Bolitho ( , kw, Bosleythow) is a village in west Cornwall, and a Cornish surname. The Bolitho Family own large estates in west Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. The name ''Bolitho'' comes from the

Cornish language Cornish (Standard Written Form: or ) , is a Southwestern Brittonic language, Southwestern Brittonic language of the Celtic language family. It is a List of revived languages, revived language, having become Extinct language, extinct as a livin ...

words ''bos'', meaning 'dwelling', and ''Leythow'', a personal name. There is also a place called Bolitho in the civil parish of Menheniot.

Bolitho family

The surname Bolitho derives from this place. Some of the Bolithos were ″merchant princes″, the Bolitho family's growth to prominence started with Thomas Bolitho (1765–1868). The family were initially tanners, who moved into lime-burning and tin smelting before becoming bankers. The Bolitho Bank eventually merged with

Barclays Barclays () is a British multinational universal bank, headquartered in London, England. Barclays operates as two divisions, Barclays UK and Barclays International, supported by a service company, Barclays Execution Services. Barclays traces ...

in 1905, with William Bolitho becoming the director of Barclays. The arms of Bolitho are "Ermine on a plain chevron five bezants between two chevronels engrailed and three fleurs–de–lis Sable", with the motto "Re deu". The Paschal lamb in the borough arms of

Penzance Penzance ( ; kw, Pennsans) is a town, civil parish and port in the Penwith district of Cornwall, United Kingdom. It is the most westerly major town in Cornwall and is about west-southwest of Plymouth and west-southwest of London. Situated ...

derives from the tin smelting mark used by the Bolithos of

Gulval Gulval ( kw, Lannystli) is a village in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. Although historically a parish in its own right, Gulval was incorporated into the parishes of Ludgvan, Madron and Penzance in 1934, and is now considered to be a suburb ...

. The Old Inn, a public house in Gulval Churchtown, was given to the Coldstream Guards Association in memory of Capt. Michael Lempriere Bolitho and renamed "The Coldstreamer" (Capt. Bolitho was killed on HMS ''Walney'', a Royal Navy sloop; her task was to crash through the boom at the entrance to Oran Harbour in

Operation Torch Operation Torch (8 November 1942 – Run for Tunis, 16 November 1942) was an Allies of World War II, Allied invasion of French North Africa during the Second World War. Torch was a compromise operation that met the British objective of secu ...

on 8 November 1942). Sergeant Richard Bolitho, born 19 January, 1920, was a gunner in World War II and was one of the famous Dambusters of

No. 617 Squadron RAF Number 617 Squadron is a Royal Air Force aircraft squadron, originally based at RAF Scampton in Lincolnshire and currently based at RAF Marham in Norfolk. It is commonly known as "''The Dambusters''", for its actions during Operation Chastise ag ...

which carried out the raids on the German dams. Bolitho was killed, along with the rest of the crew, when their

Avro Lancaster The Avro Lancaster is a British Second World War heavy bomber. It was designed and manufactured by Avro as a contemporary of the Handley Page Halifax, both bombers having been developed to the same specification, as well as the Short Stirlin ...

bomber crashed on the outward journey. An independent school in Penzance,

Bolitho School Bolitho ( , kw, Bosleythow) is a village in west Cornwall, and a Cornish surname. The Bolitho Family own large estates in west Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. The name ''Bolitho'' comes from the Cornish language words ''bos'', meaning 'dw ...

, closed in 2017.

References

External links

Villages in Cornwall {{Kerrier-geo-stub