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ќѢџћюљ
of
THE HUNGERFORD &
ASSOCIATED FAMILIES
SOCIETY INC.
Forebears ancient and modern
ISSN 1036-2223 Volume 16, Number 1 – May 2021
ќѢџћюљ
of
THE HUNGERFORD &
ASSOCIATED FAMILIES
SOCIETY INC.
Volume 16 Number 1
May 2021
Forebears ancient and modern
&ඈඇඍൾඇඍඌ
Editorial Charles Sherlock 1
‘Everard de Hungreford:
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Enid – a legend in her own lifetime Pauline Tyrrell 16
“A pretty ordinary kind of bloke”
Athol Gordon Townley – 1905-1963 Lesley Greenwood 26
William Jacob Watriama (1880-1925): Lesley Abrahams 35
an advocate and his family
Cover photographs
Left to Right: William Jacob Watriama, Enid Lindeman, Athol Townley,
and the cover of Hungerford Heraldry: Inheritance Charts 1160-1711
© Hungerford & Associated Families Society Inc. 2020
ĴDZȦȦ ǯǯǯ
Editorial
T he recent publication of Hungerford
Heraldry: Inheritance Charts 1160-1711
by Lesley Abrahams (née Hungerford –
H.4a.1b.1c.1d / E.6.5a.1b.1c.1d) BA DipEd
AALIA calls for editorial comment: an
unusual step for this Journal, but significant.
This wonder-full book represents a dozen or
more years of work. Lesley is to be heartily
congratulated on both the research underly-
ing it, and on the first-rate presentation of its
fruits. She has explored deeply the origins and
meaning of Hungerford heraldry, following
up earlier work by Ron Mathieson.
The book’s core is four Pedigree and 46 Inher-
itance Charts that Lesley has compiled and
annotated. The impressive detail in these, and in panels of relevant information
about each family line, illuminates rather than confuses the reader. Four Appen-
dices, a glossary of heraldic terms, and a thorough bibliography and index round
out this visually spectactular and intellectually satisfying volume.
The book’s launch was timed to coincide with the 600th anniversary of the inves-
titure of Walter, 1st Lord Hungerford, as Knight of the Order of the Garter on 3
May 1421 in Salisbury Cathedral. The cathedral contains Hungerford heraldry
installed in 1779-1781 by Jacob Pleydell-Bouverie, 2nd Earl of Radnor, around a
room for the family’s pews, with an ornate ceiling showing his heritage.
Hungerford Heraldry sparkles with 93 illustrations, 47 newly photographed
heraldic shields from Salisbury Cathedral, and 143 coats of arms illus-
trating their genesis. I initially turned pages to admire and enjoy the colour-
drenched contents – but was halted at seeing the ‘iron cage’ enclosing the Radnor
room, which fascinated me as a liturgist.
To understand the heraldry involved in the Radnor ‘cage’, I was drawn to the
book’s opening pages on the origins of heraldry, and the superb explanation of
how it works. I could soon see – literally – what is going on in the mass of charts,
and reach some understanding of this distinctive way of preserving family history.
Our HAFS President has done both the Hungerford and heraldry ‘worlds’ a
great service in this beautiful volume. It is a watershed development in under-
standing five centuries of the Hungerford tradition in England.
HAFS Journal 16-1 page 1
This Journal opens with a well-researched article by Peter Sherlock (E.4.1a.6b.
5c.1d.2e) into the documentary evidence for Everard Hungreford and the fami-
ly’s origins, nicely complementing Lesley’s visual heraldic data. It neatly pricks
a few balloons along the way, and should become essential reading for new
HAFS members.
The next two articles bring readers from early modern England into the
twentieth century, to meet two significant Australians. The amazingly
diverse life-story of Enid Lindeman (E.8.7a.5b) is told by Pauline Tyrrell
(E.2.4a.10b.1c.2d=) in a pleasingly ordered way. Numbered among the ten
most beautiful women in the world by one writer, Enid knew the extreme
highs and lows of life. She saw the wonders of Egypt, Africa, the Riviera,
mixed with English royalty and lived the high life of Europe. Yet she lost four
husbands and faced poverty and illness, balanced by the evident care for their
mother shown by her adult children. The article is illuminated by a representa-
tive collection of photographs.
Athol Townley (E.2.7a.1b.3c=) is a name I recall from my youth as a Christian
politician of principle. Lesley Greenwood (E.2.7a.3b.9c.1d) draws together
the “extraordinary and, at times, exciting and successful life” of this handsome
Tasmanian man: “successful sportsman, pharmacist, naval commander, licenced
pilot and federal politician”. A confidant of (Sir) Robert Menzies for much of his
time as Prime Minister, Townley was a man of those times, representing both its
good and difficult aspects.
A very different story is that of William Jacob Watriama (L.VIII.iii.7.1a=)
and his descendants, a family of utterly different cultural background and life-
experience from that of Enid and Athol. Lesley Abrahams (H.4a.1b.1c.1d /
E.6.5a.1b.1c.1d) traces key features of three Watriama generations, from the
Loyalty Islands to Sydney and Queensland, Byron Bay to Florida USA. Several
members saw war service for Australia, and (as with Athol Townley), church
involvement remained significant in their lives.
Do you have access to HAFS-related stories that you believe should see the light
of day? Please contact the Society via the website, www.hafs.org.au.
Charles Sherlock AM (E.4.1a.6b.5c.1d)
Editor
HAFS Journal 16-1 page 2
Everard de Hungreford:
The quest for the first Hungerford ancestor
By Peter Sherlock (E.4.1a.6b.5c.1d.2e), University of Divinity
T he most common question asked of family historians is, “How far back can
you go?”. This is a question the Hungerfords and their chroniclers have
naturally sought to answer. It was made manifest in the very first issue of this
Journal in 1990, which commenced with a poem by Ian Ellis and an article by
our first Patron, Dr Tom Hungerford, both claiming that the Hungerfords were
part of the Norman conquest of England in 1066.
In 2021, a basic search of the internet produces another answer: the earliest
known Hungerford ancestor was apparently one “Everard de Hungerford”, who
lived in the late twelfth century. Everard turns up in literally thousands of indi-
vidual genealogies across all of the major online family history platforms. He is
the internet version of Adam for the Hungerford family.
Wikitree (https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Hungerford-67) informs us that Eve-
rard was born about 1160 and died in 1186 in Heytesbury, Wiltshire, and was
the son of a Walter De Hungerford and father of a Walter Hungerford. Geni.com
(https://www.geni.com/people/Everard-Hungerford/6000000008572811747)
elaborates a little more. Everard, born in 1160 and dying after 1186, was the son
of Emmeline de Hungerford, daughter of Fulk FitzWarin, Lord of Whittington.
