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The Penn Street Double Tragedy

THE PENN STREET DOUBLE TRAGEDY

ADJOURNED INQUEST ON THE TWO VICTIMS

Yesterday, (Thursday), at the Guildhall, High Wycombe, Mr. A. E. W. Charsley, Coroner for South Bucks, resumed the inquest – (adjourned from Tuesday, September 24th) – on the double fatality which occurred at Penn Street on the night of Saturday – Sunday, September 21st – 22nd. The victims of this sad affair were:

DIED

Southwood, Walter Archibald Bruce, 21, son of Mr. and Mrs. W. A. B. Southwood, of “Rose Cottage,” Penn.
Cook, George, 31, Finchers Lodge, Amersham, son of Mrs. Emma Cook, a widow.

INJURED

Lawrence, Dorothy, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. E. Lawrence, “Penn Wood View Cottages,” Penn Street.
Page, William Frank, Tylers Green, Penn.

The story is a familiar one by now. All the parties concerned – deceased, the injured, and the witnesses at the inquest – attended the first dance of the season at Penn Street Village Hall. After the dance, at about midnight, Miss Dolly Lawrence and Mr. Cook strolled a short way up the road towards the Church, and the couple had just turned and were making for her home, which faces Penn Wood, when a motor cycle driven by Mr. Southwood, with Mr. Page as pillion-rider, collided with them. As a result of the collision Mr. Southwood and Mr. Cook received such terrible injuries that they died shortly afterwards at Wycombe Hospital, where they were taken: Mr. Page was detained in Hospital with injuries, but was released during the week; Miss Dolly Lawrence, who was taken home, received such head injuries that she was seriously ill for several weeks, and the adjourned inquest was held in abeyance until her recovery.

The Bucks Examiner, Friday, October 25th, 1929.

George Cook was buried in Penn Street Churchyard, 25th September, 1929.

Original Page from The Bucks Examiner, Friday, 25th October, 1929
With full text of the proceedings at the inquest. (PDF file, 900k, Opens in new window)

Ellen Wilkinson & The Twixtlands Five

From time to time the Penn & Tylers Green Residents Society receives enquiries from people outside the immediate area, usually concerning matters of local and social history, often linked to their own family stories …

One such enquiry, received just before Christmas, concerned the final resting place of one Ellen Cicely Wilkinson who with others lived in Penn Bottom in the Autumn of 1939. Now, I imagine Ellen was not typical of those that enjoyed the rural atmosphere of Penn Bottom between the wars, she was the MP for Jarrow, had led the Jarrow March and was a founder member of the British Communist Party, she had travelled to Russia and met Leon Trotsky, and following the Labour Party landslide in 1945 she became Minister for Education and died in office in 1947.

Although keeping a London flat she must have retained fond memories of Penn as she is buried in Holy Trinity Penn Street.

However, there is still more to be told, as Ellen shared the house in Penn Bottom – known as Twixtlands – with other notable socialists of the era.

Probably best known was Herbert Stanley Morrison, he of the Morrison shelter widely promoted and used in WW2. One-time leader of the London County Council, he became Home Secretary in the Coalition Government 1940-1945 and then Deputy Prime Minister in Clement Attlee’s 1945-1951 Labour Government.

The third Labour MP present that Autumn was John Jagger who had represented Manchester Clayton since 1935, a committed trade unionist he became Morrison’s PPS in 1940 until his death in a road accident 1942.

This accident took place in Clay Street Penn Bottom when his auto-cycle collided with a motor car driven by a local farmer, Jagger was on his way to Beaconsfield station to catch a London train.

The remaining two residents were Anne & Doris Wilkinson, sister & sister-in-law to Ellen, Anne was a staunch supporter of her sister throughout her political career both sharing various London addresses for many years.

Ellen Wilkinson 1947 and her sister Anne, 1965 (Front of Church)

So, within Twixtlands had resided political figures of considerable national & international reputation and there had been iconic visitors as well, Mahatma Gandhi among them … and yes it still stands today as Little Penn Farmhouse

This article would not have been possible without reference to the “1939 Register”, it provided the Government with a snapshot of the civilian population of England & Wales just after the outbreak of WW2.

