I was lying down with a headache as I do most evenings after my mother's death when I heard the phone ring. Afterwards my husband told me that a man had asked for me, then said, "I have some rather sad news to impart about Boris and Bella Hopewell. I'm afraid that Boris has died."
My husband said he didn't remember anyone of that name and was this man sure he had the right Elizabeth Thomas. The man, a lawyer, said he was going through Richard (but he was nicknamed Boris) Hopewell's Address Book and calling everyone he found there. And my name and address were right there.
But I can't remember who this is, even though the name seems a bit familiar.
I looked them up on the Internet and found Bella is on the board of Hoares Bank, one of London's elite private banks.
Here's the info on their website about her:
"Bella Hopewell
Partner
Bella’s initial training was with Cazenoves as a graduate in their private client department. Subsequently she spent a number of years at Brunswick Warburg (now UBS) in Moscow, exploiting opportunities in the emerging Russian equities market. She joined Hoares in 2000 and was made a partner in 2001, taking responsibility for banking operations, professional services and compliance, but with huge enthusiasm for meeting and getting to know customers.
Bella’s family home is on the Stourhead Estate where gardening is her passion. She also sings and plays acoustic guitar with her husband Boris."
I'm sure I wouldn't have forgotten that I know such eminent people! :) So why am I in his Address Book? I didn't want to call the lawyer back that night and be like a ghoul asking for more info on Mr. Hopewell so I could try to place them when everyone would be upset over his death.
It's such an intriguing mystery, and I'm not sure what to do next. Or should I just leave it unsolved?
38 comments:
...Hmmm...are you trying to conceal the fact that you killed this person? That might have been Scotland Yard calling!
I think it's highly intriguing. Perhaps you are a long-lost heir to Stourhead and he just had not got around to calling you yet :-)
Kaz said I should called the ladies' detective agency (or whatever that book series is called) to solve it. I do like the idea that I am an heiress though except his wife is one of the banking Hoares and that's their property so I don't think I have much of a claim.
Maybe the wife will mysteriously be taken out of the equation, though..
But that would leave the other Hoares to get rid of too and even then, how could I make a claim? there must be cousins, etc. I think I'll just have to keep my day job but still try to get in other people's Address Books....
Sounds like a good idea for a film - you keep murdering the next in line until you get the estate.
Oh - hasn't that already been done?
It does sound like the making of an Agatha Christie mystery...if I were Hercule Poirot I'd be rapping my cane at your door in search of clues on behalf of poor Boris, especially if he died under suspicious circumstances!
But I don't even know if Boris died under suspicious circumstances. Will have to search around the Internet and maybe check the obits in the Times. This mystery would need to include horses to keep you and Brenda interested. Maybe we could construct a short story?
Sounds more like a job for Lord Peter Wimsey. Now that Dorothy Sayers is dead and buried, maybe there needs to be a revival. Of course, as he fought in WWI (in the books) he'd be rather a doddering drooling heap, so maybe we could make the book about one of his sons (didn't he and Harriet Vane have 3?) We could call 'em the "Little Lord Peter mysteries." Oh, and yes, there must be horses in there somewhere.
http://www.thisiswesterngazette.co.uk/displayNode.jsp?nodeId=164261&command=displayContent&sourceNode=246726&home=yes&more_nodeId1=164270&contentPK=20280637
WELL IF DIDN'T KNOW HIM, YOU'VE MISSED OUT. HE WAS A GREAT GUY, A GENT AND HE IS SORELY MISSED!
Do you know him? tell me about him! I still don't know why I'm in his Address Book but am too embarrassed to call the family back. You can solve this mystery for me!
I looked for info on him on the Internet and found this recent letter (Jan 18) from him to the Times:
Sir, I have been dismayed by the resoluteness of the British Council in continuing its activities in Russia (report, Jan 17). As a British public body and with the Queen as its patron, the British Council should cease its activities if requested to do so by the Russian Government. It is not a matter of whether the council has been acting legally, which we trust it has, or whether the request to leave is unbecoming of the Russians, which no doubt it is. Good manners require that our Government leaves Russia when asked, however unreasonable it thinks the request.
