The Irish Bomfords

Samuel, the younger and only brother of George Bomford, was born on 17th September 1813 at No 27 Gardiner’s Place, Dublin (18.8.9). About four months later his father died (18.8.6), and his mother died when he was just two years old (18.9.3). It is very unlikely that he had any memory of his parents, but he may have remembered his nurse, Margaret Curry. Margaret had been maid to Samuel’s mother and Arbella left her a life annuity of £20 in her will with the additional request that “she should continue to look after my two sons provided their guardian agrees” (18.9.4). John Pratt Winter of Agher (20.4) was designated as Arbella’s “sole executor and guardian to my two sons” and it is thought unlikely that he would object to Margaret Curry of whom Arbella thought so highly that she left her such a large annuity for those days.

Samuel and George were both taken to Agher to the Winters who were not only their guardians but their uncle and aunt as well; and they remained with them until they came of age (20.5). In 1817 John Pratt Winter and his wife, Anne, took Samuel, then aged 4, and George aged 6, and their own children to live in Paris where they remained until 1825 (20.4). In 1825 the whole family returned to Agher at which date Samuel was 11, consequently the formative years of his childhood were orientated towards France rather than Ireland, and no doubt he was bilingual in French and English.

In 1825 Agher House must have been full with eleven of the family living there:

John Pratt Winter, aged 57
His wife, Anne, aged 54
Francis Pratt Winter, Samuel’s uncle the retired clergyman, aged 54
Anna Maria Winter, his aunt, aged 52
Samuel’s cousins, the children of John and Anne Winter, some of whom were at Agher that year
Samuel Winter, aged 29 and soon to be married
Anna Maria, aged 26 and her sister
Elizabeth, aged 21
Benjamin Pratt Winter, aged 17
and the youngest, Arbella, aged 15
and of course young Samuel Bomford, aged 12
and his brother George then aged 14.

The two other cousins who were working abroad that year were John Pratt Winter the younger, aged 25, who was in Europe; and Francis Winter, aged 20, who was in India with the EICS.

Soon after they returned to Ireland, George and Samuel were sent to Mr Feinaigle’s School in Dublin, and then they went to Trinity. The Trinity Register records “Bomford Samuel, Socius Comitatus, Private Tutor, (entered) 5th July 1830, aged 16, Son of George Generosus, Born County Meath.”

There is a doubt whether Samuel went to Feinaigle’s school since he is entered in the register as having a private tutor; however Forth, who had access to the Winter diaries and history, writes that he was at the ‘Hemaglian Institute’ which is probably a corruption of ‘Feinaiglain Institute’ (see 20.7). A more likely possibility is that the two boys went to Feinaigle’s school but that Samuel, who failed to get a degree, had special coaching just before he went to Trinity. Whatever happened Samuel left Trinity unqualified, probably in 1833, after the three-year course when he was 20.

Like all younger sons Samuel had to go off and earn his living and he chose the army. He persuaded his uncle to purchase for him a cornetcy in the 3rd Dragoon Guards for £800 in 1833. The next year he came of age and inherited £10,000 from his father’s estate, and £3,000 from his mother’s, both of which he invested in Ireland.

26.2 An Extraordinary Deed 1834

In 1834 there is a most extraordinary deed in the Registry of Deeds dated 11th June 1834; it is so odd that I went back to check it again.

“Between

1. Thomas Barnes of Upper Pembroke Street, Dublin

2. John Pratt Winter of Agher

3. Rev Francis Pratt Winter of Agher

4. Miss Anna Maria Winter of Thevier Street, Dublin, sister of John and Francis Winter

5. Samuel Bomford, Cornet in H.M. 3rd Regiment of Dragoon Guards, second son of Arbella Bomford, deceased.”

Certain Winter lands in Co Kilkenny were leased to Thomas Barnes in trust, Pleverstown or Plahertstown 277 acres plantation measure (449 statute), Ardsignane 106 plantation acres (172 statute), Dysart 139 plantation acres (225 statute), Castlecoskee, Cappohiny, Coolwebeg, Ballyduffe, Coolromore, Coolbrany and Coolsillagh.

The marriage took place and £1,500 were charged upon these lands as a marriage portion to Anna Maria Winter. (1835 Book 20 No 198)

It cannot be that Miss Anna Maria Winter (b 1773 (20.4) so aged 61 at the date of the deed) married anyone, let alone young Samuel, her nephew, which is what the deed appears to record. Anna Maria died unmarried in 1837 aged 64. It must be that the word ‘marriage’ in the last sentence is a mistake, and perhaps the word ‘assignment’ or ‘conveyance’ should have been written. If this is the case then the deed makes sense.

The lands mentioned are those in George Bomford and Arbella Winter’s marriage settlement of 1809 (18.8.4) which concern a one-fifth share of the whole Robbins estate, and from which Samuel Bomford inherited £3,000. They are also the lands mentioned in the 1827 Winter deed of assignment (20.6.5) in which they were charged with £1,000 for Anna Maria from Samuel Pratt Winter’s share. This deed appears to make over to Anna Maria £1,500 of Samuel Bomford’s £3,000 share and it is assumed that it was because of this that Samuel was party to the deed.

The 1827 deed indicates that Thomas Barnes had a share in the land; this deed clarifies that and states that he was a trustee, and probably the trustee for all the Winter shares in the Robbins estate.

26.2.1 Marriage of Samuel Bomford 1839

Although Samuel had come of age, his marriage had been planned by John Pratt Winter as a matter of finance. It was his fate, for good or bad to be married to Frances Jane Winter, one of the orphaned children of Samuel Pratt Winter and Frances Rose (or Rosetta) Bomford (18.7). This marriage took place when Frances Jane was 20 in 1839, so Samuel Bomford had to wait until he was 26 before he married. No doubt he spent the intervening years with his regiment. The Dublin Morning Register of Tuesday 16 July 1839 recorded at page 2, 'MARRIAGES . . . At Agher church, county Meath, Samuel Bomford, Esq., to Frances Jane, third daughter of the late Samuel Pratt Winter, Esq.' (Cindy Hann email 23 Feb 2015).

Marriage Settlement 11th July 1839

Between

1. Samuel Bomford of Agher

2. Miss Frances Jane Winter of Agher, under age of 21, 3rd daughter, of Samuel Pratt Winter and Frances Rosetta Winter (Bomford) his wife, both deceased

3. Rev Francis Pratt Winter, Guardian of Frances Jane, of Agher

4. Samuel Winter of Tullaghard, and Samuel Arthur Reynell of Archerstown, trustee of the marriage settlement of Samuel Bomford and Frances Jane Winter

5. John Pratt Winter of Agher.

Reciting

1. A marriage “to be shortly had” between Samuel Bomford and Frances Jane Winter [actually the same day].

2. Mortgage dated 1st December 1838, for £2,500 to Francis Pratt Winter by Samuel Bomford on the land of Ballymoney and Feaghorse Fea in King’s County.

3. Bond dated 1st August 1837 for £10,000 of George Bomford which became bound to Samuel Bomford with the penal sum of £20,000.

4. On the occasion of the marriage, Francis Pratt Winter is to give a bond of £2,000, being the fortune of Frances Jane Winter, to Samuel Winter and Samuel Arthur Reynell in trust.

5. Samuel Bomford hands over the mortgage for £2,500 of Ballymoney and Feaghorse Fea to the two trustees.

6. Samuel Bomford hands over the bond of George Bomford for £10,000 to the two trustees.

The two trustees are to arrange from the above receipts.

£100 annuity to Frances Jane Winter on Samuel Bomford’s death.

£300 annuity at the age of 21 to the first son, with the balance to the other children. (The part concerning the children became very involved and my interpretation may be wrong).

The marriage settlement of 1812 (18.6.1) of Samuel Pratt Winter and Frances Rosetta Bomford was referred to. (1839 Book 14 No 175)

The two trustees were Samuel Winter, the eldest son of John Pratt Winter and Samuel Bomford’s cousin, and Samuel Arthur Reynell, a second cousin of Samuel Bomford. In 1826 Samuel Winter married Lucy Sanderson and 20 years later in 1846 he inherited Agher. Samuel Arthur Reynell’s grandmother was Jane Winter (died 1777); he was living in Westmeath at Archerstown and was George Bomford’s land agent.

The mortgage of £2,500 of December 1838 must have been part of the investment in Ireland of Samuel’s inheritance. Ballymoney in King’s County is a mystery place that has not appeared before in the Winter deeds; Feaghorse Fea is probably Fea or Feagh, which was one of the original Irish properties that Doctor Samuel Winter (1603 - 1666) acquired. Possibly Ballymoney is another name for one of the other King’s County properties which Samuel Winter was granted.

