From the 1965 Mitcham Cricket Club yearbook:
THROUGHOUT the 300 years or so that cricket has been played on England’s village greens, practically all the pitches have been put down within a six-hit of a church. The fact that the local inn was usually within spitting distance is pure coincidence! But we
cricketers wouldn’t have it any other way . . .Mitcham Green has been well served for many years by magnificent establishments like the King’s Head, The Cricketers, The White Hart and The Queen’s Head. But it is the King’s Head with which we are more concerned here for it houses the only female vice-president in the long history of the club – Mrs. Lilian Bullock, or, as she is known to the famous, the infamous and the nobodies — ‘Lil’.
Achievements
Since she came from enemy territory of Enfield, Middlesex, Lil’s acceptance into the world of Surrey cricket was in itself an achievement, but her association with Mitcham goes back 40-odd years to the days when her father was a baker and confectioner almost opposite the King’s Head, and Burn, her husband, was on the Surrey staff at the Oval.
Until his death in 1954, Burn was an active member of our club, being a vice-president, a life member and match secretary. It was undoubtedly his influence which propelled Lil into club activities.
Shortly after they met she attended her first club function, a meeting of the tea committee — and wound up chairman. Those were the days when a band of elegant ladies provided the food and then presented the club with a splendid marquee from the profits.
Burn & Lil took over the King’s Head in 1941 after his retirement from county cricket and coaching duties and Lil has become as big a part of Mitcham as the lavender itself! Her generosity is unbounded.
Great names have appeared on the Green – and in the King’s Head – because of the Wilson Hospital charity matches. Arranged by Burn and fed by Lil would be a fitting description for these fixtures!
Baseball – cricket
Once, in Burn’s absence, Lil arranged a game for a visiting crowd of American reporters against Monty Garland — Wells’ XI. They turned out in ordinary walking shoes, threw the bat away and ran after hitting the ball, broke a lamp on the Green and generally shattered the piece and reverence of an afternoon on the ‘sacred’ turf.
Those days are gone, but Lil’s affection for the club is reflected in the fact that she made her grandson, Nicholas Dawson, a member in 1961 when he was only 6 1/2 HOURS old!
Just the same
All good publicans put out the red carpet for their customers. When you walked into the King’s Head, Burn always made you feel that you were the very person he was hoping to see.
We still get the same welcome – except that now the greeting is a very cheery and very feminine “Hello darlings”. As I said before — we cricketers wouldn’t have it any other way.
R.H.
Mitcham History Notes 