Harry Bottom was the second son of Daniel and Kate Augusta Bottom (née Flint).
His father Daniel was born in Whitwell, Derbyshire, in 1864 (O/N/D Worksop), the son of John and Elizabeth Bottom; he was baptised at Whitwell parish church on 13 October 1864. His mother Kate Augusta Flint was born in Warsop in about 1864 (poss. Kate Flint 1864 O/N/D Mansfield), the daughter of Kate Flint. She was baptised Augusta Kate on 26 March 1865 at Warsop SS Peter & Paul; her mother's address was given as Mansfield Woodhouse.
Daniel and Kate were married at Whitwell parish church on 4 October 1888; both were 24 years old. They had six children two of whom died in infancy: Elizabeth b. Whitwell 12 October 1889 (O/N/D Worksop), John b. Whitwell 1891 (O/N/D Worksop) d. 1892 (A/M/J Worksop), Catherine b. Whitwell 13 November 1893 (O/N/D Worksop), Harry b. Whitwell birth registered 1896 (J/F/M Worksop, Eliza b. Mansfield 1900 (J/A/S Mansfield) d. 1900 (J/A/S Mansfield) and Dorothy b. Mansfield 16 April 1906 (A/M/J Mansfield).
Daniel Bottom had been a professional cricketer playing for Derbyshire between 1891 and 1901 and for Nottinghamshire in 1899 and he and his wife were living in Whitwell in 1891 with their first child, Elizabeth (1). Three more children were born while they were living in Whitwell, one of whom, John, died in infancy.
The family had moved to Mansfield Woodhouse, Nottinghamshire, by 1901 where Daniel was the landlord of the Greyhound public house at 76 High Street. Daniel and Kate had three chlldren, Elizabeth (11), Catherine (7) and Harry (5); their fifth child, Eliza, had died the previous year. Also in the household was Ellen Clark (22 b. Worksop), a general domestic servant. A sixth child, Dorothy, was born five years later.
Harry attended Queen Elizabeth Grammar School from January 1908 to March 1910.
Daniel and Kate were still at the Greyhound Inn in 1911. Their daughters Elizabeth (21) and Catherine (17) were assisting in the business while Harry (15) was working as a clerk in a cotton spinning mill. The youngest child, Dorothy, was four years old. Ellen Clark (32) was still working for Daniel and Kate.
Daniel and Kate later had the license of the Greendale Oak Inn at Cuckney, Nottinghamshire, and were still there when Kate died on 29 October 1926 (O/N/D Worksop).
Of Harry's surviving sisters:
Elizabeth married Arthur J Mellors in 1917 (O/N/D Worksop). In 1939 they were living at 25 Goldswong Terrace, Nottingham; Arthur (b. 16 April 1886) was a plumber. Also in the household was Elizabeth's sister, Dorothy, who was described as disabled.
Catherine married Walter H Briggs in 1922 (O/N/D Worksop). In 1939 Walter (b. 7 May 1892) was club steward and Catherine was stewardess of the Miners' Welfare, Hangar Hill, Whitwell, Derbyshire. Catherine and Walter had two sons living with them, Peter D. (b. 2 June 1924) an apprentice electrician and Michael E. b. 3 April 1931.
Dorothy, who had been living with her married sister Elizabeth in 1939, died in 1984 (O/N/D Nottingham).