1926-1955

The Bott Family

Ernest Bott had married Edith Adams on 12^th April 1900 at the Wesleyan Methodist Chapel, Aylestone Road, Leicester¹.

Ernest Bott was born 12^th November 1877 at Leicester². He was born into a family of ‘cow keepers’ of Abbey Gate, Leicester³, and had four brothers and three sisters. On 23^rd November 1888 their father died leaving an estate valued at £253 8s and 9d to their mother Elizabeth. On 20^th February 1889 Ernest and two of his brothers⁴ were baptised at St. Leonard’s Church, Leicester and on 24^th April 1889 Ernest was admitted into Wyggeston Boys Grammar School⁵, Leicester. By 1901 Ernest’s occupation was recorded as a builders’ clerk⁶.

Edith Adams was born 16^th October 1876 at Leicester⁷. Her father was a wool sorter. She had two brothers and two sisters, and by the age of 14 Edith was working as a hosiery hand⁸.

Ernest and Edith lived initially in Stuart Street and Wilberforce Road before settling at 30 Eastleigh Road, Leicester^9&10, where they resided for 16 years prior to their occupation of 141 Upperton Road. During these years Ernest worked in the hosiery industry¹¹. Ernest and Edith had two children: Leonard Ernest Bott (b. 25^th September 1905); and Kathleen Grace Bott (b. 12^th September 1913)¹².

During the First World War Ernest Bott joined the Royal Navy (Service No. F25901). His Navy record notes that he was 5ft 8 inches in height and that he had black hair, hazel eyes and a dark complexion. The records also note that he had a sear to his right thumb and that his occupation was a hosiery warehouse clerk. After apparently only one day at the training vessel HMS President, Ernest transferred to the Royal Naval Air Service (RNAS) airship station at Pulham where he served as an air craftsman (A.C. II) from 23^rd May 1917 and was promoted by one rank (to A.C. I) on 22^nd November 1917.

On 1^st April 1918 the Royal Air Force (RAF) was formed. Ernest was transferred to the new RAF service on that date and was re-classified as a leading aircraftsman (LAC) on 4^th April 1918. On 17^th September 1918 Ernest was relocated from Pulham to Cranwell Station, on 1^st January 1919 he was relocated from Cranwell to ‘HQII Irish Grf’, and on 15^th March 1919 he was relocated again, this time to MS¹³ Baldonnell. The last movement on Ernest’s RAF record seems to read ‘for dispersal’ and is dated 11^th October 1919. He was transferred to the RAF G reserve 12^th November 1919 and deemed discharged on 30^th April 1920.

Ernest’s period of service away from home is reflected by his inclusion on the absent voter lists for 1918 and 1919.

The 1921 Census records Ernest’s occupation as a hosiery counterman for J & R Morley Hosiery Manufacturers of Oxford Street, Leicester. Although at the time of the 1921 Census Ernest & Edith’s son, Leonard Ernest Bott, was only 15, he is also recorded as in employment as a clerk for rubber manufacturer W & A Bates Ltd. of St. Mary’s Mills, Leicester.

At Christmastime 1933 Leonard married Doreen Elizabeth Wrafter. The wedding took place at the Church of the Martyrs in Westcotes Drive, Leicester. The occasion was recorded as part of a Christmas weddings feature in the Leicester Evening Mail:

By 1939 Leonard and Doreen Bott were living at 10 Irwin Road, Guildford, Surrey¹⁴.

On 20^th February 1937 a city gas department promotional advertisement appeared in the Illustrated Leicester Chronicle for a cake baking competition. On 6^th March 1937 a further advertisement appeared in the Chronicle with the results of the competition. Mrs. E. Bott of 141 Upperton Road was one of two women named as highly commended and recipients of special consolation prizes!

On 22^nd March 1938 Ernest Bott died. Ernest had made a will on 14^th May 1917 bequeathing his full estate to Edith. Probate was granted to Edith on 3^rd May 1938; Ernest’s estate was valued at £1,833 14s and 3d (subsequently re-sworn at £1,872, 11s and 7d).

In 1940 Ernest and Edith’s daughter, Kathleen Grace Bott, married Leonard Walter Chaplin, in Leicester¹⁵. The occasion was recorded in the Leicester Chronicle:

Edith continued to live at 141 Upperton Road in the years following Ernest’s death¹⁶. Electoral Register records show that other people (as well as Edith) were living at 141 Upperton Road at least between 1945 and 1948¹⁷, suggesting that Edith was taking-in boarders during this period, and from 1950 onwards only Edith appears on the Electoral Register for the address. Edith moved out of 141 Upperton Road in 1955 and died on 2^nd March 1960, by which time her home address was 10 Wyngate Drive, Leicester¹⁸.

