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Silver tongued charmer or arch swindler – Horatio Bottomley uncovered
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Silver tongued charmer or arch swindler – Horatio Bottomley uncovered
Location: East Sussex
Some jaundiced business commentators might say it is a thin line between a successful entrepreneur and a swindler – so was Edwardian MP Horatio Bottomley just a fat cat boss before his time? Or was there more to the man who has become infamous for his love of shrewd investment, horseracing and women?
Born in Bethnal Green in 1860, Bottomley lost his father at the age of three, then his mother six years later. He spent the next five years at Sir Josiah Mason’s orphanage in Birmingham. From this unpromising start, he left for London to work in a solicitor’s office. Although only 14 years of age, Bottomley quickly picked up a knowledge of legal matters which would serve him time and time again in future years.
Bottomley spent his early years working as a court shorthand writer, whetting his appetite for journalism. He founded a number of publications, most of which folded before making a profit. But Bottomley was not to let a little matter of failed business ventures stop him. Between 1901 and 1905, he had 67 writs and petitions for bankruptcy served against him. Here was a man whose self-possession and confidence – some would call it arrogance, even bloody-mindedness – set him apart from others.
He soon turned his attention to a parliamentary career, and was elected Liberal MP for Hackney in 1906. This was the year that he launched the John Bull magazine, a ferociously irreverent publication at the time.
Due to his numerous court appearances, where he insisted on representing himself, it was inevitable that he parted ways with the Liberal party. By 1912, he had to leave parliament, but his high profile and quick wit guaranteed him a position firmly in the public eye. There was nothing Max Clifford could have taught this shameless self-promoter. The silver-tongued charmer was so popular amongst the British public, who by now, were in thrall to his skirmishes with politicians and judges that he was returned as an independent MP in 1918.
It was Bottomley’s business acumen (or lack of) that led him to innumerable conflicts with shareholders. His most infamous venture was the Victory Bond Club. In the euphoric days following the end of the First World War, Bottomley was quick to seize upon the mood of the nation. At its height, queues of people were investing £100,000 a day in the dubious bonds. Police had to coordinate the hordes of people to form orderly queues; such was the wild popularity of the Victory Bond Club. However, chaotic organisation and commercial naivety led to colossal losses for the ill-fated venture. The small matter of Bottomley siphoning off investors’ money to buy controlling interests in two other newspapers did little to endear him to investors. Thousands of people lost money, although he attempted to return some funds to angry investors, accruing even greater losses.
The Victory Bond Club was one risky venture too many, and he was eventually convicted in 1922 on charges of fraud.
Never one to miss a captive audience, Bottomley stood in Bow Street Court, pointed to the sword of the figure of justice, and turning to the jury he said, “That sword would drop from its scabbard if you gave a verdict of guilty against me.” The sword did not fall and the jury took only 25 minutes to deliberate a guilty verdict. He received a seven-year prison sentence for “fraudulently converting to his own use sums of money entrusted to him by members of the public”.
Later, in Maidstone prison, a previous acquaintance came upon Bottomley, who was sewing mailbags. “Ah,” said the acquaintance, “sewing?” “No,” replied Bottomley, “reaping”. After his release from prison, he was not the same man, and died intestate in 1933.
Bottomley’s ability to make people smile, albeit ruefully, has pursued him beyond the grave. Loved by the British public, even his duped investors would look upon him with awe and reverence. One man, relieved of £40,000 said, “I have heard him speak. I won’t have you say a word against him. Anyone who says a word against Bottomley I will quarrel with. I am not sorry I lent him the money, and I would do it again”.
Which just goes to show, that everyone loves a bounder. And the more outrageous, the better.
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