Celebrating Hampshire Historians

Altham, Harry Surtees C.B.E. D.S.O. M.C. (Wrote as H.S. Altham)

1888 - 1965

H.S. Altham was a Winchester College housemaster (1913-1946), who had a distinguished WW1 record. After the war, he wrote the first history of cricket, which went to at least four editions with E.W. Swanton a later co-author. In 1945, he became joint editor ofWinchester Cathedral Record, becoming sole editor in 1948 and contributing a wide range of historical articles until his death in 1965. 

Sources

• Winchester Cathedral Record, vols 14-34 (1945-1965).

• Doggart, Hubert, “Altham, Harry Surtees”, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, 2004.

• “Obituary – Mr H. S. Altham, Cricket Historian and Administrator”, The Times, 13th March, 1965, p. 10.

Portrait

Winchester Cathedral Record, vol 34 (1965)

Contribution to county’s history

Altham’s importance is in two different arena – the early history of cricket in Hampshire and aspects of the medieval history of Winchester Cathedral.

Relevant published works

• In Winchester Cathedral Record (WCR), published annually by the Friends of Winchester Cathedral only:

  • “The Crypt”, WCR 18, pp. 8-12.
  • “A Great Reformer” [Bishop Curle], WCR 20, pp. 5-7.
  • “Norman Bench Seats”, WCR 22 p. 21.
  • “Sculptured Birds on the Cathedral, WCR 22, p. 22.
  • “The Cathedral Font”, WCR 23, pp.10-11.
  • “William of Waynflete”, WCR 24, pp. 8-12.
  • “Bishop Fox”, WCR 25, pp. 3-7.
  • “Some Treasures of Our Library, WCR 28, pp. 15-17.
  • “The Le Sueur Statues, WCR 29, p. 11.
  • “History in Worsted”, WCR 30, pp. 17-21.
  • “The Choir Stalls”, WCR 31, pp. 12-13.
  • “A Major Restoration”, WCR 33, pp. 7-10.
  • “Corbels in the Presbytery”, WCR 33, pp. 12-13.
  • “Just Another Puzzle”, WCR 34, pp. 20-22.

All the above articles have been digitised by the Friends of Winchester Cathedral and can be read on the WCR webapges.

Critical Comments

Other Comments

Contributor

Tom Watson, Friends of Winchester Cathedral August 2021

Key Words

Cricket, Winchester Cathedral, Winchester College, Bishop Fox, Font, Medieval, Norman

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