It was taken on 29th September 1939 and was used in the introduction of Identity Cards & Ration Books. It later played an important role in the launch of the NHS. It can be viewed on both the Find my Past and Ancestry websites.

Ron Saunders, P&TG Village Voice, February/March 2019.

Ellen Wilkinson died 6 February 1947, aged 55, at St Mary’s Hospital, London and was buried in Penn Street churchyard, 10th February, 1947.

There is a very comprehensive biography of Ellen Wilkinson on Wikipedia.

Sir Cecil Clementi and family

Sir Cecil Clementi GCMG (1875-1947), whose family grave is located on the western edge of Holy Trinity churchyard, hard up against Penn Wood, was a distinguished colonial administrator and scholar who served as Governor of Hong Kong (1925-1930), and of the Straits Settlements and High Commissioner of the Federated Malay States (1930-1934), the territories now known as Singapore and Malaysia. Clementi spent his entire career overseas. Born in Kanpur (Cawnpore) India, where his father served in the military, he attended St Paul’s School and Magdalen College Oxford before passing the Civil Service examination and choosing to serve as an Eastern Cadet in Hong Kong. He spent 13 years in the Colony, acquiring fluency in written Chinese and various spoken dialects, travelling extensively in China and rising to the position of Acting Colonial Secretary. During this period he published a translation with commentary of Cantonese Love Songs and was an early champion of Hong Kong University, founded in 1911. His next post was that of Colonial Secretary in British Guiana (1913-1922), followed by the same role in Ceylon (1922-25) before returning to Hong Kong as Governor during a time of crisis in relations between Britain and China. Clementi championed Chinese education in Hong Kong, where the Clementi Secondary School, founded in 1926, is named after him (Clementi Secondary School.). He also worked to outlaw the practice of domestic slavery of young Chinese women known as the mui-tsai  (妹仔) system.
His final post was Governor of the Straits Settlements and the Malay States at a time when they were among the most prosperous of Britain’s overseas territories thanks to the growth of the tin and rubber industries, both of them hard hit by the Great Depression.
For much of his career, Sir Cecil followed in the footsteps of his uncle, Sir Cecil Clementi-Smith (1840-1916), who also served in Hong Kong, Ceylon and, finally, as would his nephew, Governor of the Straits Settlements.

Sir Cecil Clementi and his wife Lady Penelope retired in 1934, and moved into Holmer Court in 1935,  (now demolished and the site of the housing development known as the ‘Clementi Estate’). He died there on 5 April 1947.

Their younger daughter, Cecily Joyce Clementi (1915-1940), predeceased her parents whilst working as a student nurse at Park Prewett Hospital (then a military hospital), Basingstoke. She is remembered at St Thomas’ Hospital Chapel, Lambeth on a memorial to nurses who ‘Died in the discharge of their Duties’.  Cecily Clementi died the day before her brother Cresswell was to be married.

She is buried at Penn Street, as is Lady Penelope (1889-1970). Memorial stones at the foot of the main headstone, which is adorned with a fine Celtic cross, commemorate one of the couple’s other daughters, Dr Dione Clementi (1914-2010), an historian, and Air Vice Marshal Cresswell Clementi (1918-1981) and his wife Susan (1918-2006).

By Graham Hutchings © (2020), who is writing a biography of Sir Cecil Clementi to be published by Hong Kong University Press.  Additional information and photograph re: Cecily Clementi, from Richard Maddox, Imperial war Museum.
Holmer Court image © Stuart King.

Footnote:
Sir Cecil and Lady Penelope Clementi very soon involved themselves in village life in Holmer Green.  Supporting Scouts, Brownies and the village schools among other things.

Sir Hugh Eyre Campbell Beaver KBE

Hugh Eyre Campbell Beaver was born 4 May 1890 in Johannesburg, the eldest of three sons of Hugh Edward Campbell Beaver, of Montgomeryshire, and his wife, Cerise, daughter of John Eyre, of Anglo/Irish extraction.  He was an engineer, industrialist, and founder of the Guinness World Records (then known as Guinness Book of Records).

