1848 - 1932 (84 years)
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Name |
Harris Mary Hamlyn |
Birth |
31 May 1848 |
Bangalore, India |
Gender |
Female |
Death |
1 Sep 1932 |
Wadhurst, Sussex |
Person ID |
I34 |
My Genealogy |
Last Modified |
3 Dec 2023 |
Family |
Whitty Henry Tarlton, b. 4 Jul 1847, Tumut, New South Wales d. 30 Mar 1912, Wadhurst, Sussex (Age 64 years) |
Marriage |
6 Jul 1871 |
Hampstead |
Children |
+ | 1. Whitty Henry Hamlyn, b. 30 May 1872, Tarramia Station, Corowa, NSW d. 18 Oct 1938, Heathfield, Sussex (Age 66 years) |
| 2. Whitty Eleanor, b. 12 May 1874, Taramia Station, Corowa, NSW d. 14 May 1950, Sussex (Age 76 years) |
+ | 3. Whitty John Tarlton, b. 1 Feb 1876, Taramia Station, Corowa, NSW d. 8 May 1948, London (Age 72 years) |
+ | 4. Whitty Mary Eliza, b. 23 Jul 1878, New South Wales d. 4 Jul 1945, Tonbridge, Kent (Age 66 years) |
| 5. Whitty Elsie Nina, b. 2 Sep 1879, Taramia Station, Corowa, NSW d. 19 Oct 1952, Wadhurst, Sussex (Age 73 years) |
+ | 6. Whitty Noel Irwin, b. 8 Sep 1885, Taramia Station, Corowa, NSW d. 1964, Southern Rhodesia (Age 78 years) |
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Family ID |
F10 |
Group Sheet | Family Chart |
Last Modified |
29 Nov 2012 |
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Photos
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| A woman carrying water in rural India, where Mary was born
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| 1932 Mary Whitty Probate record
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| Dewhurst Lodge, Wadhurst, Sussex. A Whitty family home photo from Whitty family album, date unknown |
| 1871 Census for Louisa Whitty and family in Hampstead, London, Part 2 Cont/ from part 1 of census record...
They're living at No. 16 Thurlow Rd, Hampstead in north London
Hilda Whitty 5, R McGhee visitor and Rector aged 81, Mary H Harris visitor 22 born Madras
There are also a governess and 3 domestic servants living with them. |
| 1871 Census for Louisa Whitty and family in Hampstead, London, Part 1 They're living at No. 16 Thurlow Rd, Hampstead in north London
Louisa, head of household, wife, aged 47, wife of retired officer, born Bengal
(John Charles is not at home for this census)
Henry T Whitty, age 23, Australian landowner, born Australia
Florence Whitty 21, Mary Eliza Whitty 18, Eliza Whitty 15, Charles Whitty 13, Jane Whitty 11, Herbert Whitty 9, Harold Whitty, 7
cont/ on 2nd page of census... |
| 6th Jul 1871 marriage of Henry Tarlton Whitty + Mary H Harris at St Johns, Hampstead
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| 1911 census for Henry and Mary Whitty at Dewhurst, Wadhurst, Kent Henry is 63 and Mary 62 |
| 1861 Census record for Eliza Harris and family Hamlyn L Harris, age 55, Colonel East India Service, born Ireland, is living with his wife Eliza age 44, born India (East), at Bourton Court in Flax Bourton in Somerset, 5 miles from Bristol.
With them live daughters Harriet age 18, Mary age 12, son William age 7 (and on a second page of the census) daughter Isabella age 8, all born in India. Also living with them are 3 domestic servants. |
| Bourton Court, now called Bourton House, where the Harris family lived in 1861 Census It's in the village of Flax Bourton in Somerset, and was called Bourton Court in the census record and other historical records, but is now called Bourton House.
Photo is taken from the Bourton House Garden website - https://bourtonhouse.com - the garden is now open to the public for some of the year. |
| 1932 burial record for Mary Hamlyn Whitty at Wadhurst
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Notes |
- SUMMARY
Mary Hamlyn Harris was born in the spring of 1848 in Bangalore, India, to Hamlyn Harris a soldier and Eliza Reeve who was from a missionary family. She was in the middle of 9 children, and the fact they were born in at least 3 different places in India shows the family moved between army towns. Their dad Hamlyn was a Major when Mary was born, and stayed with the same regiment, the 15th Regiment of the Madras Native Infantry, all his career. Mary lived in India until she was at least 5 years old, a formative time.
In 1853 her mother Eliza took the voyage to England because of ill health with 3 of her children (we're not sure if Mary was one of them), and her husband and the others followed within the next few years. By the time of the 1861 Census, they're living in Somerset in the west of England. 4 children - including Mary aged 12 - are living at Bourton Court in the village of Flax Bourton, with their parents and 3 domestic servants. The village is 5 miles from Bristol. Bourton Court was one of the 3 largest historic residences in the village and the Harris family were probably renting it, since local history says a Colonel Robert Barrowes owned it at this time (Bourton Court is now called Bourton House in Bourton Combe, see photo above).
