Alexander Wortley

Who is Alexander Wortley?

Alexander Stuart Wortley, was an English eccentric.

A Royal Navy veteran, he served in the Battle of Jutland aboard HMS Agincourt as runner to Captain Thynne.

Wortley died aged 80 having lived his last 20 years in a green painted box in a garden in Rowley Cottage, Langley Park, Buckinghamshire, donated by his friend David Moreau. It measured 5 x 4 x 3 feet with an extension for his feet and small enough, he was quoted as saying, to keep women out. He paid no rent, rates or taxes and did not believe in insurance, pensions or governments. It was listed in the Guinness Book of World Records as the smallest residence of the world.

Wortley was one of ten children. His mother Mary was one of the 35 women killed by the Barnbow munitions explosion in 1916.