Hugh Beaver was educated at Wellington College, Berkshire, after which he spent two years in the Indian Police force from 1910. In 1921 he returned to England, before joining Sir Alexander Gibb & Partners, Engineers. In 1931 the firm was commissioned by the Canadian government to conduct a survey of its national ports. He spent seven months in Canada, during which time he was asked to supervise the rebuilding of the Port of St John, New Brunswick, which had been destroyed by fire. He was a partner of the firm from 1932–1942, and director general and controller general of the Ministry of Works from 1940–1945.

In 1946, he became a managing director of Arthur Guinness, Son and Co Ltd and stayed there until he retired in 1960.

He was greatly involved in the efforts to rebuild Britain and the British Empire after World War II, and was a co-opted member of Lord Reith’s Committee on New Towns 1946–1947, a member of the Building Industry Working Party 1948–1950, director of the Colonial Development Corporation 1951–1960.

Hugh Beaver was chairman of the Committee on Power Station Construction 1952–1953, where he advised on the Great Smog of 1952 in London. As a result of his advice on smog, he was made chairman of the Committee on Air Pollution 1953–1954, which resulted in the Clean Air Act 1956.

He was also interested in the promotion and application of science, and as a result was chairman of the Advisory Council on Scientific and Industrial Research 1954–1956, and chairman of the Industrial Fund for the Advancement of Scientific Education in Schools 1958–1963. With Sir Alan Wilson, he was a key sponsor of the creation of St Catherine’s College, Oxford by Alan Bullock.

He was knighted in 1943 and awarded a KBE in 1956. He also received honorary degrees from the University of Cambridge, Trinity College, Dublin, the National University of Ireland, and was made an honorary fellow of the London School of Economics in 1960. He also served as President of the Royal Statistical Society from 1959 to 1960. He died of heart failure in his London home, 16th January 1967.

Several generations of the Beaver family lived at Highlands, Cherry lane, Woodrow, Amersham.

Guinness Book of World Records

On 10 November 1951, Hugh Beaver, then the managing director of the Guinness Brewery, went on a shooting party in North Slob, by the River Slaney in County Wexford, Ireland. He became involved in an argument: Which was the fastest game bird in Europe, the golden plover or the grouse? That evening at Castlebridge house it was realised that it was not possible to confirm in reference books whether or not the golden plover was Europe’s fastest game bird.

He thought that there must be numerous other questions debated nightly in the 81,400 pubs in Britain and in Ireland, but there was no book with which to settle arguments about records. He realised then that a book supplying the answers to this sort of question might prove popular. He happened to be correct.

His idea became reality when Guinness employee Christopher Chataway recommended university friends Norris and Ross McWhirter, who had been running a fact-finding agency in London. The brothers were commissioned to compile what became the Guinness Book of Records in August 1954. A thousand copies were printed and given away.

After founding the Guinness Book of Records at 107 Fleet Street, the first 198-page edition was bound on 27 August 1955 and went to the top of the British best seller lists by Christmas. “It was a marketing give away – it wasn’t supposed to be a money maker” said Beaver. The following year it launched in the US, and sold 70,000 copies. Since then, Guinness World Records has gone on to become a record breaker in its own right, with sales of more than 100 million copies in 100 different countries and 37 languages, Guinness World Records is the world’s best selling copyrighted book ever.

Wikipedia and other sources.

King Edward VII visit to Penn Street

On the evening of January 16th 1902, the day of the opening of Parliament, King Edward left London by train, for Penn House, Buckinghamshire, the seat of Earl Howe. On Friday the King had an excellent day’s sport. His Majesty was accompanied by Earl Howe, Earl de Grey, Viscount Curzon, Lord Herbert Vane-Tempest, the Hon. H. Stonor, Mr. A. Sassoon, and General Sir Stanley Clarke. Game was plentiful and his Majesty was very fortunate in choice of position, securing a number of fine birds. A record bag for the Penn preserves was the result of the day’s outing, 1,203 pheasants, twenty partridges, ten hares, and twenty rabbits being brought down.

