... was a barrister, who was born in 1876 in the village of Shrewton (four miles west of Stonehenge). His father Alfred ('Fred') was the village saddler and harness maker; Cecil gained a double first in Science and Law at Christ's College, Cambridge.
In 1824, Stonehenge had been bought from the Marquess of Queensbury by the Antrobus family, of Cheshire. The Antrobuses put the site up for auction in 1915, following the death in World War I of their only surviving male heir. Cecil Chubb attended the sale, and bought the lot on a whim for £6,600 (equivalent to just under half a million pounds in 2017). He said later that he wished to prevent it falling into overseas ownership.
In October 1918, Chubb donated Stonehenge to the nation, on condition that the public be allowed "free access ... on the payment of such reasonable sum per head not exceeding one shilling for each visit". In recognition of his generosity he was awarded a baronetcy by Prime Minister David Lloyd George.
© Haydn Thompson 2017