Henry Seely Whitby

  General Notes:

Living at 33 Manor Street, Nottingham in 1901.
Described as Provision Merchants Manager and Worker in 1901.
Had a boarder, Benjamin Brown, a 61 year old army pensioner, in 1901.
Lord Mayor of Nottingham, 1933.

BME Gee notes dictated to Tommy 16 April 1975:
Married in 1891, then working at Allcocks, Smithy Row (Council House site). In 1894 paid for a party of 200 young children to go to Scout Farm, Mapperley (?). Act of charity for the poor. Arthur Pearson set up the Fresh Air Fund, and Seely...for Nottingham. Worked for Allcocks.....until 1923 for 40 years. Became Director, was suspended year Alice was born for one month. Trouble arose because he refused to employ conscientious objectors during the war, and was too good for certain people. Became agent for St Dunstans; collected lots of money. Made JP. Went on City Council. Was comfortably off at this time (1923). Moved to St Stephens Road in 1910. Paid £300 for it from his own money. Careful with money. Sold coal as a young boy. Many sidelines to make money. During employment at Allcocks, agent for Royal Insurance too. Organised comforts for troups in First War and also in Boer War. Good at extracting money from local wealthy, people like the Birkins, the Seelys etc. Was anti-catholic religious fanatic. Lay preacher in methodist chapel. Interested Shaftsbury Society (Sir John Kirk). Kept up with Crimea Army and Indian Mutiny veterans. Presented to King George V in June 1914 in this connection. Gathered lots of money for veterans.

BME Gee tapes:
People used to come into the shop for advice, which owners of Allcocks (Armitages) did not like. Before WW1 he had his own comfort fund from home to help people. Helped Boer War soldiers by sending balaclavas, mittens, scarves, cigarettes. Grandma (Beatrice) knitted a scarf for a solider when she was 8, and got a letter back which she still had in 1974. In WW1 he became involved in the Nottingham Guardian subscription fund which collected upto £2000 per day. Parcels sent to Germany containing dubbin, mittens, chocolate, cigarettes. Red Cross office in Washington Buildings on High Pavement (given by lace manufacturer). During WW1 there were 1200 Nottingham POWs, each of whom received a parcel every 5 days.

Armitages bought Allcocks. Polly Allcock disliked Henry Seely Whitby and persuaded the family to sell to Armitages rather than let John Whitby buy it for HSW. She was well off, lived in the Park and had a carriage.

Jesse Boot was about 10 years older than Seely Whitby, who knew him. BME Gee's grandmother lived a few doors away from Boot's first shop in Hockley, as did T Gee's family, but the two families did not know each other.

Seely Whitby was teetotal. He was a strong supporter of the Salvation Army. BME Gee said that her Grandmother Whitby used to say that General Booth (founder of the Salvation Army) was a relative, but she never learned the precise connection. Seely left money to lots of people, including the Salvation Army. He had a Salvation Army funeral, and was buried without a headstone.

Seely became Mayor of Nottingham unexpectedly when previous mayor died.

Seely used to say Whitbys came from Denmark, landing in Whitby. He was invited there 2/3 times but his wife would not go.

Father should have got MBE, but was probably too awkward. He was a champion of lost causes.

Electioneering until week before he died.

Henry married Elizabeth Ann Chettle, daughter of Samuel Chettle and Sarah Chettle (m), on 8 Jun 1891 in St Marys Church, Nottingham. (Elizabeth Ann Chettle was born on 19 Jun 1862 in Carlton Road, Nottingham and died on 18 Feb 1951.)