Charles Harry Lyon DSO

Distinguished Service Order

The Distinguished Service Order is a military decoration of the United Kingdom, and formerly of other parts of the British Commonwealth and Empire, awarded for meritorious or distinguished service by officers of the armed forces during wartime, typically in actual combat.Instituted on 6 September...

, CMG

Order of St Michael and St George

The Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George is an order of chivalry founded on 28 April 1818 by George, Prince Regent, later George IV of the United Kingdom, while he was acting as Prince Regent for his father, George III....

 (18 March 1878 — 3 December 1959) was an English

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

 cricket

Cricket

Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of 11 players on an oval-shaped field, at the centre of which is a rectangular 22-yard long pitch. One team bats, trying to score as many runs as possible while the other team bowls and fields, trying to dismiss the batsmen and thus limit the...

er who played for Derbyshire

Derbyshire County Cricket Club

Derbyshire County Cricket Club is one of the 18 major county clubs which make up the England and Wales domestic cricket structure, representing the historic county of Derbyshire...

 in 1902.

Lyon was born at The Lodge, Rocester

Rocester

Rocester is a village and civil parish in the East Staffordshire district of Staffordshire, England. Its name is spelt Rowcestre in the Domesday Book.-Geography:...

, Staffordshire

Staffordshire

Staffordshire is a landlocked county in the West Midlands region of England. For Eurostat purposes, the county is a NUTS 3 region and is one of four counties or unitary districts that comprise the "Shropshire and Staffordshire" NUTS 2 region. Part of the National Forest lies within its borders...

, the son of Charles William Lyon and his wife Florence. His father was a cotton manufacturer who ran the mill at Rocester and was a Justice of the Peace

Justice of the Peace

A justice of the peace is a puisne judicial officer elected or appointed by means of a commission to keep the peace. Depending on the jurisdiction, they might dispense summary justice or merely deal with local administrative applications in common law jurisdictions...

.

Lyon made his debut for Derbyshire in the 1902 season

Derbyshire County Cricket Club in 1902

Derbyshire Country Cricket Club in 1902 was the cricket season when the English club Derbyshire had been playing for thirty-one years. It was their eighth season in the County Championship and they won five matches to finish tenth in the Championship table....

 in a match against Worcestershire

Worcestershire County Cricket Club

Worcestershire County Cricket Club is one of the 18 major county clubs which make up the English and Welsh domestic cricket structure, representing the historic county of Worcestershire...

, which was a draw. Less than a week later, Lyon made his second and last first-class appearance, against Nottinghamshire

Nottinghamshire County Cricket Club

Nottinghamshire County Cricket Club is one of the 18 major county clubs which make up the English and Welsh domestic cricket structure, representing the historic county of Nottinghamshire, and the current county champions. Its limited overs team is called the Nottinghamshire Outlaws...

. He was a right-handed batsman and made 6 runs in his 2 matches. He bowled 2 overs without taking a wicket.

Lyon served in the First World War in the North Staffordshire Regiment

North Staffordshire Regiment

The North Staffordshire Regiment was an infantry regiment of the British Army, which was in existence between 1881 and 1959. It can date its lineage back to 1756 with the formation of a second battalion by the 11th Regiment of Foot, which shortly after became the 64th Regiment of Foot...

. In 1916 when he was a major he was awarded the DSO

Distinguished Service Order

The Distinguished Service Order is a military decoration of the United Kingdom, and formerly of other parts of the British Commonwealth and Empire, awarded for meritorious or distinguished service by officers of the armed forces during wartime, typically in actual combat.Instituted on 6 September...

 and in 1918 he was promoted to temporary Brigadier-General. After the war Lyon continued playing cricket for the Free Foresters.

Lyon died in Ightfield

Ightfield

Ightfield is a small village and civil parish in Shropshire, England.Within the parish boundaries is another small village - Calverhall.Ightfield is situated in one of the most rural areas one could expect to find, with many of its roots being in farming. In fact, the name could indeed be derived...

, Staffordshire at the age of 71.

Lyon married Gwenlliam Mary Campbell. His brother-in-law Colin Campbell played Minor Counties cricket for Staffordshire between 1913 and 1921. Lyon's uncle Walter Lyon, played first-class cricket for Cambridge University

Cambridge University Cricket Club

Cambridge University Cricket Club is a first-class cricket team. It now plays all but one of its first-class cricket matches as part of the Cambridge University Centre of Cricketing Excellence , which includes Anglia Ruskin University...

between 1861 and 1863.