Ivy May Hepworth, William Edgar Farthing and Lieutenant Commander Derrick William Graham RN OBE

Britannia Royal Naval College, Dartmouth
cc-by-sa/2.0 - © Derek Voller - geograph.org.uk/p/3699730

Ivy May Hepworth (b. 3 Nov 1892), daughter of Vincent Hepworth and Mary Ann (Annie) Rogers, married William Edgar Farthing (b. 23 Dec 1892), son of Frederick William Farthing and Emily Maud Gidley, on 10 Jan 1913, at the church of Saint James the Less, Plymouth. 

Their only son, Edgar Grahame Farthing, was born on 15 Nov 1913 and baptised on 16 Apr 1914 at St Mary's Church Plympton. 

William Edgar Farthing, formerly a clerk at the Great Western Railway, who enlisted in July 1914 in the Royal Garrison Artillery, husband of Ivy May Farthing of 22 Atheneaum St, The Hoe, Plymouth, Devon was invalided home and died at the London Hospital, Whitechapel on 8 Feb 1917, aged 24, of a disease contracted while on active service. Second Lieutenant William Edgar Farthing is buried at Ford Park Cemetery (Plymouth Old Cemetery). 

Ivy Maud Farthing remarried, on 29 May 1925, to Derrick William Graham. 

Derrick William Graham, b. 8 Aug 1900, was the elder son of Charles William Graham a Silk Merchant born in Melbourne, Australia and his wife Edith Eleanor Clodd (m. 1899 in the City of London). In 1911, Derrick (10) and his younger brother, Geoffrey Edward (9) were boarders at Doon House Preparatory School for Boys, Canterbury Road, Westgate-on-Sea. He entered service with the Royal Navy in May 1913, as an officer cadet, at Britannia Royal Naval College, at Dartmouth, Devon. 

The couple had two sons:

1. David William Graham b. 1926 D Quarter in DEVONPORT Vol 05B Page 423, died 1926 D Quarter in DEVONPORT Vol 05B Page 395
2. Michael William Graham b. 5 Jan 1929 in MEDWAY Vol 02A Page 1189

Derrick William Graham made Sub-Lieutenant in 1919; Lieutenant in 1921 and Lieutenant-Commander in 1929. His service record places him in Malta in 1928 and Ivy May Graham and son Michael, of 109 Broadfield Road, Catford, SE6, sailed to Malta with RMS Viceroy of India, in 1931.

In 1939, at West Lodge, Villiers Road, Portsmouth, were Ivy M Graham, listed with a birth year of 1896 - it was 1892 - admitting to be four years older than her husband, but not all eight, while Derrick W Graham RN, at that time, was attached to HMS Dolphin (shore establishment), home of the Royal Navy Submarine Service from 1904 to 1999, at Fort Blockhouse, Gosport.

On 1 Jan 1944 Acting Commander Derrick William Graham, Royal Navy (Portsmouth) is listed in The London Gazette, having been mentioned in despaches. His record states "Mentioned in Despaches for zeal, patience and cheerfulness in dangerous waters, and for setting an example of wholehearted devotion to duty, upholding the high traditions of the Royal Navy."

Graham got his OBE (which him indoors tells me stands for "Other Buggers' Efforts") in 1946 for distinguished services during the war in the Far East.

Acting Commander Derrick William Graham reverted to the retired list on 30 Jul 1948. The marriage between Derrick and Ivy was disolved on 23 Feb 1951 and Derrick William Graham immediately remarried, on 17 Mar 1951, to Margaret Hamilton Sterling in Natal, South Africa. Derrick William Graham of St. Paul Road, Vacoas, Mauritius died on 28 Apr 1960.

Ivy May Graham died on 20 Oct 1978 in Portsmouth, just days short of turning 86. She is buried in the churchyard at St Nicholas Church, Durweston, Dorset, where her sister, Ida Lily Soppit, is also buried. Dorset Monumental Inscriptions lists her as "Mother of Grahame & Michael GRAHAM".

