Thomas Bedford Bolitho

Thomas Bedford Bolitho
Born	5 January 1835 Penzance, Cornwall
Died	22 May 1915 (aged 80) Penzance, Cornwall
Education	Harrow School
Occupation	Banker, industrialist, politician
Spouse(s)	Frances Jane Carus-Wilson
Children	Mary (1894 – 1977)
Parent(s)	Edward Bolitho Mary Bolitho née Stephens

Thomas Bedford Bolitho (5 January 1835 – 22 May 1915) was a Cornish banker and industrialist. He was a Liberal Unionist Member of Parliament for St Ives in Cornwall from 1887 to 1900.^[1]

Early life

Born in Penzance, Bolitho was the third son, and the only one to survive to adulthood, of Edward and Mary Bolitho^[2] (née Stephens).^[3] He was educated at Harrow School.^[3]

Politics and industry

He was appointed High Sheriff of Cornwall in 1884.^[4]

Following the elevation to the peerage of St Ives' MP, Sir John St Aubyn, Bolitho became MP at a by-election in 1887.^[5] He was re-elected in 1892 and 1895. He was unopposed on all three occasions.^[6]

Bolitho was a director of Barclays Bank^[7] and Bolitho, Williams, Foster, Coode, Grylls & Co. He was President of the Institute of Bankers from 1893 to 1895.^[8] He was also a director of the Great Western Railway^[9] and owner of the Consolidated Tin Smelting Company.

Family life

He married, at age of 58, Frances Jane Carus-Wilson in Truro Cathedral on 9 December 1893 – The Cornishman devoted a whole page to a report of the ceremonies.^[3] They had a daughter, Mary (1894–1977).

He died aged 80 on 22 May 1915 in Penzance^[10] and his estate was valued at £550,038 gross.^[7]

There is a portrait by Camille Silvy in the National Portrait Gallery.^[11]

Trewidden Gardens

Bolitho continued his father’s work in the garden at the family home of Trewidden, two miles west of Penzance. In particular, he filled the old opencast mine with tree ferns (Dicksonia antarctica) newly imported from Australia. This is now known as the Tree Fern Dell, which has been described as the best stand of tree ferns in the northern hemisphere. Following the death of her husband in 1955, Bolitho's daughter, Mary Williams, returned to Trewidden and took over the garden. Alverne Bolitho (1961 – ), a cousin of Mary Williams, inherited the property when she died and has developed it into a popular tourist attraction.^[12]

References

1. "Death of Mr. T. B. Bolitho at Penzance". Western Times. 24 May 1915. Retrieved 17 December 2014 – via British Newspaper Archive. (subscription required (help)).
2. "WILL OF THE LATE MR. EDWARD BOLITHO". Royal Cornwall Gazette. 18 September 1890. Retrieved 17 December 2014 – via British Newspaper Archive. (subscription required (help)).
3. "MARRIAGE OF MR. BOLITHO, M. P". Cornishman. 14 December 1893. Retrieved 17 December 2014 – via British Newspaper Archive. (subscription required (help)).
4. "PENZANCE LIBERAL ASSOCIATION". The Cornishman. 7 August 1884. Retrieved 17 December 2014 – via British Newspaper Archive. (subscription required (help)).
5. "The St Ives Division Election". Royal Cornwall Gazette. 15 July 1887. Retrieved 17 December 2014 – via British Newspaper Archive. (subscription required (help)).
6. F. W. S. Craig, British parliamentary election results, 1885-1918
7. "Devon Banker's Big Fortune". Western Times. 24 August 1915. Retrieved 17 December 2014 – via British Newspaper Archive. (subscription required (help)).
8. Edwin Green, Debtors to Their Profession: A History of the Institute of Bankers p230. Routledge 1979. ISBN 978-0-415-52086-7
9. "GREAT WESTERN.", Bradshaw's Shareholders' Guide for 1905
10. "Death of Mr. T. B. Bolitho at Penzance". Western Times. 24 May 1915. Retrieved 17 December 2014 – via British Newspaper Archive. (subscription required (help)).
    - "Mr. Thomas Beford Bolitho". Manchester Evening News. 24 May 1915. Retrieved 17 December 2014 – via British Newspaper Archive. (subscription required (help)).
11. Thomas Bedford Bolitho
12. Trewidden Garden: "A Potted History of Trewidden Gardens and the Bolitho Family"