Hubert Greenhill

{{Infobox cricketer

| name = Hubert Greenhill

| image =

| country = England

| fullname = Hubert Maclean Greenhill

| nickname =

| birth_date = {{Birth date|1881|9|18|df=yes}}

| birth_place = Christchurch, Hampshire, England

| death_date = {{Death date and age|1926|1|22|1881|9|18|df=yes}}

| death_place = Near Bockhampton, Dorset, England

| heightft =

| heightinch =

| batting = Right-handed

| bowling = Slow left-arm orthodox

| role =

| family =

| club1 = Hampshire

| year1 = 1901

| club2 = Dorset

| year2 = {{nowrap|1906–1925}}

| columns = 1

| column1 = First-class

| matches1 = 2

| runs1 = 15

| bat avg1 = 6.00

| 100s/50s1 = –/–

| top score1 = 5

| deliveries1 = 145

| wickets1 = 3

| bowl avg1 = 25.66

| fivefor1 = –

| tenfor1 = –

| best bowling1 = 3/39

| catches/stumpings1 = –/–

| date = 7 January

| year = 2010

| source = http://www.cricinfo.com/ci/content/player/13444.html Cricinfo

}}

Hubert Maclean Greenhill (19 September 1881 — 22 January 1926) was an English amateur first-class cricketer and British Army officer. As a cricketer, he made two appearances in first-class cricket for Hampshire County Cricket Club. In the army, he served mostly in the Dorset Regiment, seeing action with the regiment in the Second Boer War and First World War.

Early life and cricket

The son of F. M. Greenhill, he was born at Christchurch in September 1881. He was educated at both Wimborne Grammar School and Sherborne School,{{cite book |title=The Sherborne Register: 1550-1950|date=1950|page=217|edition=4|publisher=Warren & Son Ltd.|url=https://oldshirburnian.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/The-Sherborne-Register-Fourth-Edition-1550-1950-word-resized.pdf|language=en}} playing cricket for the latter.{{cite web|url=https://www.espncricinfo.com/wisdenalmanack/content/story/228170.html|title=Wisden - Obituaries in 1926|date=2 December 2005 |publisher=ESPNcricinfo|accessdate=5 February 2023}} In December 1900, he was commissioned as a second lieutenant into the 4th Battalion, Durham Light Infantry.{{London Gazette|issue=27253|date=4 December 1900|page=8218}} Greenhill made two appearances in first-class cricket for Hampshire in 1901, against the touring South Africans and Derbyshire, with both matches played at Southampton.{{cite web|url=https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Players/6/6625/First-Class_Matches.html|title=First-Class Matches played by Hubert Greenhill|publisher=CricketArchive|accessdate=5 February 2023|url-access=subscription}} In 1903, he began his association with Dorset in minor counties cricket, making 55 appearances in the Minor Counties Championship to 1925.{{cite web|url=https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Players/6/6625/Minor_Counties_Championship_Matches.html|title=Minor Counties Championship Matches played by Hubert Greenhill|publisher=CricketArchive|accessdate=5 February 2023|url-access=subscription}} He was described by Wisden as a "hard-hitting batsman with a long reach and a good style, and a useful left-handed medium paced bowler" Greenhill was also active in regimental cricket.

Military career and death

Greenhill transferred from the Durham Light Infantry to the Dorset Regiment on in January 1902, joining the regiment in South Africa where it was fighting in the Second Boer War.{{cite book |title=The Monthly Army List|date=1902|page=1386|publisher=H. M. Stationery Office|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cVdEAQAAIAAJ|language=en}} When war ended in June 1902 with the Peace of Vereeniging, Greenhill left Cape Town with other officers and men of the 2nd Battalion, Dorset Regiment on the {{SS|German}} in late September 1902, and arrived at Southampton in late October, when they were posted to Portland.{{Cite newspaper The Times |title=The Army in South Africa - Troops returning Home|date=2 October 1902|page=4|issue=36888}} He was promoted to lieutenant in October 1904,{{London Gazette|issue=27770|date=3 March 1905|page=1577}} before resigning his commission in December 1909.{{London Gazette|issue=28318|date=17 December 1909|page=9593}} By 1914, he had returned to active service with the Dorsetshire Regiment, with him being promoted to captain in May of that year.{{London Gazette|issue=28833|date=22 May 1914|page=4121}} Greenhill fought during the First World War, with him being seconded for service on the Staff early in the war.{{London Gazette|issue=28944|date=16 October 1914|page=8366|supp=y}} In the month prior to the cessation of hostilities, Greenhill was appointed a temporary major whilst employed as a deputy assistant quartermaster general,{{London Gazette|issue=31059|date=10 December 1918|page=14631|supp=y}} a rank he relinquished in July 1919.{{London Gazette|issue=31567|date=23 September 1919|page=11883|supp=y}}

Following the war, Greenhill fell into depression caused by ill health and a financial worry. He committed suicide by shooting himself in a small woodland near Bockhampton in Dorset on 23 January 1926, whilst in a state of temporary insanity caused by his depression.{{cite book |title=Silence Of The Heart: Cricket Suicides |first=David|last=Firth|date=2011|publisher=Random House|page=56|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=i251ewfs_U0C|isbn=9781780573939|language=en}}