On 4 October 1808 the Portman Estate served formal notice on Thomas Lord that his lease on the Dorset Square ground — the original Lord's, opened in 1787 — would not be renewed. The land was wanted for housing. Lord had eight months to find a new ground. He did, and opened the Middle Ground at North Bank in May 1809; but the Dorset Square notice is the moment at which the original Lord's was lost.
Lord had built his ground in 1787 on a 99-year lease, but the Portman Estate had break clauses. The break was triggered by the rapid northward expansion of London's residential development.
Building work on adjacent plots had begun in 1806. Lord had been warned informally in spring 1808 that the notice was coming.
Thomas Lord had leased the Dorset Fields ground in Marylebone since 1787. The site was bordered by Dorset Street, Upper Berkeley Street and what is now Dorset Square. By 1808 the surrounding land was being developed for residential terraces and the Portman Estate wanted the ground for the same purpose. The October notice gave Lord until June 1809 to vacate. He immediately began searching for a new site. The replacement — the Middle Ground at North Bank, near the present St John's Wood — opened in May 1809. The original Lord's site was built over with the terraces that survive today as Dorset Square.
Spring 1808: Lord warned informally of the impending notice
4 Oct 1808: Formal notice served by the Portman Estate
Oct 1808-Apr 1809: Lord searches for and secures the North Bank site
May 1809: Middle Ground opens at North Bank
1787
Lord opens the Dorset Fields ground
Spring 1808
Informal warning of impending notice
4 Oct 1808
Formal Portman Estate notice served
May 1809
Middle Ground opens at North Bank
1814
St John's Wood ground opens — the present Lord's
The Middle Ground was used until 1813, when a Regent's Canal extension forced a second move — to the present St John's Wood site, opened in 1814.
The end of the original Lord's — and the start of the chain of moves that led to the present ground.
The 1808 notice is the first link in the chain of three Lord's grounds. The sequence — Dorset Square (1787-1809), North Bank (1809-1813), St John's Wood (1814-present) — is the foundation story of the modern ground.
n/a
1811-07-04
The 1811 Lord's season was the leanest of the Middle Ground years. With the Napoleonic blockade at its tightest, willow scarce, professionals diverted to militia service and the betting public's purses thin, only fourteen major matches were played at Lord's all summer. The 1811 season is the clearest measure of cricket's wartime contraction.
Officers vs Civilians
1812-12-15
By the close of 1812 cricket was being played regularly in both Madras and Bombay — the earliest documented fixtures in either Presidency. Garrison officers and civilian East India Company servants ran the matches; the Madras Gazette and Bombay Courier preserved the earliest scoresheets. The Calcutta game (documented 1804) had been joined by all three Presidency capitals.
Kent vs MCC
1813-09-09
On 9-10 September 1813 Kent played the MCC at the Vine, Sevenoaks — the first post-war major match at the historic Kent ground and the start of the Vine's revival as a regular major venue. The Vine had hosted little major cricket since 1808; the September 1813 fixture marked its return to the front rank.