Bonteins, Killearn

Within the walls of the ruins old Killearn Kirk sits a stone commemorating

four generations of the Bontein Family.

The stone is pegged against the south wall, the inscription listing only male members of the family.

The inscription reads:

In memory of Lieutenant-Colonel

Sir JAMES BONTEIN,  Younger of Balglass

Born 1749, died 1819

And of his sons

EDWARD BONTEIN, Captain 92^nd Highlanders

Born 1785, died 1819

And JOHN PITT BONTEIN, Captain 1^st Life Guards

Born 1788, died 1859

And of his grandsons

JOHN BONTEIN, Colonel H.M. Bengal Army

Born 1809, died 1878

And JAMES BONTEIN, Gentleman Usher to Queen Victoria

Born 1821, died 1884

And of his son

JAMES SHELLEY BONTEIN

Sometime of Glencruitten, Argyll

Born 11^th November 1859, died 31^st October 1921

Whose ashes are interred below

Rather than start ‘at the beginning’, this time, this story will start at the last person listed

on the inscription and work backwards in time as much as possible.

The last name to be inscribed on the gravestone is that of James Shelly Bontein

Sometime of Glencruitten, Argyll

Born 11^th November 1859, Died 31^st October 1921

James was born on November 16^th 1859, eldest child and only son of James Bontein,

Gentleman Usher and Clerk of the Robes to Queen Victoria and Katherine Cecelia Shelley

He had one sister, Eva Louisa Bontein, born 1861

His birth was registered in Chelsea in the Jan/Feb/March quarter of 1860

(Date of birth on the gravestone as 11^th November 1859)

The family can be found living at 97 Onslow Square, Kensington,

Borough of Chelsea, London on the 1871 Census

with their Great-Grandmother Frances Shelly

Details as follows:

Frances Shelley, Head, Widow, age 83, Dowager Lady Shelley, Landowner,

born Preston, Lancashire

James Bontein, Grand-Daughter’s Husband, age 50, Retired from the War Office, born Norfolk

Katherine Bontein, Grand-Daughter, age 30, born Ramsgate, Kent

James S. Bontein, Great Grandson, age 11, Scholar, born Chelsea, Middlesex

Eva L. Bontein, Great Grand-Daughter, age 10, Scholar, born Chelsea, Middlesex

Eva Louise Bontein married Col. Hon. John Schomberg Trefusis on July 19^th 1883.

(She died August 20^th 1949)

James married widow Emilie Josephine Stanley, nee Edwards in London in December 1889

The couple were to have no children.

The Electoral Registers list some places of residence as follows:

1892 – 12 Clarges Street, Westminster

1894/1896 – 13 Clarges Street, Westminster

1910 – 21 Bolton Street, Westminster

1914/1915 – 31 Montagu Square, Westminster

1921 – 5 Chesham Mansions, Chelsea & Deptford

In one online article, he has the letters F.S.A., after his name, indicating that he was a

Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland.

(A Society pursuing the study of antiquities and history of Scotland)

He was educated to Marlborough College, Wiltshire, England

Commanded his Regiment (WW1) 1915-16

Adjutant Haddingtonshire Vol. Corps 1917-18

Served on the Staff of the General Officer, Forth Garrison 1918-1919

Was a Member of the Royal Company of Archers (King’s Body Guard for Scotland)

Justice of the Peace for Argyllshire

Major James Shelley Bontein of Glencruitten in the uniform of the Royal Company of Archers

Glencruitten Golf Course formed part of the estate owned by James Shelley Bontein

and during WW1 was on the brink of being returned to agricultural land was retained as a rest

and recuperation facility for service personnel based in nearby Oban,

the Club House having been commissioned in 1907.

Glencruitten Club House

James was a Director of The Straits Mortgage and Trust Company Limited (formed in 1909)

from 1909 until his death in 1921. His name appears frequently in their online publication

‘A History of Scottish Mortgage, A Centenary Retrospective’, see:

http://www.bailliegifford.com/documentgateway.aspx?_id=%7B14EAF278-F6B3-47C4-BA16-FB26AF9B4864%7D&disclaimer=ok

James Shelley Bontein’s Death Certificate verifies his date of death, that he was 61 years old

and was a retired Major of the Lothian & Border Horse Yeomanry.

He was the son of James Bontein, Gentleman Usher to the late Queen Victoria

and Catherine (or Katherine Cecelia) Shelley.

There is no mention of a wife on the certificate, so the informant, Butler Allan McGill may not have

known that his employer was married.

‘If’ this house is ‘the’ Gatehouse in which James died,

then it’s value at the beginning of 2013 was ‘offers over’ £1.1 million pounds.

The whereabouts of wife Emilie Josephine is unknown.

Quoting from James Shelley Bontein’s Will, he says:

 “I direct my Trustees to have my remains cremated and in order to prevent the possibility of

any mistake arising as to whether I am dead or not, I direct my Trustees before my body is

placed in the coffin, to employ a competent surgeon to sever one of my vital organs and to obtain

a certificate from him to the effect that he has done so and that it is an absolute impossibility that

I could be in life: I also express the wish, while leaving the question of my place of burial open,

that my name should be added to the family Memorial Stone which stands against the wall

inside the old ruined Church at Killearn, Stirlingshire, under the name of my Father, James Bontein:

And I request my Trustees to arrange accordingly if practible and I suggest the following inscription:

“And of the Latter’s only son,

James Shelley Bontein of Glencruitten, Argyllshire, born 1859 Died …”

James left around forty thousand pounds.

A Death Notice appears in an English Newspaper in 1945 and reports that Emilie Josephine Bontein,

widow of Major Shelley Bontein died at Folkstone on 1^st November 1945 aged 97.

The parents of James Shelley Bontein were:

James Bontein, born 22^nd March 1822, Dorset or Norfolk

Gentleman Usher and Clerk of the Robes to Queen Victoria

Son of John Pitt Bontein of Balglass and Loiusa Phillipa Ball*

Died 16^th October 1884 (age 63) at St James’ Palace, Westminster, London

and

Katherine Cecelia Shelley, born c1837, died 1902

Daughter of Adolphus Edward Shelley and Amelia Hinchcliffe

(Katherine subsequently married Major General Francis Edward Drewe in 1885)

James Bontein Senior was appointed Groom of the Privy Chamber on 8^th January 1874

(Source: Household of Queen Victoria, List of Appointees)

*As well as son James born in 1822, John Pitt Bontein and Louisa Phillipa Ball

 had an additional 3 (known) children:

John Pitt Bontein, born 27^th September 1817, Christened 9^th October 1817, London

John Pitt Bontein, born 10 November 1818, Christened 27^th March 1819, London

Mary Trant Bontein, born 9^th December 1826, Christened 21^st November 1827, London

The remaining ancestors inscribed on the stone are a challenge for another day as many

births/baptisms/marriages and death dates do not seem to correspond with dates listed

on searcheable databases.

Below is a miniature portrait of Lady Bontein, wife of Sir James Bontein of Balglass,

thought to be c1800.

Whatever the connection, or if there is indeed a direct connection with the Kirk or the village of

Killearn itself remains, (for the moment) yet another mystery to be solved!

www.memento-mori.co.uk