Another Norfolk boy done good! A bronze plaque attached to a statue in North Norfolk tells us -

“This statue was erected in 1982 by The Dakota Whiskey Company of America to honour the Life and Works of William Ignatius Bottle (1752 – 1846) - a Great American.”

There is no doubt that William Ignatius Bottle is far more famous in the USA than he is in his home town of Hummingsby - where his statue is more famous than he is.

The Town Guide tells us that William Ignatius Bottle was the only man present at the signing of the ‘Declaration of Independence’ whose signature is missing from the document. He was to become the youngest signatory and was the last to sign, but, as Benjamin Franklin passed him the quill he sneezed and accidentally knocked the ink bottle onto the carpet.

(This is the moment immortalised in our statue - Billy is holding his head in one hand while raising the ‘ink-less’ quill aloft with the other.)

They say that he became so distraught that he left the room in tears and, following an unsuccessful attempt to buy more ink in a nearby Woolworth’s store, he left the city. He went on to make a modest living by selling multi-coloured pencils to the Indian Tribes.

Eventually he settled down and lived for the remainder of his life in a log cabin in the Black Hills of Dakota where he made illicit whiskey. It is widely believed that his recipe soon became the standard for all modern American whiskies.  

In his lifetime he was known by his nickname - ‘Humming Billy’. But, whether this is a reference to his cheerful disposition, his personal hygiene habits or his home town of Hummingsby is still a widely debated subject on University Campuses throughout North America.