Kynaston Studd

Sir John Edward Kynaston Studd, 1st Baronet OBE, known as "JEK", was a British cricketer, businessman and Lord Mayor of London.

Children of Sir John Edward Kynaston Studd, 1st Bt. and Hilda Proctor-Beauchamp:Studd was born at Tedworth House, Netheravon, Wiltshire. He married, firstly, Hilda Proctor-Beauchamp, daughter of Sir Thomas William Brograve Proctor-Beauchamp, 4th Bt. and Hon. Catherine Esther Waldegrave, on 10 December 1884.

He married, secondly, Princess Alexandra Lieven, daughter of Prince Paul Lieven, on 18 June 1924.

• Sir Eric Studd, 2nd Bt. b. 10 Jun 1887, d. 1975
• Ronald Granville Studd b. 6 Sep 1889, d. 9 Jan 1956
• Reverend Lionel Fairfax Studd b. 16 May 1891, d. 15 Feb 1915
• Bernard Cyril Studd b. 24 Aug 1892, d. 30 Mar 1962
• Vera Constance Victoria Studd b. 14 Jun 1897

Sir Kynaston was the eldest but the last of the famous three Studd Brothers who captained Cambridge in consecutive seasons who also later gained high renown in his other walks of life before his death on 14 January 1944.

At Eton, Kynaston was never on the losing side in the needle matches against Harrow and Winchester.

In 1879 Kynaston went up to Cambridge and was four years in the XI without ever excelling in the annual University match; things moved on in

1882 when he and his brothers took an important role in defeating by six wickets the great Australian side (which later in the season beat England at Kennington Oval) by seven runs. In the match Kynaston scored 6 and 66, G B. 42 and 48, C. T. 118 and 17 not out. When Cambridge batted a second time requiring 165 runs for victory, the two elder brothers put up 106.

With the 1908 London Games being the first true Summer Olympics to feature a parade of nations, cricketer Kynaston Studd can be said to be the first person to carry the flag for Great Britain at an Olympic event.

However, cricket was only played at the 1900 Olympic Games (see: Cricket at the 1900 Summer Olympics) and Studd was therefore not a competitor.

After leaving Cambridge, where he was a member of the University Pitt Club, Kynaston played occasionally for Middlesex, but spent most of his time on business and the Royal Polytechnic Institute where he was President from 1903 until his death.

After serving as Sheriff of London for 1922-23, he was knighted in 1923 and became Lord Mayor of London in 1928.

He was created Baronet at the end of his official year. When President of the MCC in September 1930 he gave a banquet at Merchant Taylors' Hall to the Australian team captained by W. M. Woodfull.

Whilst still at University, Kynaston was involved in helping his brother Charles set up and become one of the famous Cambridge Seven missionaries to China.

Canon F. H. Gillingham, the old Dulwich College and Essex batsman, in his address at the Memorial Service in St. Paul's Cathedral, said that after coming down from Cambridge Kynaston realised that games were only a preparation for sterner duties, and in his presence it was easier for men to be good and harder to be bad. "Everything he touched he lifted up."

His great-nephew Sir Peter Malden Studd was also Lord Mayor of London from 1970-1972. The Studd family is also believed to be descended from William the Conqueror.

He died in Marylebone, London, on 14 January 1944, at age 85.