Variations on these claims appear regularly in family histories published online.
For example, one claims that Everard de Hungerford was born before 1160 to
Walter Hungerford (son of Walter Everard De Hungerford II) and Emmeline
FitzWarin, and then informs us that his father Walter was born in 1186 and his
mother was born in 1145.1
The lack of basic logic in such claims is astounding. How could someone be
born in 1160 to a man born 26 years later in 1186? Almost none of the online
references to Everard, or his purported parents or family, provide evidence to
support these claims.
For some years I have somewhat dismissively blamed this situation on the ease
with which the internet allows linking, copying and pasting, disseminating
falsehoods and turning myths into facts.
I was recently encouraged to do some further research, to try to put on record an
authoritative account of the earliest Hungerford ancestors.
1 Diana J. Muir, Ancestors of Cynthia Williams (Lulu Publishing, 2019), p. 319.
HAFS Journal 16-1 page 3
In this article, I aim to answer two questions:
Who was Everard Hungerford?
Can later generations of Hungerfords claim him as an ancestor?
To my surprise, the answers to my questions reveal that the internet is not the
primary culprit in placing Everard at the top of the Hungerford family tree, even
if the information shared online has often been extensively embroidered.
In fact, for at least 200 years researchers have been claiming Everard as the
Hungerfords’ progenitor. As we shall see, two Hungerford families in the nine-
teenth century even bestowed the name Everard on their sons in honour of this
tradition.
Who was Everard? The Pipe Roll of 1164/65
E verard de Hungerford makes just a single appearance in English historical
records, in the medieval manuscripts known as the “Pipe Rolls”. Properly
called the “Great Rolls”, but nicknamed Pipe Rolls because they literally resem-
ble drain pipes, these are among the oldest records of English government. The
rolls record the annual audit of the Crown finances and date from as early as 1129,
surviving in a nearly unbroken series from 1155 to 1832. They list debtors to the
Crown, arranged by English county. As such they are an invaluable source for
medieval genealogy as they predate parish registers and most probate records.
Everard is recorded on the Pipe Roll for Wiltshire for the eleventh year of the
reign of Henry II. In premodern times, government documents were dated
according to the regnal year rather than the calendar year, based on the date
on which the king or queen’s reign commenced. Thus, the eleventh year of the
reign of Henry II refers to the period 19 December 1164 to 18 December 1165.
The actual entry in the Pipe Roll reads as follows:
Everard. de Hungref. redd. Comp. de .xx. m. de mis.c.dia.
In th. VII. m. Et deb. .XIII. m.2
When the abbreviations are expanded, the Latin reads:
Everard[us] de Hungref[ord] redd[it] Comp[otum] de .xx. m. de
mis[eri]c[or]dia.
In th[esauro] VII. m. Et deb[it] .XIII. m.
Translated into English, the Pipe Roll entry says:
Everard de Hungreford accounts for 20 marks for the mercy [of
the court]. In treasury 7 marks and he owes 13 marks.
2
The Great Roll of the Pipe for the Eleventh Year of the Reign of King Henry the Second,
A.D. 1164-1165 (London: Pipe Roll Society, 1887) p. 58.
HAFS Journal 16-1 page 4
1887 transcription of the Pipe Roll for 11 Henry 2
This is a debt recorded by the sheriff of Wiltshire. It means that Everard had
been found guilty of a crime by a judge in Wiltshire, and fined 20 marks as a
penalty. Like most of the fines recorded in the early Pipe Rolls, there is no fur-
ther information about Everard or his crime.
We can surmise nothing more than that there was a man named Everard de
Hungreford who was present in Wiltshire in 1164 or 1165. The spelling Hun-
greford is as found in the original, though it almost certainly is still a refer-
ence to a man “de Hungerford”, that is, a man who was from the town and
manor of Hungerford.
Nevertheless, this brief note in the Pipe Roll for 1164/65 is, indeed, the first
known reference to the use of Hungerford as a surname, even if it was spelt
“Hungreford”.
But there is nothing to connect Everard to any other person then or since who has
borne the surname Hungerford. We simply have no other evidence of Everard.
It is not immediately clear on what basis more recent genealogists have pro-
posed a date of birth of 1160 for Everard, which would have made him only
four or five when he was fined by a court, or a date of death of 1186, other than
it being 21 years after his sole appearance in the historical record.
Nor is there any reason to associate Everard with Heytesbury, the manorial
home of the Hungerfords which was only acquired through various transactions
in the mid-fourteenth century.
There is absolutely no evidence for a “Walter Hungerford” or “Emmeline Fitz-
Warin” as Everard’s parents.
HAFS Journal 16-1 page 5
I have not yet had the patience to sift through hundreds of genealogies to find
who first proposed dates, places, parents and children for Everard, though the
exercise might tell us much about how genealogical (mis)information comes
into being and is circulated.
William Dugdale: Everard as the earliest Hungerford
he Pipe Roll reference to Everard de Hungerford was first published by
T William Dugdale, a seventeenth-century herald, genealogist and antiquary.
Dugdale is famous for his many publications, which include a county history
of Warwickshire and the multi-volume publication Monasticon Anglicanum, an
attempt to reconstruct the history of England’s religious houses prior to Henry
VIII’s dissolution of the monasteries in the late 1530s.
The reference to the Pipe Rolls appears in Dugdale’s Baronage of England, the
first comprehensive account of the genealogies of every English noble, which was
published in 1676. Dugdale included the Hungerfords because they were called
to Parliament as barons in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. His account of the
family begins thus:
That this Family hath been
very antient in Wiltshire, is
evident from the Sheriffs
Accompt in 11 H. 2. Eve-
rard de Hungerford being
at that time made mention
of, by reason of an Amer-
ciament of Twenty Marks,
then levied upon him. But
from him I shall descend
to Robert de Hungerford.3
Dugdale silently corrects the
name from Hungreford to Hun-
gerford. He carefully records his
source in a marginal note “Rot.
Pip. 11 H. 2. Wilts.” This enables
the reader, whether in the seven-
teenth century or today to locate
the record of the “Amerciament”
Dugdale’s Baronage of England (1676) vol. 2 p. 203
or fine in “the Pipe Roll for the
eleventh year of Henry II for Wiltshire”.
3 William Dugdale, The Baronage of England (London: Tho. Newcomb for Abel Roper,
John Martin, and Henry Herringman, 1676), vol. 2, p. 203.
HAFS Journal 16-1 page 6
The account of the family continues with the life of Robert Hungerford (d
1354), whose monument is still on display in the parish church of Hunger-
ford, Berkshire, and whose nephew Sir Thomas Hungerford purchased Far-
leigh Hungerford. Impressively, Dugdale (or one of his associates, most likely
Philip Dodsworth), who did not have the access we enjoy today to printed and
indexed editions of the Pipe Rolls, must have located the entry in the original
documents, and recognised the significance of the entry as the earliest men-
tion of the surname Hungerford.
