Alex, according to that site, the first reference was 1744. I'm sure there's many more informative sites out there.
Personally I don't care too much for the game. That round bat always stikes me as being a particularly stupid device, I never could hit the bloody ball with it. Perhaps one day someone will have enough common sense to invent a bat that has flat area that is suitable for hitting a ball.

And when I was growing up in England it was considered a girl's game, so I only got to play it when coerced by my sisters.