• Having joined The Royal Regiment Of Artillery in 1933, Edgar Grahame Farthing married Kathleen Lucy Downs (b. 29 May 1914), in Windsor, Berkshire, in 1949 and on 17 May 1957, they and their two children, of Officers Married Quarters, Andover, sailed to Canada on the RMS Empress of Britain. Edgar Farthing died on 3 Jan 2000 (aged 86) and is buried at the Holy Trinity Anglican Cemetery, North Saanich, British Columbia, Canada. Kathleen Farthing died on 17 Nov 2004 and is buried with her husband.
• Michael William Graham, formerly a Director of Rookery Estates Co, property management company, in Maidstone, Kent, married Rachel M Norman in 1952. He died at 69, in 1998.

Derrick William Graham's father, Charles William Graham, had also died at a relatively early age, 52, in London on 14 Jan 1924. The Probate record quotes him as being of 42 Gutter Lane, London and Mirabelle, Carshalton, Surrey. 42 Gutter Lane was the address of Messrs Courtauld and Co.

William Edgar Farthing's father, Frederick William Farthing, died in 1936 and his obituary in the Western Morning News was interesting: Former G.W.R. Inspector Dies at Plymouth. As well as detailing his 49 year career with the railway, it mentioned a son (Frederick Arthur) who was in the Customs at Southampton and that his wife's sisters, Alice and Lilian Gidley, were formerly headmistresses at Stonehouse. As my father, who had left Plymouth in 1936, had been to school in Stonehouse, means there's a possibility my father's headmistress had been a very distant relative by marriage to my mother.

James Alfred Garnett and Mabel Shotter

The Derby Tavern, North End
cc-by-sa/2.0 - © Basher Eyre - geograph.org.uk/p/614012

James Alfred Garnett (b. 1881), son of John William Garnett and Margaret Mary Coleborn, married Mabel Shotter (b. 1879), daughter of William Thomas Shotter and Hannah Jane Bussey, at St Mark's church, North End, Portsmouth (demolished in the 1970s) on 27 Apr 1908. The groom's occupation was listed as Licence Holder and his address at the time of the marriage was The Fairy Queen, Grosvenor Street, Southsea.

They had one daughter, Marjorie Mabel Garnett, born 28 Feb 1915.

The Fountain Pub at North End
cc-by-sa/2.0 - © Basher Eyre - geograph.org.uk/p/613972

In 1891, the ten year old James Alfred Garnett had lived at Public House, Stamshaw Road, Portsea (Derby Tavern, 47 Stamshaw Road, Landport), where his father, John William Garnett, was described as a Beer retailer. 

In 1901, James Alfred Garnett (19) had been Assistant manager of the Fountain Hotel, London Road, Portsmouth (Fountain, 133 London Road, North End), held by Edward Gardner, Licensed victualler, his uncle.

Pizza Hut on corner of Kingston Crescent and Gamble Road
cc-by-sa/2.0 - © Basher Eyre - geograph.org.uk/p/770407

In 1911, James Alfred Garnett (29) Licensed victualler and Mabel Garnett (31) Assisting in business, were at 90 Kingston Crescent, North End, Portsmouth (The Admirals Head, 90 Kingston Crescent, Landport), now a Pizza Hut. In 1916, James Alfred Garnett of The Admiral's Head, Kingston, Publican, appears on an Exemption Register of Portsmouth Military Tribunals, presumably exempting him from military service in World War I.

James Alfred Garnett of The Queens Hotel, 143 Queen's Road, Gosport, died, aged 55, on 22 Nov 1936, leaving his effects to Mabel Garnett, Widow.

In the 3rd quarter of 1938, Mabel Garnett remarried to Walter John Morgan, widower, of 131 Queen's Road, Gosport, in Portsmouth and, in the same quarter, Marjorie Mabel Garnett married Bernard Connorton, in Gosport.

In 1939, Mabel Morgan and her daughter, Marjorie M Connorton were both living at 26 Lower Farlington Road, Portsmouth, while Walter J Morgan was listed in the household of his son-in-law and daughter, Ina G M Palmer, at 44 Bishop's Way, Andover. (I've been unable to locate Bernard.)

Marjorie M Connorton died, at 25, in the 1st quarter of 1940, in Portsmouth. While a death in 1940 might be related to the Second World War, the timing of her death was too early to be related to The Portsmouth Blitz, during which: "The three major raids took place on August 24th 1940 during the Portsmouth Blitz, January 10th 1941 and March 10th 1941."

