BILL CHINN

WILLIAM BOOTHBY CHINN

15/08/1913-13/12/2005
Died: Aged 92

William Boothby Chinn aged 7 in Dinder, Somerset

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

William was born on 15th August 1913 to Arthur and Clara Elizabeth (nee Boothby) Chinn.  He was the youngest of 5 children, two of whom died during infancy.  Clara died during Will’s birth at 9 Elms Lane in Fareham, Hampshire on 15.8.1913.

Arthur Chinn and Clara Chinn
Arthur and Clara on their wedding day 24.12.1898

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

His step-mother, Amelia, formed an exceptionally close relationship with little William, which touched him until the end of his life, aged 92 years.

Amelia Priscilla Coombes-Gillingham married Arthur so that he had someone to look after Bill when his mother died.

 

 

 

Arthur Chinn
Arthur Chinn with his prize-winning bull at Spurlings, Pook Lane, Fareham Hampshire

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

William’s father was a cowman. When the family were at Spurlings Farm in Fareham, William cut part of his finger off in a chaff cutter – he was 4 years old.

At the age of 8 years, William and family moved to Dinder in Somerset, where his father again worked as a cowman.

Bill at Lyatt Cottage, Dinder, Somerset

 

 

 

 

 

William said, “When we moved to Lyatt Cottage in Dinder, it was like another world.  Woods all around us.  The Keeper lived not far away.  I spent a lot of my time shooting and ferreting with him. It was like heaven living there.”  Kelly and I sprinkled some of Bill’s ashes in the woods at Dinder.

Miss Norman Teacher at Dinder School in Somerset
Miss Norman – Bill’s teacher in Dinder, Somerset.
Miriam Chinn
Amelia and Arthur Chinn with daughter-in-law, Miriam Chinn, nee Smith, at The Mertyls, Biddenfield Lane, Wickham


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