Dugdale’s choice of phrase “from him [Everard] I shall descend to Robert de
Hungerford” does imply some sort of genealogical connection, even one that
spans 150 years between Everard in 1165 and Robert’s first appearance in legal
documents from the 1310s. This phrase surely gave encouragement to later gen-
erations of genealogists to assume a line of descent existed from Everard to the
later medieval Hungerfords.
Richard Colt Hoare:
Everard becomes the Hungerford progenitor
he first printed genealogical table showing Everard as the Hungerford
T progenitor appeared in 1824, in Sir Richard Colt Hoare’s history of the
county of Wiltshire. Drawing on the tradition established by Dugdale and
others in the seventeenth century, this multi-volume history worked through
each hundred and parish in the southern part of Wiltshire, recording deeds,
monuments, heraldic bearings and genealogies for the principal residents of
each place.
Like so many before and after him, Colt Hoare became infected with a pas-
sion for the Hungerfords, even though he was unrelated to them. This passion
inspired him to publish a small volume on the family entitled Hungerfordiana
through his private press in 1823.
Hungerfordiana has remained a primary text for Hungerford genealogists ever
since, and has been hugely influential. I well remember reading the volume over
30 years ago as an Australian adolescent, relishing the details of English monu-
ments and parish register entries at a time when such records could only be con-
sulted by visiting the place in question on the other side of the planet.
Hungerfordiana imitates Dugdale in mentioning some early references to Hun-
gerfords in his introduction:
We hear of an EVERARD de Hungerford, in 1160, and of a WIL-
LIAM de Hungerford, Abbot of Waverley, who died in 1276, but
I cannot trace the descent of this family for a certainty till the
time of Walter de Hungerford, who married Maude, daughter of
HAFS Journal 16-1 page 7
John de Heytesbury; and thereby became settled at Heytesbury,
in Wiltshire.4
Here we discover the source of the date of 1160 found so widely on the internet:
it was, presumably, just an error made by Colt Hoare, or by his printer, who
should have written 1164 or 1165.
He then provides a short, formal pedigree which describes three generations:
Walter de Hungerford, who married Maud de Heytesbury
Walter de Hungerford, living 1308, wife unknown
Robert de Hungerford, died 1354, who married Geva, widow of
Adam de Stokke.
Colt Hoare gives no further information or evidence concerning the names or
dates of the first two generations in his pedigree, instead proceeding to an in-
depth discussion of the life and death of Robert de Hungerford, and of his broth-
er Walter and nephew Sir Thomas Hungerford (d 1398). Still, Everard has yet
to make an appearance at the top of the chart, and unlike Dugdale, Colt Hoare
makes it crystal clear that Everard cannot be linked to later Hungerfords.
Hungerfordiana was a precursor to the more detailed account of the senior line
of the family which was printed in 1824 in Colt Hoare’s magisterial volume on
Heytesbury, one of the primary residences of the Hungerfords in the fourteenth
and fifteenth centuries. The 1824 account included a detailed pedigree summa-
rising Colt Hoare’s research, during which he had consulted with descendants
of the English medieval Hungerfords, including the Earl of Radnor, who gave
him access to manuscript pedigrees probably dating from the sixteenth and sev-
enteenth centuries.5
Colt Hoare’s 1824 pedigree added a further two generations to the one pre-
sented in Hungerfordiana:
Everard de Hungerford, living 1160
Walter de Hungerford
Walter de Hungerford, of Heytesbury = Maud, daughter and heir
of John de Heytesbury
Walter de Hungerford, living 1308
Robert de Hungerford, died 1354, and his brother Walter de Hun-
gerford
4 Richard Colt Hoare, Hungerfordiana: or Memoirs of the Family of Hungerford
(Shaftesbury: J. Rutter, 1823), p. 2.
5 Richard Colt Hoare, The History of Modern Wiltshire: Hundred of Heytesbury
(London: John Nichols and Son, 1824), p. 117.
HAFS Journal 16-1 page 8The Colt Hoare version of the Hungerford pedigree (1824)
HAFS Journal 16-1 page 9“Everard de Hungreford” of the Pipe Rolls was thus transformed from an
obscure reference included in Dugdale’s Baronage into the family’s earliest
ancestor. Everard is again presented as “living 1160” rather than 1165, repro-
ducing the error in Hungerfordiana. The three Walter Hungerfords silently fill
the gap of two centuries between Everard in 1165 and the death of Robert de
Hungerford in 1354.
Once again, whereas the remainder of Colt Hoare’s work carefully documents
the history of the Hungerford family through their marriages and land acquisi-
tions from the early 1300s onwards, he gives no source for this early pedigree.
His own suspicions are indicated in a note below the family tree concerning the
Walter de Hungerford “living in 1308” and proposed as the father of Robert and
Walter de Hungerford:
An old pedigree calls this Walter de Hungerford Baron de Hop-
gras; and gives him to wife Millicent Zouch, but I know not what
credit is due to it. Hopgras is an estate near Hungerford.
I n the absence of any direct citation of sources for Colt Hoare’s pedigree, we
need to turn to other evidence to assess how he got his information about the
earliest generations of the Hungerfords.
One likely source was the Heralds’ Visitations held at the College of Arms in
London, with copies in the Harleian manuscripts at the British Library and
elsewhere. The Visitations of Gloucestershire made in 1569, 1583 and 1623
included the Hungerfords seated at Down Ampney in that county. The heralds’
pedigree (printed in an amalgamated edition in 18856) began as follows:
Sr Walter Hungerford Knt = Maud d. and heire of John Hetsbury
Sr Walter Hungerford lord of Hetisbury .
Sr Walter Hungerford of Hetsbury = d. of Adam ffitz John.
Here there is no mention of Everard. This is unsurprising, as evidence of his
existence was not published for another half century.
The 1583 Visitation of Gloucestershire is the earliest record yet located which
claims that Walter Hungerford and his brother Robert (d 1354) were children of
one Walter and grandchildren of another Walter by a woman named Maud de
Heytesbury. This information was almost certainly provided to the heralds by
family members, in an era when gentry families were notorious for embroider-
ing their genealogy to add further generations or to upgrade their ancestors from
the mercantile classes to the nobility.
6 The Visitation of the County of Gloucester Taken in the Year 1623 ed. Sir John Maclean
and W. C. Heane (London: Harleian Society vol. 21 for 1885), pp. 87-90.
HAFS Journal 16-1 page 10Another of the sources for Colt Hoare’s genealogy may be an “old pedigree”
seen by his contemporary and fellow Wiltshire antiquary Thomas Phillipps.