Mabel Morgan died, at 68, in 1948.

Pubs of Gosport - Queen's Hotel
cc-by-sa/2.0 - © Barry Shimmon - geograph.org.uk/p/2883713

Thomas Pearce and Sarah Hall

St. Mary's Church - Alverstoke
cc-by-sa/2.0 - © Colin Babb - geograph.org.uk/p/1093207

Thomas Pearce married Sarah Hall on 14 Dec 1797 in Alverstoke, Hampshire.

Thomas and Sarah appear to have had at least five children:

1. Mary Ann Pearce b. 19 Dec 1798, bap. 21 Dec 1800
2. Robert Pearce bap. 21 Dec 1800, in the parish of Portsea St Mary
3. Thomas Hooper Pearce b. 30 Aug 1806, bap. 2 Sep 1806 in the parish of Portsea St John
4. James Pearce b. 9 Jan 1809, bap 19 Jan 1809, St Johns Chapel
5. Sarah Pearce b. 16 Dec 1810, bap. 24 Mar 1811 at Portsea, St Mary

There is a Thomas Pearce (65) in Sandwich Street, Portsea in 1841.

In 1851, Thomas Pearce (74) Widower, Wife's Father, Retired Grocer, was living in Upper Church Road, in the household of James Tubb.

It hasn't been possible to isolate records of deaths for Thomas or Sarah.

Henry John Leese and Marian Blanche Burgess

HMS President in London
cc-by-sa/2.0 - © Steve Daniels - geograph.org.uk/p/3352722
HMS President is a stone frigate, or shore establishment of the Royal Naval Reserve; on the northern bank of the River Thames near Tower Bridge.

Henry John Leese (b. 5 Jan 1862), son of John Leese and Caroline Bussey and elder brother of William James Leese, married Marian Blanche Burgess (b. 1863 in Greenwich), daughter of William George Burgess and Emma Chisman, at St Olave's Church, Southwark (more images), Southwark St Olave, in 1885.

Henry John Leese began his naval career on 5 Jan 1879, having previously attended Greenwich School, assigned to school ship, HMS Impregnable (1810), transferring to HMS President (shore establishment) on 1 Jan 1881.

In 1881, Henry John Leese, then 19, had been an Ordinary seaman pupil teacher, stationed at HMS President (shore establishment). Although I've not found where Marian was that year (my guess is working in London) her parents were living at 6, Horsley Road, Rochester St Margaret, Medway, Kent and her father, William Burgess (51), was described as a 'Chelsea out pensioner'. 

Henry and Marian Leese had nine children, three of whom died (numbers confirmed by Henry John Leese' own account on 1911 Census):

1. May Constance Leese b. 1886 S Quarter in BRIGHTON Volume 02B Page 228, bap. at Southsea, St Bartholomew in 1890.
2. Elsie Christine Leese b. 1890 S Quarter in PORTSEA ISLAND Volume 02B Page 479, bap. at Southsea, St Bartholomew in 1890. Died.
3. Henry John Leese b. 14 Dec 1892 in Valletta, Malta 
4. Maude Christiana Leese b. 13 Jul 1894 in Malta 
5. Marian Blanche Leese b. 1895 D Quarter in STOKE DAMEREL Volume 05B Page 301, bap. 1896 in Stoke Damerel, Devon, died aged 1 in 1896 D Quarter in ALVERSTOKE Volume 02B  Page 361
6. William Gordon Leese b. 17 Jan 1897 M Quarter in ALVERSTOKE Volume 02B Page 560
7. John Stanley Leese b. 1898 M Quarter in ALVERSTOKE Volume 02B Page 540, bap. in 1898 in Forton (Gosport), Hampshire
8. Edward Lionel Leese b. 1900 M Quarter in ALVERSTOKE Volume 02B Page 568, died aged 3 in 1903 M Quarter Volume 02B Page 355
9. Frank Alfred Joseph Leese b. 10 Jun 1909 J Quarter in ALVERSTOKE Volume 02B Page 565, bap. in 1909 in Forton (Gosport), Hampshire

All that's left of St Olave (in situ)
cc-by-sa/2.0 - © Stephen Craven - geograph.org.uk/p/1410297
This drinking fountain (no longer working) in Tanner Street Park formed from part of the tower of St Olave's church and was all that was left (in situ) when it was demolished in 1926.

