I was intrigued that Sir Walter Barttelot , the military attache in Tehran, appears on our local war memorial as having died in action 23/10/1918. Unaware of any action in that neck of the woods I started digging.
I found a letter on the internet by Gertrude Bell that states he was "murdered in his bed by a jealous husband", a consul named Maclaren. Further research found a consul named Charles Walter de Bois Maclaren. He was a nephew of a wealthy publisher WF deB Maclaren who later donated a sizeable sum of money to the early Boy Scouts to buy Gilwell Park. Charles had a brother, William F.E. who was an RFC pilot who survived the war and appears to have lived in his uncles house in Scotland upon his death in 1921. The question is what happened to Charles, can find nothing else on the internet and don't have time to trawl paper records. Was he bought to justice or did he disappear to South America with some of his Uncles fortune? Have put the de bois Maclarens on a public Ancestry tree, any budding Morse or Lewis's out there?

Such an incident would be reported in the newspapers. Some of which are available on line.

aj
Died In Action seems appropriate.

There is no mention of the incident in the Official History index.

Happy Hunting

Harry

If the supposed murderer was a diplomat or some sort of foreign office official there should be some record of him.

No mention of the manner of his death in The Times...

Click to view attachment

The only Google hit on anything resembling murder is the account in the letter by Gertrude Bell. Surely though, given he was a baronet and held an important position, there would be more on this if he really was murdered...?

Charles Walter de Bois Maclaren died in 1933 and is listed as a "newspaper proprietor" http://www.london-gazette.co.uk/issues/34018/pages/637

He was admitted to the indian Army on probation 1918 http://www.london-gazette.co.uk/issues/30759/pages/7333

Vice-Consul at Bitlis Dec. 20, 1914 http://www.london-gazette.co.uk/issues/29026/pages/47

Hmm I'm not sure how credible Gerturde Bell can be on this.

The quotation comes from a letter printed in full at http://www.gerty.ncl.ac.uk/letters/l1294.htm

In it, she recounts the tale as follows...



However, she is writing this two days after the event not from Tehran but from Baghdad. From "Mrs Maclaren, left Tehran a month ago and passed through here on her way to England ... I didn't see her in Baghdad" it is clear that she hasn't been in Tehran herself for quite some time, so can't have known any of this first-hand.

Perhaps the lack of record after this letter suggests this was just some unfounded gossip that quickly died down once the facts were known?

There is quite a bit of information on Gertrude Bell the writer of the letter claiming it was murder on Google.

Strange that the article makes no mention of the manner of his death. I would expect some mention, at least in the body of the paper as a news item. Extra marital affairs were not at all unknown but as long as they did not result in divorce, it seems that they were ignored by the press. The Establishment would be very keen to stifle any whiff of scandal involving the Embassy. Too bad that the Consul was not prepared to play the game, what?

These are not our man, there are two Walters who were relatives , one a planter in Malaya, one a pubisher of India rubber weekly !

You can find Gertrude Bell's letter + others + her diaries here-
http://www.gerty.ncl.ac.uk/

I too was sceptical, but we have dead attache described as killed and no alternative explanation so far.

There was another Sir Walter Barttelot killed in Tehran on the same day?

Sorry Jon, I replied to the wrong post. There was only one Sir Walter Barttelot.
I was referring to Walter Addison de Bois Maclaren publisher d 1933 and Walter de Bois Maclaren b1890 Indian Army and rubber planter. Both I think cousins of Charles Walter de Bois Maclaren.
What is the collective noun for a group of Walters!

