Leslie Bonnet

Leslie Bonnet
Leslie Bonnet
Born	22 August 1902; Watford, Hertfordshire, England
Died	10 December 1985 (aged 83); Criccieth, Gwynedd, Wales

Welsh Harlequin Duck

, the only true Welsh duck breed.

Early life

Bonnet was born 1902 in

Cambridge University

, in 1920. He studied English and Law, obtaining a double first in 1923.

In the depressed 1920s, graduates were a glut on the market and he took a job selling "Watford" chocolates in Norfolk.^[1] He also stood as a Liberal parliamentary candidate in Watford but lost by a small number of votes.

Pre-war years

Bonnet worked for the

editor of the staff magazine – The Old Lady of Threadneedle Street^[2] Under his editorship, it became "a lively, absorbing journal of 200 sleek pages...packed with banking lore, poetry, literary articles, short stories and urbane correspondence, eagerly awaited and read by bankers all over the world."^[1] The December issues of the magazine became referred to as: "Uncle Leslie’s Bumper Christmas Annuals"^[3]

During this period, he also published the Honorary Secretary's Guide (1938).

In 1938 he joined the Balloon Barrage, the only military service opened to someone at his advanced age. On 1 May 1939 he left the Bank and was appointed an acting

Flight Lieutenant

.

War years

In late autumn of 1939, Bonnet was posted to 30 Group Headquarters in Charlotte near the

Wing Commander

Barnes. He was given responsibility for the 450 London balloons, for the movement of the numerous extra squadrons of them that they were assembling and seconding overseas; and for the planning and siting of any new barrages that were established at home. Another responsibility was the Channel Convoy; each ship in the convoy flew a balloon from its stern.

In 1942, he was abruptly sent to the

Wing Commander where he spent 5 months as the administrative second in command. At this time, he divorced his first wife, Getrude Olive May, and married Joan Hutt

, whom he had originally met when she exhibited at the Bank of England.

Chinese mission

Later in 1943, he was asked by

Communist

forces. Bonnet was also briefly captain of the Chinese Air Force football team.

Staff college

Its work completed, the

Wing Commander

, which he declined.

Short story writer

In 1949, Bonnet and his wife and family, along with 1,500 ducks and two dogs, moved to Criccieth in North Wales, where they had bought a ramshackle manor house with about 25 acres. They had 5 children including Lesley (b. 1944), Villette (b. 1945), Alice (b. 1947), Caroline (b. 1948) and Tom (b. 1951) and later numerous grandchildren.

In his adopted home of Wales, Bonnet had the opportunity to write; he published numerous short stories, principally for Argosy, as follows:

