Catalogue for the auction of
Cricket, Football & Sporting Memorabilia
Held on Friday, Saturday & Sunday
10th, 11th & 12th April 2026
Lot 66
Estimate: £60/90
Hammer: £75
Frederick Gale. Four page handwritten folding letter from Gale to ‘My dear Pardon’. In the undated letter the handwriting is difficult to decipher, but the overall theme of the content appears to relate to mistakes appearing in published articles and books, and he closes in a postscript complaining that someone has been ‘abusing me in all the papers’. Nicely signed ‘Fred Gale’. Very good condition.
Fred Gale played in the Winchester Eleven in 1841 against Eton and Harrow at Lord’s, but did not go on to play first class cricket. He made his name as a prolific writer of books, newspaper and magazine articles writing under the name ‘The Old Buffer’. He emigrated to Canada to be with his family after the death of one of his sons, but was homesick and missed his cricket, so returned home the following year. The ‘Pardon’ to whom the letter is addressed could relate to the journalist and writer, G.F. Pardon, or either of his sons C.F. and S.H. Pardon who both edited the Wisden Cricketers’ Almanack.