Have found a second source for the story , memoirs of Lionel Dunsterville , he mis spells Barttelot bartthttp://www.gwpda.org/Dunsterville/Dunsterville_1918.html
May 14th
Left 9 a.m. for Teheran, arrived 5 p.m. A very ugly, barren, road, parallel to the Elburz Mountains - capable of wonderful fertility if irrigation were not just left to chance. Our entry into Teheran caused some interest - the sign of the new régime - the first glimpse of a British General in uniform. The crowd had a good chance of admiring us as we were help up for a long time by the police asking all sorts of questions at the barrier. Then through a dusty and rather squalid city and thence into the Legation Garden - one of the beautiful gardens in the world - as near as possible a Paradise on earth. They have an Austrian gardener! Chenar trees, lawns, fountains and ponds with water lilies, roses, etc. - not only very beautiful, but such a contrast to the nasty surroundings. Teheran is heavenly, but is an abode of devils. Lady Marling ill in bed, Sir Charles is really an invalid. Grand Duke Dimitri Pavlovitch has been living with them for a year - a sort of refugee, 25 years of age, nice looking, but soft and no use to the dynasty. Also met General and Mrs. Polovtsev. Both very young, and she very pretty - the usual Russian worldlings and probably a bad lot. (Bartellot was afterwards killed by the Consul, Mc.Laren, for making love to his wife) Bartellot I was glad to see (Mil. attaché) also Stokes my G.S.O. I. Scott, the first Secretary, Havard Consul, Etter Russian Member, Lecomte French (Eulenburg scandals!) Caldwell, American Col. Staroselsky, commanding the Persian Cossacks. I was tired to death during my stay in Teheran, because there was never quiet one moment. Ride with Bartellot before breakfast, then interviews without ceasing till dinner time, then the other sort of dinner party interview with each of the invités, and bed at 1.0. I like French ladies because they curtsey to me when they are introduced and they make me feel Viceregal! A wonderful cuisine with an Italian chef - everything done in quite the nicest way. I think Teheran is a nasty place. A nightingale sings outside my bedroom at night and there is an atmosphere of lilies and languor and love in the air, which, with no proper outlet, leads people to be rather nasty. The place is full of Russian Officers who drink and gamble for huge sums at the Imperial Club with Persian noblemen and any bounder with money to be squeezed. I was glad to leave Teheran on Friday 17. Left Kasvin on Saturday 18th, and arrived at home by Hamadan at 7 p.m. same day. I was very tired and brought with me a collection of prisoners - Austrian, German and others. I had to share my car with the Hungarian officer prisoner's wife and baby - she had to pull up the car at every mile and be sick. And a very pretty officer's wife, Sokolov, en route Baghdad. It was a dreadful arrival with one lady sick and one in hysterics and no one to meet us and no arrangements made. I ran them both into Mrs. Funks drawing-room (hard on a missionary lady) while I ran round to arrange things. I was dog tired, but had to go to a concert that had been especially postponed for me. It was quite hot in Teheran and here it is just a warm spring - we want half warm clothes and half summer clothes. 4th party arrived at 11 a.m. 50 officers, 150 N.C.Os, Australians, New-Zealanders, Canadians, South Africans - a fine lot, but tough, commanded by Daisie's bother, Bob Keyworth.

Interesting that they had a bob each way with his death certificate - he is listed both under "Consular Deaths 1916 - 1920" (Tehran page 948) and "War Deaths Army Officers 1914 - 1921" (1918 Vol O.7 page 58) - if anyone is intrigued enough to invest seven pounds

SDGW records - Killed

Also - the eldest son who was at Eton was a high ranking WW2 casualty - from the Army Roll of Honour 1939 - 1945 (as CDGW is down)

Name: Walter De Stopham BARTTELOT
Branch at death: Other Corps, Etc
Regiment, Corps etc.: Staff (Colonels & above), except: RAMC, RAOC, REME & RAPC
Branch at 01/09/39: Foot Guards
Regiment, Corps etc.: Coldstream Guards
Last name: Barttelot
First name(s): Walter De Stopham
Initials: W D S S SIR DSO
Birthplace: Hampshire
Residence: Sussex
Rank: Brigadier
Number: 30663
Date died: 16 August 1944
Theatre of war: Western Europe Campaign, 1944/45

The link on Geoff's Search Engine says - CDG 6TH GUARDS TANK BDE

thepeerage.com confirms that he was the eldest son

Cheers
Sue

It seems surprising that he comments on the event five months before it occured yet does not mention it on the actual date it happened.

