Francis Walton

{{short description|English first-class cricketer (1832–1871)}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2016}}

{{Use British English|date=March 2016}}

{{Infobox cricketer

| name = Francis Walton

| image =

| country = England

| fullname =

| nickname =

| birth_date = c. 1832

| birth_place = England

| death_date = 14 July 1871 (aged 40)

| death_place = Surbiton, Surrey, England

| heightft =

| heightinch =

| batting = Right-handed

| bowling = Right-arm roundarm fast

| family =

| club1 = Hampshire

| year1 = 1864–1866

| columns = 1

| column1 = First-class

| matches1 = 3

| runs1 = 55

| bat avg1 = 11.00

| 100s/50s1 = –/–

| top score1 = 16

| deliveries1 = 268

| wickets1 = 6

| bowl avg1 = 27.50

| fivefor1 = –

| tenfor1 = –

| best bowling1 = 3/48

| catches/stumpings1 = 1/–

| date = 16 January

| year = 2010

| source = http://www.cricinfo.com/ci/content/player/22284.html Cricinfo

}}

Francis Walton (c. 1832 – 14 July 1871) was an English first-class cricketer and Royal Marines officer.

Walton was born in England in about 1832. Walton was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the Royal Marines in February 1849.{{London Gazette|issue=20948|date=23 February 1849|page=542}} He served in the Crimean War, for which he was later decorated by the Ottoman Empire in April 1858 with the Order of the Medjidie, 5th Class.{{London Gazette|issue=22122|date=3 April 1858|page=1739}} Following the war, he gained promotion to first lieutenant in January 1853.{{London Gazette|issue=21406|date=28 February 1853|page=230}} A further promotion to captain followed in December 1860,{{London Gazette|issue=22458|date=11 December 1860|page=5006}} before being appointed an adjutant in the 48th Middlesex Rifle Volunteer Corps in September 1863.{{London Gazette|issue=22793|date=1 December 1863|page=6311}} Walton played first-class cricket for Hampshire, debuting in the 1864 season against Middlesex at Islington. He made two further first-class appearances, in 1865 against Middlesex at Islington, and the Marylebone Cricket Club at Lord's in 1866.{{cite web|url=https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Players/6/6906/First-Class_Matches.html|title=First-Class Matches played by Francis Walton|publisher=CricketArchive|accessdate=10 November 2022|url-access=subscription}} He scored 55 runs in his three first-class matches with a highest score of 16,{{cite web|url=https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Players/6/6906/f_Batting_by_Team.html|title=First-Class Batting and Fielding For Each Team by Francis Walton|publisher=CricketArchive|accessdate=10 November 2022|url-access=subscription}} while with his right-arm roundarm fast bowling, he took 6 wickets at an average of 27.50, with best figures of 3 for 48.{{cite web|url=https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Players/6/6906/f_Bowling_by_Team.html|title=First-Class Bowling For Each Team by Francis Walton|publisher=CricketArchive|accessdate=10 November 2022|url-access=subscription}} In the mid-1860s, Walton was in a business partnership with Thomas Linklater Thomson as sailmakers and ship chandlers at Wapping, though by March 1867 the partnership had been dissolved by mutual consent.{{London Gazette|issue=23234|date=29 March 1867|page=1998}} Walton died at his brother's residence in Surbiton on 14 July 1871.Deaths. Daily Telegraph & Courier (London). 18 July 1871. p. 9