The Lives of the Great-Grandchildren

(1895–2015)

Tracing the lives of all the grandchildren of William George Nixey and Charlotte née Pitt inevitably led to my finding numerous great-grandchildren – to date I’ve found 24. Many of them have interesting tales to tell in their own right. Over time, this chapter will be extended as their individual details are added.


Name  |  Birth Year  |  Mother’s Maiden Name

  • William Eric Vivian Douglas-Jones 1895 Secker
  • Hazel Chown Lloyd 1895 –––
  • Gwynedd Maude May Jones 1897 Secker
  • Thomas Dennis Collingwood Chown 1897 Crofts
  • Marian Collingwood Chown 1898 Crofts
  • Jessie Elian Douglas-Jones 1898 Onslow-Secker
  • Hubert Eric Charles 1898 Collingwood
  • Gerald Onslow Secker 1900 Brunton
  • Gwenyth Chown 1901 Crofts
  • Leonard Compton Chown Charles 1901 Collingwood
  • Derek Howard Secker 1902 Brunton
  • Lorna Elizabeth Secker 1909 Salmon
  • Edward John Richard Secker 1910 Salmon
  • Charles Bridges Stevens 1911 Moore
  • Diana Mary Stevens 1916 Moore
  • Margaret Bridges Stevens 1919 Campbell
  • Martin Heath 1920 Mills
  • Richard Bridges Stevens 1920 Campbell
  • Barbara Mary Mills 1921 Hargreaves
  • George Thomas Bridges Stevens 1922 Moore
  • Catherine Bridges Stevens 1923 Campbell
  • George Nicholas Heath 1924 Mills
  • Reginald Arthur Mills 1926 Hargreaves
  • Marianne Bridges Stevens 1931 Campbell

Out of the great-grandchildren of William George Nixey and Charlotte née Pitt, only one died during infancy, and that was Charles Bridges Stevens. The last to die was ninety-nine years later, when Richard Bridges Stevens died in 2010. In this chapter, the order in which the great-grandchildren appear is chronological by the year of their death.


   

Charles Bridges Stevens (1911–1911)

The 8th September 1911 issue of the Western Gazette made this brief announcement regarding Charles’s birth:

STEVENS.–Sept. 3, at Fort Rose, Colombo, the wife of George Bridges Stevens, of a son.

Charles died at the tender age of just fourteen days on 17th September 1911, and was buried at the Colombo General Cemetery, Ceylon (grave reference 1669).


   

William Eric Vivian Douglas-Jones (1895–1915)

William Eric Vivian Douglas-Jones was the son of William Douglas-Jones and Charlotte Maude née Secker. He was born on 23rd March 1895, and baptised at St. Lawrence’s, Slough, Buckinghamshire on 15th May 1895.

When he was nineteen years old, and serving as a Second Lieutenant with the 33rd Battery of the Royal Field Artillery, he was killed in action at Neuve Chapelle on 15th January 1915. He is buried at Estaires Communal Cemetery and Extension, France (grave ref: I. E. 2.) His entry in the Commonwealth War Graves Commission Debt Of Honour states that he was born at Ruthin, Denbighshire, Wales, the son of William and Maude Douglas-Jones of Orchard Dene, Bourne End, Buckinghamshire.


   

Thomas Dennis Collingwood Chown (1897–1917)

At the time of the 1911 Census, Thomas Dennis Collingwood Chown was a thirteen year-old “Pupil” at Hadham Road in Bishops Stortford, Hertfordshire (Ref: RG14 piece 7496 schedule 33).

He was a Private with the 1st and 4th Battalions of the Northumberland Fusiliers, and died at the age of nineteen on 11th April 1917, and is buried at the Birmingham (Lodge Hill) Cemetery.

According to the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, Thomas was the son of T. Lionel Collingwood Chown and Edith H. Chown, of 60A, St. Mark's Rd., North Kensington, London.


