IN HAROLD Park, Low Moor, sits a brass memorial plaque to Lieutenant Frank Milligan, a local man who was killed in action in South Africa on March 31, 1900.
A talented cricketer, Frank was aged just 30, and was the first member of an England cricket team to be killed on military service.
His story is now being told in meticulously-researched detail on the YouTube channel Dodger’s Trips which takes viewers on fascinating journeys across the UK and overseas.
Frank was born in Hampshire to Captain Charles and Gertrude Milligan. A keen association footballer, in 1888 he accepted a commission to join the 4th Battalion East Surrey Regiment as Second Lieutenant. This battalion was the equivalent of the Territorial Army. In January 1891 he was promoted to lieutenant.
Frank’s father inherited Cauldwell Hall in Derbyshire, a large mansion and estate which had its own cricket ground. His father farmed the land and was also a director of Low Moor Company ironworks.
This led to Frank moving to Royd’s Hall in Low Moor, where he held a managerial role. He began to play cricket for Low Moor, where his skills were noticed.
In 1892 he had his first trial for Yorkshire. It wasn’t a success, but in 1895 he tried again and became a regular in the team, even taking on the role of stand-in captain.
By the end of 1895, he headed the Yorkshire bowling averages. The Keighley News reported that Frank 'provided good service in many a stiff contest.’
In all, for Yorkshire, he achieved ten half centuries and 144 wickets in 95 first-class games from 1894 to 1898/99.
Frank, who toured North America playing cricket, is credited with one of the biggest hits in the game - 130 yards at the Dewsbury and Savile Ground. It landed at the feet of a passing policeman on patrol.
He played two Test matches on Lord Hawke's tour of South Africa in 1898-99. While there he won a race riding a horse called Low Moor.
Frank stayed on in South Africa after the tour, and served under Colonel Plumer with the Rhodesian Frontier Force in the Second Boer War. He held the rank of lieutenant at the time of his death in Ramatlabama near Mafeking.
In August 1901 The Aberdeen Weekly Journal reported: ‘It is hard to think that never again will that big, bright Yorkshire amateur, who went out for love of Queen and country, be seen again on an English cricket field, nor an African one either. Somewhere on the desolate veldt he sleeps.’
As well as the memorial plaque - funded by public subscription - a memorial window was dedicated to him in St Mark's Church. Also as a memorial to his name Lord Hawke, presented a cot to Bradford Children's Hospital.
*Frank Milligan: The First England Cricketer To Be Killed On Military Service:
youtube.com@DodgersTrips
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