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  Themes Homepage > Richard Bentley
 
Famous Slough
Richard Bentley

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Richard Bentley (1854-1936) was the last head of 'Bentley's', the famous publishing firm. The company was founded by his grandfather, also a Richard, and it published some of the works of Charles Dickens, Benjamin Disraeli, William Harrison Ainsworth, Wilkie Collins, Marie Corelli and other notable authors. The Mere, Upton Park, about 1920
The Mere, Upton Park, about 1920
 

Richard moved to Slough in 1860, aged 6, when his parents, George and Anne Bentley, moved from Shropshire and came to live at 2 East Villas, part of the Upton Park Estate. Once the building of their new home was completed in 1887, the family moved to The Mere in Upton Park.
 
Flood level marker stone in the grounds of The Mere, recording the flood level on the 17th November 1894.
Flood level marker stone in the grounds of The Mere, recording the flood level on the 17th November 1894.		 Richard took over the family business when his father died in 1895, and in 1898 the firm was dissolved and the stock and assets handed over to the company Macmillan. Richard then focused his time on expanding The Mere estate and studying local history, meteorology, botany and other sciences.
 
His interest in meteorology led to him being elected President of the Royal Meteorological Society 1905-1906, and he established a weather station in the grounds of The Mere. His publications included the 'Stray Notes on Slough & Upton' (1892), 'Some Historic Inns of Slough' (1924) and the privately printed 'Some Leaves from the Past', which included biographical information on the Bentley family.

Richard Bentley died at home in 1936, aged 82. There were no children from his marriage to Lucy, and Lucy continued to live at The Mere until 1961, when the house was sold. Lucy Bentley then moved to Windsor and died at the age of 95.

 The milestone gives distances to various towns and villages in the area as well as the distance to the sun!
The milestone gives distances to various towns and villages in the area as well as the distance to the sun!
 
 
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  Themes Homepage > Richard Bentley
 
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