John Hilton was born in Mansfield in 1792 and christened there on 22 May. Much of his cricket was, presumably, played for and around Mansfield, but the details are lost.
He was 37 when first chosen for Nottingham, 'a successful underhand slow bowler, but never much of a bat', notes an old report. His final match of three First-Class outings, all against Sheffield, came in 1830; in those matches he scored just nine runs in six innings and is credited with taking nine wickets, though further information has not been recorded. Hilton also played twice against Leicester - not a First-Class fixture - in 1829, making only one score, of 5no, but taking 10 wickets across the two games.
He did, though, appear for County v Town in 1837 aged 45 when the Nottingham Review comments: 'The old'un from Mansfield was again brought into the field but it was no go, the steel being worked out of him – he is slow and too low in delivery'.
Hilton was in the licensed trade, listed in the censuses as a 'beerhouse keeper', a Tavern kjeeper and, in 1861, landlord of the Grove Tavern in Mansfield.
His son, also John, played just once for Nottinghamshire, making seven runs in his only innings. John Hilton snr is thought to have died in Wolverhampton in 1869, aged 77 years.
July 2020
Nottinghamshire First-Class Number: 24