The family are not on the 1891 Census in England as Henry John Leese was stationed at Malta Dockyard between 14 Jun 1890 and 11 Dec 1894.

Henry John Leese was appointed Schoolmaster at Portsmouth Division Royal Marines, at that time located at Forton Barracks, near Gosport in Hampshire, on 29 Jul 1896, position he appears to have held until 30 Apr 1917.

In 1901, Henry J Leese (39) Schoolmaster, Warrant Officer RMLI, born in Portobello, Sussex was living in Forton Road, Alverstoke (his Royal Marines record specifies this as 139 Forton Rd, Gosport), with wife Marian B Leese (37) born in Greenwich; May C Leese (14) born in Brighton, Henry J Leese (8) born in Malta; Maud C Leese (6) born in Malta; William G Leese (4) born in Gosport; John S Leese (3) born in Gosport and Edward L Leese (1) born in Gosport. There are no further records of Elsie Christine after her baptism; she is not listed on this census and I can find no record of a death either, so the most logical explanation is that she must have died as an infant in Malta.

In 1911, Henry John Leese (49) Schoolmaster, WO RMLI, was still living in Alverstoke, Hampshire with Marian Blanche Leese (47), May Constance Leese (24), Maude Christania Leese (16), William Gordon Leese (14), John Stanley Leese (13) and Frank Alfred Leese (1). Son Henry J Leese (18) had joined the Royal Marines in 1910 and was that year listed in Walmer, Kent (Deal).

Henry John Leese is still registered in Alverstoke in 1921.

Henry John Leese died, aged 70, on 15 Apr 1932 (J Quarter Volume 02B Page 734) and is buried at Clayhall Naval Cemetery (Haslar Royal Naval Cemetery).

Marian Blanche Leese died seven years later, on 15 Apr 1939, aged 75.

Alverstoke, chapel
cc-by-sa/2.0 - © Mike Faherty - geograph.org.uk/p/5531868
Mortuary chapel at Haslar Royal Naval Cemetery (Clayhall Cemetery).

The six surviving children: 

1. May Constance Leese died, unmarried, aged 81, in Portsmouth, in 1967.
2. Henry John Leese (70) was discharged dead from the Royal Marines, to which he'd obviously devoted his entire life, on 15 Nov 1962.
3. Maude Christina Leese died, aged 83, also still a spinster, in 1977.
4. William Gordon Leese enlisted in the Royal Navy on 20 Jul 1912, but was declared invalided on 8 Feb 1921 at Haslar Hospital. William G Leese died, aged 71, in 1968 in Gosport.
5. John Stanley Leese died, at 80, in 1979 in Stockport, Cheshire.
6. Frank Alfred Joseph Leese joined the British Army, Coldstream Guards in 1928. Frank A J Leese married Faith K Partridge (née Stead) in Acle, Norfolk in 1947. He died in 1990, in Norwich.

William Tubb and Sarah Ruff

St Mary's Church, Alverstoke
cc-by-sa/2.0 - © Barry Shimmon - geograph.org.uk/p/2255172

William Tubb (b. 1808), son of William Tubb and Sarah Chard, married Sarah Ruff, daughter of William Ruff and Martha Preston, in Alverstoke, Gosport on 27 Jul 1827. 

William and Sarah had twelve children:

1. Henry Tubb bap. 12 Jun 1825 at St Mary's Church, Portsea
2. Edward Tubb bap. 18 Nov 1827 at St Mary's Church, Portsea
3. William Tubb bap. 30 Mar 1828 at St Mary's Church, Portsea
4. Sarah Maria Tubb bap. 11 Jul 1830 at St Mary's Church, Portsea
5. Elizabeth Jane Tubb bap. 30 Sep 1832 at St Mary's Church, Portsea (Jane Tubb (3) was buried at St Mary's, on 22 Mar 1835.)
6. James Henry Tubb b. 1 Apr 1834, bap. 6 Jul 1834 at St Mary's, Portsea
7. Jane Tubb bap. 21 Aug 1836 at St Mary's Church, Portsea
8. Amelia Tubb b. 1838 D Quarter in PORTSEA ISLAND UNION Volume 07 Page 120, bap. 3 Feb 1839 at St Mary's Church, Portsea
9. Martha Louisa Tubb b. 1841 M Quarter Volume 07 Page 137
10. Mary Ann Tubb b. 1843 M Quarter Volume 07 Page 136
11. Alfred Tubb b. 1844 D Quarter Volume 07 Page 129
12. Lavinia Tubb b. 1851 M Quarter Volume 07 Page 160, died, aged 2, in 1853 S Quarter Volume 02B Page 232, buried 2 Oct 1853, in Portsea.

