Edward William Treadaway Hoare
1864-1927
- Erstwhile "White Knight" Who Offered to Adopt Colin ("Trig"),
EWTH's Orphaned Son From His Third Marriage -
One of the early recollections of EWTH's son Colin ("Trig")
is particularly intriguing. One day in 1933, just after Trig's
10th birthday, a man called Sidney West appeared in a chauffeur-driven
limousine, apparently from out of the blue, at the Royal Masonic School
where Trig was a student. West asked for a tour of the premises,
specifying that Trig be his guide. It was six and a half years later,
in 1940, as Trig was departing for Canada, that he was told that West had
in 1933 offered to adopt him, officially, with full financial and social
support. The school had forwarded this offer to Trig's official guardian,
his mother's youngest brother Clifford Hooper, a resident of Canada,
with a strong endorsement, but Clifford wrote back refusing permission.
(Why he did so is not established, but Trig did have a small inheritance
which would eventually come under the control of his guardian.)
In conjunction with our research into EWTH's life, we've been able
to developed a body of knowledge about Sidney West, having been fortunate
enough to have made contact with Sue Parsons, the woman now living in
Sidney West's home, Garfield House; Sue was also researching West.
We've explored his history and ancestry, but no explanation for his interest
in Trig, nor any connection between the West and Hoare families (West was not a Mason) has
yet been found. Sidney was born in 1876, so was 12 years younger
than EWTH, and a decade older than EWTH's sons.
Sidney's grandfather the Reverend
Ebenezer West, and his father, Alfred West, had both been headmasters
of the Amersham Hall school, Caversham, Oxford. Sidney's mother died
when he was four; Sidney continued to live with his father;
his brother and sister were placed with different relatives (click here to view
the West family tree).
Sidney never married. In his mid-thirties he ended his
career as an auctioneer and bought a large dairy farm settled in Portslade
where he lived in partnership with his farm manager John Broomfield (to
whom he eventually left he bulk of his estate (click here to view
Sidney West's will)).
At a ceremony for the opening of the Boxing Club Gymnasium,
West was honored and his life reviewed. Here's an excerpt from the
program (click
here to view the full text):
The opening of the Mid-Sussex Amateur Boxing Club's new headquarters is an appropriate occasion to recall something of the man by whose generosity and foresight this whole project has been made possible, and at whose instigation the club was formed in 1938.
Sidney Herbert West was born at Caversham, Berkshire, in I876. From preparatory school at Guildford he went to Sr. Paul's School, London, and later Clifton College.
On leaving, he became an articled pupil with the very old firm of surveyors and valuers, Messrs. Humbert and Flint, at their Watford office. In 1900 he qualified by examination as a professional associate of the Surveyors' Institute and the following year became a partner in the firm of agricultural auctioneers and valuers known as Famcombe & West, practicing at Steyning, Sussex, and proprietors of the cattle market which still flourishes there (and now for very many years in the hands of Messrs. Harry Jas. Burt & Son).
Throat trouble put an end to Mr. West's career as an auctioneer, and in 1908 he took over North House Farm, Portslade, an extensive market garden and, at that time, dairy farm. Later he took into partnership his farm manager, the late Mr. John Broomfield.
Mr. West retired from active farming in 1925 when he came to live in Burgess Hill. He was a prominent member of the Southdown Hunt, upon the committee of which he represented the farmers for several years.
A great sportsman, his physical fitness marched with his keenness. He loved horses and hunting and was a keen swimmer. For some years he maintained a natural swimming pool near Burgess Hill, where he taught many boys to swim. Subsequently several of those who embarked on a wartime Services career found that they owed their survival to this early instruction in " Westy's Pool."
Always upright and forthright, Mr. West was a grand companion who found great happiness in putting his hand into his pocket for any worthy cause. Before his death in 1944 he made drawings for a club building which have been given close regard in the design of the new headquarters, and for the establishment of which he made such generous provision. May all who use this hall remember his goodwill to his fellow men.
When Sidney died in 1944, he was highly honored as a benefactor
of the community, having provided swimming facilities for the boys of the
community, founding a boxing club and sports center, and establishing a
trust to insure their continuation (click
here to read his obituary).
Sadly, the Sidney West Sports Center no longer exists.
In spite of vigorous community protests (click
here to see newspaper reports),
it was demolished in 1999 to make way for "progress".
Click here to view an index of the source
files for the Sidney West portion of the EWTH study.