The bond of August 1837 for £10,000 was Samuel’s loan to George Bomford (26.4.3). This sum must have been increased at some later date because the Oakley Park accounts of 1889 include an item – “Major S. Bomford’s interest on £12,300, 6 months at £296.15.0”. The interest is about 5% and if George could not keep up the interest then Samuel could demand the ‘penal sum’ of £20,000.

The combined fortune of the married couple appears to be, at least, £10,000, £2,500 and £2,000, or a total of £14,500, which was given to the trustees. It looks as though my interpretation of the amount to be given to the children is wrong, and is more likely to be a lump sum rather than an annuity.

Forth appears to have found a later and different marriage settlement dated 24th July 1839. He agrees with the £10,000 figure but states that it is to go to the eldest son of the marriage, and this is very likely. He agrees with the £2,500 figure on the lands of Ballymoney and Fea, but adds that from the interest Samuel is to allow Frances Jane an annuity of £300 (not £100) during her lifetime after his death.

Forth gives £3,000 (not £2,000) as the fortune of Frances Jane, and that this money comes from her parent’s marriage settlement. The total amount in her parent’s settlement of 1812 was £5,000, which, had to be shared between the seven younger children. £3,000 a share appears to be rather too much, since the original £5,000 must have increased to around £21,000 over about 21 years. £2,000 a share is more likely as at 5% compound interest the original £5,000 would increase to £14,000 over a similar period and this is just right to give the seven children £2,000 each. However the pound was devalued after the Napoleonic War so the figure of £21,000 might just have been made. Unfortunately to date I have not found any reference as to the amount any of Frances Jane’s brothers or sisters actually received.

26.2.2 Relations at the Wedding 11th July 1839

It is not possible to say with certainty whom was present at the ceremony, which took place at Agher Church, but we do know about the following and can hazard a shrewd guess. John Pratt Winter, aged 71, and his wife Anne, aged 68, hosted the house party. Their brother the Rev Francis Pratt Winter, aged 68, the guardian of the bride, would have given Frances Jane away. George Bomford and Arbella (Winter) were staying at Agher since Oakley Park was being reconstructed and Arbella’s fifth child was born at Agher the next month; their children were also there, Anne the eldest being 6 and a possible bridesmaid. Samuel Arthur Reynell who was party to the marriage settlement signed that day, may have been staying at Agher with his wife, another Frances, so there would be perhaps a dozen in the house.

Four of John Pratt Winter's children, Samuel’s cousins, had died; one was in India and another in Australia; of the remainder, Samuel Winter and his wife Lucy (Sanderson) of Tullaghard would have been present together with John Pratt Winter the portrait painter and his wife and cousin, Mary Winter, Frances Jane’s sister (18.7.1). Frances Jane’s other sister Margaret would have been there, she was to marry Nat Preston of Swainstown in three months time (18.7.4) and it was at Swainstown where Frances Jane’s eldest child was born in 1840. The rest of her brothers and sisters were overseas, three brothers and a sister in Australia, and another sister in India.

Samuel’s aunt, Maria Bomford (Massy-Dawson), was living at Bective with her daughter Frances Georgina Bolton and her husband Richard Bolton, and they most likely came to the wedding. Maria’s son Robert George Bomford of Rahinstown and his wife Elizabeth (Kennedy) may have attended but they were living in Dublin.

More distant relations, but neighbours, who probably came were - Isaac North-Bomford and his wife Belinda Emily (Pilkington) of Ferrans (27.1), and perhaps his aunt Jane Bomford (Holdcroft), the widow of Isaac (19.5), who was living in Dublin; and the Coates family of Bridestream House (19.4.3). There were other Winter and Bomford relations in Ireland, but they were living further away.

26.3 Later Movements and Houses

After the wedding at Agher, Samuel returned to his Regiment and, according to Forth, was stationed in the south of France. In 1840 their first child, Caroline Frances, was born at Swainstown, the house near Agher where Frances Jane’s elder sister Margaret Preston was living (18.7.4). I therefore visualise that Samuel sent his wife to Ireland to have the baby while he was stationed elsewhere, one report has it that, when Frances Jane was pregnant, they were at Carlsbad, which was why the child was called Caroline.

Samuel retired from the Dragoon Guards in the mid-forties but remained active as a major in the North Gloucester Militia, and reports state that he was very keen on his work with the Militia. On his retirement he used £3,000 of his capital to purchase a good country house with 30 acres called Tyne Hall at Bembridge on the Isle of Wight, a small resort on the coast at the east end of the island, and the family lived there until the estate was sold. Dates now become a bit hazy since I have had no access to English deeds, only those in Dublin; however there are some Irish deeds which give Samuel’s address, to which we can add the places where his children were born; with such a skeleton we can hazard a guess that he was at:

Tyne Hall. August 1847, November 1849, and July 1851, the birth dates of three children, May 1853, May 1854, October 1856 and June 1857, being deeds. So Tyne Hall was bought before August 1847 and sold after June 1857.

No 6 Gloucester Crescent, Hyde Park, London. Their son Victor was born there in March 1859, and deeds of February and April 1861.

Algeria and Italy. Their son Trevor had an abscess on the lung so for health reasons they lived there for three years from 1875 to 1878.

Torrington Square, London. A deed of January 1879. There is another deed of December 1883, which refers to the 1879 one and the Torrington Square address might apply to the first deed, so the later date has been discounted.

Fitzroy Street, Cambridge. There are no deeds from Cambridge, but it is clear that they lived there in a relatively humble dwelling in their old age. Samuel is reported to have been sad at having to live in such a small house, but, at least, Cambridge was convenient for the children who were at the University from 1875 to 1886 and the family was living in Fitzroy Street when Rodon Charles enrolled in 1875.

Junior United Services Club, London. Samuel used his club address in the deeds of June 1875, March 1895 and April 1896, probably instead of Fitzroy Street in Cambridge.

Thus we can summarise Samuel’s movements as follows:

c1845. Samuel retired from the Dragoon Guards.
c1846 - c1858. At Tyne Hall, Bembridge.
c1858 - c1862. At Gloucester Crescent in London.
c1863 - c1898. At Fitzroy Street in Cambridge until Samuel died. Frances Jane lived until 1910 and may have kept the Cambridge house for a while but there is evidence that she lived at Saltford with her son Rodon Charles after Samuel’s death.

During this Cambridge period they were in Algeria and Italy from 1875 to 1878, and in 1879 were at Torrington Square in London. I suspect that the Cambridge house was leased while they were away, and that the London house was a temporary one until they were able to return to Cambridge.

26.3.1 Death of Samuel and Frances Jane Bomford

Various sources report that Samuel was a pleasant easy-going man and that his wife, Frances Jane, “was a great reader and linguist and knew all about paintings. She had no interest in clothes or people or children or her house” (from the notes of Lorna Bomford, her grand-daughter 26.7.2); her grandson, Guy Bomford (26.7.4), adds “no doubt she was a bit plagued with looking after her own children and grand-children. She travelled in Algeria, France and Italy. Family tradition says that she read the Bible in Hebrew and Greek”. She must have been a devout and highly intelligent woman.

She died in 1910 aged 90, and was buried at Kensal Green, London (18.7.5).

Her obituary in a Saltford local paper says that she knew “Latin, Greek, and Hebrew and several modern languages, having lately learnt Dutch”. It is this obituary which makes me think that she must have left Cambridge and settled in Saltford with her eldest son on the River Avon between Bath and Bristol, but Forth states that she died at Cambridge. http://freebmd.rootsweb.com indicates that the register of births, deaths and marriages records at Vol 5c page 355 that she died at Keynsham in the June quarter of 1910, aged 90. The district of Keynsham spans the boundaries of the counties of Gloucestershire and Somerset i.e. around Bristol.

Samuel died on 14th April 1898 at Cambridge, aged 85. In addition to bringing up their own six children and, later on, their grand-children whose parents were overseas, they were responsible for the two Preston children, both minors when their parents died; the Preston story is recorded in 18.7.4.

26.4 Deeds Concerning Samuel

Over a dozen mortgages are listed under Samuel Bomford’s name in the Registry of Deeds in Dublin. Many of these deeds are not of great interest to these records of the Bomford family, so have not been included; Samuel was party to them only as a trustee, but they do include his address and from that we can conclude more accurately his movements about England. The deeds can be split into three groups; the last one concerns Samuel’s own money and so has been included in full.

1. On the death of Robert George Bomford of Rahinstown in 1846 (22.7), Samuel was made a trustee for Elizabeth Bomford (Kennedy) his wife. The other trustee was the barrister Robert Wrybrants (sometimes written as Hybrants) of Rutland Square in Dublin, and later John Maunsell (sometimes written as Maxwell) of 18 Stephen’s Green in Dublin. Robert George’s property around Rahinstown was shared between his sisters, but Elizabeth had her own land, which she inherited from her father, James Trail Kennedy, and it was this land of which Samuel became a trustee.

