Henry Sweney (b. 13 Jan 1874) son of
John Henry Charles Sweeney and Susannah Harvey, married divorcee, Mary Louisa Ansley, in Christchurch, New Zealand, on
22 Nov 1901. Born
Mary Louisa Efford on 16 Sep 1869 in
Torquay, Devon (Volume 05B Page 161), daughter of
John Ash Efford Jnr and
Louisa Fulford, she had previously married Frederick William Ansley (b. 23 Jan 1866 in Oldbury, Staffordshire), son of Alfred Ansley and Emma Cooper, also in Christchurch, New Zealand, on 1 Nov 1887, with whom she had three daughters: Mary Louisa Ansley, b. 16 Aug 1888; Rose Amelia Ansley (1889-90) and Emma Miriam Ansley b. 18 Apr 1891.
Henry Sweeney had joined the
Royal Marines on 8 Apr 1889. He gave his date of birth as 8 Feb 1871, making himself three years older in order to enlist. He was actually only 15, but at already 5 ft 5⁷⁄₁₀in had been tall enough to get away with it. His record confirms his father as John, of 1 Stephensons Cottages, Condor Street, London. Henry grew to 5ft 9½in at final discharge; he had a fresh complexion, brown hair, grey eyes and a tattoo of a basket of flowers on his forearm.
After initial training at the
Royal Marine Depot, Walmer (
Deal, Kent) and at Portsmouth Division until 5 Dec 1890, ships that Henry Sweney served on included:
HMS Agamemnon (1879) until 1892, while she was part of the
Mediterranean Fleet; from 1892 to 1894,
HMS Camperdown (1885), again with the
Mediterranean Fleet. Henry will therefore have been aboard HMS Camperdown on 22 Jun 1893, when she collided with and sank the battleship
HMS Victoria with 358 deaths, off
Tripoli, Lebanon.
The report here offers the explanation, "Following an order by
the admiral to carry out a dangerous and near impossible manoeuvre, taking into account the positions of the vessels, the Camperdown rammed
HMS Victoria, off the Lebanon, which sank with heavy loss of life. Camperdown was also badly damaged, but managed to limp into port."
This was a case in which Mary Louisa Ansley petitioned for the dissolution of her marriage with Frederick William Ansley of
Wanganui on the grounds of cruelty and bigamy. Mr Cresswell appeared for the petitioner. The respondent did not appear, and was not represented by counsel. The evidence of the petitioner showed that she had lived six and a half years with the respondent, who had commenced to ill-treat her two days after the marriage. During the last six years they had been separated by mutual consent, owing to ill relations arising from the cruelty referred to. Amelia Stevens [1], sister of the petitioner, gave corroborative evidence. The written evidence of William T Clapham, clergyman, of Brisbane, taken by the Registrar on Nov 25, showed that he married the respondent to a woman in Brisbane on August 6, 1896 [2]. The respondent subsequently disappeared, and witness heard that he was already married and in New Zealand. His Honour granted the petitioner a decree nisi, with custody of the children and costs against the respondent.
[1] Amelia Efford married Archibald Stevens, in 1896. In 1911, Archibald and Amelia Stevens were listed on the New Zealand Electoral Roll at the
Sailors Home Lyttelton, of which Archibald was the Superintendent.
[2] Frederick William Ansley (30) Bootmaker, who was listed on the Australia Electoral Roll in 1896 at
1 Downing Street, Spring Hill, Brisbane, Australia, married [Ellen] Nellie Ashton, in Queensland, Australia on 6 Aug 1896. Frederick, who died on 20 Apr 1956 (aged 90) and
is buried at Aramoho Cemetery, Whanganui, [
bio] appears to have been very partial to wedding cake, having had a total of five marriages (including the bigamous one).
In 1911, the New Zealand Electoral Roll places Henry Sweney, Hairdresser, at 89 Lower High Street, Christchurch East with Mary Louisa Sweney, Married, and Mary Louisa Sweney Jun (Jnr) (Mary Louisa Ansley).
Step-daughter, Mary Louisa Ansley Sweney it appears married Herbert Charles Ford in 1916 and went on to have five children. [
Source]
In 1925, Henry Sweney, Commission Agent, and Mary Louisa Sweney were listed at 64 Abberley Rd,
St Albans, Christchurch.
Some five years later,
Henry Sweney remarried to
Kathleen Elizabeth Hocking Raddon (b. 10 Mar 1892 in Christchurch, New Zealand), daughter of
Captain Hugh Hocking Raddon and Elizabeth Ann Jackson, who was the widow of James Arthur Taylor, on
21 Feb 1939, in New Zealand.
Kathleen Elizabeth Hocking Sweney died on 5 Mar 1977, aged 85.
Photos of Henry Sweney provided by Jon Gilbert, descendant of Rosina Sweeney
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