Richard Hopewell
Stourton, Wilts
I just checked the link Anonymous left above and it contains additional info (below). Anonymous, THANK YOU!! I really appreciate this!!
A303 CRASH VICTIM NAMED
A MAN who died when his car was in collision with an army lorry at the Bourton junction on the A303 has been identified by police as Richard Hopewell.
Mr Hopewell, aged 44, from the Mere area, was traveling with his son, aged ten, when the crash happened on Wednesday.
Wiltshire Police spokesman Annie Walker said Mr Hopewell's son, who was airlifted to hospital with critical injuries following the crash, was now "poorly but stable and improving".
An inquest into Mr Hopewell's death has been opened and adjourned.
We are friends of Boris and Bella and this is a tragedy.
Boris was a lovely guy, really genuine, giving and very intelligent. His little boy Tom is still in hospital, recovering, but still in critical condition. We're still in shock.
My wife has known them for a long time. She met them when she was working in England and went to Russia with them to work there over 15 years ago.
She didn't see them much since they returned to the UK and we came back to New Zealand, however, they came to our house in NZ in December and they were all very happy and full of life and my wife was over joyed to see them again.
My thoughts are with Bella and Tom.
I can't help you as to why you are on their address book, but don't get too agitated: there won't be anything mysterious there. You might be one contact that was passed on to Boris for some reason and he never got the chance to call you or get in touch with you (what do you do? What's your occupation/interests/hobbies/skills?).
Hope you solve the "mystery" one day.
Cheers
Thank you very much for leaving this delightful message. I am glad to know more about them and was worried about their son from the newspaper article.
did you ever live in the UK? We have so many people from NZ here; in fact, my husband's father moved there in the '60s and always says how much better it is than England!
I was wondering if Boris Hopewell sang? I'm in a London chorus -- maybe that's the connection? And I lived in Hampshire for about 10 years -- maybe I met him there or something. I just can't figure it out.
BORIS WAS IN A BAND CALLED NO REFUNDS.HE DID "SING" AND WAS GETTING BETTER. HE PLAYED GUITAR WELL. HE WAS A BIG COMMUNITY MAN. HE LEFT A BIG HOLE IN THE STOURTON AREA. YOU WILL PROBABLY NEVER KNOW WHY YOUR ADDRESS WAS IN HIS BOOK, BUT AT LEAST YOU HAVE GOT TO KNOW A LITTLE OF A GREAT CHAP.
This info has been invaluable to me, Anonymous. Thank you so much. How is their little boy doing? Is he still in the hospital?
Someone from the Obama office in Chicago did a search on 'Richard Hopewell' and 'lawyer' and ended up reading this post about him. Now the mystery deepens for me. What is the connection there? I still don't know why I am in his Address Book - and what connection did Mr. Hopewell have with Chicago or the Obama campaign?
HIS BOY IS DOING VERY WELL CONSIDERING HE BROKE BOTH OF HIS LEGS. HE WILL BE IN HOSPITAL FOR ABOUT ANOTHER MONTH.
What a terrible thing to happen to a family. Anonymous, keep us posted and feel free to comment on anything else on the blog. We like you! Your comments are so helpful.
We also knew Boris a bit, his wife is the sister of my brother in-law. He was a 100% genuinely great chap. I last saw him about 3-4 weeks before he died. We were totally shocked by his death. I can think of few people who I have met who were as transparently good and nice. No side, no snobbery, genunine interest in those around him. We will miss him hugely.
It's so sad; I don't know how people cope when something like that happens. My mother just died and had been ill for years, and it has still hit me so hard that I have to blog about it frequently to get it out of my system. But when something like this happens to someone who was so well liked that people even leave comments on my blog about how great he was, well, it's just beyond comprehension how the family can cope. Thank you for taking the time to leave a comment here.