In 1850 Elizabeth Bomford married Marcus Gervais de Ie Poer Beresford (1801-85) (22.10) who was at that time Archdeacon of Ardagh but was to become the Lord Primate of Ireland in 1862. The Archbishop’s first wife was Mary L’Estrange, a first cousin of Edward L’Estrange who married Belinda North-Bomford, and whose great-uncle, Samuel L’Estrange married Anne Bomford who was Samuel Bomford’s great-aunt. The Archbishop had two sons and three daughters by his first wife but none by his second wife Elizabeth.

Elizabeth (Kennedy, Bomford,) Beresford died in 1870 and the Archbishop in 1885 at which date the Kennedy land passed to his grandson, Kennedy Beresford a captain in the Royal Irish Rifles. In 1894 Kennedy Beresford married a daughter of J.F. des Barres and the trustees of their marriage settlement were Kennedy’s brother, Marcus Francis Beresford of Shelton Abbey in the Vale of Avoca in Co Wicklow, and Augustus Justly Eyre des Barres who was living in Switzerland; these two took over the trusteeship from Samuel Bomford in 1896. Incidentally this deed, of 4th April 1896, was witnessed by “G. Bomford, MD, Surgeon Lt Col Medical College, Calcutta, India,” so Gerald Bomford must have been home on leave that year. (It should perhaps be pointed out that Marcus Francis Beresford did not own Shelton Abbey: this huge Gothic Revival mansion belonged to the Earls of Wicklow; he had just married the widow of the 6th Earl whose stepson, the 7th Earl, was serving in the Life Guards.)

2. Samuel’s name is also coupled with Robert Wrybrants in deeds dated 1853 to 1870 concerning mortgages to St George Francis Caulfeild (1806 - 1896) of Donamon, Co Roscommon. The Caulfeild family and their marriages with two Winters and Nat Preston are described in 20.6.1. This Nat Preston was a ward of Samuel Bomford. It is not clear for whom Samuel Bomford was acting but, at a guess, it would be one of the orphaned children of Margaret Preston (Winter), Samuel’s sister-in-law.

Similarly between 1857 and 1871 he was again acting as trustee with Wybrants, but this time the mortgage was that of John Lloyd Bagot of The Hermitage, Ballymoe, Co Galway. The Bagot family married into the North family (16.4), but nothing has been found to tie them to John Lloyd Bagot who was actually John Lloyd Neville-Bagot. John Lloyd Neville-Bagot’s third son Jack Bagot married in 1891 Anna Fleming (Aunt Ann, 30.3.2) whose mother was a sister of Elinor Bolton, wife of John Francis Bomford (30.3, tree at 24.5), Samuel’s nephew. Again it is not clear for whom Samuel was acting, but it is thought that this mortgage of £12,000 may have been that of one of the Preston children (18.7.4), a ward of Samuel, and, at a guess, that of the daughter, Frances Elizabeth Preston (1842 - 1923), since the male heir got the land as was usual.

John Neville-Bagot’s mother was a daughter of John Fallon of Runnimeed or Runnimeede, Co Roscommon. It was initially suggested (in the 2005 version of this chapter) that this John Fallon, or his [grand-]father, also John Fallon, was the John Fallon involved with a Bomford dispute of 1762 concerning Oldtown and Enniscoffey (10.5). However, Linda Merlino (a Fallon descendant, emails 14 Jun 2014 & 4 Jan 2015), has established that John Fallon of Runnimeed's daughter who married Thomas Neville-Bagot (father of John Neville-Bagot) was Ellen Fallon. John Fallon of Runnimeed's father was Christopher Fallon who married Ellen Fox, daughter of Anthony Fox and Jane Dillon. Christopher Fallon's father was John Fallon who married Margaret Netterville, daughter of Patrick Netterville and Margaret Farrell; John Fallon of the 1762 dispute married Bridgett Cheevers, daughter of Hyacinth Cheevers (male) and Clare Fitzgerald/Bellow: 10.6.1), so neither John Fallon of Runnimeed, nor his grandfather John Fallon, is the John Fallon of the 1762 dispute. Linda Merlino suggests (email 4 Jan 2015) that a more likely connection is through the Lambert line of John Lloyd Neville-Bagot’s wife Letitia Lambert. Her father was John Lambert and grandfather was Walter Lambert. Walter's first marriage was to a Miss Hamilton by whom they had a son Charles. Charles had daughter Elizabeth who married John Burke of Tyaquin. They had a son Charles who married Arabella Naghten daughter of Edmond Naghten of Thomastown (there is a Naghten mentioned at 8.5.2 note 2).

3. This third group of deeds is more important as it concerns Samuel’s own mortgages and will apply to the money of his marriage settlement (above, 26.2.1).

26.4.1 Re-Assignment of £4,000 Loan 15th February 1861

Between

1. Samuel Bomford of No 6 Gloucester Crescent, Hyde Park, London

2. George Bomford of Oakley Park, Kells

3. John Thomas Hinds of 28 Westmoreland Street, Dublin, Solicitor

Reciting

1. The marriage settlement of 21st March 1809 (18.8.4) of George Bomford deceased, the father of George and Samuel Bomford, in which a sum of £4,000 was charged upon the land as a provision for the younger children of the marriage.

2. Only George and Samuel survived their father, George Bomford.

3. George Bomford (the younger) took possession of the land and married Miss Arbella Winter (24.1.1).

Now George asks Samuel to forego the £4,000 payment otherwise the land will have to be split up. So Samuel assigns the £4,000 payment to be charged upon the land at the usual interest. (1861 Book 9 No 82)

This £4,000 was originally raised by the Winters in 1809 by the mortgage of Tullyard; it was paid off in 1835 (18.8.5) to Samuel, the only one of “the younger children”; Samuel then lent it to George and now it has become, in effect, a mortgage.

26.4.2 Mortgage to Samuel Arthur Reynell 30th November 1864

On 10th July 1875 this memorial appears (1875 Vol 32 No 98):

The mortgage of 30th November 1864 by Samuel Arthur Reynell of Archerstown, Co Westmeath has been repaid, and Samuel Bomford returns the lands in Co Westmeath, to him. The lands are now free of any incumbrances.

Witnessed: Francis Winter of 16 Inverness Terrace, Bayswater, London, Major, retired list Bengal Army, (1805-83, cousin of Frances Jane and son of John Pratt Winter).

It was in 1875 that the family set off for Algeria and Italy, and no doubt the repayment of this mortgage was arranged to cover expenses for their three years in a warmer climate to clear their son Trevor’s lung abscess. This was one of Samuel’s problems at this time as the following letter to George dated 2nd June 1875 indicates.

“Junior United Services Club, London SW.

My dear George,

I have written to Mr Mundy authorising him to give Mr J. T. Hinds the copy or copies which he may require. Since March there have been many things to withdraw my attention from the subject, but I believe I did, verbally at least, authorise Mr Mundy to give the copies. Of course I cannot blame Mr Micredy (?) for requiring more explicit authority, which I send by this day’s post, I remain

your affectionate brother S. Bomford.”

Perhaps Mr Mundy is Samuel’s solicitor. John Thomas Hinds, the solicitor of 28 Westmoreland Street, Dublin, became involved with George’s mortgage, so the subject may have had to do with Samuel’s loan to George.

All this business leads to an unconnected receipt, which was found in a bundle of Oakley Park receipts. It reads:

9th December 1874. Received from George Winter Bomford the sum of £3 being half a year’s interest due to me, £150 at 4 per cent per annum.

[Signed] Samuel Bomford

At first it was thought that Samuel was George Winter Bomford’s brother, but he died in 1872 in India so it must be his uncle.

26.4.3 £10,000 Mortgage on Oakley Park 1st August 1837

The one deed of which I found no registered indenture was the loan or bond of £10,000 by Samuel to his brother George. A later document implies that this bond was actually a mortgage on Oakley Park and as such this paragraph is headed; further credence to a mortgage is in Samuel’s marriage settlement, which, mentions a penal sum of £20,000. It is clearly apparent that George could not afford to pay this back without selling land, and that Samuel did not pursue the repayment of the loan. As mentioned above Samuel was ‘a pleasant easy-going man’ but it must be said that without this considerable sum Samuel, later on, could not afford to live in the style to which he was accustomed, he was “sad at having to live in such a small house” at Cambridge, which he need not have done if George had paid back the amount he owed.