The Awkwardness of Chin-T’ang, (ss) Magpie Mar 1953;
Aye, and Back Again, (ss) Salmon & Trout Magazine (UK) Jan 1952
The Bounciful Bed Company, (ss) Argosy (UK) Mar 1964;
Brace of Pheasants, (ss) Argosy (UK) Jan 1959;
The Bride, (ss) Argosy (UK) Oct 1958;
Ch’iao-Chiao and the Bandit, (ss) Argosy (UK) Apr 1952;
Ch'ih Chih Yu Ku Yen Chih Ch'eng Li, (ss) English Rev Mag (UK) Mar 1950
Chinese Turtle, (ss) Argosy (UK) Jul 1958;
Delectable Whiskers, (ss) Argosy (UK) Nov 1953;
Devoted Concubine, (ss) Argosy (UK) Oct 1951;
The Disappointed Concubine, (ss) Magpie Sep 1952;
The Faithful Sing-Song Girl, (ss) Magpie Apr 1951;
The Friendly Generals, (ss) Magpie Sep 1951;
Game with a Goddess, (ss) Argosy (UK) May 1958;
The General Rejoins His Army, (ss) Magpie May 1953;
The Girl in the Green Tree, (ss) Argosy (UK) Jun 1964;
Heavenly Condescension, (ss) Argosy (UK) Aug 1964;
Lotus Flower, (ss) Argosy (UK) Dec 1956;
Mr. Hedderwick's Holiday, (ss) Argosy (UK) Jul 1954;
Mr Redcoat, (ss) in J. Pudney. Pick of Today's Short Stories 1960
Proud Lady Yun, (ss) Argosy (UK) Mar 1954;
Royal Monument Pavilion, (ss) Argosy (UK) Jul 1951;
Settled Out of Court, (ss) John Bull 1 Feb 1958;
Scamp, (ss) Veterinary Review (UK) Dec 1958
Settled Out of Court, (ss) John Bull 1 Feb 1958
Silken Lady, (ss) Argosy (UK) Apr 1953;
Silken Portrait, (ss) Argosy (UK) Jul 1960;
The Silken Screen, (ss) Argosy (UK) Sep 1957;
Ta-Ra-Ra Boom!, (ss) Argosy (UK) Aug 1956;
The Ticklehampton Stone, (ss) John Bull (UK) 1955
Tiger General, (ss) Argosy (UK) May 1951;
There are Two Sides to Every Question, (ss) Printers Prophet (UK) 1938
The Two Weddings of Ying Er, (ss) Magpie Aug 1951;
The Trigamist (ss) John Bull (UK) Sept 1955
White Snake Lady, (ss) Argosy (UK) Apr 1953
From a Welsh Valley, (ss) Salmon & Trout Magazine Sept 1952
It Won't Go Any Further (ss) Veterinary Review (UK) Dec 1961
A Wreath for Aunt Hannah, (ss) Argosy (UK) Oct 1956.

He also published plays, such as The Nine Fathers (1970), which won the Maynard Cup at the Wales Final Festival of One Act Plays in 1969,^[4] as well as books such as Chinese Fairy Tales (1958). The children's book The Terrible Nung Guama (1978) was a retelling of one of his stories. He also acted for a time as area representative of a large unit trust company^[1] and in 1963 was acting Hon Secretary, Council for the Preservation of Rural Wales, Caernarvonshire Branch.

Originator of the Welsh Harlequin Duck

While in

Aylesbury Duck and a Welsh Harlequin

.

As a result of his work with ducks, Bonnet wrote the book Practical Duck Keeping (1960), which was regarded as the "bible" of duck-keeping and is still in use even today. The British Waterfowl Association present a prize in his honour every year to someone who has made an outstanding contribution to British waterfowl.

Memorials

Leslie Bonnet died in December 1985, aged 83. He is buried in Criccieth Cemetery and there is woodland named in his honour close to Ymwlch, as well as a memorial bench on Garth Pier, Bangor.^[5] He was described in his obituary as a "countryman...rubicund, well-fleshed but never flabby, and abounding with energy".^[3]

References

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f "Pa-na-ta of ducks and drakes", by J.C. Griffith Jones. WESTERN MAIL, June 1961.
^ "A Domestic history of the Bank of England", by Elizabeth Hennessy, 1992.
^ ^a ^b "Leslie Bonnet", by Frank Dancaster. THE OLD LADY, June 1986.
^ "Winners of Wales Final Festivals of One Act Plays". Dramawales.org.uk. Retrieved 21 September 2012.
^ "Pier y Garth Bangor Garth Pier:: OS grid SH5873 :: Geograph Britain and Ireland - photograph every grid square!". Geograph.org.uk. Retrieved 21 September 2012.

[panata-1] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f "Pa-na-ta of ducks and drakes", by J.C. Griffith Jones. WESTERN MAIL, June 1961.

[2] "A Domestic history of the Bank of England", by Elizabeth Hennessy, 1992.

[dancaster-3] "Leslie Bonnet", by Frank Dancaster. THE OLD LADY, June 1986.

[4] "Winners of Wales Final Festivals of One Act Plays". Dramawales.org.uk. Retrieved 21 September 2012.

[5] "Pier y Garth Bangor Garth Pier:: OS grid SH5873 :: Geograph Britain and Ireland - photograph every grid square!". Geograph.org.uk. Retrieved 21 September 2012.

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