It seems to me, an outsider, that the multiple mentions of him being "killed", a provocative term, without the official-type sources mentioning any circumstances, suggest something dishonorable that the "old boy's club" would want to obscure in the public sphere. I have just read a good biography of Gertrude Bell and she certainly was a remarkable person and who probably knew more about what was going on in the Middle East than any five males one could pick, and seemingly not the sort of person to busy herself with idle gossip and rumor. You also have to appreciate that she had either a good or a superb command of the major languages of the area, including Persian, and had innumerable contacts and good friendships with the "locals", so she had multiple sources of information other than the usual British officials, I would give her account of such an event great credit.

Bob Lembke

Having read some of Gertrude Bell's diaries and letters it becomes apparent that she was the most appalling snob. Certainly such an occurence would be well known, it would be unlikely to be swept under the carpet. I think we are dealing with gossip and tittle-tattle in this case no more.

I will stump up the £7, how do we order it?

Gossip and tittle tattle was what the upper classes did with their spare time but there were certain unwritten rules. These sort of stories may have been wide spread but only in certain circles. Without evidence, no English paper would have dared to print the full story. " Not in front of the servants" was not a joke, it was a reflection of how society operated at the time.

Too true, the abdication was kept out of the UK press until the last minute. The Maclarens were certainly nouveau riche, having been jobbing printers in Glasgow in the 1860's, hence Bell's comments about a class Z person. I am fairly sure something has been covered up here.

I do not have the advantage of reading her papers unedited, but did just digest a giant biography. Perhaps she was an "appalling snob", but that does not discredit what she wrote, I would think. She had top honors at Oxford, I believe, was outstanding in many fields, exploring, mountain climbing, archeology, spoke about a dozen languages, most of them very, very well, and as I said, probably knew more about what was going on in the Middle East than ony 5 or 10 British males. She also was in the 6th richest family in the UK. She seemed to be, all her life, and with the rest of her family, deeply concerned with the workers, the poor, etc., in an upper-class sort of way. I don't think she had a lot of time for fools. (Interestingly, she did not believe that women should have the vote, despite being a major in the British Army, a delegate to the Peace Conference, and probably the creator of Iraq as a country. Good idea?)

Were there a lot of women majors in combat theatres in the British Army in say 1915?

Bob Lembke

Still digging away at this story. The following quote was found by searching on Google books (under "more" on tool bar)
From "The Soviet Socialist Republic of Iran 1920-1921" by Cosroe Chaqueri (not on my bed time reading list)
"Maclaren had a strange fate. It was reported that he shot and killed Colonel Barttelot , the British Military attache at Tehran over a "family" issue. Trying to take his own life, he shot himself in the leg and was hospitalized: he was sent to England for trial. (Caldwell report, October 15 1918, USNA 891.00/1092)"
Slightly odd in that Barttelot died on the 23rd October. Now looking for any sign of a trial, nothing so far.

Rather convenient death from a leg wound. Avioded a lot of messy stuff. Was the "Old Boys' Club" closing ranks?

Bob

I now see from ancestry.co.uk that Maclaren had three daughters born in 1916, 1922 and 1924. He is supposed to have died in Switzerland in 1936. I presume the whole business was swept under the carpet
and he lived in exile on family money. As he has living relatives, I will consider the case closed; an interesting footnote to the last week of the Great War.

I searched for evidence of a trial or any report in the newspapers but there was none. As suicide was a criminal offence up until 1960 could this be what he was being sent home for trial for. The main reason for Gertrude Bell's accusation against Maclaren seems to be that she took an instant dislike to him. Given the political turmoil in the region at the time the assassination of Barttelot could have been by anyone with a grudge against the British administration. The only accusation current with the event is Gertrude Bell's, Cosroe Chaqueri makes it pretty clear that what he wrote about the events of the time were 'second hand' and the diaries that mention it were clearly written a long time after the event.
If he did murder Barttelot there seems to be little evidence of guilt, if it went before a jury based on Gertrude Bell's evidence it would be laughed out of court.
The Maclaren who died in Switzerland in 1936 is not our man. Walter Mclaren died in London in 1933.

accept your points but there are three independent sources: Bell, Caldwell (an american colonel quoted by Chaqueri) and Dunsterville (who confirms Caldwells presence), all of whom knew Barttelot. Whilst they are all heresay, I can't see what they would gain by making the story up.
Charles Walter de Bois Maclaren was a British consul in Persia and died in Switzerland around 1936. His relative Walter Addison de Bois Maclaren was a publisher and died a bachelor in 1933 in London.

