William Arthur Hamar Bass Vanity Fair 14 September 1905

Sir William Arthur Hamar Bass, 2nd Baronet (24 December 1879 – 28 February 1952) was a British racehorse owner and a significant contributor to the racing industry. He also provided support for the British film industry in its early days.

Biography

Bass was the son of Hamar Alfred Bass and his wife Louisa Bagot (1853–1942), daughter of William Bagot, 3rd Baron Bagot. His father's family traced its fortunes to William Bass, who founded the famous Bass brewery company. He was educated at

Harrow School Harrow School () is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school (English boarding school for boys) in Harrow on the Hill, Greater London, England. The school was founded in 1572 by John Lyon (school founder), John Lyon, a local landowner an ...

and started at

Trinity College, Cambridge Trinity College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any ...

, but appears to have decided to join the army instead. He was commissioned a second lieutenant in the 3rd Battalion, the

East Surrey Regiment The East Surrey Regiment was a line infantry regiment of the British Army in existence from 1881 until 1959. The regiment was formed in 1881 under the Childers Reforms by the amalgamation of the 31st (Huntingdonshire) Regiment of Foot, the 70th ( ...

on 14 April 1898. He transferred to the 10th (Prince of Wales's Own Royal) Hussars on 18 November 1899 and served in the

Second Boer War The Second Boer War (, , 11 October 189931 May 1902), also known as the Boer War, Transvaal War, Anglo–Boer War, or South African War, was a conflict fought between the British Empire and the two Boer republics (the South African Republic and ...

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from 1900 to 1902, attached to a provisional regiment of hussars, during which he was promoted to

lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a Junior officer, junior commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations, as well as fire services, emergency medical services, Security agency, security services ...

on 3 October 1900. Following the end of the war, he returned from

Cape Town Cape Town is the legislature, legislative capital city, capital of South Africa. It is the country's oldest city and the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. Cape Town is the country's List of municipalities in South Africa, second-largest ...

to England in the SS ''Maplemore'' in August 1902. In the First World War he served with the Reserve Regiments of Cavalry. He lived at Byrkley Lodge in the Tatenhill area of

Staffordshire Staffordshire (; postal abbreviation ''Staffs''.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England. It borders Cheshire to the north-west, Derbyshire and Leicestershire to the east, ...

. He succeeded to the baronetcy of Stafford in 1909 following the death of his uncle,

Baron Burton Baron Burton, of Burton upon Trent, Burton-on-Trent and of Rangemore, Staffordshire, Rangemore in the Staffordshire, County of Stafford, is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created in 1897 for the prominent brewer, philant ...

. Bass was first chairman of Provincial Cinematograph Theatres, which was founded in 1909 with the aim of opening a cinema in every town in the UK with a population of 250,000 or more. He also gave financial support to the London Film Company. However, Sir William (or Billy Bass as he was known) was most noted for his ownership of racehorses. He was a member and steward of the

Jockey Club The Jockey Club is the largest commercial horse racing organisation in the United Kingdom. It owns 15 of Britain's famous racecourses, including Aintree Racecourse, Aintree, Cheltenham Racecourse, Cheltenham, Epsom Downs Racecourse, Epsom ...

, was on the National Hunt Committee and joint Master of the Royal Hunt. He enjoyed his first success in the

Cesarewitch Handicap The Cesarewitch Handicap is a flat handicap horse race in Great Britain open to horses aged three years or older. It is run at Newmarket over a distance of 2 miles and 2 furlongs (3,621 met ...

in 1903 with Grey Tick, and also owned the horses Rosedrop, Cyllene and

Sceptre A sceptre (or scepter in American English) is a Staff of office, staff or wand held in the hand by a ruling monarch as an item of regalia, royal or imperial insignia, signifying Sovereignty, sovereign authority. Antiquity Ancient Egypt and M ...

. He was a Steward of the Pony Turf Club and was involved in the foundation of Northolt Park Racecourse in 1929. In 1947, along with others, Bass continued the family tradition of acting as a benefactor to the

Burton upon Trent Burton upon Trent, also known as Burton-on-Trent or simply Burton, is a market town in the borough of East Staffordshire in the county of Staffordshire, England, close to the border with Derbyshire. At the 2021 United Kingdom census, 2021 censu ...

area by donating a peal of five bells to All Saints Church to be installed as a war memorial.

Family

Sir William married Lady (Wilmot Ida) Noreen Hastings (1880–1949), second daughter of the 14th Earl of Huntingdon and a notable sportswoman,Lady Noreen Bass was most noted for snubbing Winston Churchill's mother Mrs George Cornwallis-West at the Newmarket races in 1909. See "Churchill Snubbed Because of Budget; Relatives and People of His Own Set Show Their Displeasure at His Diatribes. His Mother is also Cut Result Is That He Leans More and More to the Radicalism of Chancellor Lloyd-George." ''The New York Times'', Sunday 19 December 1909. Section: Special Cable News Section, Page C3, 1089 words

Retrieved 3 October 2007. in 1903, but died, aged 72, without having children, leading to the extinction of the baronetcy. He left his fortune to his wife's nephew, the trainer Peter Hastings-Bass, Peter Hastings (d. 1964) who changed his name to Hastings-Bass. Peter's eldest son William Edward Robin Hood Hastings-Bass (b. 1948) is the present and 17th Earl of Huntingdon.

Notes

References

A brief biography of Bass from a horseracing site

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bass, Sir William, 2nd Baronet Bass, William Bass, William 10th Royal Hussars officers Bass, William British Army personnel of the Second Boer War Bass, William British cinema pioneers People educated at Harrow School People from Burton upon Trent

William William is a masculine given name of Germanic languages, Germanic origin. It became popular in England after the Norman Conquest, Norman conquest in 1066,All Things William"Meaning & Origin of the Name"/ref> and remained so throughout the Middle ...