Annie Murray
Annie Murray Barkley (1838-1882) married Henry Denne (1830-1908)
Henry Denne was the eldest son of Denne Denne (1801-1891) of Elbridge House, Littlebourne, Kent following his marriage to Elizabeth Pembrook (1800-1873). Denne Denne was previously known as Denne Hollingbury but changed his surname to Denne on inheriting the estate of his uncle, another Henry Denne. It became common practice in the family for Denne to be both a Christian name and a surname.
Henry and Annie married in Canterbury in 1859. They lived at Burleigh Court, Minchinhampton, Gloucestershire. Annie Murray died at a fairly young age after giving birth to twelve children. Henry was made bankrupt in 1885. Although he was a J.P., he had some brushes with the law; in 1884 he was fined for keeping a man-servant without a license and also for keeping a dog without a license.
Henry's Wisden obituary reads:
MR. HENRY DENNE, J.P., who died of heart-failure at Minchinhampton, near Stroud, on January 5th, in his seventy-eighth year, was an enthusiastic supporter of cricket. He did not obtain a place in the eleven at either Eton or Oxford, and is best remembered as one of the founders of the Band of Brothers. He was very regular in his attendance at the University and Eton v. Harrow matches, and seldom missed seeing Gloucestershire play at Cheltenham and Gloucester. He was a good oar and rowed No. 5 in the Oxford crew of 1852, which was known as Chitty's and was always held up as a model of what an eight should be.
Annie gave birth to twelve children. Two died of them in infancy. Nine left England for employment overseas, Africa, India, Canada and Australia.
1. Henry William Denne Denne (1860-1899) married Mabel Harriett Dealtry (1863-1940) in Nantwich in 1889.
Mabel Harriet Dealtry was the daughter of Thomas Dealtry (1825-1882) and Harriett Wing (1832-1881). The Venerable Thomas Dealtry was a Chaplain to the East India Company and Archdeacon of Madras; on his return from India he became Rector of Swillington.
Confetti
Why do we throw confetti at weddings? Wikipedia suggests that this a custom that came from Italy. Another view credits the Venerable Thomas Dealtry with the introduction of the custom of throwing confetti over the bride and groom at a wedding. It suggests that the practice originates in the Hindu custom of the bridegroom throwing three handfuls of rice over his bride and she doing the same to him, as a symbol of fertility. That custom, which later became confetti rather than rice, was introduced in Swillington by The Venerable Thomas Dealtry who was Rector there from 1872 to 1878.
Major Henry William Denne Denne served with the Gordon Highlanders in North Africa. He was killed while fighting in the Second Boer War at Elandslaagte. After the battle was effectively over he was shot through the throat while standing on a ridge close to the general. His widow and young family went to live in Sussex.
Here is an account of Henry's military career:
Educated at Harrow and joined the 75th Foot January 1880, being promoted Lieutenant March 1881, Captain July 1887 and Major October 1897. He saw service in the Egyptian War of 1882 with the 1st Battallion Gordon Highlanders and was present at the battle of Tel-el-Kebir (medal with clasp and Khedive's star). He also served in the Soudan Expedition, 1884, as Transport Officer with the 1st Battalion Gordon Highlanders and was present in the engagements at El Teb and Tamai (two clasps); also in the Nile Expedition, 1884-85, with the River Column under Major-Gen. Earle (clasp). He held the appointment of A.D.C. in Egypt, April 1886 to September 1887, and at Malta, January 1888 to January 1889. He was afterwards Station Staff Officer (first class) in India, and was appointed D.A.A.G., Bengal, from November 1895 until he rejoined his battalion to proceed with it to South Africa in September 1899.
Henry and Mabel had three children.
1.1 Ela Denne Denne (1890-1947) never married. She was a physiotherapist working in London for some years before moving to Sussex. She was living with her mother in Littlehampton in 1939. She died in Lewisham.
1.2 Mary Denne Denne (1893-1982) married Kenneth Frederic Campion (1891-1950) in London in 1919.
Mary Denne Denne was born in India.
Kenneth Frederic Campion was the son of Frederick William Campion (1853-1900) and Mary Georgine Strapp (1861-1940). Frederick William Campion's occupation is documented as stock jobber. Kenneth Frederic and his brother were also stock jobbers, members of the London Stock Exchange. Kenneth Frederic Campion was a Captain in the Queen's Royal West Surrey Regiment in the First World War. The Campion family house in Trumpet Hill, Reigate made a statement about their wealth.
