Sir William Hart Dyke We record with regret the death,
on July 3rd, of the venerable Victorian squire, Sir William Hart Dyke, at the age of ninety-three. Ile succeeded his father as seventh Baronet, and owner of Lullingstone Castle, Dartford, in 1873, and he represented West Kent in Parliament for many years up to 1906. He was one of Disraeli's Whips, and in later years won credit as Vice- President of the Council, when he was in charge of Lord Salisbury's Act which introduced free education. In his youth he was a great cricketer at Eton and Oxford. He prided himself on having been the champion at rackets, beating amateurs and professionals alike, and on having, with Mr. Heathcote, the tennis champion, invented lawn tennis in 1873. The first game was played on the lawn at Lullingstone. Sir William could remember Dickens well. In the early 'sixties, at Lord Darnley's house at Cobham, he and Dickens played in a charade, The Babes in the Wood, Dickens making an excellent nurse.
* * * *
Previous page