   

Hubert Eric Charles (1898–1964)

Hubert Eric Charles was born on 9th December 1898 at Denver, Colerado, USA.

He died in Los Angeles, California on 4th February 1964. His death index gives his mother’s maiden name as Collingwood.


   

Jessie Elian Douglas-Jones (1898–1967)

Jessie Elian Douglas-Jones died unmarried at Cheltenham, Gloucestershire on 23rd January 1967, she was sixty-seven years old.

The Birmingham Daily Post, in its issue dated Tuesday 9th May 1967, published the following regarding her will:

Midland Wills
Miss Jessie Elian Douglas-Jones, of Old Bath Road, Cheltenham, left £41,603 (£41,510 net), on which duty of £12,152 has been paid. She left £100 to Cheltenham branch of the Salvation Army, and £50 each to the Animal Shelter and Welfare Association, Swindon Road, Cheltenham; Cheltenham branch of the NSPCC; St. Dunstans; the Royal Society of Deep Sea Fishermen; the National Institute for the Deaf, and the Blue Cross Animal Hospital.


   

Lorna Elizabeth Secker (1909–1967)

Lorna was born on 2nd January 1909 at Bangalore, India, and was baptised on 15th February 1909 at the Holy Trinity church in Bangalore.

When the 1911 Census was taken on the night of 2nd April, Lorna is found at 20 Jameson Road, Bexhill in Sussex (Ref: RG14 piece 4771 schedule 31). She is with her parents Victor Hart Secker and Ena Lorna Marjorie née Salmon in the home of her maternal grandmother, Ena Gertrude Bush Salmon. Also with them are her brother Edward John Richard Secker, and three Servants, Charlotte Ashton Allen, Dorothy Alice Cousin, and Ethel Edith Williams.

Lorna married James Douglas Glenny in New Zealand in 1933.

Lorna Elizabeth Glenny died aged fifty-nine on 31st December 1967 in New Zealand.


   

Gerald Onslow Secker (1900–1969)

Gerald was born on 2nd June 1900. While living at Liphook in Hampshire, Gerald died on 29th July 1969.


   

Diana Mary Stevens (1916–1972)

Diana was born on 1st April 1916.

She married Malcolm Hollier McNeill Rind in 1936 at Yeovil in Somerset.

Diana Mary Rind died on 3rd December 1972 at 13 Midhope Road, Woking, in Surrey.


   

Marian Collingwood Chown (1898–1975)

Marian was born on 3rd August 1898 in the St. Leonard’s area of Sussex.

In the 1911 Census, twelve year-old Marian is found boarding at Thornecliffe, Sutherland Avenue, in Bexhill, Sussex (Ref: RG14 piece 4778 schedule 221). Her occupation is given as a “Dancing Apprentice Part Time School.”

When the 1921 Census was taken on the night of 19th June, Marian (indexed as Marianne) is found with her widowed aunt, Esther Jane Crimp né Crofts, living at 58 Gloucester Street in the St. George Hanover Square area of London (Ref: RG15 Piece 00509 Schedule 40). She is recorded as a Musical Instructor at the High School in Sydenham.

When the 1939 Register was taken, she is found at Hall Cottage, South Green, Southwold, in Suffolk with her widowed aunt, Dora Collingwood Grubbe née Chown (Ref: RG101 piece 6626F schedule 197). Her occupation was recorded as a “Teacher Of Speech Training.”

Marian died unmarried in the Hove area of Sussex in 1975.


   

Hazel Chown Lloyd (1895–1982)

Hazel was born on 13th May 1895 in the St. Leonard’s area of Sussex. In the 1901 Census, five year-old Hazel and her mother, Ellen Louise, are found living with Ellen’s brother and family at Hazeldean, 8 Tunley Road, Streatham, Wandsworth, London.