1.3 Victor Alexander Harry Denne Denne (1899-1977) married Margaret Glen Newland (1914-1990) in Weston-super-Mare in 1946.
Major Victor Alexander Harry Denne Denne followed in the footsteps of the father he never met when he joined the Gordon Highlanders. He was a Japanese prisoner of war from 1942 to 1945. His wife, Margaret, was a nurse.
Queen Victoria was a godmother to Victor Alexander Harry Denne Denne. I am grateful to a relative for explaining how this came about. Victor Alexander Harry Denne Denn's father was a senior officer killed at Elandslaagte and on learning of his death and knowing that his wife, Mabel Harriet, was pregnant, Queen Victoria sent a series of telegrams to check on Mabel Harriet’s health and well being. When her son was born Queen Victoria told Mabel Harriet that she would stand godmother to the baby and it is she who suggested the names Victor Alexander. Harry was added to this as, although his father had been christened Henry, he was always known as Harry to distinguish him from his own father. Mabel Harriet was known to Queen Victoria. After serving as Archdeacon of Madras, Mabel Harriet's father, the Venerable Thomas Dealtry, was seriously ill and he travelled to various spas in Europe to try to improve his health. At one of these spas the future German Emperor, Frederick III, and his wife, Victoria, eldest daughter of Queen Victoria, heard him preach and were much taken with him. They invited him to teach English to their sons, the future Kaiser Wilhelm (Queen Victoria's eldest grandchild) and his brother. For a while her father taught the boys English and Mabel Harriet occasionally got to play with them.
in 1955 Major Victor Alexander Harry Denne Denne donated a cane chair owned by Frances Barkley to the City of Vancouver museum.
2. Alured Barkley Denne (1862-1944) married Edith Mary King (1864-1960) in Kensington in 1900.
Alured Barkley Denne rose to the rank of Major in the Royal Artillery. After military service he put his knowledge of explosives to use in the mining industry in South Africa. He died in Johannesburg, as did his wife.
Alured and Edith had one child.
2.1 Mary Barkley Denne (1901-1987) married Oscar Stockton Needham (1893-1965)
Oscar Stockton Needham was the son of Herbert Needham (1862-1954) and Mary Stockton (1861-1952). Herbert Needham was a Manchester cotton merchant.
Like his father-in-law Oscar Stockton Needham worked in the mining industry in South Africa. Mary Barkley Denne and Oscar Stockton Needham both died in Johannesburg.
3. Annie Murray Laura Denne (1863-1944) married John Cowie (1864-1928) in Minchinhampton in 1903.
John Cowie was born in India, the son of John Cowie (1834-1893) and Alice Isabella Dickson (1845-1878). He was a police superintendent in India before returning to live in Church Cookham, Hampshire. John Cowie died in a 'hospital for the insane' in Gloucestershire.
Annie and John had one child.
3.1 Annie Murray Jean Cowie (1904-1985) married Leslie Watson James Dryland (1906-1998) in Church Crookham, Hampshire in 1935.
Annie was born in India.
Lieutenant-Colonel Leslie Watson James Dryland was the son of physician Leslie Winter Dryland (1868-1941) and Letitia Morris Hill (1870-1947). He served in the Royal Corps of Signals and was awarded an OBE in 1956. He died in the USA.
In 1939 Annie was living at The Shard, Minchinhampton, with her widowed mother and a young daughter. Ellen Denne, a sister, and Eustace Denne, a brother, were also resident there.
4. Charles Reginald Trevor Denne (1865-1906)
Charles Reginald Trevor Denne died in India where he was managing the Bagrakote tea estate. A plaque at St Michael's and All Angels Church, Jalpaiguri commemorates his life. He contributed towards this church, built in European style with tinted Belgian glass windows and a steeple with a bell.
