Horace Lampard Batten (17 June 1912 – 7 December 2014) was an English shoemaker and bootmaker, who supplied a wide variety of celebrities, royalty, service personnel and others over a career spanning many decades.

Family and early years

Horace Lampard Batten was born on 17 June 1912, the only child of Horace Batten. Batten's family had made riding boots since the early 19th century, with British cavalry units being one of their major customers historically. The elder Horace Batten moved to

Northampton Northampton () is a market town and civil parish in the East Midlands of England, on the River Nene, north-west of London and south-east of Birmingham. The county town of Northamptonshire, Northampton is one of the largest towns in England; ...

to set up a boot-making business there, and the younger Batten won a

scholarship A scholarship is a form of financial aid awarded to students for further education. Generally, scholarships are awarded based on a set of criteria such as academic merit, diversity and inclusion, athletic skill, and financial need. Scholarsh ...

to Northampton School for Boys. He was captain of the Northampton Saints rugby club, and later was on the books for

Northamptonshire Northamptonshire (; abbreviated Northants.) is a county in the East Midlands of England. In 2015, it had a population of 723,000. The county is administered by two unitary authorities: North Northamptonshire and West Northamptonshire. It is ...

in cricket as a professional, but made no first team appearances, having had to reduce his sporting commitments as the time demands of the boot-making business grew. At the age of 25 he took over the business from his father.

Second World War

During the Second World War the demand for cavalry boots and other riding boots took second place to other types of footwear more important to the war effort. Batten produced deck boots for

submarine A submarine (or sub) is a watercraft capable of independent operation underwater. It differs from a submersible, which has more limited underwater capability. The term is also sometimes used historically or colloquially to refer to remotely op ...

crews based on boots used by Norwegian fishermen, and boots for the

Women's Land Army The Women's Land Army (WLA) was a British civilian organisation created in 1917 by the Board of Agriculture during the First World War to bring women into work in agriculture, replacing men called up to the military. Women who worked for the ...

using soles made from industrial leather belting. The

King King is the title given to a male monarch in a variety of contexts. The female equivalent is queen, which title is also given to the consort of a king. *In the context of prehistory, antiquity and contemporary indigenous peoples, the tit ...

sent Batten a letter thanking him for his contribution to the war effort.

Post war

Batten's firm moved back to making riding and hunting boots after the end of the war;

fox-hunt Fox hunting is an activity involving the tracking, chase and, if caught, the killing of a fox, traditionally a red fox, by trained foxhounds or other scent hounds. A group of unarmed followers, led by a "master of foxhounds" (or "master of ho ...

s had been shut down during the conflict, but resumed hunting when it finished. The business remained strong for many years, but began to decline in the later decades of the 20th century. Batten's customers included showjumpers Nick Skelton and Harvey Smith, members of various royal families, and the wife of carmaker

André Citroën André-Gustave Citroën (; 5 February 1878 – 3 July 1935) was a French industrialist and the founder of French automaker Citroën. He is remembered chiefly for the make of car named after him, but also for his application of double helical ...

. He also produced a pair of size 14 black wax calf

jackboot A jackboot is a military boot such as the cavalry jackboot or the hobnailed jackboot. The hobnailed jackboot has a different design and function from the first type. It is a combat boot that is designed for marching. It rises to mid-calf or highe ...

s for

Dave Prowse David Charles Prowse (1 July 1935 – 28 November 2020) was an English actor, bodybuilder and weightlifter. He portrayed Darth Vader (voiced by American actor James Earl Jones) in the original '' Star Wars'' trilogy and a manservant in Stanl ...

to wear when playing Darth Vader in the

Empire Strikes Back ''The Empire Strikes Back'' (also known as ''Star Wars: Episode V – The Empire Strikes Back'') is a 1980 American epic space opera film directed by Irvin Kershner from a screenplay by Leigh Brackett and Lawrence Kasdan, based on a story ...

film. Batten married Barbara Harris in 1939; she died in 1997. Batten made his last pair of boots at the age of 99, and handed over the running of the business to his son Timothy and granddaughter Emma. Batten died on 7 December 2014.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Batten, Horace 1912 births 2014 deaths People from Long Buckby English centenarians Men centenarians Northampton Saints players Shoemakers