George Lyndon Bomford (1867-1951), Samuel’s grand-nephew, wrote about the two brothers and the loan in a letter to his eldest son George Warren (1900-78) dated 30th March 1936; he states:

George and Samuel were left orphans when 4 or 5 years old, and were brought up at Agher with the Winters. Their guardian was one of the Winters uncles. My grandfather was eccentric and peculiar. I have always heard that my grand-uncle Samuel was a very good sort. My grandfather was heir to large property, most of which was entailed, including Drumlargan; the entailed portion went eventually to Anne. Samuel, Guy’s grandfather got cash. During their minority their house at a place called Clarkstown near Agher, where their father lived and where I presume they were born, was burned down accidentally. Instead of rebuilding the old house or building a house on Drumlargan, they bought (his trustee and him) a new property, Oakley Park, and proceeded to spend thousands on additional building - hence this huge barrack, yards and garden wall. A considerable amount of grand-uncle Sam’s money was invested in this, £12,000 in all I think. Prices were very good for some years, labour was very cheap (6d a day) and the charge seemed well received, but as things did not improved, corn laws were revoked, American competition for cattle grew up and times got hard, the charge created an unpleasantness between our two families. However the charge has now been paid on the sale of the estate, whether in full or not, I am not sure, but at no very serious loss I feel certain. At all events most of the loss had to be born by those who owned the land, which sunk in value more than anything else.”

The grievance did not however gravitate to Samuel’s children and Guy Bomford comments on GLB’s letter, in a letter of July 1987, that “the feud was trivial: the matter of Samuel lending George cash to make improvements at Oakley Park. As GLB says, I expect all or most of it was paid back. Anyway, I have never heard of any serious grievance…. It was no more than an indiscrete investment….”

Nevertheless the small Cambridge house was a direct result of the ‘indiscrete investment’ and so must have been the cause of some friction by comparison between the way of life of George in his big house in mature parkland and Samuel in his small house on a street in Cambridge.

It is not known when the loan was repaid, but it was probably repaid by John Francis Bomford on Samuel’s death. We do not have Samuel’s will but the money would form part of the inheritance of Samuel’s five children and it is noteworthy that three of his clergymen sons each purchased a living using money from their inheritance after his death.

26.5 Children of Samuel and Frances Jane Bomford

26.5.1 Caroline Frances Bomford 1840 - 1859

She was born on 12th November 1840 at Swainstown, the house in County Meath where her aunt Margaret Preston lived. She was the only daughter in the family. It is related that she was named Caroline after Carlsbad where her parents were living during her mother’s pregnancy. She died in July 1859, aged 19, of meningitis whilst on a holiday at Bath.

26.5.2 Rodon Bomford

Rodon was born in 1842 and died in infancy. Tradition has it that the name Rodon comes from Rodanstown, north of Kilcock, where his great grand uncle the Reverend John Bomford of Gallow was rector.

26.5.3 Rodon Charles Bomford 1845 - 1915

He was born on 10th June 1845, probably in France, the eldest surviving son. He was educated at Cheltenham College and the Royal Naval School at Gosport, but did not join the navy. Instead he was sent out to his relatives in Western Victoria in 1866 in an unsuccessful attempt to find him a career. Relatives in Western Victoria at this date were his uncles Samuel and Trevor Winter at Murndal (18.7.3), and his aunt Arbella, Mrs Cooke, at Lake Condah. He returned to England in time to accompany his parents to Algeria for a short time and then enrolled at Emmanuel College, Cambridge, on 12th October 1875 from where he graduated BA in 1880 and MA in 1883.

He entered the Church in 1880 and became a priest in the Diocese of London. From 1880 to 1882 he was curate of St Peter’s Islington, and held other curacies in London from 1882 to 1893. In 1893 he moved to Wiltshire and became curate of Brinkworth until 1896; then to the Isle of Wight from 1897 to 1898 as curate of Carisbrooke.

His father died in 1898 and he invested his share of his father’s estate to purchase the living at St Mary’s, Saltford in Somerset, where he was rector from 1898 to 1913. After he became established at Saltford he had his mother sell the Cambridge house and she came to live with him until she died in 1910. He married Gertrude Corke, probably late in life, and they had no children. See probate for Gertrude Mary Bomford, d 11 March 1933.

He became a little unsteady in mind while still Vicar of Saltford and his wife used to conceal herself in the pulpit, on a stool, to prompt him to stop if things got out of hand. At the end of the sermon both would unexpectedly be seen descending. However she took somewhat to drink, and so the descent became more spectacular, though less seemly, as time went on. The Rectory was a very splendid one but with primitive sanitation. Rodon’s mother, Frances Jane, used to walk out of the first floor windows of her bedroom on to a wide garden wall at the far end of which there was a privy. Una Satchell, her great-niece (18.7.4 2(c)(i)) told Rodney Bomford (26.7.4 No 3) that it was disconcerting when in the garden to realise that the formidable old lady was perched under much creeper some way above one’s head. Una often lived with them and read to the old lady, who lived until she was almost ninety and she died when Una was about 10. Una’s mother, Lucy Rose Satchell (Yeacombe, Preston 18.7.4), was brought up at Cambridge by her great uncle Samuel Bomford.

In 1913 he resigned the living at Saltford and retired to Boscombe, east of Bournemouth, where he died on 25th December 1915, aged 70 (probate). He was buried at Saltford.

26.5.4 Laurence George Bomford 1847 - 1926

He was born at Tyne Hall on 6th August 1847; was educated at Cheltenham College, and in 1874 he married Anne Goold Green. Anne was a daughter of Nathaniel Everett Green, the watercolour artist, Fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society of which, at one time, he was the Society President. Anne was born in 1848 and died on 6th March 1908, aged 60 (probate). They had no children.

On 15th October 1883, when he was 36, Laurence George decided to become a clergyman and entered Emmanuel College, Cambridge; just how he was employed before then is not known, perhaps he and his wife joined his parents in Algeria for the three years 1875 - 1878. His Cambridge entry record shows that he was living at 18 Warkworth Street in Cambridge. In 1886 he gained his BA with a first class Tripos in Theology, and was ordained. The next year he became a priest in the Diocese of Ely. He was curate of Saint Andrew-the-less in Cambridge from 1886 to 1890; then 1890 - 1895 curate of Trowbridge in Wiltshire, 20 miles southwest of his brother Rodon at Brinkworth; his last curacy was at Barnet in Hertfordshire from 1895 to 1898.

When his father died he was appointed Vicar of Colney Heath in Hertfordshire where he remained for twenty years, 1898 - 1918; like his brother he probably purchased the living with his share of his father’s estate. His wife died when they were at Colney Heath, which is north of Barnet near St Albans, in 1908. There were no children. In 1918 he resigned the living and retired to St Albans where he died on 2nd July 1926, aged 78 (probate). In the 1911 census he had staying with him Caroline Frances Bomford, resident of India (26.6.3), his neice, and Alan Claude Bomford, his nephew aged 20, science student (26.6.4). Also in the household in 1911 was Helen Mary Bomford, single, aged 27, b 1884 at Burston, New Watford, domestic servant: her relationship is unknown. Indeed, there may well be an error in the census entry (i.e. she was not a Bomford) as there is no other instance I can find of Helen Mary Bomford in any birth, death, marriage or census records (as at Nov 2015). The British Library has Infant Baptism and Infant Regeneration, etc, by Laurence Bomford, 1909?; and “Their Angels,” and other studies in the New Testament, by Laurence Bomford, 1920.

Ed Christian (emails 30 Aug 2017) advised that Laurence George Bomford was a watercolour artist, and some of his work is very fine, excellent in fact. A search in Google images will find examples of his work. As at August 2017, thirtyfive of his works were advertised for sale on eBay. Wikipedia entry. Lilley, B. 2002, The Book of Colney Heath St Albans, Halsgrove, has two pages on Laurence, pages 70-71 (Jeff Higgot email 17 Nov 2020).

26.5.5 Trevor Bomford 1849 - 1929

He was born at Tyne Hall, Bembridge, on 18th November 1849; entered Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, on 1st October 1868 and graduated BA in 1872. He was ordained in 1873 and joined the Diocese of Durham where he was curate of West Hartlepool 1873 - 1874. He received his MA from Durham University in 1877. About this time he developed an abscess on the lung and his health declined; a warmer climate was suggested and so he and the family travelled in Algeria and Italy during the years 1875 to 1878 in a successful attempt to cure his condition. They returned to Cambridge where Trevor became curate of St Andrew-the-less from 1878 to 1881, the same Church where his brother Laurence was to become curate in 1886. He then accepted a missionary posting with the Church Missionary Society (CMS) in India and remained there for the next 43 years, 1881 - 1924, mostly in the Punjab and Kashmir and at one time was chaplain at Srinagar in Kashmir.

In 1883 he married Jane Charlotte Catherine Briggs. She was a daughter of Rev William Briggs who was also with the Church Missionary Society in North India. She died on 9th February 1951. Trevor died five years after he left India on 21st December 1929, aged 80 (probate). They had six children(26.6) many of whom were brought up by their grandparents at Cambridge, whilst their parents were in India.

