[4][5] His exact birthplace has not been precisely identified but may have been Yew Tree Cottage (built in the early 16th century) as in 1820 – the year before his retirement and move to Tilford – the house was surrendered by a William Beldham to a John Wells (the significance being that Beldham's brother-in-law was fellow cricketer "Honest" John Wells): additionally, there is a strong local tradition that this was his birthplace.

[7][8] Beldham's reminiscences, and those of his friend William Fennex, provide the basis of Pycroft's The Cricket Field (1854) and Oxford memories: a retrospect after fifty years (1886).

He would have been 14 at the time but he told Pycroft that he overheard a remark by the Reverend Charles Powlett who said: "Here I have been thirty years raising our club, and are we to be beaten by a mere parish?

"[9][10] This statement suggests that the Hambledon Club was founded c.1750 but that is doubtful and David Underdown warns against "relying too much on Beldham's memory".

[16][17] The Beldhams were commissioned to lay out the pitch by local landowner Lord Stawell (1757–1820), who was a Hambledon Club member and a Farnham player.

[22] In his reminiscences to Pycroft, Beldham said that, when he was eighteen years old (i.e., in the 1784 season), he had played for Farnham against Hambledon and scored 43 facing an attack that included David Harris.

Next spring, Winchilsea visited Beldham at the farm where he worked and arranged with his employer, Mr Hilton, for him to have time off for playing cricket.

Beldham was invited to play for Hampshire[note 1] in June 1785 against England at White Conduit Fields and that was the start of his career in top-class cricket.

and George Beldham be considered as Players belonging to this Club and be paid their Expences when they come to play at the discretion of the stewards".

[24][25] He and his brother George and their brothers-in-law, John and James Wells travelled 27 miles each way between Farnham and Hambledon, usually on the day of the match.

[23] Saddle-soreness made them consider building a cart for their journeys but the government introduced a tax on vehicles and they abandoned the idea.

[26] Thus, to take the 1788 season as an example, Beldham played in 10 known matches, his side winning six of them, for which he was paid 42 guineas (£44.2s.0d), equating to slightly over two and a quarter years' wages for a farm worker.

There are several mentions of him in 1787, when he was 21, and his top-class career was certainly underway by the end of that season, which is best remembered for the foundation of Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) following the opening of the original Lord's ground.

The first Hambledon match in which Beldham is definitely recorded was not until 7–10 August 1787 when he played against Kent at the Star Inn Ground on Coxheath Common.

[40][41] Despite his long association with Hampshire, Beldham was a Surrey man and he played for his county's team on many occasions, 52 matches being documented.

[42][43] A few weeks later, on 3–5 July, Beldham played for Surrey against Hampshire on Perriam Downs in a match that featured a remarkable turnaround.

[52][53] As a professional, Beldham made occasional appearances for Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) on an individual match basis as a given man.

MCC's total was 110 but Beldham and Clifford had the Middlesex batsmen in trouble too and dismissed them for 89, of which Fennex scored 41 and was out hit wicket.

[12] Cricket as a whole suffered badly during the later years of the Napoleonic Wars and there was a considerable reduction in the number of matches played, especially in the 1810 to 1814 seasons.

Fast medium bowler Thomas Howard had an outstanding match for the Players, being involved in at least nine dismissals including eight bowled.

[74][75] There were no organised competitions in the 18th century and all matches were arranged on a more or less ad hoc basis, so prolific players like Beldham appeared for a wide variety of teams.

[84] In The Cricketers of My Time, John Nyren eulogised Beldham's batting prowess:[85] ...(he was) safer than the Bank; ...he would get at the balls and hit them away in gallant style.

Using the standard underarm action and pitching the ball, his delivery was "high and well, pace moderate, yet bordering on the fast and getting up quick".

[12] Along with other greats such as John Small and Tom Walker, Beldham did much to lay the foundations of what can now be recognised as modern batting technique.

It is said that his brother-in-law John Wells impressed upon Beldham the importance of the high left elbow, although a Farnham gingerbread maker and coach, Harry Hall, has also been credited with this.

For where it was worth while to buy, no man could keep a character; because to be out without runs or to miss a catch was, by the disappointed betting-men, deemed proof as strong as Holy Writ".

Beldham and his second wife are buried in the Tilford churchyard, just up the road from the green: their graves are unmarked, but are thought to be in the north-west corner.

[33] As late as 1861, forty years after his last important game and while he was still living, a wall of The Cricketers pub in Wrecclesham still bore the legend "Rendezvous of those Famous Cricketers Beldham & Wells" (another version has the sign as "Good Beer as drunk by those Famous Men Beldham & Wells").

[2] His fame was not quickly forgotten after his playing career ended, for the July 1862 edition of London Society magazine reported that "Old Beldham died last winter (February) near Farnham, aged ninety-six.

Not long before, the old man was invited to Lord's, and received with all honours in the pavilion: he was also advertised as expected at The Oval, to increase the attraction of a match between the old players and the young".