The better the Pen the better the Pig

H W Bothamley

This person was the first one from the Guestbook that I had had to research with only the initials rather than a forename, and so there were several wrong turns and blind alleys. To be honest, I am still not certain that I have the correct person, but on the balance of evidence, this candidate is the one that makes most sense!

Henry William Hastings Bothamley was born on 27 September 1883. He was christened on 26th October 1883 in St John’s Paddington, and his parents were Henry Harper Bothamley and Frances Mary Hamilton. Henry and Frances had married on 22nd June 1878 at Immanuel Church, Streatham Common and Henry junior was the youngest of their 4 children.

Henry senior was a solicitor and Frances was the granddaughter of the 1st Baronet Feilden so the family were part of the Gentry. Henry junior was educated at Uppingham School in Rutland and the 1911 census shows him living with the family at The Crossways, Bromley, Kent and working as a motor engineer perhaps in the emerging motor car industry.

In the interim years between leaving Uppingham School and living at The Crossways, it seems as if Henry junior was living near Oswestry, perhaps as a part of Lord Harlech’s estate. There are reports of him playing cricket for Brogyntyn, and giving his address as Underhill, Oswestry (now a holiday home https://www.underhillhouse.net/) and this is may be how he came to know the other people autographing the Guestbook.

In 1914, Frances – Henry’s mother – died and was buried in Hindhead cemetery, Surrey.

During WW1, Henry enlisted with the Queens Own (Royal West Kent) Regiment, making Lieutenant. He resigned his commission in 1919 citing ill health. By this time, his father had remarried, to Katherine Lane nee Lambert who resided at Middleton, Westmeston, Sussex.

It is possible that his father's remarriage is the reason why Henry’s life post WW1 seems to be focussed in Sussex. In January 1932, the Mid Sussex Times carries a report of Henry’s marriage to Gillian Henniker-Gotley, the daughter of the Reverend G Henniker-Gotley, vicar of Wivelsfield. It seems as if Henry had been settled in the area for a while, because the wedding report makes reference to Henry being the Assistant District Commissioner for Mid-Sussex Boy Scouts, a position that Henry would hold for some years. It is likely that the H W Bothamley referenced in this blog post about Train Cruises is our Henry http://scoutguidehistoricalsociety.com/traincruises.htm.

The 1939 register shows Henry and Gillian living at Crockers, South Chailey, a residence that they were certainly in through WW2 – a report in the Sussex Agricultural Express dated 7th December 1945 notes that Henry was fined £1 for using an unlicensed motor car. Henry blamed his oversight on “old age”.

Henry died in December 1959, at Musgrove Park Hospital. He and Gillian had been residents at Nynehead Court, a nursing home. Gillian would continue to live there until her death in 1961.