Alfred Lyttelton KC (7 February 1857 – 5 July 1913) was a British politician and sportsman from the Lyttelton family who excelled at both football and cricket. During his time at university he participated in Varsity Matches in five sports: cricket (1876–79), football (1876–78), athletics (1876; selected to throw the hammer), rackets (1877–79) and real tennis (1877–79), displaying an ability that made him arguably the pre-eminent sportsman of his generation; his only rival in terms of versatility was Oxford's Cuthbert Ottaway. He was, among numerous other achievements, the first man to represent England at both football and cricket. Lyttelton was also a successful politician and served as Secretary of State for the Colonies between 1903 and 1905.
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Background and education
Lyttelton was the twelfth and youngest child of George Lyttelton, 4th Baron Lyttelton, by his first wife Mary, daughter of Sir Stephen Glynne, 8th Baronet. Charles Lyttelton, 8th Viscount Cobham, Sir Neville Lyttelton and the Right Reverend Arthur Lyttelton were his elder brothers and Prime Minister William Ewart Gladstone an uncle by marriage. Another relative was his great-nephew, the jazz trumpeter Humphrey Lyttelton. Lyttelton was educated at Eton – where he was President of Pop – and Trinity College, Cambridge. At Cambridge, he was a member of the University Pitt Club and played for Cambridge against Oxford in the Real Tennis Varsity Match.