Leonard Ernest Bott died at Bury, Lancashire, on 23^rd October 1983. Kathleen Grace Chaplin died at Leicester in 2005.

Footnotes:

1. Their marriage certificate shows that, at the time of their marriage, Ernest Bott was a hosiery counterman residing at 38 Craddock Road, Leicester. Edith was a hosiery machinist residing at 3 Windermere Street, Leicester. The marriage certificate was witnessed by Frank and Ada Adams. ↩︎
2. Birthdate from St. Leonard’s Church Baptism Records. ↩︎
3. The 1851 Census finds Ernest’s grandfather Benjamin Bott, and Ernest’s father, William Bott, at Abbey Gate, Leicester. Benjamin’s occupation was a cow keeper and William’s an agricultural labourer. In 1861 Benjamin remained at Abbey Gate as a ‘milkman’ but William had relocated to 6 Watt’s Causeway (boarding) where his occupation was recorded as a porter in a worsted mill. By 1871 William, now married, had returned to Abbey Gate as head of the household and his occupation was recorded as a ‘dairyman’; also resident in the house was his father Benjamin still a ‘milkman’. The Botts remained at Abbey Gate as cowkeepers through the 1881 and 1891 Censuses, with William’s widow the head of the household in 1891, and William’s eldest son, William G Bott, the head of the household (and ‘milk seller’) in 1901. In 1892 William G Bott appeared before a Leicester court accused of burglary but was acquitted. By 1911 William G Bott had married and was living with is family at 164 Syston Street, Leicester, his occupation a milk salesman for the Cooperative Society. He died in 1934 with an estate valued at £277 19s and 7d. Probate was awarded to brothers Thomas Arthur Bott (engineer) and Ernest Bott (commercial traveller). ↩︎
4. Thomas Arthur Bott, b. 20^th November 1875 and Percy Brigstock Bott, b. 22^nd June 1880. ↩︎
5. Wyggeston Boys’ Grammar School Admission Book, 1889. ↩︎
6. 1891 Census, still living at the family home in Abbey Gate. ↩︎
7. Birthdate from the 1939 Register. ↩︎
8. The 1881 and 1891 Censuses find the family living at 91 Filbert Street, Leicester. The Censuses record Frank Adams’ (Edith’s father) occupation as a wool stapler (1881) and then wool sorter (1891). The 1891 Census records Edith’s occupation as a hosiery hand. ↩︎
9. Electoral Register records record their home address as 12 Stuart Street from 1900-1902, 8 Stuart Street from 1904-1906, 71 Wilberforce Road from 1907-1909, and then 30 Eastleigh Road from 1910-1925. ↩︎
10. The 1921 Census records Ernest & Edith Bott living with their son Leonard Ernest Bott and daughter Kathleen Grace Bott at 30 Eastleigh Road. ↩︎
11. The 1901 Census records Ernest’s occupation as a hosiery counterman, whilst the 1911 Census records it as a hosiery warehouseman. ↩︎
12. Birthdates from the 1939 Register. ↩︎
13. I think MS probably means meteorological station. ↩︎
14. 1939 Register. Leonard’s occupation was recorded as a motor car traveller. ↩︎
15. Leonard and Kathleen went on to have two children: Maurice E Chaplin (b. Leicester, 1948); and Margaret E Chaplin (b. Leicester, 1953). ↩︎
16. The 1939 Register finds Edith and her daughter Kathleen G Bott residing at 141 Upperton Road. Kathleen’s occupation was recorded as a dress maker. ↩︎
17. Electoral Register records for 141 Upperton Road as follows: 1945: Edith Bott, Ronald A Coates, Thurza Lilian Coates, Winifred V Goodman; and 1947 & 48: Edith Bott, Philip B Harris, Alice Mary Harris. ↩︎
18. Edith’s probate record states that Edith Bott of 10 Wyngate Drive died 2^nd March 1960 at 83 Dulverton Road, Leicester. Probate was awarded 26^th April at Winchester to Leonard Ernest Bott, commercial traveller, and Kathleen Grace Chaplin (wife of Leonard Walter Chaplin). Edith’s estate was valued at £6,132 19s and 5d. ↩︎