Born on 25 September 1867 in Shelford, Robert John Mee, known as Jack, was a right-hand bat and right-arm fast bowler. Although he was given a trial in both the XXII Colts sides of 1885 and 1886, and in the subsequent match v Yorkshire Colts in each year, he played with only moderate success in these four matches. In May 1887 he represented Colts of North v Colts of South at Lord’s taking four wickets; the reason for his selection in the match was he took 6-8 and 7-18 for the Notts XI v XXII Colts. His First-Class debut was the match v Surrey at Trent Bridge on 30 and 31 May and 1 June 1887. He made a promising start, taking three of the first six wickets to fall; Surrey, 27-6, recovered to win the match by 157 runs. He played the next game v Middlesex at Lord’s, but was displaced in the Notts team by Henry Richardson.
Mee did not reappear again for Notts in First-Class cricket until the last game of the 1888 season. He then appeared six times in 1889, once in 1890, not at all in 1891 and once in 1892. In 1893 he played against the Colts and v MCC, and then bowled brilliantly v Sussex at Trent Bridge, having a first innings analysis of 19-4-54-9 and 12-132 in the match. This gained him a place in the County side for the rest of the year and he headed the Notts First-Class averages with 76 wickets @21.48. The following summer, however, his effectiveness deserted him and after nine matches he was left out of the side. He only played once more for Notts in June 1896 v Yorkshire. In 37 First-Class matches for Notts he scored 323 runs @7.87 with a top score of 35 v Warwickshire at Edgbaston in 1894 and took 126 wickets @22.57.
His early cricket was with Manningham, Shelford and Skegness. In 1886 he was engaged by Nottingham Amateurs and in 1888 and 1892 by Lincoln Lindum, whilst from 1893 to 1895 he was on the staff at Lord’s. Overall, he played in 41 First-Class matches scoring 366 runs @7.95 and with 133 wickets @24.11. He stood as umpire for one First-Class fixture, namely Oxford University v AJ Webbe’s XI in the Parks in 1898.
In 1891 he represented Herefordshire and Monmouthshire and after leaving Notts was engaged by Accrington (1895-97) and Church (1898-1902) in the Lancashire League and went to live in Burslem. From 1905 to 1909, Mee played 41 Minor County Championship games for Staffordshire scoring 400 runs @10.81 and taking 168 wickets @14.14. He became a publican in Burslem and died aged 73 years on 6 February 1941 in Shelford.
His father William Mee was a coach at Haileybury College for many years and was a prominent club cricketer, once taking 10 wickets for Skegness v Australians in 1886. His brother CW Mee played for Notts Colts in 1887.
June 2020
Nottinghamshire First-Class Number: 190