John Benett-Stanford
John Montague Benett-Stanford, (1870–1947), cinematographer and landowner, was born at Pythouse, West Tisbury, Wiltshire, on 5 February 1870, the only legitimate son of Vere Fane Benett-Stanford (1839–1894), landowner and Conservative MP for Shaftesbury (1873–80), and his wife, Ellen (d. 1932).
He attended Eton College until the age of sixteen and was apprenticed to the London, Brighton and South Coast Railway
He served as a young officer in the Royal Dragoons until 1892, when he resigned his commission. From 1892 to 1900 he held the rank of lieutenant in the Royal Wiltshire yeomanry.
On 4 July 1893 he married Evelyn (1868–1957), daughter of Captain Burchall Helme of Broadfield Court, Leominster, and had two children: a son, Vere (1894–1922), and a daughter, Patience (1899–1904).
Benett-Stanford worked as a war correspondent and cinematographer in the Sudan campaign and the South African War.
Benett-Stanford was a customer of Holtzapffel and Co. He evidently wrote to them asking for the recipe for logwood stain, and a letter in reply politely pointed out that it was in the paragraph previous to that from which he had quoted! They also had 'pleasure to enclose our account which has been outstanding for some time, and for which we should be obliged if you would kindly send us a cheque.'[1]
First World War; he retired with the rank of lieutenant-colonel, but his major contribution to the war effort seems to have been lobbing rocks at conscientious objectors from the back seat of his Rolls Royce.
In 1904 he had been fined for assaulting a carter who had blocked the path of his motor car.
1906 As a member of the Board of Guardians of Devizes Lunatic Asylum (but not a frequent attendee at the Board meetings), he urged cuts in expenditure, based solely on comparison with provision at a neighbouring workhouse. He highlighted differences in staff numbers and salaries, and advocated reductions in the amount of bread supplied, and the replacement of 'extravagant' butter by margarine.[2]
Benett-Stanford died from heart failure at his home, Pythouse, Tisbury, Wiltshire, on 18 November 1947, and was buried at Norton Bavant.
See Also
Sources of Information
- [1] DNB
- Motoring Annual and Motorist’s Year Book 1903