Amongst his voluminous manuscripts, Phillipps included a “copy of a pedigree
sent to Mrs Milburne with Miss Hungerford’s compliments” that he saw in
1820.7 I happened across this pedigree in the Bodleian Library, Oxford, when
researching my edition for the Wiltshire Record Society of Phillipps’ 1822 pub-
lication, Monumental Inscriptions of Wiltshire.
“Mrs Milburne”, the owner of the pedigree, was Catherine, the eldest daughter
and co-heir of Alexander Thistlethwayte of Winterslowe, Wiltshire. She was
the great-great-granddaughter of Alexander Thistlethwayte who married Cic-
ely Hungerford in 1633. Cicely was the daughter of Sir Anthony Hungerford
(1567-1627) of Black Bourton, the senior male representative of the family
in the early seventeenth century. Catherine married Thomas Milbourne MD,
but had no children. She evidently held a passion for her ancestral history.
In 1805 she signed herself rather extravagantly as “Catherine Thistlethwaite
Hungerford Chaldecott Pelham Milbourne”, then in 1811 she was granted
royal licence to use the surnames and arms of Thistlethwayte and Pelham, in
honour of various of her ancestors, and was known as “Mrs Pelham”.8 The
identity of “Miss Hungerford” is unknown, and perhaps refers to Henrietta,
Mrs Crewe, a descendant of the Hungerfords through the Luttrells whose fam-
ily changed their name from Walker to Hungerford.
Mrs Milburne’s “old pedigree” traced the ancestry of both Sir Anthony Hunger-
ford of Black Bourton (1567-1627), from the Down Ampney line, and his first
wife Lucy, co-heir of Sir Walter Hungerford of the senior branch of the family
from Farleigh Hungerford. The pedigree closely matches that printed by Colt
Hoare in 1824:
Sir Evered de Hungerford temp H2
Sir Walter = Maude d & heir of Sir John de Heytesbury
Sir Walter = ...
Sir Walter = Elizth d & heir of Sir Adam FitzJohn Kt
Sir Thomas = Joane d & coheir of Sir Edmund Hussey Kt
temp E3
The whereabouts of the original document is unknown. It may have been copied
from the heralds’ visitations, with the addition of our friend Everard for good
measure.
7 Bodleian Library, Oxford: Phillipps-Robinson MS e.313, pp. 89-91.
8 Wiltshire Family History Society Journal (October 2010); the London Gazette (no. 16560,
7 November 1812), p. 48.
HAFS Journal 16-1 page 11The myth of Everard de Hungerford
W hatever their source, the two pedigrees printed by Colt Hoare in Hunger-
fordiana in 1823 and in his history of Heytesbury in 1824 were highly
influential. They were clearly the source for the entry on the Hungerfords in
Burke’s A Genealogical History of Dormant, Abeyant, Forfeited and Extinct
Peerages of the British Empire (London, 1866), for Burke began with Wal-
ter de Hungerford who married Maud de Heytesbury who had a son Walter
de Hungerford, “living in 1308”. Burke’s genealogy was widely available in
nineteenth-century libraries and, seen as a high quality, reliable, printed source,
has been extensively reproduced in individual genealogies ever since.
One fascinating consequence of the emergence of Everard as the mythical pro-
genitor of the family is the bestowal of his Christian name on Hungerford sons
in the nineteenth century. In 1843 Thomas Hungerford RN named his third
child and eldest son “Thomas Everard Hungerford” (R.2.3a). Born at Newry,
county Cork, Ireland, Thomas Everard served in the Royal Marines and is the
great-grandfather of the Revd Robin Hungerford who now lives in retirement
at Heytesbury, Wiltshire. It seems that Thomas Hungerford the father wished
to name his son after himself, and after the very earliest Hungerford named in
Dugdale’s Baronage and in Colt Hoare’s Hungerfordiana.
Then in 1878 Thomas Christopher Hungerford, a sergeant in the British Army,
named his sixth child “Everard Richard Hungerford” (S.iii.6b). Thomas Chris-
topher was born in Clonakilty, County Cork, Ireland in 1837 but his parentage
is uncertain. Nonetheless it would seem that he, too, had heard of his mythical
ancestor Everard, perhaps through Burke’s Peerage or through Hungerford-
iana, and wished to commemorate him. Everard Richard Hungerford emigrated
to Western Australia in the early twentieth century, bringing a name first record-
ed in 1165 to antipodean shores.
The true history of the Hungerford family
A longside the emergence of the myth of Everard de Hungerford as the
progenitor of the family has been a quiet but persistent tradition of
scholarly accounts of the family. This tradition began as early as 1600 with
the publication (in Latin) of William Camden’s topographical account of
the realm, Britannia. Camden commenced the family with Sir Thomas Hun-
gerford (d 1398), first recorded Speaker of the House of Commons, due to
his acquisition of Farleigh Hungerford, and took the history through to the
marriage of the heiress Mary Hungerford to Lord Hastings at the end of the
fifteenth century.9
9 William Camden, Britannia (London: 1600), p. 199.
HAFS Journal 16-1 page 12Canon J. E. Jackson, the leading nineteenth-century historian of the Hunger-
fords, began the family history in his Guide to Farleigh Hungerford with Robert
de Hungerford (d 1354), made Knight of the Shire for Wiltshire in 1325, and
with his nephew Sir Thomas Hungerford (d 1398).10 More recent Hungerford
historians have been unable to trace the family back any further than this Robert
de Hungerford (d 1354) and his brother Walter, father of Sir Thomas Hunger-
ford (d 1398). In the absence of any evidence, most avoid the temptation to
guess the names of Robert and Walter’s parents.
E. L. Davis’s wonderful pamphlet Is Your Name Hungerford? does state that
Robert and Walter were sons of Walter de Hungerford and Maud de Heytesbury,
who allegedly lived at Heytesbury, probably relying on Hungerfordiana for this
information. Usefully, Davis rehearses a list of early references to Hungerfords
from a variety of published sources.11 These include:
• 1165 Everard de Hungerford
• 1194 Radulphus, Presbyter de Hungerford
• 1232 death of William de Hungerford, Abbot of Cerne
• 1276 death of William de Hungerford, Abbot of Waverley
• 1327 Adam Hungerford, a juror at the town of Hungerford
• 1346 Sir Giles de Hungerford, who fought at battle of Crecy
Davis’s list can now be extended, thanks to the rapid increase in the twenty-
first century of the digitisation of both printed and manuscript records, and the
online availability of archive and library catalogues. For example, a cursory
search of the catalogue of the National Archives in London reveals a Richard de
Hungerford and several other William de Hungerfords active in the thirteenth
century (https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/).