26.5.6 Gerald Bomford, Sir 1851 - 1915

Gerald (photos right) was born 19th July 1851 at Tyne Hall, Brading, Isle of Wight, and was educated at King’s College, London. He became a doctor of medicine (MD) of repute, being elected to the Royal College of Physicians (LRCP) the Royal College of Surgeons (MRCS) and the Society of Apothecaries (LSA). He was knighted for his various services in India.

In 1874 he joined the Indian Medical Service and the next year he served with the Perak Expedition (1875 - 1876) for which he received a medal with clasp. This expedition was a result of almost continuous fighting between rival factions of Chinese in the tin mining area around Taiping. In 1874 a treaty was signed and a British Resident was appointed. The Resident was murdered in 1875 and this led to the military expedition and the banishment of the Sultan and some chiefs implicated in the affair.

On 17th October 1881 in Simla he married [more] Mary Florence Eteson and they had four children (26.7). She was born in 1859, the only daughter of Major-General Francis Eteson of The Buffs (photo), and his wife Isabella Adelaide Wetherall (1836 - 1930) (photo 1859; family photo in 1909, with sons Harold Eteson and Philip Eteson and their wives (photos from Rodney Bomford, 17 May 2007; letter from Adela C Eteson 6 Nov 1949)). Mary Florence’s grandparents were Colonel Charles Wetherall (1798 - 1860) and his wife Marianne Pritzler. Whilst her parents were in India, Mary Florence was looked after by her spinster aunt, Marianne Wetherall whose fiancée, Captain Bingham Muller, was killed in the Crimea. Mary Florence died on 7th July 1939 aged 80 (probate). Her brother Harold Carleton Wetherall Eteson married Emily Hall McMeekan. For more on the Wetheralls, see Tree and services of the Wetherall family by Frederick Bradford McCrea, 1912: copy in the British Library. Wetherall family tree (4MB) and index (4MB) from McCrea's book (Rodney Bomford's copy) - Florence and Gerald are at #27.

As a Surgeon-Major in 1888 Gerald published in Calcutta ‘Observation on Bacteria in Cholera’, and also in that year he was a member of the Chloroform Commission. From 1893 to 1905 he was Principal of the Calcutta Medical College, which, he had joined some time previously; as Principal he was ranked as a Surgeon-General, Indian Medical Service (IMS). He was made a Companion of the Order of the Indian Empire (CIE) in 1902. From 1905 to 1910 he was Director General of the Indian Medical Service being knighted in 1909 as Knight Commander of the Order of the Indian Empire (KCIE), when he was living in Simla. In her book, Children of the Raj (2005, ISBN 139780753820827, at p 135), Vyvyen Brendon quotes evidence given by Lieutenant-Colonel Bomford of the Indian Medical Service in a Report of Committee upon the Financial Condition of Hill Schools for Europeans in North India (1904, vol 2, p 216): "Finding his students at the Bengal Medical College 'childish, both mentally and physically', he attributed their failings largely to the fact that many of them had 'a very considerable admixture of native blood in their veins': 'No school, in the hills or elsewhere, can be expected to impart the character of the pure European to the sons of Madras ayahs, Goanese women, or indeed of any native woman, whatever the father may have been.'"

After his retirement he lived at Dover and died on 12th April 1915, aged 64 (probate). He, his wife Mary Florence and daughter Lorna Bomford were buried at Charlton cemetery, Dover. The National Archive in Ireland records that his will was resealed in Ireland, with effects in Ireland of £89/9/0. He was formerly of Hillersdon House, Dover. The Annual Register edited by H.V. Hodson, published 1916 by Longmans, states at page 146 that Surgeon-General Sir Gerald Bomford died at St Thomas's Home, London, at the age of 63 years (Google Books). He has an obituary in the British Medial Journal (Br Med J 1915; 1:747-748 (24 April))

26.5.7 Victor Reginald Bomford 1859 - 1900

He was born on 21st March 1859 at Gloucester Crescent, London. In the autumn of 1879 he entered Cambridge University as a non-Collegiate and graduated BA in 1883. He was ordained in 1882 into the Diocese of Worcester and became a priest in 1884 in the Diocese of Norwich.

From 1882 until 1898 he had seven curacies; 1882 at Southam, Warwickshire; 1883 - 1885 at Wetherden, Suffolk; 1885 - 1887 at Heigham, Norfolk; 1887 - 1889 at Sprowston just north of Norwich; 1889 - 1892 at Halesworth, Suffolk 1892 - 1894 at Deepham; and lastly was curate of Mildenhall, Suffolk, from 1894 to 1898. He then used his share of his father’s estate, purchased the living at Wigginton in Staffordshire, just north of Tamworth, and was vicar there from 1898 until he died at Wigginton, aged 41, on 24th August 1900.

Soon after he left Cambridge, on 3rd July 1883, he married Letitia Sarah Purcell, born 1st January 1860, the eldest daughter of the Rev Francis Talbot Purcell, Vicar of Edstaston in north Shropshire who died in 1911, and his wife Fanny Jane Keane who died in 1926. The Purcell family were in Co Cork at the time of King Charles II and had settled at Glannanore House near Castletown Roche by the late 1700s. Letitia Sarah died on 10 April 1949, surviving her husband by nearly 50 years.

After Victor Reginald's death there is one deed (1906, Vol 64, No 101) in which Letitia Sarah Bomford of Tilly Road, Shrewsbury in Shropshire, widow, was granted an annuity of £50 by her father. The annuity commenced on April 1906 and was charged on various lands in the Barony of Castleknock, Co Dublin, belonging to her father, Rev Francis Talbot Purcell.

Their only child was Frances Bomford, born 14th August 1887. Frances married on 12 June 1916 at Chelsea, London, Graham Cameron, b in South Africa 21 October 1897, d Cambridge, England, on 8 November 1974. Frances died on 3 January 1949 at Folkstone, Kent, just before her mother. They had one daughter, Rita Stratford Petrona Cameron, b 14 October 1917 in London. Rita may at some point have lived in the USA (source not known). She was the administrator for the probate of both her mother and materal grandmother and was described as a spinster. Frances and Graham divorced. Graham remarried and had further issue. (Details from Gordon M Graham Cameron ('Ancestry'): email 16 Oct 2012.)

26.6 Children of Trevor Bomford 1849 - 1929

At the time when his children were born Trevor was a missionary in India, and even though some of his six children may have been born in India, the practise in those days was that the children were brought up at home. No doubt Trevor’s older children were brought up by their grandparents, Samuel and Frances Jane at Cambridge, but it is possible that when Trevor was vicar at Srinagar the children might have been with him at that hill station. The 1911 census records two of his children, Caroline Frances and Alan Claude, living with Trevor's brother Laurence George Bomford (26.5.4)

26.6.1 Trevor Laurence Bomford 1885 - 1945

He was born on 8th February 1885 and educated at St Bartholomew’s Hospital in London graduating as a doctor. He became a Member of the Royal College of Physicians (MRCP) and served with the Indian Medical Service, retiring as a Lieutenant Colonel.

In 1912 he was the Marine Biologist in the survey vessel ‘Investigator’ in an expedition in the Indian Ocean. He served in World War I and in 1929 he was the First Physician in the Medical College Hospital in Calcutta. From 1933 to 1936 he commanded the Indian Medical Hospital (CIM) in Waziristan; this was a period of tension on the frontier but no real fighting took place there until 1936. Trevor served in World War II as Physician in the 15th Scottish General Hospital in Egypt, and from there was invalided to South Africa in 1941. He remained in South Africa and died there on 1st June 1945, aged 60. He wrote The Afghan Wars and modern research (1921), also known as Afghan Wars considered according to the principles of the higher criticism.

On 29th July 1914, Trevor married Winifred Dora Green, the elder daughter of Alfred Pierce Green, a doctor in Johannesburg who was the fourth son of Nathaniel Everett Green. Winifred’s aunt was Anne Goold Green (1848 - 1908) who married Trevor Laurence’s uncle, the Rev Laurence George Bomford (1847 - 1926), so this was the second Bomford-Green marriage. Winifred was born in 1888 and died on 14th September 1932 having had four children; these were the only grandchildren of Trevor (1849-1929).

1. Anne Evelyn Alida Bomford was born on 5th June 1916. She emigrated to South Africa and is living, unmarried, at Sea Point, Capetown [in c1980: she may have died c2011: https://www.greengazette.co.za/documents/legal-notice-34526-of-19-august-2011-vol-554-a_20110819-LNA-34526.pdf apparently has a reference to her which has not been checked]. Her great uncle, Rev. Laurence George Bomford (26.5.4) wrote to her on St Bartholemew's day, 24 August 1925 (page 1, page 2, page 3, page 4: Alta van Koersveld email 8 Nov 2015). Evie also inherited a book, P H Gosse's Popular British Ornithology, inscribed 'Laurence George Bomford 1 Novr 1857' and 'Evie Bomford in memory of her Uncle who owned it for 69 years from her grandfather Feb 5th 1927'. Her grandfather, Trevor Bomford, was executor of her great uncle Lawrence George Bomford's estate (probate calendar) (Alta van Koersveld email 8 Nov 2015).

