Alexander Stuart Wortley (born 1899 in

York York is a cathedral city with Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. It is the historic county town of Yorkshire. The city has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a ...

, d. 1980), was an English

eccentric Eccentricity or eccentric may refer to: * Eccentricity (behavior), odd behavior on the part of a person, as opposed to being "normal" Mathematics, science and technology Mathematics * Off-center, in geometry * Eccentricity (graph theory) of a v ...

. A Royal Navy veteran, he served in the

Battle of Jutland The Battle of Jutland (german: Skagerrakschlacht, the Battle of the Skagerrak) was a naval battle fought between Britain's Royal Navy Grand Fleet, under Admiral John Jellicoe, 1st Earl Jellicoe, Sir John Jellicoe, and the Imperial German Navy ...

aboard HMS ''Agincourt'' as runner to Captain Thynne. Wortley died aged 80 having lived at least 25 years in a green painted box in a garden in Rowley Cottage,

Langley Park, Buckinghamshire Langley Park is a historic house and estate in Buckinghamshire, England. The parkland is currently known as Langley Park Country Park, and is open to visitors. The house, designed and built by Stiff Leadbetter, is a Grade II* listed building, and ...

, donated by his friend David Moreau. It measured 5 x 4 x 3 feet with an extension for his feet and, with wheels. He was quoted as saying, to keep women out. He paid no rent, rates or taxes and did not believe in insurance, pensions or governments. It was listed in the ''

Guinness Book of World Records ''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a reference book published annually, listing world ...

'' as the smallest residence of the world. Wortley was one of ten children; Four girls: Mary, Gladys, Selina and Kezia, and six boys; Leslie, Stanley, Charlie, Ronald, George and Alexander. His mother Mary was the 2nd wife of William George Wortley and she was one of the 35 women killed by the

Barnbow Barnbow was a small settlement situated near the city of Leeds in the township and parish of Barwick in Elmet. The site is noted as the location of a munitions factory founded during the First World War. It was officially known as National Filling ...

munitions explosion in 1916. He was one of the subjects of comedian Dave Allen in the 1974 ATV documentary 'Great English Eccentric'.

References

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b03n322v {{DEFAULTSORT:Wortley, Alex 1899 births 1980 deaths Royal Navy personnel of World War I