Luncheon was served early in the afternoon in a tent close to Penn Farm, where most of the ladies of the house party joined the shooters. On Sunday his Majesty attended divine service at Penn Street Church with the members of the house party.

The visit was reported in great detail in the local newspaper, with details of the shooting party, the King’s visit to Penn Street church on the Sunday morning, a drive around High Wycombe in the King’s motor car on Sunday afternoon, and the King’s departure to Windsor on Tuesday morning.

Click here to open an image of the newspaper report,
(PDF file 3Mb opens in new window)

The visit was also reported in ‘The Sphere’ magazine of 20th January, 1902.

Click the link or image below to open the page from The Sphere as a PDF file, (opens a new browser tab). King Edward VII visit to Penn Street 1902

The description of the church and the view from the tower, “The church stands on very high ground, the top of the church tower being 600ft above sea level.  Windsor castle is easily seen from the tower”, reads as if the author may have mistakenly included a description of Holy Trinity, Penn, rather than Holy Trinity, Penn Street, which sits in a slight hollow in Penn woods.

Raphael’s Transfiguration

The Transfiguration (Matthew 17:1-13) and other gospels.
The painting hangs at the West end of Penn Street church.

 

“Earl Howe, who is the patron of the living, has presented to Holy Trinity Church, Penn, one of the very few existing copies of Raphael’s celebrated picture of the “Transfiguration”, which was formerly the altar-piece in the Curzon Chapel, Mayfair.”

The Bedfordshire Advertiser, April 28 1905.

Footnote:
“Cardinal Giulio de’Medici (who later became Pope Clement VII), commissioned Raphael to paint Transfiguration for the city of Narbonne, in France. The painting was kept personally by the Pope after Raphael’s untimely death, until he donated it to the church of San Pietro in Rome. The painting is now housed in the Vatican Museum.”

The 1910 Election Campaign


From the South Bucks Standard, January 7th 1910.
Sir Alfred Cripps stood as Liberal candidate for the Wycombe constituency in the 1910 General Election.  The newspaper reported the many meetings he held across South Bucks, including ones at Penn Street and Tylers Green.

He was elected as MP for Wycombe at the 1910 General Election, but was raised to the peerage by the Liberal party in 1914, prompting a by-election.  He took the title Lord Parmoor, the name of the village where he lived, in his Wycombe constituency.

His youngest son Sir Stafford Cripps, became a Labour politician who served in the 1945 post-war Labour Government.

There is a family history written by his son on the Frieth and Parmoor website.

Unveiling of Penn Street War Memorial

Unveiled: 11 June 1922,
by: Private Eric Randall
Dedicated: 11 June 1922,
by: Rev A Browning
During his long service Vicar of Penn Street and Holmer Green, the Rev Arthur Browning recorded many aspects of the life in the villages in his monthly newsletters.  The fund-raising for various projects during World War I is documented, as well as the sad news when a local man was killed.

In the December 1918 Newsletter, he records “The news of the signing of the Armistice on Nov. 12th, St Martin’s Day, sent a thrill of joy throughout the country; …” and in January 1919 mentions a war memorial.

Several schemes were being proposed in the district and preliminary meetings were held in Penn Street on 28th December and in Holmer Green on 6th January 1919 to consider what the local people wanted. It was unanimously agreed to erect a granite Cross in each Churchyard with the names of the ‘fallen’ engraved on the base, with a suitable inscription, and to raise at least £100 for this enterprise in each village.

In June 1919 the Vicar tells us that “it has now been provisionally arranged to place a memorial tablet in the Parish Church to the memory of those fallen in the war from Penn Street, Woodrow and Mop End.”  After paying for this, any surplus money could go towards a Recreation Room that could be used as a kind of club for the many young men, including those returned from the Army, living in the village.  Money was starting to come in and some of the young men organised a house-to-house weekly collection.  A social in May raised £5 from admission and refreshments, all of which had been donated.

Holmer Green residents were raising money and in July up to nearly £40 had been donated.  Some people were paying by weekly and monthly subscriptions so on the whole the response had been gratifying.  Rev Browning urged upon all Holmer Green people the desirability of contributing something towards this fund. “However liberally we may respond to outside appeals we ought not to do so at the expense of our own memorial.”

