Page:Dictionary of National Biography volume 47.djvu/73

 tyranny inherent in government (ib. p. 607). Throckmorton, his brother-in-law, while he appealed to Burghley to release him, denounced him as ‘careless of all men, ungrateful in prosperity, and unthankful in adversity’ (ib. p. 607; cf. Cal. Hatfield MSS. ii. 226). Richard, on his return to England, joined in the attack on his brother, but in the summer of 1579 a settlement was arrived at. George, however, continued to petition the queen to redress the wrongs he suffered from his kinsfolk, and in February 1584–5, having convinced the privy council that he had suffered injustice, he was granted 1,000l. (Cal. State Papers, Add. 1580–1625, p. 139; Notes and Queries, 2nd ser. xii. 143). On 1 Sept. 1590 George, who was described as of St. Bridget's in Fleet Street, made a nuncupative will, by which he gave all his property to Mary Symes, widow, his servant, ‘as well for the good service she did him as also for the money which she had laid forth for him.’ Shortly before his death he wrote out with his own hand and signed with his name a prose ‘Apologie or True Defens of her Majesties Honorable and Good Renowne’ against those who criticised her treatment of Mary Stuart. A copy made from the original manuscript is in the British Museum Harleian MS. 831 (cf. Hist. MSS. Comm. 2nd Rep. p. 41).



PYCROFT, JAMES (1813–1895), author, second son of Thomas Pycroft of Pickwick, Wiltshire, barrister-at-law, and brother of Sir [q. v.], was born at Geyers House, Wiltshire, in 1813. He matriculated from Trinity College, Oxford, on 25 May 1831, and graduated B.A. in 1836. He was an enthusiastic cricketer, and claimed to have, jointly with Bishop Ryle, instituted the annual Oxford and Cambridge cricket match in 1836 (Oxford Memoirs, ii. 84–210). In the same year he became a student of Lincoln's Inn, but in 1840 abandoned the study of the law, and was ordained in the church of England. At the same time he became second master of the collegiate school at Leicester. He was curate of Chardstock, Dorset, in 1845, and from 1845 to 1856 perpetual curate of St. Mary Magdalen, Barnstaple. He declined further clerical duty, and took up his residence at Bathwick, Bath. Here he devoted his time to literature, and his leisure to cricket, becoming a member of the Lansdown Club. He never obtained much repute as a player, but he was a great authority on the history, rules, and management of the game. He died of influenza at Brighton on 10 March 1895. He had married, on 8 July 1843, Ann, widow of F. P. Alleyn.

In 1859 he published ‘Twenty Years in the Church: an Autobiography.’ This work, which ran to a fourth edition in 1861, is a religious novel, which was supposed, without much reason, to be a narrative of the writer's own career; a second part, entitled ‘Elkerton Rectory,’ appeared in 1860, and was reprinted in 1862. His ‘Oxford Memoirs: a Retrospect after Fifty Years,’ 1886, 2 vols., contains graphic descriptions of the state of the university in his time.

Other books by him are:
 * 1) ‘Principles of Scientific Batting,’ 1835.
 * 2) ‘On School Education, designed to assist Parents in choosing and co-operating with Instructors for their Sons,’ Oxford, 1843.
 * 3) ‘Greek Grammar Practice,’ 1844.
 * 4) ‘Latin Grammar Practice,’ 1844.
 * 5) ‘A Course of English Reading, adapted to every taste and capacity, with Anecdotes of Men of Genius,’ 1844; 4th edit. 1861.
 * 6) ‘The Collegian's Guide, or Recollections of College Days. Setting forth the Advantages and Temptations of a University Education. By the Rev. * * * * * * * * * *, M.A., —— College, Oxford,’ 1845; 2nd edit. 1858.
 * 7) ‘Four Lectures on the Advantages of a Classical Education as an Auxiliary to a Commercial Education,’ 1847.
 * 8) ‘The Cricket Field, or the History and the Science of Cricket,’ 1851; 9th edit. 1887.
 * 9) ‘Ways and Words of Men of Letters,’ 1861.
 * 10) ‘Agony Point; or the Groans of Gentility,’ 1861, 2 vols.
 * 11) ‘The Cricket Tutor,’ 1862; a treatise exclusively practical.
 * 12) ‘Dragons' Teeth: a Novel,’ 1863, 2 vols.
 * 13) ‘Cricketana,’ 1865.

He also edited Valpy's ‘Virgil Improved,’ 1846; W. Enfield's ‘The Speaker,’ 1851; and to Beeton's ‘Cricket Book,’ by F. Wood, 1866, he contributed ‘A Match I was in.’



PYCROFT, THOMAS (1807–1892), Madras civil servant, born in 1807, was eldest son of Thomas Pycroft, of Pickwick, Wiltshire, barrister-at-law, and brother of  [q. v.] Educated first at the Bath grammar school, and then under private tutors, he matriculated from Trinity College, Oxford, on 13 May 1826. He held an exhibition there from 1826 to 1828, and in 1829 competed successfully for an Indian writership presented to the university in 1828 by the Right Hon.