Barto Bartlett

Who was Barto Bartlett?

Edward Lawson Bartlett was a West Indian cricketer who played in West Indies' inaugural Test tour of England in 1928.

He was born in Flint Hall, St. Michael, Barbados, and played first-class cricket as a batsman for Barbados from 1923-24 to 1938-39. His only first-class century was 109 against Nottinghamshire in 1928. His best Test score was 84 against Australia in the First Test in 1930-31.

He died in St. Michael, Barbados at the age of seventy. Wisden had erroneously reported his death in its 1934 edition. In his obituary in the 1978 edition, Wisden said of him that "he had strokes all round the wicket and, when he was making runs, his potentialities were obvious. It was sad that he could so seldom do justice to them."

In June 1988 101 Barbadian 50c stamps were issued featuring the Barbados Cricket Buckle with a photograph of “Barto” Bartlett instead of Herman Griffith. These errors were issued through Parcel Post Office in Bridgetown. All other postal counters had their stocks recovered before 9am on Monday 6 June 1988 and the corrected 50c stamps depicting Griffith were issued on 11 July 1988. The 101 stamps that were issued featuring Bartlett are highly collectable.