Reginald Wolseley

Sir Reginald Wolseley, 10th Baronet

Sir Reginald Beatty Wolseley (31 January 1872 – 10 July 1933), 10th Baronet of Mount Wolseley in the County of Carlow,[1] eschewed his title and tried to enjoy anonymity and self-imposed exile as an elevator operator at a hotel in Waterloo, Iowa, US.[2][3]

Early years

Reginald Beatty Wolseley was born on 31 January 1872, the son of Cadwallader Brooke Wolseley, a physician and surgeon, and Katie Maria (née Beatty).[1] For someone who would later eschew his title, he grew up in a household of servants and maids,[4] was a cousin of Admiral Earl Beatty[2] and educated privately at Bedford Modern School.[5][6]

America

The young Wolseley left England in 1897 for the US, eventually becoming an elevator operator in a hotel in Waterloo, Iowa. He held the job on succeeding to the title in 1923 on the death of his cousin, Sir Capel Charles Wolseley.[2] Despite his change of circumstance, Sir Reginald preferred to keep his title a secret and simply be known as ‘Dick’.[2] He later attributed his failure to obtain a more suitable position to poor feet commenting "I might have been a go-getter but my poor feet wouldn’t stand any rushing about".[2]

Family matters

In May 1930, Dick’s secret came out. His mother’s dying wish was for her nurse, Miss Marion Baker, to visit Sir Reginald and persuade him to return to England. A day after her arrival in Iowa, Sir Reginald married Miss Baker, a lady eighteen years his junior. The day after the marriage, Miss Baker returned to England on the express understanding that Sir Reginald would follow after he had ‘straightened up his elevator affairs’. Unfortunately for Miss Baker, Sir Reginald was 'too attached to his lift and refused to budge',[2] obtaining a divorce on the grounds that his wife ‘harassed him’ with telegrams of persuasion to return to England. Undaunted, his ex-wife returned to Iowa to again persuade him to leave, a feat she achieved in January 1932 when the divorce was set aside and Sir Reginald and his wife set sail for England.[2]

Sir Reginald died in Devon in 1933.[2] His cousin, William Augustus Wolseley, succeeded to the baronetcy.[1]

References

  1. 1 2 3 Who Was Who, Published by A&C Black Limited
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 http://archives.chicagotribune.com/1933/07/11/page/22/article/elevator-boy-baronet-of-iowa-dies-in-england
  3. ↑ Obituary, Chicago Tribune, 11 July 1933
  4. ↑ 1881 England Census for Reginald B. Wolseley
  5. ↑ "The Literary Digest". google.co.uk. Retrieved 4 July 2015.
  6. ↑ Kelly's Handbook to the Titled, Landed and Official Classes, Published 1928


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