11. V. G. M.HOLT 1899 & 1900

Vesey Holt appears on the photographs of colts teams taken in 1866 and now on display in the Bexley pavilion. He was twelve at the time. He seems not to have been a particularly good cricketer, but bad a very successful business career.
He joined the family firm of Holt & Co, army bankers, and rose to a position of wealth and influence in financial circles. He became Chairman of a number of companies with interests in insurance, railways and overseas investments. He was knighted (KBE), for eminent financial services in 1920.
Vesey Holt had four sons who served as officers in the first World War. One, Geoffrey, was killed in action in 1917 and The Geoffrey Scouts Hall in North Cray was erected by the Holt family in his memory. The other sons all won the D.S.O. in the war. Sir Vesey died in 1924.
The Holt family residence was Mount Mascal. a large Jacobean mansion on the hill overlooking North Cray Road; it had its own cricket ground. The house was demolished in 1957 and replaced by flats. Sir Vesey was chairman of North Cray Parish Council for many years. The Holt family has an elaborate memorial in the churchyard of St. James', North Cray.