2. Winifred Dora Bomford was born on 26th October 1920 and died the same day.

3. Michael Stephen Bomford (1923 - 1943) was born on 16th July 1923 and never married. He served in World War II, firstly in the Royal Tank Regiment and then in the Royal Signals as a sergeant. He was killed in action at Tripoli, North Africa, on 2nd March 1943, aged 20. See Appendix G.

4. Trevor Napier Bomford born 1st October 1924 and educated at Bedford and Emmanuel College, Cambridge, BA 1949, MA 1952; he became a chartered engineer in 1962 and is a member of the Institute of Engineers, MIEE. From 1952 to 1962 he was an engineer with the East African Posts and Telecommunications Administration; then from 1962 to 1967 he was with the Admiralty Scientific Service, and from 1970 to 1974 he was with the East African Railways. On 17th February 1951 he married Mary Lane Maunsell. Her father, Doctor Bertram Sydney Osmund Maunsell, lived at Farnleigh, Kettering in Northamptonshire, who married twice. The Doctor’s first wife was Clare O’Shea, the natural daughter of the Irish Statesman, Charles Stuart Parnell and Kitty O’Shea; it was the birth of Clare O’Shea and the divorce proceedings of Captain O’Shea against Parnell, which reversed Parnell’s popularity with the Catholic Irish and caused his downfall in 1890 and his death the next year. Mary Lane’s mother was Frances Mary Fordham, the Doctor's second wife and the youngest daughter of Sir Herbert George Fordham, DL, JP, of Odsey, Cambridgeshire and his wife Fanny Osler Blake. Trevor died on 6 September 2009 at Fareham, Hampshire (ref). Trevor and Mary Lane had two sons:

a. Trevor Peter Maunsell Bomford, born 25th March 1954 and educated at St John’s college, Southsea and University of College of Wales at Aberystwyth, died 25 September 2011 (Kim Bomford email 13 Aug 2014).

b. Michael Jerome Fordham Bomford, born 7th July 1955 and educated at St John’s College, Southsea, and Coldham’s College, Nairobi.

26.6.2 Kenneth Chichester Bomford 1886 - 1908

He was born on 16th July 1886 and educated at St Bartholomew’s Hospital London. He died unmarried on 4th August 1908, aged 22.

26.6.3 Caroline Frances Bomford 1888 - 1968

She was born on 15th November 1888 and died unmarried on 5th October 1968 aged 80. Of Caroline, George W. Bomford wrote “By chance I met Caroline dressed as a white rabbit at the Allahabad Bachelor’s Ball, the night before I left our Depot to join the Regiment at Damascus in 1919. Sir Hugh Bomford (see below) was then Commissioner of Allahabad”.

26.6.4 Alan Claude Bomford 1891 - 1914

He was born on 24th February 1891 at Hamstead, London (1911 census), and graduated from St John’s College Oxford, with a BA. He died unmarried on 2nd November 1914, aged 23, at Maymyo in Burma (probate). [I413]

26.6.5 Marjorie Ruth Bomford 1893 - 1929

She was born on 5th August 1893 and was baptised at Multan, West Punjab, on 24th November. She did not marry and at the time of her death was 'of Abbotabad, India' (probate). She was on the first passenger flight of a new type of flying boat which crashed off Brindisi, and was killed in the disaster on 26th October 1929, aged 36.

26.6.6 Raymond Francis Bomford 1901 - 1953

Raymond, the youngest, was born on 29th August 1901, educated at Brasenose College, Oxford, and graduated BSc, and MA. He served in World War II, was captured by the Japanese and made a prisoner-of-war in Malaya. After the war, from 1946 until he died, he was Headmaster of Victoria School in Singapore.

On 21st December 1929 he married Florence Patricia (Tonie) Dormer who died on 29th April 1954. Raymond died without children on 16th August 1953, aged 52.

26.7 Children of Sir Gerald Bomford 1851 -1915

It will be remembered that Sir Gerald (26.5.6) became Surgeon-General of the Indian Medical Service. He died in 1915. His wife Mary Florence Eteson lived until 1939. Like his brother Trevor, his four children may have been born in India but would have been brought up in England, mostly by their grandparents Samuel and Frances Jane at Cambridge. Click on photos to see larger image.

26.7.1 Hugh Bomford (Sir) 1882 - 1939

He was born on 12th August 1882 and educated at Marlborough and Balliol College, Oxford. He gained a History Exhibition at Balliol and was a sportsman of repute, gaining a blue for hockey and at cricket he sometimes kept wicket for the University but did not get a cricket blue.

In 1906 he joined the Indian Civil Service: From 1913 to 1916 was Settlement Officer in Daria State, then Commissioner of Allahabad; in 1920 he became Excise Commissioner for Central India, and from 1921 to 1928 he was Settlement Commissioner for Rewa State. From 1931 to 1934 he became Commissioner in the Allahabad Division, during which time he was honoured in 1931 and became a Companion of the Order of the Indian Empire (CIE), from 1933 he was promoted to Chief Secretary to the United Provinces Government. In 1938 he became Acting Governor of the Central Provinces and was honoured as a Knight Bachelor (KB).

On 6th September 1916 at Marlborough, Wiltshire, he married Margaret Evelyn Ord, known as Peggy, b 1896 in Dover, Kent, the elder daughter of Doctor Reginald Whistler Ord (b 7 September 1867 at Streatham, Surrey, d 25 February 1954 at home in Marlborough, son of George Rice Ord b 1837 Streatham d before 1924 and Catherine Coward b 1837, Lambeth, d after 1924, married on 6 August 1861at Old Windsor Church) and Mary Coralie Partridge (1872 - 1898) of Bell Close, Marlborough. After his first wife died giving birth to their son Graham, Dr Ord remarried on 31 October 1900 at Castle Bromwich, Birmingham, to Evelyn Mary Smallwood (b 12 September 1871, d 15 October 1963) (email from David Kenny 11 Mar 2007). Peggy Bomford retired to Folkestone, Kent, for 6 months each year (Sally Clarkson email 29 May 2008) while Sir Hugh continued work in India. He died on 19th January 1939 (probate) at the Circuit House in Meerut, India, from pleurisy and heart failure (reports in The Times and The Statesman, 20 Jan 1939); his brother Major Guy Bomford attended the funeral (The Pioneer, 21 Jan 1939). A biographical note in the India Offices states, 'bur 20 Jan 1939, Meerut N/1/595 f.192'. Peggy then moved to Dover and later to Mapledurwell, near Basingstoke, where she died in 1982. They had four children, all of whom had children.

1. Katharine Margaret Bomford was born on 5th October 1917, and married on 31st March 1945. Her husband was Lieut-Colonel Peter Algernon Rodney Reyne, OBE, MC, son of Captain Frederick Algernon Reyne of the Royal Navy and of Crondall, Hampshire. Colonel Peter served with the Indian Army and later with the Royal Artillery. They retired to Mapledurwell, Hampshire where Peter died on 31 December 1999. Katharine eventually moved to a residential care home and died there on 5 June 2008. They had two children:

a. Christopher Rodney Reyne (email 25 Nov 2011) born 26th January 1946 and educated at Tonbridge. He became a computer programmer. On 11th July 1970 he married Penelope Jane Hoare, daughter of Eric Gordon Joynson Hoare of Christchurch, Hampshire. They where divorced in January 1984. They have three children. Chris now lives in Alton, Hampshire with his second wife Hazel Jennifer Brown.

i. Leonie Julie Reyne, born 7th November 1972, married Chris Downing, 7th August 2004. They have 3 children

a) Reyne Elizabeth Downing Born 23 July 2005

b) Louis Christopher Downing Born 3 April 2007 (twin)

c) Thomas James Downing Born 3 April 2007 (twin)

ii. Fiona Elizabeth Reyne, born 19th September 1975. Living in Derby with her partner Andrew Colin Hartley. They have 3 children

a)Martha Katharine Hartley Born 2 Feb 2007

b)Emma Elizabeth Hartley Born 30 Sep 2008 (twin)

c)Florence Margaret Hartley Born 30 Sep 2008 (twin)

iii. Briony Ann Reyne, born 16th September 1977, married David Randall, 19 August 2006. Living in Reading. They have 2 children

a) Ava Gillian Randall Born 4 Jan 2008

b) William Peter Randall Born 14 Jan 2010

b. Pauline Annette Reyne was born 16th July 1948 and married 5th September 1970, Colin Ernest Forster, son of Sidney Forster of Warley Mount Essex. They live in London and have 2 children.