JUST TO LET YOU KNOW, HIS SON IS NOW BACK HOME AND ALTHOUGH HAS BOTH LEGS BROKEN IS MAKING A GOOD RECOVERY. ITS IMPOSSIBLE TO IMAGINE WHAT HE HAS BEEN THROUGH!!
Thanks for the update, Anonymous. I am still getting people landing on my site while trying to find info about the Hopewells and from all over the world too. They must have been widely known and admired?
I never met Boris, but knew Arabella at Cazenove (though not very well). She was going out with Boris at the time, everyone called him Boris as he working on a Russian desk, Arabella left Caz to go to Russia where she worked in settlements for a time, before coming back to Blighty. I didn't know she amrried him until I saw this blog. CE
Thank you for that info, anonymous. I sort of figured he was called Boris because of the Russian connection. I appreciate you taking the time to write; I still don't know why I was in his Address Book though.
I just found this Blog while searching for info on Boris' sad death.
I knew Boris & Bella through a friend, and liked them immensely. For all their money and status in the Banking world they were normal people, no airs or graces, thoroughly genuine, thoroughly nice people.
My last memory of Boris is at a friends house in February. Said friend is walking the Great Wall of China for charity and had a big fundraising party at his house. Boris was there, in charge of the kitchen, cooking up vast potfuls of curry (which was delicious) and walking round the house in his apron. :) :) :)
Later on, both Bella & Boris joined the band that were playing, both singing and playing guitar/bass. Their son Tom also accompanied the band on his saxaphone with a wonderful rendition of "Brown Sugar". Boris looked so proud of his son that night and it's devistating to think that he passed away only a matter of weeks later.
RIP Boris and my thoughts are with Tom for a speedy recovery and of course to Bella.
What a lovely memory that you've contributed. thank you. It made me teary. I wish I'd known him. thanks for taking the time to write.
Here is a photo of the man
http://www.nicholassack.com/slide8.JPG
Thank you for that. It's so sad to think he's gone and that so many people loved him.
The other photos on this site are quite compelling too.
Boris was one of the world's most wonderful people. I knew him for about 20 years. He was a very special friend and life will never be the same without him. He was a superb father to Tom and a loving husband to Bella. So many people will miss him terribly.
What a wonderful thing to say about him. Thank you for commenting.
This mystery is now solved! I can't believe it. A friend of mine did a Harvard MBA with Bella and told her about me living in England and gave her my phone number so she could get in touch with me. I'd totally forgotten my friend telling me this (years ago). I can't believe this mystery is finally cleared up. Thanks for all your help and comments with this.
I have to say, I am glad you solved this mystery! It was very intriguing.
So glad that you solved the mystery! I've been watching this for a few months and was intrigued too. Just so sad that you've got to know about this special man after he died. He really was utterly unique and loved by everyone especially his wife and son - who is now back at school. We miss him horribly.
Thank you for your comment, Anon. You can imagine how sorry I am now that I never followed up my friend's advice to phone Bella and maybe get to know her a little, and now I've missed out on getting to know this man who so many people loved.
I have just discovered this series of messages. All I can say is "Thank You" to everyone that has contributed. Boris was a remarkable man and my life has been enriched by him in more ways than I can tell you. Our son is making a fantastic recovery and has been back at school pretty much full time since October, although there is still a way to go before he will be playing cricket again.
I am glad that you solved the mystery of why you were in my address book!
Bella, thank you! I wish wish wish I'd called you when Liza first gave me your number but I think I was intimidated because of who you are. Liza has told me how wonderful you are & I'm just sorry I have totally missed out on this connection. I am also annoyed with Liza because she didn't even call me when she was in England visiting you, but I'm over it now but just wish she'd let me know so I could have seen her.
Thanks so much for leaving a comment. I'm so glad your son is better.
Post a Comment