Catalogue for the auction of
Cricket, Football & Sporting Memorabilia
To be held on Thursday, Friday, Saturday & Sunday
6th, 7th, 8th & 9th August 2026
Lot 1564
Estimate: £300/500
‘Boer Prisoners in Ceylon. Report of A Cricket Match between an XI selected from the Prisoners-of-War at Diyatalawa and the Colombo Colts, played on the ground of the Nondescript Cricket Club, Victoria Park... July 5th & 6th, 1901’. A.W. Andree, Hopetoun Studio, Slave Island, Colombo. Reprinted from ‘The Ceylon Independent’, Independent Press 1901. 18pp with bookplate image of the two teams by Andree. Rebound in full red morocco, gilt title to spine, original wrappers retained. Ownership signature in ink of A.D. Taylor to inside original rear wrapper. Padwick 4024. Loss and age toning to original wrappers, some splitting to spine of original front wrapper, pages and binding in good condition. A very scarce booklet.
At the conclusion of the Boer War, Britain shipped thousands of prisoners of war to camps in Ceylon. In 1901 a team of prisoners, including two first-class cricketers, P.H. de Villiers and G. Sennett, challenged the Colombo Colts to a game. The Colombo Colts won the match by 141 runs. Much of the text was reproduced in ‘Cricket: A Weekly Record of the Game’ in 1901. Hopetown Studio was a renowned photographic studio operated in the late 19th and early 20th centuries by the prominent Celanese photographer, Adolphus William Andree.