Henry Robert BOTHAMLEY
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Regiment
Rank / Number
Date of Birth
Date of Death
Grave / Memorial
Rainhill remembers on . . .
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King's Own Liverpool Regiment
Private / 3509
1889
23rd November 1916 aged 27
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Henry Robert Bothamley lived at Ash Tree House, 1 Owen’s Row, (Church Terrace) next to the Old Police Station, Warrington Road. His parents were William and Isabella and he had two brothers, Charles and William Harold and a sister, Janet. His father, William was a market gardener with his greenhouses behind the house.
William enrolled in Liverpool as a Private in The King’s Liverpool Regiment, 10th Battalion. His number was 3509.
He fought in France and Flanders and died of wounds on 23rd November 1916, aged 27. He is buried at Lijssenthoek Military Cemetery in grave X.C.13. He is also remembered in St. Ann’s churchyard on the family grave.
His Battalion War Diary quotes:-
“A most unfortunate accident occurred on 22nd inst. While the raiding party was practising live bomb throwing, a bomb exploded instantly killing 1 O/R and injuring 2 Officers and 11 O/Ranks. A Court of Inquiry was held the following day in which it was found that the accident could not have been avoided in any way and the whole thing being due to a faulty bomb”.
Was Private Bothamley the man killed in this incident? We shall probably never know.
Medal Entitlement: - 1915 Star, British War Medal, Victory Medal.
Visit by Rainhill High School
In 2015, two pupils and a teacher from Rainhill High School visited Lijssenthoek as part of a First World War Centenary Battlefield Tours Programme and found Henry's grave. Both pupils felt the visit made it easier to understand the scale of the war and the effect on a nation.
An article and photograph covering the visit appeared in St. Helens First magazine published by St. Helens Council.
An article and photograph covering the visit appeared in St. Helens First magazine published by St. Helens Council.
The family grave of the Bothamley family including the name of Henry Robert who was killed in action in France in 1916.