Hazel’s mother married her second husband, William Allan West, an Insurance Clerk, in the summer of 1905 at Hastings, Sussex. In the 1911 Census, the West’s are living at 39 Rayleigh Road, Wimbledon, Surrey, and with them are fifteen year-old Hazel, a Scholar, and Ellen’s sixty-eight year-old widowed mother, Sarah Ellen Lloyd. At the same address in the 1921 Census, “Hazel Chown” is living with her mother and step-father, and said to be a twenty-five year-old Chemists Assistant with Durbins Ltd at the Broadway, Wimbledon (Ref: RG15 Piece 03608 Schedule 155).

Hazel Collingwood Chown married Francis Joseph Philip Jacob in the summer of 1925 in the Epsom area of Surrey.

Francis Joseph Philip Jacob was born on 23rd August 1893, and was baptised as Franciscus Josephus Philiphus Jacob on 8th October 1893 at Corpus Christi, Brixton Hill, in the Lambeth area of Surrey. His parents were named as Joseph Jacob and Helenae Ludovicae née Dickson.

When the 1939 Register was taken on the night of 29th September, Hazel and her husband are found living at Fair Rising, Southfields Road, in the Woldingham area of Surrey (Ref: RG101 piece 1873H schedule 209). Francis’s occupation is recorded as a “Bank Official ARP Warden.”

Francis Joseph Phillip Jacob died on 23rd April 1949 in the Hastings area of Sussex, he was fifty-five years old.

Hazel Collingwood Jacob died on 25th June 1982 in the Hastings area of Sussex.


   

Leonard Compton Chown Charles (1901–1983)

Leonard was born on 25th November 1901. He died on 4th March 1983. Forest Lawn Memorial Park, Hollywood Hills, Los Angeles County, California, USA (Churchyard, map B33, lot 3991, space 2 Memorial ID 85858659).


   

Gwynedd Maude May Douglas-Jones (1897–1985)

Gwynedd was born on 23rd March 1897. She died at Cheltenham in 1985.


   

Gwenyth Collingwood Chown (1901–1985)

Gwenyth was born on 11th August 1901, and baptised on 25th November the same year at St. Peter’s, Bexhill-on-Sea, Sussex.

When she was twenty-four years old, Gwenyth married forty-four year old Frederick George Kunhardt in July 1926 at Christchurch, Totland Bay, on the Isle of Wight. A brief announcement regarding their marriage appeared in The Times of Saturday 17th July 1926:

MARRIAGES
KUNHARDT–CHOWN. On the 15th July, at Christchurch, Totland Bay, Major Frederick George Kunhardt, 4-2nd Punjab Regt., to Gwenyth, younger daughter of Mr. and Mrs. L. Chown of 60, St. Marks Road, N. Kensington.

Frederick George Kunhardt was born at Stellenbosch, in South Africa on 29th July 1882. When the 1911 Census was taken on the night of 2nd April, he is found with his widowed mother,Hilda Kunhardt, at 8 Whitwell Road, Southsea, Portsmouth, in Hampshire (Ref: RG14 piece 5555 schedule 118). His occupation is recorded as “Indian Army Captain.”

When the 1939 Register was taken on 29th September, Frederick and Gwenyth are found living at Summerhayes, Abney Court, Bourne End, in the Wycombe area of Buckinghamshire (Ref: RG101 piece 2158I schedule 200). Frederick’s occupation was recorded as a “Lt Col Indian Army (Retired).” Living with them was a widowed lady by the name of Mary Stout.

Frederick George Kunhardt died on 14th August 1955, he was seventy-three years old. His Probate index gave his residence as Thames.

Gwenyth died on 25th October 1985, her Probate index giving her residence as Hove in Sussex.


   

Catherine Bridges Stevens (1923–1986)

Catherine was born on 11th August 1923. At the time of the 1939 Register, she was living with her parents and siblings at Little Mynthurst, Smalls Hill, in the Leigh area of Surrey (Ref: RG101 piece 1936A schedule 131).

Catherine Bridges Stevens died unmarried in 1986 in Spain, she was sixty-two years old.