In May 1920, it is reported that a design had been chosen and a site in the Churchyard given by the Vicar for a memorial in Holmer Green.   More donations were received to cover the cost.  In October the faculty for the erection of the War Memorial Cross in the Churchyard was received and work started soon after by Mr G Darlington of Amersham.  (The bound volume for 1921 is missing and I think this is when the Holmer Green Memorial would have been completed and dedicated.  Has anyone any information about this?)

In the December 1920 Newsletter, a meeting in Penn Street Schoolroom it was agreed that the most suitable place for a memorial would be on ‘The Piece’, close to the road, if Lord Howe consented.

4 men in the right foreground, left to right: Pvt. Eric Randall, 4th Earl Howe, not named, Rev. A Browning.

In July 1922 it is recorded that on 11th June 1922, “A large number of people – estimates varied between 700 and 1000 – assembled on the Village Green for the Unveiling and Dedication of the War Memorial Festival of the Parish Church (in Penn Street).” Penn and Tylers Green Brass Band accompanied the hymns, and “by the kindness of the Commanding Officer,” two buglers came from Halton Camp to play the Last Post and the Reveille at the end of the ceremony.  Earl Howe gave an address and invited Private Eric Randall, who lost a leg in the war, to unveil the memorial. At the conclusion of the Ceremony about 350 people packed in to the Parish Church for Evensong, when the collection was given to St Dunstan’s.

Hilary Hide, Holmer Green Today

2nd Lt. John Dennistoun Campbell BEAVER,
Kings Royal Rifle Corps, attchd. 13th Battalion.
Died at Highlands, Woodrow, May 15 1918
of wounds received near Monchy-le-Preux,
Pas de Calais, France, April 10 1917.
Buried Penn Street Churchyard.
Born at Eyrecourt Castle, Ireland, Jan 2, 1893,
3rd son of Hugh Edward Campbell Beaver & Cerise,
Bryn Glas, North Wales

Lance Cpl. Leonard James CALLOW 4128
East Surrey Regiment, 9th Battalion
Killed in Action, Age 30, September 25, 1915
Loos Memorial, Pas de Calais, France, Panel 65-68.
Baptised: 2 Nov 1884, Richmond Yorks, Woodcarver.
Parents, James & Julia Maria Callow, nee Parker.
Wife: Lily Louisa Callow, née Butcher,
Connection with Penn Street, Unknown.

Guardsman/Private, Albert Victor CLARKE 24902
Regiment Grenadier Guards 4th Battalion
Age 22, Killed in Action: 23 Mar 1918
Arras Memorial, Pas de Calais, France, Bay 1.
Baptised; 05 Sep 1895 Helhoughton, Norfolk, gamekeeper .
Parents Edward & Bessie Clarke, gamekeeper,
Keepers House, Woodrow, Amersham. Brother of Geoffrey Clarke.

Private Geoffrey CLARKE,  51164, Bedfordshire Reg’t B Coy 4th Battalion
Age 19, KIlled in Action 25 May 1918,
Pozieres Memorial, Somme, France Panel 28 & 29.
Born c1899, Amersham. Parents Edward & Bessie Clarke, gamekeeper,
Keepers House, Woodrow, Amersham. Brother of Albert Victor Clarke.

Private Arthur James COLE 11059, Gloucestershire Reg’t 3rd Battalion.
Age: 31, Died of Wounds, 23 Jun 1917, Salonika.
Pieta Military Cemetery, Malta, C.XIV.4
Pre-war occupation: telegraph messenger
Parents David & Fanny Agnes Cole, gamekeeper, The Grove, Penn Street

Lance Cpl. Archibald HALLETT, 16582, Coldstream Guards, 4th Battalion..
Age: 21, Died of wounds, 24 Oct 1917
Dozinghem Military Cemetery, Poperinge, Belgium, X.C.13
Born, c1891 Grantham, Lincs. Parents Walter & Alice Hallett, Penn Wood, Penn.

