Grafton Francis Bothamley (9 May 1880 – 12 June 1956) was the eighth Clerk of the New Zealand House of Representatives ("Clerk of the House"). As Clerk of the House he was head of the Legislative Department, responsible for administrative services to Parliament prior to the creation of the Parliamentary Service in 1985 and the Office of the Clerk of the House of Representatives in 1988. Education and early career Bothamley was educated at the Terrace School, Wellington, Wellington College, and the Royal Naval College, Greenwich. After finishing his studies he worked with the Mutual Life Association of Australasia from 1897 to 1906. Military service In 1916 Bothamley enlisted with New Zealand Naval Forces and served in the North Sea during the First World War, with the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve, rising to the rank of Lieutenant. During the Second World War (from 3 August 1940 to 30 April 1943) Bothamley served with the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve as a shipping identification officer, based in Wellington and holding the rank of Lieutenant-Commander. Parliamentary career Bothamley began his parliamentary career in 1906 when he was appointed as a Committee Clerk, servicing the Local Bills Committee and ad hoc committees. In 1910 he was clerk for the special committee established to investigate allegations of impropriety by members of Parliament ("the Hine Allegations") made by John Bird Hine, the member for the Stratford electorate. At that time this investigation was one of the longest parliamentary investigations in the history of the New Zealand Parliament. Bothamley was initially a sessional employee, which meant that he was not employed by Parliament during recesses, when the House of Representatives was not sitting. During such times he would find work with other government agencies such as with the Registrar-General, where he was employed as a Census Clerk in 1911/1912. It was not until 1 June 1913 that he was permanently appointed as a Committee Clerk, and on 19 July 1915 he was promoted to the position of Reader and Clerk of Bills and Papers. After World War I Bothamley returned to his position at Parliament and, on 1 June 1932, he was promoted to Second Clerk Assistant and Reader. He acted as Serjeant-at-Arms for 12 weeks following the retirement of Major H.H. Browne in 1932. On 1 July 1933 he was appointed as Clerk-Assistant, following the retirement of W.E. Dasent. For three months during 1936 Bothamley acted