Richard Hotham

Sir Richard Hotham (October 5 1722 – March 13 1799) was an English eighteenth century property developer and politician who rose from humble origins to a position of some power and influence. He is especially noted for his development of the Sussex village of Bognor into a seaside resort. He was also sometimes called Hotham the Hatter, to mark his original humble trade.

Early life

He was born the youngest of five children in York in October 1722, but otherwise very little is known about his childhood. Having moved to London to become a hatter’s apprentice, in 1743, at the age of 21 he married Frances Atkinson, the daughter of his employer, in the chapel of the Royal Hospital, Chelsea.

By 1746 he was trading as a hatter in his own right from premises in Serle Street, Lincolns Inn, a few years later moving to new premises in The Strand.

Frances died in 1760, and the next year, at the age of 39 he remarried, to Barbara Huddart. It was at this time he became involved with the British East India Company, later working up to having a number of ships under his control. Also at this time he received his knighthood, at the relatively young age of 46.

Rise in society

Using the money he had made in this venture it was also at this time that he began his long association with property development, first buying land and buildings in Merton, South London, including a house for himself known as Merton Grove which has since been demolished to make way for South Wimbledon tube station.

During his time in Merton he was appointed a Magistrate, and Sheriff of Surrey but suffered a further setback in 1777 when Barbara died, leaving him a widower for the second time at the age of only 55.

In the next twist in his complicated career he began to be involved in politics, eventually becoming Member of Parliament for Southwark in 1780, a position he held for four years.

Association with Bognor

It was at this point in his life that he began to experience health problems, possibly as a result of years of exposure to the chemicals used in the hatters trade, and the stress of his political activities, coupled with losing his second wife. The captain of one of his East Indiamen, named Blanchard, owned a farmhouse on the Sussex coast near the tiny fishing hamlet of Bognor, and he suggested a stay in the clean seaside air would do him good, and so began Richard’s association with the place.

He found the climate of the south coast did him the world of good, and decided that he would like to have a house of his own there and accordingly bought a plot of land containing a farmhouse, near the sea. He then set about rebuilding the farmhouse as a comfortable villa which he named Bognor Lodge (this has since been demolished).

Following his own experience of the curative nature of the sea air, and the current trend for the gentry to resort to the seaside his property developing side kicked in, and with an eye to gaining some of the fame and wealth of places like Brighton and Weymouth he set about buying land in the area until eventually he had around 1600 acres in his ownership. Then the building started.

He built a number of large terraces of houses around the tiny hamlet, with the express aim of attracting the more well-heeled visitor to his new resort, the ultimate prize being to attract the King away from his favoured resort at Weymouth, or the Prince of Wales from Brighton.

Ultimately, this was to be unrealised, although minor members of the Royal Family were attracted to stay in the grand new Dome House, built overlooking Richard’s new house and grounds known as Aldwick Manor. Complete with private chapel and clock tower, this house still stands, now known as Hotham Park House, the chapel has gone but the clock remains.

Sir Richard Hotham died at Bognor in March 1799 and was buried at the parish church of St. Mary Magdalene at South Bersted, where to this day there is an annual wreath laying ceremony at his grave.

Legacy

Following his death the estate was broken up and in the intervening years many of his fine buildings have vanished, although some gems remain, including the Dome House, now part of the campus of University College, Chichester. The grounds of Aldwick Manor are now a public park known as Hotham Park, and although the name Hothamton did not long survive the man himself, the resort he founded, now known as Bognor Regis, has continued to attract visitors to the present day.

References

* [http://www.wimbledonguardian.co.uk/towninfo/memorylane/display.var.629301.0.the_ego_that_built_merton_place.php Biography] currently taken off the website
* [http://www.bognor-local-history.co.uk/article26.html Biography at Bognor museum]