i. Drachan Peter Forster born 4 September 1973 had a child by Tracey Butcher ,

a) Ella Winona Forster born 1 May 2004

on 2 August 2008 Drachan married Susan Lonergan and they have 2 children

b) Skye Maria Forster born 29 September 2009

c) Corey Tony Forster; he was born on 15 June 2011

ii. Melanie Forster born 29 July 1975 Married Paul Brighty on 14 August 2010. They have one child

a) James Colin Brighty born 14 February 2011

2. Mary Bomford was born 2nd October 1919 and married 9th July 1943, Victor Frank William Clarkson, DSC, ACIS (Associate of the Chartered Institute of Secretaries). He is the son of Albert Victor Clarkson of Ilford, Essex. They lived at Broadhurst, Ashstead, Surrey, where Mary died 6th June 2003, ‘Frank’ died in 2007. They had two children:

a. Sally Clarkson was born 6th October 1945, emigrated to Canada in Septemeber 1970, and married 7th April 1972 (David) Adam Kent Collins, son of Judge F. Kay Collins. Adam died on 18th September 1989. Sally has retired and lives near Victoria B.C. with her partner, David John Andress Nuttall. Adam and Sally had three children:

i. Julie Ann Collins, born 25th April 1975, graduated Bachelor of Commerce, University of Victoria, B.C. In August 2004 she was admitted to the Institute of Chartered Accountants (CA). She lives in Victoria with her partner Simone Segato, son of Roberto and Irene Segato of Victoria B.C. They have two children: Sophia Segato Collins, born 14th April 2009 in Victoria B.C. Canada; and Adam Segato Collins, born 23rd March 2011 in Victoria B.C. Canada

ii. Shannon Mae Collins, born 13th April 1980 of Victoria B.C.

iii. Franklin Clara Kaye Collins, born 18th November 1981 at Bella Coola, B.C. Lives in Victoria.

b. Alexandra Susan Clarkson was born 7th May 1948, educated at Exeter University and graduated Bachelor of Science. She was a perfumer in Amersfoort, Holland, then in Middletown, New York, USA. She has retired to Jojoba Hills, California.

3. Peter Bomford was born 12th August 1921 in Dover and educated at Marlborough. In 1939 he emigrated to Rhodesia. During World War II he served with the 1st Gurkha Rifles and as a captain with the 1st Northern Rhodesia Regiment; he saw service in Burma and there, in 1944, won the MC and was Mentioned in Despatches.

On 14th August 1946 he married Bryony MacIlwaine, daughter of Colonel Herbert MacIlwaine, DSO, MC, Royal Artillery, of Larkhill, Marandellas, Rhodesia. The couple farmed at Marandellas but in 1982 they moved to Kati Kati (Bay of Plenty) in New Zealand. Peter died of cancer on 22nd November 2001 at his home in Kati Kati. They had two children:

a. Patrick Peter Bomford, known as Paddy, was born 16th March 1948 and educated at Peterhouse and Natal University, graduating with BSc (Agriculture) in 1971. He became a captain in the Territorial Force of the Rhodesian Army. On 9th March 1974 he married Ann Kathleen de Kock daughter of Johan de Kock of Heilbron, Orange Free State, South Africa. In 2011 they moved to Pietermaritzburg (back again after 40 years!) (KwaZulu Natal) and Patrick is still Managing Director of Hartenberg Wine Estate in Stellenbosch but planning to move to Pietermaritzburg in mid-March 2012. They have three children, who have all settled in Pietermaritzburg:

i. Lauren Ann Bomford, born 8th April 1975. Obtained a degree in nature conservation from Stellenbosch University and since 2005 has been working for Natal Cooperative Timbers in Pietermaritzburg, South Africa. She and her partner, Richard Golding, are expecting their first child in May 2012.

She also has a daughter

a) Megan van Deventer born on 5 September 2007.

ii. Aidan Patrick Bomford, born 29th June 1977. Obtained a degree in agriculture from Stellenbosch University and since 2006 he has been fruit farming near Mooi River (KwaZulu Natal) and started his own farm management and consultancy business. As at November 2011, Aidan is engaged to Kirsty Scott and they are expecting their first child in January 2012.

iii. Jeannie Diana Bomford, born 29th June 1980. Obtained a degree in sports from Stellenbosch University and is a keen triathlete and mountain biker. Competed in the World Xterra Championships in Maui in 2004. In May 2011 she married Martin Dreyer, a champion canoeist and adventure racer, who runs a very successful development project (canoeing, multi sport racing and running clubs for schools) for young Zulus, the Martin Dreyer Academy, in the Valley of a Thousand Hills in Kwa Zulu Natal, and they have a son

a) Callum Dreyer, born on 18 February 2010.

b. Hugh Bomford was born 14th July 1958, named after his grandfather and on 26th July 1980 married Diana Margaret Cole who was born 25th May 1958 and is a keen triathlete. From 1976 to 1980 he served as a Territorial in the Rhodesia Regiment. They moved to Tauranga in the Bay of Plenty region, New Zealand, in February 1981. Has represented New Zealand five times as part of national shooting teams. Hugh has a website for Rhodesian Security Force veterans, and was an author of Rhodesia Regiment, 1899-1981 by Peter Baxter, Hugh Bomford, Gerry van Tonder (and Tony Fraser), 2014. They have two daughters both born in New Zealand:

i. Karmen Margaret Bomford, born 18th March 1983.

ii. Nicolla Elizabeth Bomford, born 7th March 1987.

4. Penelope Bomford was born 30th November 1922. On 9th December 1946 she married Brigadier Lionel Harry Edwards, MBE, Royal Artillery. He died 13th October 1971 and Penelope is living at Pepper Pot, Mapledurwell. They had two children:

a. John Edwards, born 6th May 1948. B Eng at Sheffield University 1970. Married in Kuwait in 1977, Amanda Maher (born Liverpool 25th March 1954). She was an arabic translator and in 2005 was a solicitor in London. He had a career in marketing database services and in 2005 had a company producing a database of economic information. They have two sons:

i. Richard Lionel Edwards, born 2nd February 1982. Studying fine arts in 2005.

ii. Michael Harry Edwards, born 17th May 1986. Studying physics in 2005.

b. Jane Penelope Edwards, born 6th September 1952. Became a physiotherapist. Married Robert Lynn Stevens, OBE, the Duke of Wellington’s Regiment, retired 1992. They live at Mapledurwell and have two children:

i. Thomas Lynn Stevens, born 30th January 1976. Gained a masters degree in engineering from Imperial College. Married 16th July 2005, Sara Hale who was born 19th June 1975. They have 2 children

a) Mia Stevens

b) Ella Stevens

ii. Jennifer Jane Stevens, born 3rd October 1977. Gained a degree in psychology at Leeds. She married Jon Harris and they have 2 children

a) Lilly Harris

b) Evie Harris

26.7.2 Lorna Bomford 1883 - 1962

Lorna was born on 29th December 1883, was baptised in India on 23rd March 1884, died unmarried on 25th February 1962, and was buried in the grave of her parents at Charlton cemetery. She worked in the Food Rationing Office in Dover during both World Wars. From 1919 to 1921 she was a Councillor of the Borough of Dover and became actively concerned with early Council Estate buildings. From 1927 to 1945 she was a Justice of the Peace; much of her spare time was devoted to painting in oils and pastel, and she exhibited in the Paris Salon. Latterly she lived at Milestone House, Temple Ewell, just outside Dover on the Canterbury road. Photograph taken in 1933.

On 26 June 2023 Lorna's life was honoured by the Dover Society with a Blue Plaque at Milestone house.

26.7.3 Nora Bomford 1894 -1968

Nora was born on 24th March 1894 and on 8th June 1938, when she was 44 years of age she married her second cousin Major-General Claude le Bas Goldney, CB, CBE, MC, of Woking, Surrey, known in the family as Cleb. General Goldney was the son of Colonel William Henry Goldney, RE, by his wife Emily Marianne Wetherall, so the second cousin connection was through the Wetherall family and Nora’s maternal grandmother. Before her marriage Nora did much social work in North London, and published Poems of a Pantheist (Chatto & Windus, London, 1918; the linked web page has the full text for users in the USA; others will probably get 'no preview available'). During World War II she looked after her nephew Anthony Gerald Bomford whilst her brother Guy was in India. She was interested in nature, particularly birds, and on her death, 12th May 1968 (probate), she left a substantial legacy to the Kent Naturalist Trust. General Goldney died on 2 January 1978 (probate) and they had no children. Photograph of Nora taken 1939 in Cairo.

26.7.4 Guy Bomford 1899 - 1996

Guy was born on 28th June 1899 at River Road in the Parish of Temple Ewell near Dover, Kent, and educated at Marlborough, RMA at Woolwich and Queen’s College, Cambridge. He served in both World Wars and retired as a Brigadier, Royal Engineers, in 1948, having been honoured with the OBE in 1946. From 1921 to his retirement he was with the Indian Survey and was Director of Survey in South East Asia Command (SEAC) from 1945 to 1946. In 1935 he became a Fellow of the Indian Academy of Science and a Fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society (FRAS), and in 1947 a Fellow of the Geological Society of London (FGS). Photograph taken 1946.

