George Beldam

Who was George Beldam?

George William Beldam was an English cricketer and a pioneer of action photography in sport.

George Beldam came from a cricketing family of Huguenot refugees. He was a steady right-handed batsman and a right-arm bowler who represented Middlesex, MCC and London County in 102 first-class matches between 1900 and 1907. He scored 4,796 runs with a personal best of 155* versus Surrey at Lord's in 1902 and took 66 catches and 76 wickets with a personal best of 5/28 versus Lancashire at Liverpool in 1902.

He became a noted artist and photographer. He was the first action photographer of sport in Britain, specialising in cricket and golf. He collaborated with C.B. Fry on two instructional books, with Beldam providing the illustrations and some of the text:

Great Batsmen: Their Methods at a Glance

Great Bowlers and Fielders: Their Methods at a Glance

His brother, Cyril Beldam, and a cousin, Ernest Beldam, also played first-class cricket.

A biography of him was written by a descendant:

George Alastair Beldam, Third Man in: Lost World of a Camera Artist - G.W.Beldam and the Art of Edwardian Cricket, The George Beldam Collection, 1995, ISBN 978-0-9516676-0-6