The finest twentieth-century historian of the Hungerford family remains the late
J. L. Kirby, who wrote his University of London dissertation on the medieval
Hungerfords in the 1930s. Kirby edited two volumes with the Wiltshire Record
Society, comprising the Hungerford cartularies owned respectively by the Earl
of Radnor and by the Hobhouse family.12 These cartularies comprise hundreds
of medieval deeds which document land transactions and are complex historical
sources. These sources will be vital in telling the history of the Hungerford family
10 J. E. Jackson, A Guide to Farleigh Hungerford, Co. Somerset (London: Houlston and
sons, 3rd ed. 1879), p. 5.
11 E. L. Davis, Is Your Name Hungerford? (Hungerford, Berkshire: self published, 1984), p. 8.
12 J. L. Kirby, ed., The Hungerford Cartulary: A Calendar of the Earl of Radnor’s Cartulary
of the Hungerford Family (Trowbridge: Wiltshire Record Society vol. 49, 1993); and J.
L. Kirby, ed., The Hungerford Cartulary: A Calendar of the Hobhouse Cartulary of the
Hungerford Family (Trowbridge: Wiltshire Record Society vol. 60; Chippenham, 2007).
HAFS Journal 16-1 page 13long into the future – and in dispelling myths about their origins, marriages, and
acquisition of land.
The Hungerford cartularies were consulted by Colt Hoare and Canon Jackson
in the nineteenth century, who had to visit their owners to inspect them. We are
very fortunate in the twenty-first century to have the far easier route of access
to printed calendars, translated into English and fully indexed thanks to Kirby’s
painstaking work.
In his introduction to the Earl of Radnor’s cartulary, Kirby demonstrates that
the Hungerford pedigree may be taken back no further than 1316 and the two
brothers Robert de Hungerford (d 1354) and Walter de Hungerford, and their
wives Geva and Elizabeth. The earliest deed mentioning Robert is dated 1316,
while a deed from 1361 indicates his brother Walter was still alive. There is no
mention of Hungerfords of earlier generations in these ancient collections, nor
is there any reference whatsoever to a “de Heytesbury” family.
Many of the deeds in both cartularies illustrate how the early Hungerfords thought
about themselves and their family. For example, the dozens of chantries estab-
lished by Sir Thomas Hungerford (d 1398) and his son Walter, Lord Hungerford
(d 1449) endowed priests to say masses for themselves, their wives and families,
Thomas’s parents, Walter and Elizabeth, and Thomas’s uncle Robert. Again, none
of these memorial documents makes reference to more ancient relations.
Conclusion
his article has shown how “Everard de Hungreford”, fined for an unknown
T misdemeanour in Wiltshire in 1165, was transformed over a period of nine
centuries into the fictional progenitor of the Hungerford family. The critical
steps in this journey were the identification of Everard in Dugdale’s Baronage
in 1676, his appearance in Mrs Milbourne’s pedigree sometime in the eigh-
teenth or early nineteenth century, and his inclusion in the Hungerford geneal-
ogy printed in Colt Hoare’s history of Heytesbury in 1824.
Everard’s name re-entered the family in the naming of at least two nineteenth-
century Hungerford sons. Over the last quarter of a century, online genealogies,
based on printed pedigrees by Colt Hoare or in Burke’s Peerage, have elabo-
rated on Everard, providing dates and other relations, ensuring his mythical
place in the Hungerford genealogy for generations to come.
On the one hand, this tale shows the simple truth that material found in manu-
scripts, printed books, or on the internet should not be taken at face value. Criti-
cal scrutiny is needed to identify the sources of information and to read texts
closely, carefully and in historical context. When it comes to estimating dates
and relationships, a good dose of common sense goes a long way.
HAFS Journal 16-1 page 14On the other hand, the interest in Everard tells us a great deal about ourselves
and our ancestors: Where do we come from? How far back can we trace our
family? How did we get here? Where are we going? The fascination with the
origins of the Hungerfords reveals the extent of human curiosity and ingenuity,
suggestive of a deep-seated belief that every genealogical mystery could be
solved if we search long enough.
There are plenty more mysteries to research in the early Hungerford family his-
tory. There are undoubtedly many more ancient pedigree charts and manuscripts
about the Hungerford family in both private hands and public archives. These
should be sought out and studied to learn how Hungerfords in different times and
places have represented their ancestry and origins to themselves and to others.
And there are other myths to unravel. Who came up with all those early Walter
Hungerfords? Was there ever a “de Heytesbury” family? If not, why did one
need to be invented for the Hungerford pedigree? Most intriguingly, why did
the Hungerford coat of arms change in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries and
where did the various shields come from?
For the time being, there is no need to make Everard into more than what
he was – a man whose all-too-brief appearance on the historical record
shows the name Hungerford in use over 850 years ago.
As a genealogist, it amazes me that we can trace our ancestry to our distant
very-many-greats uncle Robert de Hungerford (d 1354) and his unusual monu-
ment in Hungerford Church.
As an historian, the rapid rise of the Hungerfords out of obscurity in the early
fourteenth century into one of the leading families of the realm of England with-
in a generation is astonishing, and worthy of many more centuries of deeper
investigation. q
HAFS Journal 16-1 page 15Enid – a legend in her own lifetime
By Pauline Tyrrell (E.2.4a.10b.1c.2d=)
t is hard to believe that a little girl who grew up in Strathfield would go on
I to become one of the most celebrated women of her generation. Enid Maud
Lindeman (E.8.7a.5b) was greatly admired and known for her beauty, wealth,
her many marriages and extravagant lifestyle, which had its beginnings in Syd-
ney, and ended in South Africa – far from her homeland.
Enid’s grandfather was the famed Australian vigneron, Dr Henry Lindeman. He
arrived in Australia with his new wife Eliza Bramhall in 1840, settling first in
Sydney, then moving to East Gresford in the Hunter Valley, where Henry set up
a medical practice. He then purchased land nearby on the banks of the Paterson
River, calling his new property Cawarra, a local Aboriginal term meaning” by
running water”. A vineyard was gradually established, but in 1851 an arsonist
set fire to the winery. Although this was a major setback, a new winery and
cellar were constructed in 1853. From this point on Lindeman Wines gradually
became a major player in the burgeoning Australian wine industry.
Henry and Eliza had ten children. Their sixth child was a son, Charles Frederick
Lindeman, born in 1854. Charles became the Manager of the business after his
father’s death in 1881. By this stage the company’s headquarters, including a
winery, cellars and a bottling complex, had been constructed in Pitt Street in
Sydney. Under Charles’ leadership the company became the country’s biggest
producer and its most successful exporter to the world. During his tenure the
company’s operations were moved from Pitt Street to the Queen Victoria Build-
ing in George Street.