After his retirement from the army he became a Reader in Surveying and Geology at Oxford University from 1948 to 1966, being Reader Emeritus in 1966. During this time he received his MA at Oxford in 1948 and became a Doctor of Science in 1953; in 1950 he became a Fellow of the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (FRICS) and in 1968 an Honorary Member of The Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (RICS). From 1963 to 1967 he was President of the International Association of Geodesy, and wrote “Geodesy” which was published in 1952. Earlier publications included “Three Sources of Error in Precise Levelling” published in Dehra Dun in 1928 when he was a Captain; and “The Readjustment of Indian Triangulation” published in 1939 also in Dehra Dun when he was a Major. [Military file (email mod.gov.uk 15 Nov 2023)] [Obituary] [Tribute]. The obituary and tributes suggest Guy walked out of Burma as it was occupied by Japan. The military file suggests he 'disembarked Colombo (Ceylon) ex Java (Abdacom)'on 7 March 1942. Abdacom was a unified command for American, British, Dutch and Australian forces in the far east created following the Japanese declaration of war on 7 December 1942: General Wavell flew onto Bandung in Java and the new command officially came into effect on 15 January 1942 (ref).

On 23rd May 1925 Guy married Audrey Edith Barclay, born 18 Jan 1902, the only daughter of Edward Wilfred Barclay and Edith Ann Barclay (https://af.billiongraves.com/grave/Edith-Ann-Barclay/25553872) of Kearsney near Dover. The marriage was dissolved on 8 October 1934. They had one son. Audrey remarried immediately after the divorce, on 25 October 1934, at a registry office in Bombay, to Charles Thomas Trigg, on the way from London to Chittagong where Charles was then a forestry officer. They had a son, Charles Nicholas Barclay Trigg, born London 30 Dec 1936, married Alison Mary Peddie on 11 Dec 1961 in Tring, Hertfordshire. Audrey died in September 1964.

1. Anthony Gerald Bomford (1927 - 2003). He was born on 17 January 1927 at Dehra Dun, India; died 10 May 2003 in Canberra, Australia.

He was educated at Shrewsbury and Pembroke College, Cambridge, from where he received his BA (1952) and MA (1955). He joined the Royal Engineers, became a Major and retired in 1961. Like his father, his interest was in surveying and he became a Fellow of the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (FRICS). In the southern summer of 1955-56 he was a member of the South Georgia Survey Expedition (see Alec Trendall's 2011 book Putting South Georgia on the Map (ISBN 978-0-9870614-0-9) for a history) and in 1958 he was granted the Patrick Ness Award by the Royal Geographical Society. His map of South Georgia won him the award, the citation stating that his work had established a new standard in Antarctic mapping. For more than forty years his map remained the definitive map of South Georgia, and one of the sharp spires marked on that map bears the name ‘Bomford Peak’. He emigrated to Australia and joined the Division of National Mapping in Canberra in 1961. He worked on mapping projects in Central Queensland (https://www.xnatmap.org/adnm/people/agbom/agb tavi.htm) and the Kimberly (northern Western Australia) where, in the more difficult country, surveying was done with the use of helicopters. His work in the Kimberley led one of the features he mapped being named ‘Mount Bomford’. (For an account of Kimberley days, see Westlink 19, 1 Dec 1999, page 9; and Westlink 28, 20 Dec 2006, pp 8-13). For the years 1975 - 1976 he was President of the Institute of Surveyors in Australia. In 1982 he retired as the Director of National Mapping, but continued an active life until he died on 10th May 2003 at home in Canberra [Obituary]. He was particularly fond of binoculars and had several pairs. The Bomford Prize commemorates his contribution to South Georgia. His diaries are in the manuscript collection of the National Library of Australia and two of his rugs are in the collection of the Australian National Gallery in Canberra. Tony Bomford's Rug Book (2MB, pdf).

On 24th September 1951 he married Elizabeth Ann Honey, born 17th September 1928 at Broken Hill, New South Wales, died 8th June 2019 at Cooroy, Queensland, youngest daughter of Roy Reynolds Honey and Gertrude Irene Underwood, of Malvern, South Australia. They had four children.

a. Richard Bomford, born 13th August 1952, at Cambridge, England. Richard was educated in England and Australia, with a short period in Germany before the family settled in Canberra in 1962. He completed a degree in geology from the Australian National University in 1976, and also an electronics and communications certificate from the Canberra Technical College. He worked from 1979 to 2002 as an environment policy adviser for the Australian Government, specialising late in that period in relations between the Australian federal environment department and its counterparts in Asia and the Pacific. His long term partner is Bernadette Frances O’Leary, born 17th September 1958 at Nowra, New South Wales. They have no children. They have 100 acres (statute) at Brogo on the far south coast of New South Wales, which is a registered conservation area under the NSW National Parks and Wildlife Act. Carbon Added Permits submission

b. Mary Bomford, born 4th December 1953, Adelaide, South Australia. Mary has a BSc in Zoology from the University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand, a postgraduate diploma on greenfinch damage to sunflower crops (1976) and MSc on banded dotterel behaviour (1978), also from Otago University, and a PhD from the Australian National University ‘Food quality, diet and reproduction of house mice on irrigated cereal farms’ (1985). She has worked for the Australian government and has many publications on feral animal management. Mary lives in Canberra and is not married.

c. Philip Bomford, born 13th September 1960, Epsom, England. Philip was educated at Canberra Grammar School and has a degree in economics from the Australian National University, completed in 1982 and a graduate diploma in environmental science from Murdoch University (1989). He worked for the Australian (1983-85 and 1995-99) and Western Australian Governments (1991-1994) and in 2005 was a self employed financial manager. He lives in Canberra and is not married.

d. Margaret Anne Bomford (changed her name to Annabel Bomford by deed poll), born 20th January 1964, in Canberra, Australia. Annabel was educated at Campbell High School and Narrabundah College, Canberra. She owned and ran Annabel’s Café at Milton on the south coast of New South Wales for several years in the 1990s and in 2005 was living and working in the Ulladulla area on the NSW south coast.

Guy Bomford married secondly, on 7th November 1935, Annette Isolde Brown, b 1907 at Bath, a daughter of Lieut-Commander George Halliday Brown of the Royal Navy. Guy Bomford died at Sutton Courtenay, Oxfordshire, on 10th February 1996, aged 96 , and Annette died in April 2001 aged 93. They had two children.

2. Christopher Guy Bomford (1938 - 2003)

Was born 21st July 1938 and educated at Cheltenham and the RMA Sandhurst. He joined the Army, became a Captain in the Royal Artillery and retired in 1969. He then became a banker working with the Merchant Bankers, Brown Shipley. He was made a Freeman and Liveryman of the City of London on the commendation of the Haberdasher’s Company, whose investments he managed for many years. On 4th September 1971 he married Philippa Jane Sharpley the elder daughter of Henry Samuel Sharpley of Boswell, Louth in Lincolnshire, High Sheriff, they have three children. He died in April 2003.

a. Sophie Katherine Louise Bomford, born 23rd December 1973 BA Cambridge (Newnham) College.

b. Lucinda Jane Bomford, born 2nd July 1975, BA Exeter University. On 23rd October 2004 at Wallingford, Oxon, married Nicholas Edward Thomas of Dorchester, Dorset. They have a son Archie Christopher Thomas, b 27 May 2006 and daughter Octavia Isabelle Thomas b 25 February 2008.

c. Henry Guy Bomford, born 1st March 1981. Educated at Bristol University, MSc.

3. Rodney William George Bomford (1943 - living)

Was born on 6th August 1943 in India and educated at Radley and Brasenose College Oxford, from where he received his BA (1964) and MA (1968). He then went to Union College in New York from where he graduated STM in 1969. He joined the Church and was ordained deacon (1969), priest (1970) and became Vicar of St Giles, Camberwell, London, 1977 - 2001. In 1993 he became Hon Cannon of Southwick Cathedral. He was a founding member of the Bi-logic Group of London and of the International Bi-logic Association. He wrote in 1999 The Symmetry of God connecting Ignacio Matte Blanco's psychoanalytic theories to the mystical theology of the Christian church. He held a Visiting Fellowship at Harris Manchester College, Oxford, in 2001, and retired in October 2001 to Modbury, Devon. He wrote, among other things, The question of God and the doctrine of the Trinity, British journal of psychotherapy, vol 26 number 3, 2010, 360-367 (abstract); and Jairus, his Daughter, the Woman and the Saviour: The Communication of Symmetric Thinking in the Gospel of St Mark, Practical theology, vol 3; number 1, 2010, 41-50 (abstract).

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