William Hume-Rothery, 1899-1968

Abstract

William Hume-Rothery was born on 15 May 1899. His hyphenated surname reflects his immediate ancestry; his grandfather, William Rothery, was a clergyman of advanced views, who married Mary Hume, an authoress, with whom he shared an interest in poetry. Mary was the daughter of Joseph Hume, who died in 1855. He was a Member of Parliament, of radical persuasions, a Freeman of the City of London, one of the founders of University College London, and was concerned in the development of the British Museum. He became a Fellow of the Royal Society, and was one of the movers of the 1832 Reform Bill. There is evidence that he was economyminded, particularly in relation to the Privy Purse, which did not particularly commend him to his Sovereign. William and his wife, who took the name Hume-Rothery, lived for some time in the North of England, but eventually, at about the time of William’s resignation from the Ministry, moved south to Cheltenham. Their son, Joseph Hume Hume-Rothery (our William Hume-Rothery’s father) was born in 1866, and lived at Cheltenham until his own marriage to Ellen Maria Carter. Joseph never went to school; he was educated by tutors, and it is a tribute both to him and to them that he took First-class Honours in Physics at London University (1886), became a Scholar of Trinity College, Cambridge, and was 16th Wrangler in 1890. He then read Law and was called to the Bar in 1893. After his marriage, Joseph and his wife moved to Worcester Park, Surrey, and it was here that William Hume-Rothery was born. Finding his work as a patents lawyer somewhat uncongenial, Joseph and his family returned to Cheltenham, where their son William, with two young sisters, spent most of his childhood