Charles married into the Hungerford family in 1883, with his wedding to Flor-
ence Edith Chapman (E.8.7a), the seventh child of Anne Loan Hungerford (E.8)
and Robert Chapman. Florence and Charles married on 31 October 1883 in
Burwood, Sydney. Initially, they lived in Redmyre, near Burwood in Sydney,
before moving to Bramhall in Jersey Road, Strathfield.
Early life
I t was at Bramall on 8 January 1892, as the new house
was being completed, that Florence gave birth to their fifth
child – a daughter they called Enid Maud (pictured at right
with her father). Bramhall was roughly halfway between the
centre of the city and Parramatta, but it was a perfect place
for children to grow up with lots of open spaces to play – an
idyllic childhood for an adventurous young girl.
HAFS Journal 16-1 page 16Not much is known about Enid’s early schooling, but at 15 years of age she
attended Ascham School in Edgecliff as a weekly boarder for the final two years
of her education, 1907 and 1908. Nearly six feet all, Enid excelled at sport,
while also mastering skills that would prove invaluable in later life, such as
painting, tennis and horse-riding. In those days, tertiary education was not val-
ued as it is now, and a well-educated girl had one path – marriage to a suitable
husband. In fact, the Daily Telegraph in December 1913 published a report
under the heading “A New Danger has arisen on the horizon of woman”:
If she is clever and is educated, she has less chance of being mar-
ried that if she remains just a simple young person of attractive
appearance and manners. In fact, the more educated she becomes,
the less chance she seems to have of marriage.
The two Rorys
E nid was considered a beauty throughout her life, and it
was not long before she was headed to the altar. A USA
businessman, Roderick Cameron, had arrived in Sydney to
keep an eye on his family’s shipping business. His father had
been one of New York’s most esteemed businessmen, com-
ing to know Charles Lindeman whilst working together on
trade delegations. He had originally visited Sydney in 1908,
and then returned in 1912.
The extremely wealthy Roderick was introduced to Enid at a charity ball held at
the Town Hall. A short engagement followed, and at the age of 21, Enid married
him on 19 February 1913 at St Paul’s Church of England, Burwood. The groom
was 45. Enid’s great uncle, the Reverend Septimus Hungerford (E.7), assisted at
the service, which was followed by a reception at her family home.
The Sydney Morning Herald of Saturday 22 February
1913 on page 8, had the following article:
The bride, who was given away by her father,
looked very lovely in a beautiful dress of ivory
duchesse satin, veiled in chiffon …
She wore a wreath and veil, and also a diamond
pendant, which, with her boquet (sic) of lillies of
the valley and orchids, surrounded by point lace,
was a gift from the bridegroom.
The entire article lists many of the wedding guests,
which included many Hungerford family members. Enid on her wedding day to
Roderick Cameron
HAFS Journal 16-1 page 17In April, the married couple left Sydney on the steamship
Ventura. It would be a three-week voyage to San Francis-
co, and from there a journey to Roderick’s hometown of
New York. On the way he showed her parts of the United
States that he loved, and by the time they arrived in New
York, Enid was expecting her first child.
Their son, Roderick William Cameron (E.8.7a.5b.1c,
always known as Rory, like his father) was born in their
Staten Island home on 13 November 1913.
Sadly, Enid’s husband Roderick was diagnosed with can-
cer and he died in October 1914. The Newcastle Morning
Herald and Miner’s Advocate of 6 November 1914 said:
Miss Enid Lindeman, a beautiful girl at 23 (living
at Strathfield), who married a millionaire of 47,
Rory - Roderick
Ronald (sic) Cameron, has just been widowed. Mr.
William Cameron
Cameron died in New York a short time ago.
War work
E nid was now a very rich woman, probably a multi-millionaire, and returned
to Australia in 1915 with her son, but by 1916, she decided to leave Austra-
lia again, this time for Europe.
The Great War was raging in Europe, and at least 17 members of the extended
Lindeman family were there fighting, with Enid heading to London. She was
only there for a short time before travelling to Paris, where relatives could help
with the care of Rory. Once there she took an apartment on Rue Mirabeau, with
views of the Eiffel Tower. Whilst exploring the city, she also
spent her days dressed in the grey and white uniform of the vol-
unteer nurse, one of the ‘helpful ladies’, largely untrained, who
flocked in their hundreds from England to tend to the wounded in
makeshift private hospitals.1
She purchased and refitted an ambulance and began bringing back wounded sol-
diers, travelling the perilous roads between the city and the battlefronts, some of
them less than 50 miles from the city centre, often as shelling continued.2
Enid was no longer a young girl, but a beautiful woman, and she attracted many
admirers in Paris. She dressed in outfits designed by the top Paris couturiers,
and became close friends with Coco Chanel, all the while with a steady string
1
Enid, by Robert Wainwright, published 2020, page 51.
2
Enid, page 52.
HAFS Journal 16-1 page 18of suitors. It was here that she met her second and fourth
husbands, but more of the fourth later in this article.
Frederick Cavendish
H er second husband was Frederick William Lawrence
Shepard Hart Cavendish, who had served in the Boer
War, and was wounded in action at Koodoosberg Drift. He
was awarded both the Queen’s and King’s Medals for ser-
vice during this conflict.
In A Lion in the Bedroom, Enid’s daughter Patricia says:
At the time, it was considered best to get rich, young
widows safely married and then let them get on with
whatever they wanted to.
Deciding a husband was what was needed for my mother, Lord
Derby cleverly produced my father. Daddy was known as ‘Cav-
iar’ Cavendish and he was a good-looking cavalry officer and a
10-goal polo player, the highest handicap there is.
Contrary to all the gossip since, he was far from rich, only having
his army pay to recommend him, but he already had a formidable
reputation for bravery and a penchant for lovely ladies. Lord Der-
by, having decided that they would be an ideal couple, convinced
my mother to marry him. As least, that is what my mother told me.
They were married in Paris on 18 June 1917, and Lord Derby gave my
mother away. Thereafter my father, Frederick Cavendish, returned to
the front and my mother went back to driving her ambulance.”3
When the war was over, Cavendish was transferred to Ireland, while Enid
stayed in London with Rory. By now she had purchased an apartment at No 1
Rue Mirabeau, and was becoming quite a celebrity. Cavendish came back to
London in 1921 and his next posting was to Egypt.
Egypt, Pat and Caryll
E nid loved her time in Egypt, but there was one experience that she always
remembered. In 1922, Howard Carter discovered the tomb of Tutankha-
mun and his financial sponsor was the Earl of Carnarvon. Enid had met and
entranced him when he booked into the Continental-Savoy in Cairo, and he
allowed Enid and Rory to visit the site and enter the tomb. This visit ignited a
passion in Rory for objects of beauty that continued throughout his life.
3
A Lion in the Bedroom, by Pat Cavendish O’Neill, page 19.
