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Samuel Boddington JP (1850-1937)
The third son of Henry Boddington (b.1819),
a prominent cattle dealer, Samuel established himself as a dealer in woollens
and as a country squire with a fine house, appointed a Justice of the Peace
and was prominent in the local fox hunt. He was also a breeder of horses,
hunters and Shires, and collie dogs.
Samuel lived at Hillfield Hall, Solihull, built in
the 15th century and is a listed building, now converted to apartments,
as is the stable block adjoining. Samuel moved c.1917 to Widney Manor Farm
about two miles up the road, he extended the original cottages here and
named them The Chase. He bred Shire horses and dogs there until
his death in 1937 aged 86. Samuel was a member of the North Warwickshire
Hunt.
The Chase was bought by Captain Oliver Bird MC in
1937, he being of the Bird's Custard family.
Copies of the
fine picture (above) of our illustrious forebear, Samuel Boddington JP,
are held by several members of the family. He was my great grandfather.
The picture is based on a monochrome photograph and the prints were subsequently
tinted to make them into coloured pictures and then framed.
It is a very posed picture - Samuel on his
hunter in his hunting pinks, probably at the meet of the North Warwickshire
Hunt and believed to be in Warwick Park, in front of his car (I haven't
identified that yet, anyone know what it is?).
We believe the picture was taken in 1929. The man at the back of the
car is Hart, Samuel's groom and chauffeur. The man on the right walking
towards the car is said to be Baron
Willoughby de Broke .
However, the then Baron would have been, in 1929, only 33 years of age
and the man in the picture looks rather older than that.
Hart (sorry,
don't know his first name) later retired to a cottage in Saddle Bow Lane,
near Claverdon station, where he died probably in the 1960s. I remember
meeting him there when he was an old man. His son established a motor repair
garage and petrol pump in Claverdon, adjacent to the village green.
Samuel Boddington was a noted horse breeder. It seems that he bred hunters for some years, and c.1909 he began breeding Shire horses. He showed several of these and won many prizes for their quality.
See the further history page on Samuel
Boddington's children.
 Samuel Boddington & Sons Ltd
Samuel Boddington set up this company at 20-21 Cannon Street in the centre
of Birmingham. The brass office plate (right) and another were rescued
by Simon Boddington when the building was demolished in the 1960s. The
one shown was gifted to his brother's son and daughter in law. There was
a further branch at 66 George Street, Walsall.
Simon Boddington, Samuel's great grandson, began his
own career at the Cannon Street office and continued in the same
industry for the remainder of his working life in California, USA. He died there in 2019.
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Obituaries were printed in two Birmingham newspapers.
They were almost identical and I have merged the minor differences ...
MR. S. BODDINGTON.
DEATH OF BIRMINGHAM BUSINESS MAN.
 Mr. Samuel Boddington, founder of the firm of Samuel
Boddington and Sons, Ltd., woollen merchants, of Cannon Street, Birmingham,
died yesterday at his home, The Chase, Widney Manor, Knowle, aged 86.
The son of the late Mr. Henry Boddington, of Edgbaston,
he was educated at King Edward's High School. At the age of 21 he founded
the business that bears his name, and continued in it until his retirement
about 1900, when it was thought that he had but a few years to
live.
On his removal from Edgbaston to Solihull he devoted
himself actively to country pursuits, and became a noted breeder of shire
horses, his entries at leading shows in London and the provinces securing
many awards. His services as a judge of shire horses were frequently in
demand at the Henley show and elsewhere. While at Edgbaston he had been
a breeder of collie dogs.
Mr. Boddington was a member of the North Warwickshire
Hunt, with whom, at the age of 80, he was still hunting regularly [see
the picture at top, he is believed to have been 79 when that was taken].
During the war years he served at Solihull as chairman
of the War Savings Committee and Food Control Committee. He held many other
public appointments, among them Justice of the Peace for Warwickshire,
governor of Solihull Grammar School, and until recently vice-chairman of
the Midland Counties Institution, Knowle.
His wife, the daughter of the late Mr. Thomas Pask-Hughes,
died in 1930. He leaves a son and three daughters. Two sons were killed
in action during the war, and a third died in 1929. Mr Boddington is survived
by 14 grandchildren and five great-grandchildren.
The funeral will take place at Solihull Parish Church
on Wednesday at 12.15.
Page prepared by Tim Boddington (Webmaster),
great-grandson.
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