At some point in the next decade Mary meets her future husband Henry Tarlton Whitty. He came from an Australian farming, originally from Ireland, who had made a success of it and got rich, sending their son Henry to a school in Clifton College. Both their fathers were ex Indian Army, both had served in the Madras Army, and both lived in or near Bristol in the 1860s. Anyway, however they met, by the 1871 Census, Mary is recorded as a visitor in the Whitty household in London, and that same year her and Henry get married on the 6th July in Hampstead, London. Mary was 23 years old and Henry was 24 years old.
The rest of this summary is mostly gleaned for Mary Whitty's family history.
After a honeymoon in Europe, Henry and Mary started their married lives by moving to Australia and living at Tarramia Station, where all their 6 children were born. It is near the town of Corowa but the Station was pretty isolated at the time. 'As a new bride, Mary had first to travel by coach from Melbourne to Echuca, then up the Murray River in a small paddle steamer to land with some difficulty on a sandbank opposite the station. She then had to travel for about a mile in a horse drawn wagon across trackless bush to reach Taramia which was then only a slab building with four rooms, a kitchen and a store.'
The homestead was also next to lake Mulwala and in an area of rivers prone to flooding. 'A story is told that during one flood, Henry Tarlton, his children and their nurse were in a small boat. They were in the course of a very deep creek which ran just behind Taramia when he realised the youngest child was missing. Henry Tarlton dived in and found the child 12 feet down on the bottom, who was indignant at being rescued from the fascination of watching a fish swim into a bottle.' Henry's business, run first jointly with his father until his death in 1896, and then on his own included sheep farming properties of many thousands of acres and he joined the boards of two big agricultural companies. So the family was wealthy. But it was still a tough life in a hard country.
We get a brief insight into Mary's character from the recollection of a midwife from that that part of Australia, who was quoted in a later newspaper article saying "...life had become much more pleasant for Mary and her husband Charles since Mr Henry Whitty had brought his wife from England to live there. Mrs Whitty was a warm-hearted woman and loved company...". She was also remembered as being religious by her grandchildren, which is not surprising as her maternal grandparents were missionaries.
After living at Tarramia from 1872 onwards, Henry and Mary returned to England in 1885 to send their eldest sons Henry (13) and John (10) to school in England. They seem to spend the next decade between England and Australia. They rent a house in Bristol from 1890-92 (Ivywell House at 58 Ivywell Road), but their younger children remaining Australia. We know this because 'From 1898 their youngest son, Noel Irwine, was sent to school at Clifton College Bristol, as had his two elder brothers. Family legend says that his parents were horrified to realise that he had been running wild at Tarramia and was practically illiterate although he could ride very well, and that his ambition was to run away and put his pick pocketing skills, learned from a jackaroo at Tarramia, to use in Sydney.'
From 1897-1900 Mary and Henry lived in Tunbridge Wells, Kent, first at Pembury then at Broadwater Down. Henry's parents had settled there near the end of their lives, and a sister and brother-in-law were also living there.
In 1900 Henry bought Dewhurst Lodge, a large family house in Wadhurst, Kent, where he and Mary then settle. We get a glimpse of his Mary's religious side at this point their lives, from Mary Whitty's family history: 'Those of her grandchildren with parents in the Army or in India would spend holidays with her at Dewhurst in the 1910s and 1920s, running wild six days of the week but having to attend church three times on Sunday'.
Mary is missing from the 1901 census, which has Henry at Dewhurst, aged 53, 'living on own means, employer' with his daughters Mary 23 and Eliza 21 , along with 4 domestic servants. The 1911 census have both Henry 63 and Mary 62 living at Dewhurst. Also with them are daughter Eleanor 36, grandson John 5, four visitors and five domestic servants.
Henry dies on 30th March, 1912, aged 64. He died on the train station platform at Wadhurst suddenly, while accompanied by his Mary and a daughter and niece.
The Probate for his Will shows he left effects of £48,176 which is equivalent to £3.7 million in 2017 money according to the National Archives calculator.
Mary carried on living at Dewhurst Lodge for another two decades. With a large family and grandchildren she probably had an active old age, especially looking after children of parents abroad. From 1922 her son Henry Hamlyn Whitty, who had taken over the Australian business, returned to the UK and used Dewhurst as the base for his family.
Mary died on 1st Sept 1932, aged 84. She was buried at Wadhurst parish church, and left effects of £8500 according to her Probate (£380,000 in 2017 money according to the National Archives calculator).
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Name Mary Hamlyn Harris
Gender Female
Birth Date 31 May 1848
Baptism Date 10 Dec 1848
Baptism Place Madras, Madras, India
Father Hamlyn Lavicount Harris
Mother Eliza Cobden
source: https://www.ancestry.co.uk/discoveryui-content/view/1713379:9899?tid=&pid=&queryId=20b56acaf4cdca5a9fa685a056b9201c&_phsrc=FiP2&_phstart=successSource
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Mary Hamlyn and Henry Tarlton were both in London at the time of the 1871 census (March). They met in Bristol where it is clear from Florence Stacy's memoir that the Harrises and the Whittys were well acquainted with each other.