HAFS Journal 16-1 page 19After three years in Egypt, in
1924 they returned to Lon-
don. Enid had the privilege
of having lunch with King
George V and Queen Mary
at Buckingham Palace, with
about fifteen people in atten-
dance. Later that year she
returned to Australia to visit
her family for Christmas.
The next year her daughter
Patricia Enid Cavendish
(E.8.7a.5b.2c – known as Enid in Egypt, in the middle of the photograph.
Pat) was born in London on
30 June 1925, and then fifteen months later a son, Frederick Caryll Philip Cav-
endish (E.8.7a.5b.3c – known as Caryll) was born on 6 October 1926.
Enid’s children with Frederick Cavendish:
Left: Patricia O’Neill née Cavendish
Right: Frederick Caryll Philip Cavendish, Lord Waterpark
HAFS Journal 16-1 page 20Over the next few years life was very
comfortable. Trips to France for holidays,
a new house, and family times spent with
the children. Another trip to Australia in
1929, this time with her husband and chil-
dren. The press followed her movements,
particularly reporting on her clothes.
Five months later they returned to Paris,
and it was here on 8 December 1931
that Frederick died, alone, as Enid and
the children were in Le Touquet. They
had been married for 14 years. Enid was
once again a widow.
Marmaduke, Viscount Furness
I n 1932, Enid met her third husband,
Marmaduke, Viscount Furness. At
the time he was married to his second
wife, Thelma Furness, although she
was spending a great deal of her time An example of Enid’s coverage in the press,
with the Prince of Wales. Marmaduke photographed in The Home, 1921.
and Thelma divorced, and on 3 August
1933, he and Enid married at the Westminster Registry Office in London.
Life changed for her youngest children after this
marriage. The Viscount (pictured at right) was not
warm toward them, and they were always kept
at a distance in another wing of the large house.
Also, he insisted that Enid part with the fortune
she received from her first husband. This proved
to be a major error of judgement that would rear
its head in years to come.
They were restricted to spending an hour
or so in the morning with their mother on
those days when she ate breakfast alone in
her bedroom while her husband was out rid-
ing. Those occasions were magical for a child, their mother sitting
in bed surrounded by her art and needlework as well as a variety
of animals – dogs, a parrot, a mongoose and even a pair of foxes.4
4
Enid, page 119.
HAFS Journal 16-1 page 21In the following years they travelled extensively to the USA, Africa, India and
France, spending time with their horses, on safari, and at casinos – all the time
flying in their own planes. But Enid also cared about the homeless on the streets
of London, often providing money and accommodation.
Enid loved her animals. She kept a pet cheetah with a diamond collar, and her
favourite pet was the hyrax which often sat on her shoulder like a parrot. Pho-
tographers and painters loved capturing her beauty, with the famous designer
Norman Hartnell, dressmaker to the Royal Family, declaring Enid to be among
the world’s ten best-dressed women.
They purchased a property at Cap Ferrat
on the Riviera, La Fiorentina, set high on
a cliff edge, surrounded by pines, fruit and
olive trees.5 There was a main house, beauti-
ful gardens, and several other smaller houses
on the property. It was purchased just before
World War II for £20,000. Soon Caryll would
be sent back to London for his education, and Rory, a US citizen, went to the USA
to enlist. Pat stayed behind and would not see her brothers for three years.
War and wills
B y the time German troops arrived in Paris, it was becoming increasingly
dangerous for foreigners living in the south of France. Somerset Maugham,
the novelist, was a great friend, and pleaded with Enid and her husband to leave.
At first they agreed, but then changed their minds at the last minute.
By this time ‘Duke’, as he was known, was desperately ill, needing shots of
morphine for his constant pain, and he died on 6 October 1940, aged 56. The
situation was now becoming very dire. Any money left to her in the Furness will
was not released, as she was deemed to be behind enemy lines.
5
La Fiorentina was originally built in 1914 by Comtesse Robert de Beauchamp.
HAFS Journal 16-1 page 22Enid made her home available to the French Resistance, and the Vichy police
raided the property more than once. Eventually they were forced to leave, when
she and Pat were ordered out by the local authorities. They escaped via the
Spanish border and then on to Lisbon; from there it was a flying boat, always
flying very low over the water to avoid the German radar.
Safely back in London, Enid was praised for her defiance of Nazi Germany
and providing aid to the Resistance movement. But her troubles were only just
beginning. There was now suspicion about the death of her husband and his
will. His previous wife, Thelma, had decided to contest the will on behalf of her
twelve-year-old son. At the heart of the challenge were two codicils added to
the will in the final weeks of Duke’s life, the last of which left almost the entire
estate to Enid. Gossip was also accusing her of having a hand in his death.
Valentine Browne, Earl of Kenmare
A s the estate was frozen, Enid found
someone willing to lend her mon-
ey to tide her over, pay the school fees
and household staff. She had many male
admirers and boyfriends, and it was
during this time that Valentine Browne
(always known as Castlerosse6), whom
she had met in Paris in 1916, reappeared
in her life. By now he had become the
sixth Earl of Kenmare. They married at
the Brompton Oratory, Knightsbridge, Enid and Valentine Castlerossse,
with Enid being given away by her son Earl of Kenmare, her fourth husband.
Caryll, as Rory was still in the USA.
Then in October the following appeared:
With the recent death of the Earl of Kenmare, Enid Lindeman, of
Sydney, has lost her fourth husband. They were married in Janu-
ary this year and Enid had only eight months of her fourth mar-
riage before she had to get into widow’s weeds again.7
Valentine had died at his home in Ireland on 20 September 1943. It was still
wartime in England, and Enid was going through the lengthy court proceed-
ings over Viscount Furness’s will. Lord Beaverbrook helped Enid through
these difficult years.
6
Valentine Browne was always known as Castlerosse, a shortened version of the title he
held as the eldest son of the Earl of Kenmare.
7
Smith’s Weekly (Sydney, NSW, 1919-1950), Saturday 30 October 1943.
HAFS Journal 16-1 page 23It was not until July 1946, that his estate was finally decided. Enid won: she was
now entitled to $US10 million and was one of the richest women in Europe. Her
affairs would be settled, and she would move to France.
France, Africa and France, with Rory
I n 1946, after the war, Enid and Rory returned to France and La Fiorentina. The
property had been severely damaged during the war. With money no longer a
problem they set about rebuilding the house and restoring the beautiful gardens.
While work was progressing Enid returned to Australia yet again. After a family
Christmas in Sydney, they drove by car into north Queensland and spent weeks
exploring the area. Another trip was to Adelaide and Alice Springs.
