Thomas Tosswill Norwood Perkins was an English schoolmaster, a cricketer who played first-class cricket for Cambridge University and Kent, and a football player who captained the university side at Cambridge.
Background
He was born at Strood, Kent and died at Tonbridge, also in Kent. Perkins was the son of the Rev Thomas Norwood Perkins, the curate of Strood in 1870, and his wife, the former Emily Louisa Tosswill. He was educated at Street John"s School, Leatherhead and Jesus College, Cambridge.
Career
Before going to Cambridge University in 1891, he was an assistant schoolmaster at Oxford and Great Yarmouth. He was almost 21 when he started at Cambridge. In his second first-class match, a 12-a-side game against the Gentlemen of England team, he batted at Number 9 and top-scored with an unbeaten 57 in the first Cambridge innings.
After the university term was over, Perkins played for Kent, and in the game against Nottinghamshire at Trent Bridge he scored 109, which was his only first-class century.
From this game, he went on to the Gentlemen v Players match at The Oval, appearing for the Gentlemen side which was captained by West. G. Grace. He played a few more matches for Kent in the second half of the 1894 season and rounded the year off by appearing in the Gentlemen of the South against the Players of the South game at Lord"s in mid-September, though in a very strong batting side he came in at Number 10.
From 1895, Perkins became a schoolmaster, although he does not appear to have graduated finally from Cambridge University until 1896. He was an assistant master at Street Michael"s School in Westgate-on-Sea, Kent in 1895, at Felsted School in Essex from 1897 to 1900, and at Rossall School in Lancashire from 1900 to 1903.
He returned to first-class with Kent in a few games at the end of the 1899 season and more regularly in school holidays in 1900: he scored 88 in the match against Lancashire in 1900 and put on 221 for the fifth wicket with Cuthbert Burnup, who made 200.
He did not appear in first-class cricket after the 1900 season. Perkins was joint headmaster of two preparatory schools in the Bath area from 1904 to 1912 and played in Minor Counties cricket for Wiltshire in that period.