:Europeans cricketers]]
[[Category:British Army personnel of the Mahdist War]]
[[Category:Military personnel from Somerset]]