Wells became a member of the Hambledon Club. John lived at Farnham, in Surrey, and was, if I recollect, a baker by trade. He was a short, thick, well-set man; in make like a cob-horse, proportionately strong, active, and laborious. As a bowler he had a very good delivery; he was also a good general field, and a steady batter—in short, an excellent 'servant of all work'; and, like those misused Gibeonites ('hewers of wood and drawers of water'), he was never spared when a wear-and-tear post was to be occupied. In cricket, as in the graver pursuits in life, the willing workman is ever spurred; he may perform labours of supererogation, and his assiduity meets at best with 'mouth honour': let him, however, but relax his muscles—let him but shorten his career to the speed of his fellows, and he instantly sinks below them in the estimation of his employers. Whether in this case the feeling arise from envy or not, it is hard to decide; assuredly, however, in very many instances, the mill-horsegrinder in the track of duty is acknowledged with greeting, while extra merit 'goes out sighing'. John Wells possessed all the requisites for making a thoroughly useful cricketer; and, in his general deportment, he was endowed with those qualities which render man useful to society as well as happy in himself. He was a creature of a transparent and unflawed integrity—plain, simple, and candid; uncompromising, yet courteous; civil and deferential, yet no cringer. He always went by the title of 'Honest John Wells', and as long as I knew him he never forfeited the character he had gained. Little more need be added respecting his merits as a player, for he must be fresh in the memory of all who have been accustomed to see the best playing; suffice to say that, in addition to his level merits