   

Derek Howard Secker (1902–1988)

Derek was born on 20th April 1902 at Slough, Buckinghamshire.

When the 1911 Census was taken, eight year-old Derek is found at The Grange, Shorncliffe Road, in Folkestone, Kent (Ref: RG14 piece 4634 schedule 39).

When the 1921 Census was taken on the night of 19th June, nineteen year-old “Midshipman” Derek was in Malta serving aboard the Royal Navy’s battleship H.M.S. Centurion (Ref: RG15 piece 28150 page 35).

Derek married Verena Francis Elizabeth Chichester in 1931; they had one son, Malcolm Chichester Secker who was born on 16th January 1934.


   

George Nicholas Heath (1924–1989)

George was born on 8th February 1924 in the St. George Hanover Square area of London.

At the age of four years, George is found sailing aboard Cunard’s “Aquitania” along with his parents and eight year-old brother Martin. They sailed from Southampton on 14th August 1928, their destination being Cherbourg in France. His father’s occupation was recorded as “Civil Servant.”

George Nicholas Heath died on 24th July 1989 at Farnborough in Hampshire.


   

Martin Heath (1920–1991)

Martin was born on 22nd February 1920.

When the 1939 Register was taken on 29th September, Martin was with his parents at 35 The Avenue, Surbiton, in Surrey (Ref: RG101 piece 1385A schedule 186). His father Roland was working as an “HM Inspector of Surrey Schools,” while Martin was said to be a Student.

Martin Heath died in early 1991 in the Devizes area of Wiltshire.


   

Edward John Richard Secker (1910–1993)

Edward was born on 21st July 1910 at Bangalore, India, and baptised on 29th August 1910 at the Holy Trinity church, Bangalore.

When he was thirty years old, he married Margaret Elizabeth Vertue on 28th December 1940 at St. Mary’s, Chiddingfold, in Surrey.

Edward John Richard Secker died on 29th January 1993, his Probate index giving his residence as Shaftesbury in Dorset.


   

Margaret Bridges Stevens (1919–1996)

Margaret was born on 19th May 1919 at Sibton, Suffolk, and was the eldest child of Dennis Bridges Stevens and his wife Dorothy Gladys née Campbell.

When the 1921 Census was taken on the night of 19th June, Margaret was aged two years one month, her family’s address being recorded as 116 Foxley Lane, Purley, in Surrey (Ref: RG15 piece 3537 schedule 275).

At the time of the 1939 Register, she was living with her parents and siblings at Little Mynthurst, Smalls Hill, in the Leigh area of Surrey (Ref: RG101 piece 1936A schedule 131). Her occupation was recorded as a “Shorthand Typist.”

Margaret died unmarried on 24th May 1996 in the Plymouth area of Devon.


   

Reginald Arthur Mills (1926–1996)

Reginald Arthur Mills was born on 8th June 1926.

When the 1939 Register was taken on the night of 29th September, he is found at Packwood Haugh in Solihull (Ref: Rg101 Piece 5709F Schedule 5).

The Packwood Haugh School opened in 1892, and was located in Glasshouse Lane in Hockley Heath until 1940, when it was requisitioned by the Royal Air Force. It was then relocated to its current location at Ruyton XI Towns near Shrewsbury in Shropshire.

Reginald Arthur Mills died in the Oxford area in June 1996, aged 70.


   

George Thomas Bridges Stevens (1922–2001)

George Thomas Bridges Stevens was born on 30th April 1922.

He married Mary Duff Pelly on 22nd June 1945 at Cheltenham. She had been born on 25th March 1921, the daughter of Arthur Roland Pelly and his wife Phyllis Elsie née Henderson.

George Thomas Bridges Stevens died in Wiltshire on 23rd March 2001.

His widow, Mary Duff Stevens née Pelly died at the age of ninety-three on 28th January 2015.


