Sir Stanley Cochrane, 1st Baronet

Cochrane was born at Dublin to Sir Henry Cochrane and his wife, Margaret Gilchrist.[1] He studied at St Columba's College, Dublin,[2] before going up to Trinity College, Dublin,[1] where he was a member of the Dublin University Cricket Club.[3]

Cochrane's father, had alongside Dr. Thomas Joseph Cantrell, invented ginger ale and made a fortune exporting it to the United States.[2] Upon the death of his father in 1904, Cochrane inherited his millions and the Woodbrook Estate.[2] He worked to bring regular top-class cricket to Ireland, even paying the Australians £300 (the equivalent of nearly £37,000 in 2017) to play Dublin University in 1905.[2] Shortly thereafter, he founded the Woodbrook Cricket Club and built a cricket ground on his estate, even constructing a railway station on the Harcourt Street railway line to serve the ground.[2] Using his wealth, Cochrane enticed many of the leading players of the day to play for the club, including the likes of Ranjitsinhji and C. B. Fry.[2] Cochrane was the High Sheriff of Wicklow in 1911,[4] and was the High Sheriff of County Dublin in 1912.[5]

Attendances at the Cochrane's cricket ground were less than intended, so in 1912 he invited the touring South Africans to play a first-class match there to encourage patronage, with Cochrane playing in the Woodbrook Club and Ground XI.[2][6] Playing in what would be his only appearance in first-class cricket, Cochrane batted once in the match, scoring 5 runs before being dismissed by Herbie Taylor.[7] Cochrane attempted to get the deciding Test match of the 1912 Triangular Tournament between England and Australia to be played at Woodbrook, but this request was denied by both boards.[2] Disenchanted by this decision, he closed the cricket ground in 1913 and opted to construct a golf course.[2]

He served in the British Army during World War I, serving in the Royal Dublin Fusiliers.[8] He was made 1st Barnonet of Woodbrook in February 1915,[9] for services to sports, music and the welfare of prisoners of war.[2] By wars end he held the rank of Captain.[1] He was a Justice of the Peace for both County Wicklow and County Dublin.[1] Cochrane was diagnosed with diabetes in the 1920s and was one of the first people to be treated for the condition with insulin.[2] With a strong interest in music, Cochrane had transformed the indoor cricket school on his estate into an opera house, and alongside Michele Esposito he founded music publisher C&E Editions.[2] The company folded in 1929. Cochrane died without issue in October 1949 at Bray, with his baronetcy becoming extinct.[1]

• Sir Stanley Cochrane, 1st Baronet at ESPNcricinfo
• "Cochrane, Sir Stanley Herbert" . Thom's Irish Who's Who. Dublin: Alexander Thom and Son Ltd. 1923. p. 40.