They seem to have given up on baptisms after Amelia. This is not unusual and is something I've seen elsewhere, once civil registration had been introduced.

Edward was probably older than his baptism suggests, particularly with only 4 months between his and William's baptism. Likely Edward was also born before the marriage and William already on the way when they tied the knot. 

In 1841, William Tubb (35), Sarah Tubb (30), William Tubb (13), Sarah Tubb (11), James Tubb (7), Jane Tubb (5), Amelia Tubb (3) and Louisa Tubb (0) were listed in 'Marie Lee Borne Street' (Marylebone Street). Sons Henry Tubb (15) and Edward Tubb (13), and grandfather, William Tubb (54), were all residing in the household of John Windel (37) in Bow Street, Portsea. 

In 1851, still in Marylebone Street were William Tubb (42) Master Brush Maker, Sarah Tubb (42); married daughter, Sarah Donset (21); James Tubb (16), Sailor; Jane Tubb (14), Louisa Tubb (9), Mary Ann Tubb (7), Alfred Tubb (6) and Louisa (sic) - must be Lavinia (0). Amelia Tubb (12) was staying with her aunt and uncle James and Jane Frankham in Waterloo Street, Portsea.

Son William Tubb, born 1828, died, aged 26, in Alverstoke, Hampshire and was buried, on 19 Feb 1854 at St Mary's Church, Portsea.

Once more at Marylebone Street, in 1861, we find just William Tubbs (sic) (52), Brush Maker with wife Sarah Tubbs (sic) (52).

In 1871, in Landport, were William Tubb (62), Brush Maker, Sarah Tubb (62), daughter Louisa Nichlas (29) Widowed and granddaughter, Lydia Nichlas (5). 

William Tubb died in 1878, listed as 71 and is buried possibly at Kingston Cemetery. Sarah Tubb (née Ruff) died the following year of 1879. She was 71. Records suggest she is buried at St Mary's Church, Portsea.

George Dalton and Hetty Trevail

Ugborough, Devon
cc-by-sa/2.0 - © Jonathan Billinger - geograph.org.uk/p/623840

Hetty Trevail, the one surviving daughter of Joseph Trevail and Eliza Roach, his second wife, married George Dalton, in Plymouth, in 1893. This was not George's first marriage. George, purportedly from Fareham, Hampshire, had previously married Sarah Jane Rogers, in Plymouth, in 1869, with whom he had a son, William John Dalton in 1870. Sarah Jane died, aged 40, in 1892.

George and Hetty had two sons:

1. Silvanus Henry Dalton born 1894 (died 1923, aged 29, in Totnes)
2. Victor George Trevail Dalton born 30 Aug 1902, bap. 11 Nov 1903 at the Anglican Church of Emmanuel

Again, although obviously no proof, it would be hard to imagine that there was no familial link with the use of that unusual given name of Silvanus. 

In 1911, George Dalton (62) Farmer, Hetty (49), Silvanus (16) Farmer's son working on farm and Victor Dalton (8) at School, were living and working at Stone Farm, Ugborough, Ivybridge, Devon. 

It would appear George Dalton died, aged 90, in 1938, in Gosport, Hampshire.

Hetty Dalton, widow, in 1939, was living with her son, Victor, Dairyman Grocer And General Shop Keeper at 2 Lipson Avenue, Plymouth.

Hetty Dalton of 2 Lipson Avenue, Plymouth, widow, died on 15 Jan 1945 at The City Hospital Plymouth - originally opened in 1858 as the Plymouth Workhouse. She left £3224 12s 1d (£3,224 in 1945 is worth £142,736 today) to John Archibald Dave, commercial traveller. [As yet no idea who he was.]