Hi. Thank you for the beautiful photograph of the group of people at Woolverstone. The comments were interesting. However, the identification of people in the photo is questionable. I believe the gentleman identified as Charles Berners, second from the left, is in fact William Messenger, head gardener at Woolverstone Hall from 1893. Charles Berners was born in 1842 and so would have been 52 at the time of this photograph. I would add that Woolverstone Park Cricket Club completed its first season in 1890, which is documented. I am unsure that the gentleman identified as John A Berners on the far right is indeed him. He was born in 1869 which would make him 25 at the date of this photo and somehow that doesn’t ring true. I have attached a photo of William Messenger. And a poor cropped copy of J A Berners from 1900. Should you follow this further, an England 11 v Woolverstone Park 1899, in Lords Archive, has William Messenger as an umpire.