   

Barbara Mary Mills (1921–2004)

Barbara Mary Mills was born on 31st October 1921 in Ceylon. When she was 7 years old, she sailed back to London with her parents and 3 year old brother on 1st July 1929 aboard Bibby Brothers & Company’s vessel “Cheshire.”

When the 1939 Register was taken on 29th September, Barbara is found with her parents at Shipston-on-Stour in Warwickshire (Ref: RG101 piece 5735B schedule 1).

In 1946, she married Patrick John Howard-Dobson in the Shipston-on-Stour area of Warwickshire.

Patrick was born at Leicester on 12th August 1921, the son of Rev. Howard Dobson and Georgina Helen née Warner, who had been married on 6th September 1919 at St. Peter’s church in Mansfield. In the 1939 Register, Patrick is found at Framlingham College in Blyth, Suffolk (Ref: RG101 Piece 6631E Schedule 1).

Barbara Mary Howard-Dobson died aged 82 in 2004 at Deben, Suffolk. Patrick survived her by several years until his own death at the age of 88 on 8th November 2009. Regarding his death and funeral, the following appeared in The Comet on 17th November 2009 under the heading, “Ex-Soldier from Benington Dies”:

The funeral of an ex-soldier from Benington, who died on Remembrance Sunday, will be held on Tuesday, November 24.
General Sir Patrick Howard-Dobson died on November 8 following a short illness, aged 88.
Sir Patrick lived on Walkern Road in Benington for more than 25 years and during that time served as Quartermaster General, Military Secretary and Vice Chief of the Defence Staff.
On retirement from the army he became national president of the Royal British Legion, serving for many years, and also sat on the committee of the local branch. He was a serving member of the Royal British Legion until he was 84.
Having himself served in Burma during World War II, Sir Patrick was branch president of the local Burma Star Association, and also served as president of the local branch of the Dunkirk Veterans' Association.
His son, Simon, of Lonsdale Road in Stevenage, said: “He leaves behind a large family proud of his many achievements.”
Instead of flowers, the family is asking for donations for the Royal British Legion Poppy Appeal to be sent c/o Tony Brown’s Funeral Service, Saxmundham, Suffolk, IP17 1EH.


   

Marianne Bridges Stevens (1931–2008)

Marianne was born on 19th December 1931, the youngest child of Dennis Bridges Stevens and his wife Dorothy Gladys née Campbell.

At the time of the 1939 Register, she would most likely have been living with her parents and siblings at Little Mynthurst, Smalls Hill, in the Leigh area of Surrey (Ref: RG101 piece 1936A schedule 131). She is most likely the entry that is “officially closed” at present (Ref: schedule 131 sub schedule 6).

On 22nd May 1954, Marianne married Richard Anthony Eagle-Bott at St Mary & St Nicholas, Leatherhead, Surrey, their fathers being named as Alfred Maynes Eagle-Bott, and Dennis Bridges Stevens.

Richard Anthony Eagle-Bott was born on 20th August 1921 in the Ringwood area of Hampshire.

On 20th August 1955, Mrs Marianne Eagle-Bott sailed from Southampton to New Zealand aboard the Shaw Savill Line’s “Dominion Monarch.”

Marianne Bridges Eagle-Bott died in New Zealand in 2008, at the age of 77. The following year, Richard Anthony Eagle-Bott died in New Zealand at the age of eighty-eight.


   

Richard Bridges Stevens (1920–2010)

Richard was born on 9th October 1920 at Purley, Surrey, the only son of Dennis Bridges Stevens and his wife Dorothy Gladys née Campbell.

When the 1921 Census was taken on the night of 19th June, Richard was aged 8 months, and his family’s address was given as 116 Foxley Lane, Purley, in Surrey (Ref: RG15 piece 3537 schedule 275).

At the time of the 1939 Register, he was living with his parents and sisters at Little Mynthurst, Smalls Hill, in the Leigh area of Surrey (Ref: RG101 piece 1936A schedule 131).

Richard died on 24th March 2010 in the Gerrards Cross area of Buckinghamshire, he was 89 years old.