by Ron Woodlands

How much do we know about the real Harry Preston? His books give little away about his private life or his views on the issues of the day, so we’re left to read between the lines…

A Generous-Hearted Extrovert?

Unfortunately, neither of Harry’s books touches on his private life and he barely mentions either his wives or daughters or, of course, Lily. The glossy anecdotes about famous people and his recollections of his early business and sporting careers are all we have to go on to construct anything of a real person; to get inside the actual Harry. Harry Preston was most things I am not, an extroverted lover of sport, and of society and social gatherings generally. One of the reasons I originally viewed the story of him being my grandfather with some doubt is that, once I had learnt a little of his character, it was obvious very few of his genes could have been passed down to me. Being by nature introverted I have spent much of my life avoiding company where possible, and while having engaged in sport at times in the past, most of it now bores me to tears except for rugby. Harry achieved success through his ability as an hotelier, his interest in the people around him, and his ability to mix with all and sundry. He was obviously a generous hearted man who, over the years, built up a reputation and a circle of friends and acquaintances amongst the rich and famous of his day, something which he obviously enjoyed, but which also benefited him tremendously in his chosen trade and assisted his work on behalf of various charities.

His writings reflect his interest in people, mainly being a series of stories and anecdotes about the characters, mostly, but not exclusively people from the upper echelons of society, whom he had met during the course of his long career in the hotel industry. Apparently, because of his success as an after dinner speaker and general raconteur he was asked to write his memoirs, but because he had never kept a diary his recollections seldom carry any dates or even references to the great events from which approximate dates can be appended. Unfortunately, they tell us little about his personal life, or the historical happenings going on around him at the time, or what he or his mates thought about those happenings. This guy lived through great chunks of history and yet we only get a sort of early version of “Hello” interspersed with “Sporting Life” from his memoirs. London, his ‘pleasure ground’, seethed beneath the surface with controversy and rebellion against the established order, and yet of this we hear nothing! Still, that’s me commenting from my perspective, and I suppose he never set out to comment on history or social issues, but merely to entertain the people of his own set in an uncontroversial manner. So there is surprisingly little to go on in any real assessment of Harry, and I am probably completely the wrong person to attempt it – but I’ll have a go.

The Risk Taker

Behind the extroverted people lover, there was a tough, resilient, risk taking, and probably ruthless, entrepreneurial Harry. His physical toughness is unchallengeable when you look at his early life, and really the whole of his history, but when you consider his first years at Bournemouth and Brighton there is evidence of the mental ruthlessness necessary to push his way up the ladder. The huge loan which he lumbered himself with, his nerve in moving it to another bank when the first bank manager called it in, and his confidence in his own ability to succeed in the early days, when everything could quite easily have gone pear shaped, all demonstrate this. And while taking a mistress may have been normal for the top echelons of society, even some sort of badge of honour, it is doubtful if Harry was quite in that league. Probably setting Lily up as his mistress and creating the Woodlands family was as risky for him as some of his early business ventures. He could have been on the edge, dealing as he was with the difficult early building of his hotel enterprise, while juggling the family requirements of a wife and daughter, and a nearby mistress and two children. That must have been really tough stuff! His first wife died in 1913, but if he didn’t come clean with his second wife, Edith, when he married her in 1914, then he would have been living with the knowledge that his secret could have been exposed at any time until he died.

A Tough Guy & Victorian Gentleman

Harry’s outward philosophy obviously fitted in with the culture of the class he was providing a service for: patriotic, reactionary, viewing with horror anti- establishment figures such as conscientious objectors or strikers, and with adoration the top echelons of society such as royalty. If he deviated in any way from this upper class culture he was unlikely to have said so, but my guess is that he was the conventional Victorian gentleman in his outlook, at least from the time he moved to Bournemouth. At the same time he obviously derived some roots from the working class and possibly criminal culture of the East End pubs he ran in his early working life. So I guess I can say that my grandfather was a tough little sod who fought his way up from nowhere near the bottom, but near enough to make it quite an achievement, and lived life among the elite without being compromised. As far as we know, he did nobody much harm, but did a considerable amount of good through enterprises which provided jobs, and philanthropic endeavours which helped a lot of people at the bottom end of the pile.

Born to Succeed?

As a point of interest, I discovered another viewpoint on the Internet, from the Brighton and Hove archives. This was by somebody who called himself ‘the sage of Sussex’ and was published in March 2000:

“The most boastful book I ever read was by Sir Harry Preston, celebrated owner of two hotels in Brighton before the last war.. Sir Harry rescued the moribund Royal Albion and Royal York Hotels in Old Steine and made them places to be in Edwardian times.. He attracted famous film stars, authors, sportsmen and aviation pioneers to his hotels. He put Brighton back on the map when it had been sliding into oblivion.. But what was he like and how did he do it? All I had were a few yellowing newspaper cuttings and one or two articles which gave little clue.. But when I read Memories, all was revealed. His swaggering, self-confident manner made him born to succeed and despite an unappealing physical appearance, he had the charm to attract celebrities.”

Swaggering, self-confident manner, yes. Born to succeed no. He made himself succeed. Unappealing physical appearance – no. The photograph of him from 1886 is quite appealing, and most of the other pictures are from a much later time when the ravages of time are evident, as with most people in later life. And there seems to be a reasonable consensus that Harry actually did rescue both Brighton and his hotels from the doldrums, and for that sort of operation no doubt he needed a bit of swag. But what is interesting is that Harry, who died in 1936 a lifetime ago, is still being talked about by anybody – something which happens only to those who touch history in some way.

Prepared to take the Punches

He was a gutsy little bastard, and like most gutsy little bastards he could be cocky with it. But even I, mentally constructed as I am at such odds to him, have to admire him. In his younger days he was quite prepared to turn himself into a human punch-bag in order to win, and he carried that philosophy into his later business life. He was a winner, but only because he was prepared to take the punches!

Part of a series: The World Of Harry Preston by Ron Woodlands