Claude Disney-Roebuck

Claude Delaval Disney-Roebuck (1 March 1876 – 10 May 1947) was an English first-class cricketer, British Army officer, and actor.

He was born at Morice Town in Plymouth in March 1876 to Anna Marian Kate Bond and her husband, the first-class cricketer and army officer Francis Disney-Roebuck.^[1] He served in the British Army with the Duke of Cornwall's Light Infantry, holding the rank of second lieutenant in 1894.^[2] He transferred regiments in May 1897, joining the Northamptonshire Regiment.^[3] he was promoted to lieutenant in August 1899,^[4] which was followed up four years later with promotion to the rank of captain in June 1903.^[5] He made his debut in minor counties cricket for Dorset in 1903, playing twice that year in the Minor Counties Championship.^[6] He encountered ill health in 1905 and was placed on half pay,^[7] with him retiring from the military in May 1906, retaining the rank of captain.^[8] In that same month he made his debut in first-class cricket for the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) against Leicestershire at Lord's,^[9] and in August he played a further six Minor Counties Championship matches for Dorset, which marked his final appearances in minor counties cricket.^[6] He played a further first-class match for the MCC in 1907, in a repeat of the previous seasons fixture.^[9] Disney-Roebuck married Margaret Wordsworth Charrington in January 1908.^[1]

During World War I, Disney-Roebuck came out of the retirement to serve in the Queen's Own Royal West Kent Regiment, gaining the rank of temporary Lieutenant Colonel by February 1916,^[10] having held the rank of major prior to this promotion.^[11] He relinquished his appointment in March 1918,^[12] and his command in January 1922.^[13]

He took up acting in the 1930s, starring in the movies The Woman Between in 1931, and The Night of the Party in 1934.^[14] He also had an uncredited role in the 1931 movie Other People's Sins.^[14] Personal tragedy struck during World War II, when both of his sons were killed; his eldest son, Algernon Guy Spencer, died of natural causes while serving in North Africa on 9 April 1941, while his youngest son, Michael Wyndham, died aboard HMS Diamond eighteen days later.^[1] Disney-Roebuck died at Hindhead, Surrey in May 1947. He was survived by his wife, who died in 1966, and his daughter Nancy, who died in 1979.^[1]

• Claude Disney-Roebuck at ESPNcricinfo