Winchester College Birley was born in
Chorlton-on-Medlock, Manchester, the son of Thomas Hornby Birley J.P. (1815–1885) and Anne Leatham (1820–1866). His uncle was
Hugh Birley, who became
Conservative Party Member of Parliament for
Manchester from 1868 to 1883. At the age of 13, Birley started at
Winchester College where he remained until 1868. He was an all round sportsman who played for the school at both cricket and football. As a cricketer, in 1867 he took 7–73 as the college beat
Eton College, and in 1868 as captain he took 4–41 and 2–25. He was also a keen athlete and was the school champion at the
pole vault and
high jump.
Oxford University In 1868, he went up to
University College, Oxford to study law. He was one of the first to study Law separately at
Oxford (it had previously been taught as a joint honours degree with modern history). He was not a great academic, achieving only a third class Bachelor of Arts degree in 1872, although he was more successful as a sportsman. In his time at Oxford he threw the
hammer against
Cambridge University in 1872 and represented the university at football. As a cricketer, although he played in the fresher's match he did not get a game for the university, although he did win a University College cup in 1871 for throwing the cricket ball with a distance of 107 yds 2 ft 1 inch. In
1873 he was part of the
Oxford University football team that reached the
second final of the
FA Cup, where they were beaten 2–0 by the holders, the
Wanderers. The following year, he played for
Oxford University in the first ever
varsity football match against
Cambridge University, finishing on the winning side in a 1–0 victory. In
1873–74, Oxford University again reached
the final, and this time were victorious, defeating the
Royal Engineers 2–0. The match was played at
Kennington Oval on 22 March 1874, Birley's 22nd birthday. Birley's first
England cap came against
Scotland on 7 March 1874, when "the Scots managed a 2–1 victory to avenge their 1873 defeat".
Wanderers By now, Birley had joined the
Wanderers side, making his first appearance for them on 21 October 1873. In
1875 he was one of several Wanderers players selected to meet Scotland at
Kennington Oval on 6 March. This match ended 2–2, with England's goals coming from Birley's Wanderers teammates,
Charles Wollaston and
Charles Alcock. In
1875–76, he was a member of the Wanderers team that reached the
FA Cup Final for the third time in its five-year history, scoring in the
semi-final against
Swifts. This was his only goal for the Wanderers. In the
final, Wanderers met the
Old Etonians at the
Kennington Oval; Birley was now the captain of the team. The first match ended in a 1–1 draw, with the Wanderers victorious 3–0 in the replay on 18 March. The following season, Wanderers were again victorious in the
Cup Final, defeating
Oxford University 2–1, with Birley again the team captain. He made a total of 32 appearances for the Wanderers between 1873 and 1877;
Cricket career Birley was described as "a moderate right-hand batsman and a useful slow right-arm bowler, an excellent field. He was said to possess excellent judgement as a captain whilst at Winchester". Although he played in the fresher's match he did not get a game for Oxford University. He did however play for
Lancashire, making his first appearance in a
first-class match against
Hampshire on 21 July 1870 when he took three wickets, helping Lancashire to win by ten wickets. He played twice more for Lancashire in the summer of 1870, and once in 1872. He also made one appearance for
Surrey in 1879. His first-class career took in five matches and eight innings in which he scored 65 runs, whilst he took four wickets as a bowler. Most of his cricket was played for
Cheshire. In 1868 he played his first match for Cheshire, and between then and 1873 he played in nine matches and scored 316 runs in his fourteen innings, with five not outs, achieving an average of 35.11 with a top score of 106 not out.
Later career After leaving university he became a
barrister in the
Inner Temple in 1876. He later worked on the Northern Circuit and became a
Justice of the Peace in Surrey. ==Family life==