Early Life
Hirst was born on 7 September 1871 in the Brown Cow Inn, Kirkheaton, a village close to Huddersfield. He was the last of 10 children born to James Hirst and his wife Sarah Maria Woolhouse. When his father died in 1880, Hirst lived with his sister Mary Elizabeth Woolhouse and her husband John Berry in Kirkheaton. After leaving school at 10 years of age, Hirst first worked for a hand-loom weaver in a local cottage, and then at a dyeing firm. He played rugby football as a full back during winter, and cricket with his friends and brothers in summer. By the age of 15, Hirst was playing regularly for the Kirkheaton cricket team and his batting and bowling performances regularly won prizes from a local newspaper. His reputation grew; when he was 18 he was a key player in the Kirkheaton team which won the Lumb Challenge Cup of 1889. In the final, watched by players from Yorkshire County Cricket Club, he took five wickets for 23 runs. Days later, invited to take part along with another local player, he appeared for Yorkshire against Cheshire in a non-first-class match in Huddersfield. He scored six runs in his only innings, and took three wickets in the match.
Hirst played only intermittently for Yorkshire over the next couple of seasons, but continued to develop as a cricketer, signing as a professional for Elland Cricket Club for the 1890 season before joining Mirfield in 1891. During that season, he made his first-class debut for Yorkshire against Somerset in the County Championship; he scored 15 runs and took two wickets in the game.
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