Private Jack (John) Frederick HANCOCK, 718116, London Regt.1/23rd Batt’n.
Age: 21, Died of wounds, 11 May 1918,
Pernois British Cemetery, Halloy-les-Pernois, Somme, France, I.C.19
Born: c1897 Penn St. Parents William Alfred (Dd.1898) & Alice Hancock, Penn St..

Gunner Ronald Sidney HEARNE 8980, Royal Garrison Artillery 156th Battery.
Age: 21, Died of wounds 07 Feb 1917,
Heilly Station Cemetery, Mericourt-L’Abbe, Somme, France, V.G.34
Born c1896 Penn St. Parents Alfred & Annie Hearne, Rose Cottage, Penn St..

Sgt. Cecil HOPKINS, 593, Military Police Corps 58th Div Mounted Police.
Age: 34, Killed in Action; 11 Dec 1917
Cemetery Duhallow A.D.S Cemetery, Ieper, Belgium, Reference III.D.7
Born c1883 Amersham, Pre-war occupation tailors cutter.
Parents Charles & Emma Hopkins, butler, Bristol

Private Frederick Miles JAMES 28175, Queens Own (Royal West Kent Reg’t)
posted 20th Bn, London Regiment. Age: 37?, Died of wounds 30 Mar 1918
Etaples Military Cemetery, Pas de Calais, France, XXXIII.B.14A
Born 1880, Amersham, farm labourer.
Parents: Mary Ann James, Widow.
Wife: Mary James née Martin, Md. 1903, 18 Beamond End, Penn Street.

Private Willie KNIGHTS TF/241618, Royal West Kent Regiment 1st Battalion
Age: 38, Killed in Action: 04 Oct 1917
Hooge Crater Cemetery, Ieper, Belgium, VII.L.2
Born: c1879 Ratcliffe on Soar, Notts
Parents Frederick & Jemima Knights, game keeper, Penn Bottom.

Private George Frederick MASON 174, Royal Buckinghamshire Hussars
Age: 18, Killed in Action 21 Aug 1915, Gallipoli
Helles Memorial, Turkey, Panel 16 & 17
Born c1897 Little Missenden
Parents Charles & Elizabeth Mason, farmer, Mop End Farm, Penn Street

Corporal Horace MILES 157701,
Royal Engineers 179th Tunnelling Coy
Age: 26, Died of wounds 20 May 1918
St Sever Cemetery Extension, Rouen, France, Q.III.F.8
Born c1892 Amersham,
Parents Alfred & Almiria Miles, chair adzer, Mop End.

Private Sidney George MILES 33679
Oxford & Bucks Light Infantry 1/1st Bucks Battalion
Age 41, 15 Jun 1918, Killed in action
Boscon British Cemetery, Italy, Plot 1 Row B Grave 1
Date/Place of birth c1877 Penn Street, chair maker
Parents William & Annie Miles, Penn Street,
chair maker.  Wife Sarah Ellen Miles, Penn Street


Sidney Miles, Dancer & Hearne, 1900’s

The Miles family also lost two cousins of Horace and Sidney, Charles and John Miles of Holmer Green.

Lt. Joseph James WIDDOWSON, Wiltshire Regiment 1st Battalion
Age: 20, Died of wounds 23 Oct 1916 .
Contay British Cemetery, Contay, Somme, France, II.A.27
Born: 28 Jul 1896 Bedford
Parents Joseph James & Alice Widdowson née Plumbe,
Father JJW born, married & buried at Penn Street, itinerant hotel manager.

Private Sidney WILKINS 23078, Worcestershire Regiment 4th Battalion
Age: 19, Died of wounds 19 22 Aug 1915, Malta.
Pieta Military Cemetery, Malta, A.IX.3
Born: c1896 Winchmore Hill, Penn Street
Parents George & Laura Wilkins, Windsor chair maker, The Old Griffin, Mop End.

Rifleman Frederick WINGROVE 573671, London Regiment A Coy
1/17th Battalion, Age: 20, Killed in Action 20 15 Sep 1917.
Ypres (Menin Gate) Memorial, Ieper, Belgium, Panel 52 to 54
Born c1897 Amersham, Parents Thomas & Sarah A Wingrove,
wood worker (chair), Woodside Cottage, Penn Street.