Photo: Christmas Eve In the Church of Jalpaiguri, © Sandipan Raha 2014, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0
5. Cecil Gordon Denne (1867-1926) married Mary Cecilia Stark (1880-1956) in British Columbia in 1923.
Mary Cecilia Stark was the daughter of Arthur James Stark (1831-1902) and Rose Isabella Kent (1848-1918). Both her parents were accomplished artists. There is information about her father on the Wikipedia page below.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthur_James_Stark
Rose Isabella Stark was the author and illustrator of 'A a Apple: Rose Isabella Stark's Alphabet', published posthumously in 1979. She had painted the alphabet in 1915 for her first grandchild. It was illustrated in watercolours across 24 boards with a blue border and a poetical quotation on the base of each page.
Cecil Gordon Denne was a Superintendent in the India Police. At the age of 56 he married Mary Cecilia Stark in British Columbia; three years later he died there. His widow returned to the UK; she ended her days in Netherne Hospital, Coulsdon, formerly the Surrey County Asylum, renowned for art therapy after the Second World War.
6. Ida Elizabeth Denne (1869-1962) married Reginald David Prosser (1869-1920) in Shrewsbury in 1905.
In 1908 Reginald retired from his Gloucestershire coal merchant business, Dickenson, Prosser and Cox. He and Ida emigrated to Canada the same year. Their destination was Edmonton, Alberta. They moved on to British Columbia where they became early settlers at Southbank, Francois Lake, a wilderness area about 1,000 kilometres north of Vancouver. There is a record of Ida being the postmistress at Francois Lake. Reginald died there. Ida spent her last years in the town where her son lived, Kelowna, British Columbia.
Ida and Reginald had two children.
6.1 Ronald David Barkley Prosser (1906-1991) married Alice Wilson Pillsbury (1909-1994)
Alice Wilson Pillsbury was the daughter of Joel Horace Pillsbury (1874-1958) and Amelia Florence Hill (1877-1941). Her parents were born in America; her father studied engineering at Massachusetts Institute of Technology and moved to British Columbia to work as Grand Trunk Pacific Railway Assistant Harbour Engineer at Prince Rupert.
Ronald David Barkley Prosser started out as a mechanic and then became the owner of a garage and car dealership in Kelowna, British Columbia.
6.2 Laura Elizabeth Prosser (1909-1947) married Cornelius Hardy Stanton (1909-1999) in British Columbia in 1929.
Cornelius Hardy Stanton was the son of George Biddon Stanton (1882-1948) and Phoebe Jane Haines (1883-1957). His father was a farmer and Cornelius also became a farmer, though later in life he worked on boats and was a master mariner and ferry captain. The Stanton family lived at Francois Lake.
7. Basil Hubert Denne (1870-1872)
Basil Hubert Denne was born in Ostend. He died in Coblenz (now Koblenz) before his second birthday.
8. Eustace Henry Denne (1872-1952)
Eustace Henry Denne and his younger sister, Ellen Beatrice, were both born in Coblenz (Koblenz), Germany.
Eustace Henry Denne joined Smith, Mackenzie and Company in East Africa in 1898. He was stationed in Mombasa and Lamu for a time, but did most of his service in Zanzibar, where he was at one time a member of the Legislative Council. He was a keen polo player and a member of the Zanzibar Polo Club.
He died as a result of a shooting accident after retiring to The Shard in Minchinhampton, Gloucestershire. He features on the Europeans in East Africa website.
9. Ellen Beatrice Denne (1873-1949)
Like her older brother Ellen Beatrice Denne was born in Coblenz (Koblenz) and ended her days at The Shard in Minchinhampton.
10. Gilbert Francis Alured Denne (1876-1964) married Marie Cesarsky in Victoria, Australia in 1916
Gilbert Francis Alured Denne enlisted in Sydney in 1918 to fight in the 1st World War. At the time of enlistment his occupation was 'Orchardist'; later documents record his occupation as tea planter. He lived in London for a number of years. He died in Gloucestershire.
https://www.aif.adfa.edu.au/showPerson?pid=77427
11. Geoffrey Armstrong Denne (1878-1878) - died in infancy.
12. Herbert Vincent Denne (1882-1914) married Lydia Magdalen Starke (1881-1924) in Elham, Kent in 1910.
Lydia Magdalen Starke was the daughter of Norfolk policeman Henry Edward Starke (1857-1948) and Elizabeth Jane Brown (1857-1944).
Herbert Vincent Denne and Lydia Magdalen Starke were both born in the UK but went to live in Canada. Four years after their marriage Herbert died in British Columbia. The next year his widow married Alfred Gillingham Watson in Vancouver.