After honeymooning in Europe for several months, visiting France, Germany and Italy, Mary Hamlyn and Henry Tarlton went to live in Australia where their six children were all born at Taramia Station, Corowa, NSW 1872 - 85.
A story is told that during one flood, Henry Tarlton, his children and their nurse were in a small boat. They were in the course of a very deep creek which ran just behind Taramia when he realised the youngest child was missing. Henry Tarlton dived in and found the child 12 feet down on the bottom, who was indignant at being rescued from the fascination of watching a fish swim into a bottle.
Taramia was relatively isolated until the construction of bridges over the Murray at Corowa in the 1860s and at Mulwala in 1891, and the opening of railway lines which linked Corowa to Melbourne in 1879 and to Sydney in 1892.
In 1885 Mary and Henry returned to England to settle their two eldest sons (Henry Hamlyn aged 13 and John Tarlton aged 10) at school and in 1890, Mary and Henry rented a house in Bristol for a couple of years: this was Ivywell House at 58 Ivywell Road.
From 1897 Mary and Henry lived in Tunbridge Wells, Kent, first at Pembury then at Broadwater Down. Henry Tarlton?s grandmother, Charlotte Brown (d 1884), and his parents, John (d 1896) and Louisa (d 1901), had settled there, as had his eldest sister Ellen (d 1898) and her husband, Arthur Brown (d 1894), and brother-in-law, Alfred Brown (d 1901).
From 1898 their youngest son, Noel Irwine, was sent to school at Clifton College Bristol, as had his two elder brothers. Family legend says that his parents were horrified to realise that he had been running wild at Tarramia and was practically illiterate although he could ride very well, and that his ambition was to run away and put his pick pocketing skills, learned from a jackaroo at Tarramia, to use in Sydney. His elder brother, John Tarlton, recounted that being able to ride well was also a considerable advantage to his career in the Indian Civil Service, since it enabled him to get about his district (Bihar) with ease and to play polo to competition standard.
In 1900 Henry Tarlton purchased the Dewhurst estate, near Wadhurst on the Kent/Sussex border and passed responsibility for his Australian properties to his son, Henry Hamlyn.
Mary was a devout Christian, sharing the evangelical and missionary beliefs of her mother?s family, and those of her older sister Harriet and brother?in-law Robert Stanes. Henry and Mary founded a school and a Sabbath School at Taramia, which was a relatively remote station in their early married life. As a new bride, Mary had first to travel by coach from Melbourne to Echuca, then up the Murray River in a small paddle steamer to land with some difficulty on a sandbank opposite the station. She then had to travel for about a mile in a horse drawn wagon across trackless bush to reach Taramia which was then only a slab building with four rooms, a kitchen and a store. Eventually a wooden church was erected at Taramia where monthly services were held.
Those of her grandchildren with parents in the Army or in India would spend holidays with her at Dewhurst in the 1910s and 1920s, running wild six days of the week but having to attend church three times on Sunday (John Anthony Noel). One of the rooms in the stable block at Dewhurst was known as the ?Mission Room?. There was a Mission church at Wadhurst Station where Henry Tarlton regularly read the evening lessons, as well as being a sidesman at St Peter and St Paul?s Church in Wadhurst.
Source: notes of Mary Whitty
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1911 Census, filled out by Henry Tarlton Whitty:
Living in Dewhurst Lodge, Wadhurst, Sussex
- Henry Whitty, head, aged 63, living on private means, born NSW
- Mary Whitty, wife, aged 62, living on private means, born Madras
- Eleanor Whitty, daughter, aged 36, single, living on private means, born NSW
- John Patrick Noel Irwin Whitty, grandson, aged 5, born in Bengal, India
There were also 4 visitors and 5 servants in the house.
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a tiny personal insight into Mary's character comes from this cutting from a newspaper quotation on a book about midwives in that part of Australia, and is written from the point of view of one of thos midwives:
"...life had become much more pleasant for Mary and her husband Charles since Mr Henry Whitty had brought his wife from England to live there. Mrs Whitty was a warm-hearted woman ans loved company..."
http://www.wikitree.com/photo.php/0/0d/A_whiff_of_the_past.pdf
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Bourton Court was the name for what is now Bourton House in Flax Bourton, a 1600s house then built on again in Georgian times.
Called Bourton Court in various records, pp11+12 of 'Collections for a Parochial History of Flax Bourton' by Rev George Master 1893 gives a history of the place: https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/Collections_for_a_Parochial_History_of_F/TvkVAAAAYAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=used+to+be+called+bourton+court+in+flax+bourton&printsec=frontcover
And the key to it being the same as Bourton House, is the detail that the date 1667 and initials RM are carved into a large nail studded door.
This detail is then repeated in the Historic England listed house description of Bourton House, which gives is a Grade II listing:
https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1129832?section=official-list-entry
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