Harry Batterbee
Sir Harry Fagg Batterbee
Early life
Batterbee was born in 1880 in Faversham, Kent in his parents' house at 62 Newton Road.[2] His father, Napoleon Batterbee, born in Lambeth, London, was the son of a compositor, and had come to Faversham in 1859 to teach at the District National Schools, which reportedly had a Europe-wide reputation for its excellent premises and progressive methods. Harry's mother, Sarah Elizabeth (née Fagg), was from a family of local grocers.
In 1890, Harry started his education at
Career
Batterbee was a career civil servant. He entered the Civil Service after graduating eventually specialising in handling Government relations with the
He and Harding wielded considerable influence from this office. In both 1930 and 1937 Batterbee acted as deputy secretary at the Imperial Conferences held in London; the latter of which was the last of its kind. In addition he carried out sensitive and largely unreported missions, such as to Newfoundland in 1933, after its government had collapsed under the weight of a severe financial crisis leading the British authorities to resume control of its affairs.
During this period he negotiated with Éamon de Valera, the Prime Minister of Ireland which was then known still as a Dominion. Valera strenuously worked towards gaining full independence and at one point Batterbee tried to stop British plans to impose import duties on Irish farm produce. Although he failed in the short term, duties were lifted after a couple of years. Domestically, Sir Harry reportedly played an important part in resolving the crisis that arose when King Edward VIII was advised that he should abdicate if he wished to pursue his plans to marry Mrs Simpson.
In 1939 Harding was appointed the
Later life
Sir Harry retired from the Civil Service in 1945 and began a period that was to last almost as long as his working life. He became Chairman of the British Antarctic Survey and the Batterbee Mountains in Antarctica were named after him. He also became a governor of his old Faversham school, and from 1961 to 1967 was chairman of the governors. He moved back to the town of his birth and joined the Faversham Society where he was instrumental in the struggle to avert Kent County Council plans to give the town an inner ring road.
On 3 December 1961 Sir Harry was driving on the Guildford to Horsham road at Bucks Green. He went on to the wrong side of the road and hit a group of cyclists from the Clarence Wheelers cycling club. Several were injured and two subsequently died. The case went to court on 23 January 1962 and Sir Harry was charged with careless driving. He was fined £10 and order to pay costs of £25 5s 6d. He was disqualified from driving until he passed his driving test, but it was said that he did not propose to drive again.[6]
He died in 1976 and was buried at Faversham Parish Church in September 1976.[1]
See also
References
- ^ a b c "Sir Harry Batterbee". The Times. 26 August 1976.
- ^ Dr Arthur Percival, Director, Fleur de Lis Heritage Centre, Faversham, Sir Harry Batterbee GCMG KCVO MA, published on Faversham.org > History > People > Sir Harry Batterbee GCMG KCVO MA
- ^ a b c d Andrew Stewart, Sir Harry Batterbee’s World: A Model Imperial Network, Defence Studies Department, King’s College London
- ^ Sir George Edward Gordon Catlin, For God's sake, go!: an autobiography page 30, (Publisher:Smythe), 1972
- ISBN 978-0-7146-1496-0
- ^ Cycling and Mopeds, 31 January 1962