Life back in France revolved around house guests, bridge and parties. Famous
visitors included Winston and Clementine Churchill, Greta Garbo, Fred Astaire
and Ginger Rogers, Cary Grant, Marlene Dietrich and Frank Sinatra. She con-
tinued to see the Duke of Windsor and his wife Wallis Simpson.
It was during this period that Somerset Maugham gave
Enid the nickname by which she would come to be
remembered: instead of Lady Kenmare, he suggested
that a more apt title would be ‘Lady Killmore’.
In 1948 Caryll became the 7th Lord Waterpark, and in
1949 he moved to Kenya. Enid travelled there regular-
ly to visit. By 1959 Caryll had moved back to London
with his family, but Enid and Pat were by now looking
to buy a property in Kenya: they eventually settled on
a property called Ol Orion in the Rift Valley. In South
Africa, she purchased and bred racehorses, eventually
buying a property called Broadlands near Cape Town,
and moved there from Kenya.
Towards the end of the 60s Enid was having major cash
flow problems. La Fiorentina was sold along with prop-
erties she owned in London and Nassau.8 Enid was also
struggling with a back injury caused in a riding accident
many years before, which had bowed her back.
By the end of 1972 she was bedridden, eventually dying Enid in later life,
on 5 January 1973 in her bed at home in South Africa. 9 with her hyrax.
8
La Fiorentina was again on the market in 2014, selling for a rumoured $US525 million.
This was just for the immediate house and grounds.
9
Enid’s death date varies in publications between 5 January and 6 January. In her daughter’s
book she says her mother died on the morning of the 5 January.
HAFS Journal 16-1 page 24Rory took Enid’s ashes back to France, where he built a tombstone at the point
of Cap Ferrat. When he moved to the town of Ménerbes in France, he took her
ashes there, and created another tombstone in his garden. Rory died in 1985
from an AIDS-related illness, aged 71.
Caryll took both their ashes back to England,
and they were buried in the churchyard next to
the family home in the town of Bletchingdon,
Oxfordshire. There is a stained-glass window
in the church depicting Enid surrounded by her
animals. Caryll was buried beside them when he
died in 2013. Pat died in South Africa in 2019.
Sources:
Lindeman – Australia’s Classic Winemaker, by Dr Philip Norrie (1993)
Enid, by Robert Wainwright (2020)
A Lion in the Bedroom, by Pat Cavendish O’Neill (2004)
A Chimpanzee in the Wine Cellar, by Pat Cavendish O’Neill
The Golden Riviera, by Robert Cameron (1975)
Enid robed for the coronation of
King George VI in 1937.
HAFS Journal 16-1 page 25“A pretty ordinary kind of bloke”
Athol Gordon Townley – 1905-1963
By Lesley Greenwood (E.2.7a.3b.9c.1d)
A thol Townley (E.2.7a.1b.3c=) described himself as “a
pretty ordinary kind of bloke”. His demeanor may also
have belied this image. In fact, despite his self-deprecation,
he was quite extraordinary and led an, at times, exciting and
successful life that could have been out of the pages of a
‘Boy’s Own’ adventure – successful sportsman, pharmacist,
naval commander, licenced pilot and federal politician.
Except that in real life, adventure is interspersed with mundanities, tough luck
and having to make difficult, adult decisions, often between complex and con-
flicting factors – even more so when one carries the responsibility for others,
requiring the firmness of one’s convictions and the selfless giving of heart and
soul. Even during his last few years of ill health, Athol Townley remained cou-
rageously dedicated to his work, including travelling overseas to complete criti-
cal government business.
Humble beginnings
I t is also insightful to write about Athol Townley’s family. His sad family
circumstances during his childhood, and his strong religious beliefs, were
influential in shaping his views, while his close connections with his family
were intertwined throughout his whole life.
Athol was born in Hobart, Tasmania on 3 October 1905, the last of four children
born to Reginald George Townley and Susan McGinnity (‘Susie’) Townley (née
Bickford). He had two sisters: Lillian Alma Townley, the eldest child, was born
in 1899. The other sister, Margaret Louisa (‘Madge’) Townley, he never knew:
she died when only 19 months old in May 1903. Athol also had an older brother,
Reginald Colin (‘Rex’) Townley, born on 5 April 1904.
Athol’s father, Reginald, was a clerk in an accountancy firm. He was also a Sapper
in the Corps of Australian Engineers, one of the voluntary military forces estab-
lished by the Tasmanian Government in 1883 to defend the colony. The Corps’
work involved submarine mining operations in the Derwent and Tamar rivers,
bridging and elementary fortifications and field telegraphy. It had a beleaguered
history, being reliant on government funding that limited the extent of its activi-
ties. In 1902 the various Corps were amalgamated, following Tasmania’s defence
forces being transferred to the newly-formed Commonwealth of Australia.
HAFS Journal 16-1 page 26Tragedy again struck the young family when Reginald died suddenly on 12
August 1906 from heart disease, leaving his wife a widow with three children
aged seven years, 2½ years and 10 months old. The family subsequently moved
in with Susie’s sister Rebecca Mabel Sidwell (née Bickford) and her husband
Harry Sidwell, above the chemist shop in Elizabeth Street, Hobart, in which
Harry had a partnership.
The Sidwell and Townley families were prominent members of the Hobart Bap-
tist Church. In particular, Susie was recognised as a “godly mother [with a] force
of character and sanctified commonsense”, Harry was Treasurer for 30 years, and
Rex and Athol held numerous church positions throughout their adult lives.
Brothers in learning
A thol and his older brother Rex both attended the local Elizabeth Street
State School, then went on to Hobart High School and Hobart Techni-
cal College, as well as studying chemistry subjects through the University of
Tasmania. They were both keen sportsmen, playing Australian Rules football
for North Hobart and cricket for New Town. Rex’s ‘claim to fame’ was that in
1936, when playing for the Tasmanian State Team, he took the wicket of one
Donald Bradman in a match against South Australia.
Both brothers qualified as pharmaceutical chemists about the same time, serv-
ing apprenticeships in their uncle Harry’s pharmacy of Ash, Sidwell and Co.
in the late 1920s. Both moved to Sydney for a time. Rex returned to Hobart
in 1930, where he and his uncle Harry estab-
lished the pharmacy Sidwell & Townley.
In 1930, Athol, still in Sydney, was employed
as an analytical chemist to look after quality
control at Gartrell White Ltd, at the time the
largest bakery in Australia. The company later
merged with Golden Crust Bakery of Adelaide
to eventually become Tip Top Bakeries, now
owned by George Weston Foods, a subsidiary
of multinational Associated British Foods.
Athol and Hazel
A thol’s time in Sydney was well spent.
It was there that he met, and married,
Hazel Florence Greenwood (E.2.7a.1b.3c)
at the Baptist Church in Dulwich Hill on 26
December 1931.
HAFS Journal 16-1 page 27You can also read