Private Alfred WRIGHT 28877, Royal Warwickshire Regiment
Age: 32, Died of wounds 20 Aug 1917
Dozinghem Military Cemetery, Poperinge, Belgium, IV.I.3
Born: c1885 Amersham, general farm labourer
Parents William & Kate Wright, general labourer, Winchmore Hill, Amersham
Wife late Primrose Dorothy Wright, Died 1916..

Winchmore Hill Memorial Hall, Buried at Penn Street.

Stoker, 1st class William John ROSE K/38486, HMS Pembroke,
Royal Navy.  Age: 27, Died of wounds at home, 23 Feb 1919
Penn Street, Holy Trinity, Churchyard, Bucks, north of church
Born: 30 Jul 1892 Amersham
Parents William & Cissie Rose, bricklayers labourer,
Winchmore Hill,  Wife: Lily Iva Rose, Elm Tree Cottages,
Winchmore Hill. Died 18 Feb 1976, aged 84.

World War Two

Leading Aircraftman Cyril Charles ABBOTT 930487 RAFVR.
Age 37, Died 05 Oct 1945, Mansfield. Costing Clerk (gas works),
Parents: Charles and Ellen Elizabeth Abbott, Mansfield;
Wife Amelia Florence Abbott, née Mee, Md. Sep 1939,
Address 1939, ‘Highlands’, ??, High Wycombe.

Private Reginald William T BOVINGDON 6102682, Royal Sussex Regiment
Age 31, Died 27 October 1942, ALAMEIN MEMORIAL Column 61.
Parents Ephraim and Florence Emily Bovingdon; 9 Penn Wood View, Penn St.
nephew of Mrs. E. Archer, of Nettlebed, Oxfordshire.

Private Harry Vincent READ 5385854, King’s Own Yorkshire Light Infantry
Age 29, Died 22 January 1944, 9 MINTURNO WAR CEMETERY Coll. grave I, L, 5-7.
Parents Richard and Ellen F. Read;
Wife: Julia Read, of Flackwell Heath, Buckinghamshire.

Gunner Christopher Penn Ware, 1552938,
1 Bty. 1 Searchlight Regt. Royal Artillery
Parents: Penn and Sarah Ware, of Holmer Green;
Wife: Elsie Elizabeth Ware, of Cwmdu, Swansea.

Much of the information above is from June and Peter Underwood’s comprehensive website Buckinghamshire Remembers,  and Commonwealth War Graves Commission website.

Lady Georgiana Curzon

TO BE MARRIED NEXT WEEK:
LADY GEORGIANA CURZON AND LT. HOME KIDSTON. R.N.

The wedding of Lady Georgiana Curzon and Lt. Home Kidston, R.N. is to be on the 27th at Penn, Bucks, where the bride’s father, Lord Howe, has his seat. Lady Georgiana Curzon is Lord and Lady Howe’s only daughter, and bears a striking resemblance to her beautiful mother, who is also a Curzon and is the daughter of the late Colonel the Hon. Montagu Curzon. The bride-­groom-elect is still a serving sailor and has been “on loan” to the New Zealand Naval Division for two years. He is the youngest son of the late Captain Glen Kidston and of Lady Windham. (Photographs: Fayer of Vienna, Dorland House)

November 20, 1935, THE TATLER, Illustrated London News Group

There is a 25 second video of their marriage on the Pathe News website, and here on Youtube (Opens in new tab)

Lady Georgiana and Home Kidston had one son, Glen Kidston, born 1937, who died in 2018 and is buried at Penn Street.  Sadly Georgiana and Home’s marriage did not last and they divorced in 1943.  Lady Georgiana remarried 1st December 1953, to Lewis Stanton Starkey (1906–1975).

“Georgie” died 11 January 1976. She is buried at Holy Trinity, Penn Street, and on her grave there are two lines by Tennyson: “Oh for the touch of a vanished hand, and the sound of a voice that is still“.  The same lines which appear on her grand-mother’s memorial lych-gate at Penn Street.

(Thanks to Ron Saunders for finding this article from the Tatler)