Benton Fletcher

Major George Henry Benton Fletcher (1866-1944) was a collector of early keyboard instruments such as virginals, clavichords, harpsichords and spinnets. He was also involved in social work, and dug as an archaeologist alongside Flinders Petrie.

He originally housed his instrumental collection at Old Devonshire House in Bloomsbury. He gave the collection to the National Trust in 1937 and in 1939 moved most of it out to safety in the Cotswolds until 1945. What remained at Old Devonshire House was lost when it was bombed in the Blitz. From 1945 to 1952, the 19 evacuated instruments were housed temporarily at 3 Cheyne Walk in Chelsea, before being moved to their present home at Fenton House in Hampstead. The Trust maintains a balance between Fletcher's request that the instruments be played (music students can audition to use them, and a CD is available of music played on them) and their long-term preservation.

Fletcher became an Honorary Captain in the 1st Cadet Battalion, Queen's Royal West Surrey Regiment in 1890. He was later also commissioned a Second Lieutenant the 3rd (Militia) Battalion, Sherwood Foresters, and was promoted Lieutenant in 1893 and Captain in 1895. He served as adjutant of the cadet battalion from 1896 to 1903, except for a period of service as a Railway Staff Officer in the Boer War in 1900. He resigned his commission as a Major in 1909, but rejoined the battalion as a recruiting officer in 1914 on the outbreak of the First World War. In 1915 he transferred to the General List as a Railway Transport Officer, serving until 1920.