This thread was a very interesting read. It would make an interesting book or film.

Jeff, Regretably it was a none event. There would have been thousands of possible suspects in this case, most of the local inhabitants to begin with. Gertrude Bell made it quite clear that she disliked MacClaren as soon as she met him for no other reason than his money was made from 'trade'. The evidence was only hearsay, most of it coming from Gertrude Bell. There have been cases in the past where people have been executed on such flimsy evidence because it came from someone of Bell's social standing. In a modern courtroom MacClaren would not even have been charged on such flimsy evidence.

Hi Phil,
I wrote that post rather hastily due to being at work and being busy with other things. I was thinking that a fictionalized version of events, with names changed of course, would make for a very compelling story in either film or book form - or both. It's the kind of story that seems to have everything: the affair, a jealous husband, murderous revenge involving members of high society, etc. all in the midst of the Great War.

...or maybe I just have an overactive imagination

Definitely has great possibilities as a novel. Think of a White Mischief only in Persia.

If only I had some talent as a writer

Phil;

Admittedly, 99% of my knowledge of Gertrude Bell comes from recently reading a large and favorable biography of her, but she was clearly a remarkable person, who had an astonishing knowledge of what was actually going on in Iraq, Persia, etc.; thusly being extremely valuable to the Brit administrations.

You wrote above: "Gertrude Bell made it quite clear that she disliked MacClaren as soon as she met him for no other reason than his money was made from 'trade'." This is, to me, an odd statement, as Gertrude Bell's family money (Quite considerable, I understand that they were at one time the sixth richest family in the UK) was also made in trade, unless the word has a meaning not comprehensible to a Yank. Her grandfather was one of the great ironmasters, but her family was looked down on by the Brit aristocracy, I believe, as trade types. She and her family busily went about and tried to improve the working classes and their employees, of course in a paternalistic way, but I don't think that they were very "stuck up", as we say, for people that rich, and might be classed as "progressives", although oddly to me Gertrude, a scholar, Oxford graduate, government official, and some sort of Army Major, did not believe that women should have the vote. I got the impression that she evaluated people on merit, not social standing, and didn't suffer fools gladly. Perhaps I have been led astray by a biographer with an agenda, but your comment really doesn't seem to fit the person as I understand her.

Not trying to cross swords here, but the comment seems way off, from what I know of the person.

Probably the thing that made her so very valuable to so many British administrations was that she generally had an enormous knowledge of what was going on with the "locals", as she spoke many languages, some exceedingly well, and associated closely with all classes of the locals, from illiterate Armenian muleteers to shieks and kings, and whould sit with them, in the dust, or in palaces, and sip tea and chat endlessly on gossip and classic poetry and whatnot. It is quite possible that she had sources of information on who killed or didn't kill this guy that no other Brit had.

Bob

Bob, There simply is not enough evidence for a conviction, that is my point. Also we live in an entirely different society, even in the 1930's an innocent woman was hung for murder, her lover murdered her husband and despite no evidence that she was involved with the murder. MacClaren would be unlikely to have got a fair trial. Even Dr. Crippen would probably got off with manslaughter today.
Gertrude Bell's money was not as 'new' as MacClaren's but she was readily prepared to criticise people she had just met, and was very biased against people she did not like. If this ever did get to court a good lawyer would have torn the evidence to shreads, and a few reputations with it.
Jeff, Agatha Christie probably got there before you!

Funny you should mention her, Phil. When I was reading the thread yesterday, I'd been thinking that this would be something that would have her name written all over it. Great minds think alike