439. John Edmund Piercy Austin
He was born in Brighton, Sussex. Although born healthy he had an accident during childhood which resulted in curvature of the spine. This was to get worse throughout his life and in adulthood proved to be a major handicap. After leaving school, he joined the Merchant Navy. Twice during World War II his ship was torpedoed and sunk and on each occasion he was rescued and later joined another ship. After the war John became a draftsman, working initially for Hawker Siddeley Aircraft and then for Redifon Flight Simulation. One of his most memorable projects was working on the original drawings for Concorde, the supersonic airliner. He married Ivy Violet White in 1948 and they had four children.
441. Anthony Cecil Piercy Austin
Like his brother David, Anthony was sent to the Alexander Orphanage where he remained from the age of two until fifteen. On leaving he entered the Merchant Navy where he served for eight years. He left and married Patricia Ann Heath in 1960 and they had three children. During this time he lived in Birmingham working for Cadburys and the Austin Car Company. He and Pat divorced in 1985 and in 2001 he married Jean Collins. Anthony was highly regarded as football coach for boys and as a referee for Warwickshire and was an enthusiastic supporter of Birmingham City Football Club. His ashes were scattered over the grounds of the club.
Arthur Gardiner Burslem (1900-1968). He went to the Royal Naval College, Osborne, Isle of Wight but left following severe pneumonia, returning to Trinidad where he was in commerce. He married Margaret Aston Shrewsbury in 1935 and in 1944 emigrated to New Zealand. They had two children. The first, William Herbert Gardiner (b. 1936, in Trinidad), married Susan and had four children. The second, Bridget Margaret (b. 1938, also in Trinidad), is married to Mr Graham and has one child. Arthur Gardiner Burslem died in New Zealand.
452. Frank Grant Burslem
Frank Grant Burslem (1901-1976). He worked in the oilfields. He was in the RFC in World War I and in World War II was in the RE, being involved in pipeline laying in the Western Desert. In 1931 he married Ruth Portia Rashleigh from Cornwall.
455. Mabel Eileen Austin
Born in Jamaica, Dick married Cecil Frederick (‘Fred’) Farrar (1907-1982), a senior partner in Pannell, Fitzpatrick & Co., Chartered Accountants, and had four children: Frederick Arthur Bruce (b. 1935 in British Guiana, d. 1996 in Vancouver), Richard John Piercy (b. 1937 in British Guiana), Frances Leila Patricia (b. 1943 in British Guiana) and Christine Pamela Everald (b. 1945 in British Guiana).
Dick lived in Barbados and British Guiana, later moving to Sussex, England, with Fred, where she died. She was a very able athlete, and excelled at tennis. She especially enjoyed the game of cricket, and was a keen follower of the test matches between the West Indies and other countries. Dick raised her family of four, seeing her two sons depart for boarding school abroad at quite a young age, but having her daughters remain with her at home while attending Bishops' High School in Georgetown, British Guiana. The daughters moved to the U.K. to continue their education and, with the deterioration of the political situation in British Guiana, Dick and Fred moved to join them a few years later. Dick endured many separations from her immediate family, but was able to derive much pleasure from the grandchildren who lived near her and those who visited from Canada. She kept up a lively and amusing correspondence with her family and friends all her life. Her dry sense of humour and appreciation of the ‘ridiculous’ as she called it, was a strong feature of her character, carrying her through difficult times.
Dick and Fred divorced (in 1974) and Fred married Pamela Muriel Wickham (née Austin).
Dick and Fred’s son Frederick Arthur Bruce Farrar was educated at Queen’s College, British Guiana, Lodge School, Barbados, Cranleigh in England, and joined the British Merchant Marine as an officer cadet. He later returned to British Guiana where he worked for the Colonial Development Corporation in timber extraction. He returned to England and then emigrated to Canada where he worked for a well-known pharmaceutical company until his death. He married Janelle Weedon (1935-1994) from Australia, in 1968, but they had no children.
Dick and Fred’s son Richard John Piercy Farrar went to the same schools in Barbados and England as his brother Bruce. On leaving school he completed two years National Service, including a year in Korea in 1956/57 with the 1st Battalion the Royal Sussex Regiment. In 1958, Richard joined the Honourable Artillery Company, in which he served for five years and completed officer training. In 1967 Richard married Jennifer Bridget Fowler who was born in 1938 in British Guiana. In 1969, having completed two-year contract with his father’s firm in Georgetown, British Guiana, Richard and Bridget emigrated to Canada. Richard became a partner in Grant Thornton, Chartered Accountants, in Toronto and retired in 1999. Richard and Bridget have two children, Mark Christopher (1970-) and Catherine Bridget (1972-), both born in Montreal. Mark Christopher graduated from Trinity College, University of Toronto with a B.A. in History, and went on to obtain an M.A. in the same subject from University College, London. He is now a computer specialist in London with a well-known bank. Catherine Bridget graduated from the University of Guelph with a B.A. in Psychology and from McMaster University with a B.H.Sc. (O.T.) in Occupational Therapy. She is now an occupational therapist in Toronto.
Dick and Fred’s daughter Frances Leila Patricia was educated in British Guiana and England, worked in London and then emigrated to Canada in 1963, where she now lives in Westmount, Quebec. In 1965 Frances married Owen Gilsenan, who was born in Scotland in 1933. She works as a Cataloguer for the Westmount Public Library. Frances and Owen have two children, Christine Ann Caitlin (1967- ) in Pointe Claire, Quebec) and Oliver James (1970- ) in Pointe Claire, Quebec). Christine Ann Caitlin graduated from McGill University, Montreal, with a B.A. in History and Political Science and from the Université de Moncton, Moncton, New Brunswick with a LL.B. She works for an international insurance company in Montreal. In 2001, Christine married Vincent Masciotra. Oliver James graduated from Concordia University with a B.A. in History and is travelling and teaching. He is married to Lely April Tianti (1971- ) in Jakarta, Indonesia), and has one daughter, Maryam.
Dick and Fred’s daughter Christine Pamela Everald was also educated in British Guiana and England and worked in London after training as a graphic designer. She was married in 1971 to Hugh Fergus Thomson (1941-1984) who was born in Scotland. They lived in Sussex, where their two daughters were born. Hugh, who was an architect, worked in London. Following Hugh’s death, Christine continued to live in Sussex, close by her mother Dick. After teaching art and carrying out freelance artwork, she returned to college to train in office computer programmes. She now works for a medical practice in Heathfield, Sussex. Their eldest daughter, Alison Elaine (1975- ) graduated from Warwickshire Agricultural College with a H.N.D. in horse studies and management, and is now the secretary of a renowned thoroughbred stud farm in Norfolk. In 2001, Alison Elaine married Gregory Roger Allatt Brown. Sarah Louise (1978- ) is a graduate of Surrey University, Roehampton with a degree in Dance with Geography.
Fred was born at the family home in Georgetown, next door to Christ Church, which is so closely associated with Farrar family history. Fred was a Churchwarden at Christ Church for many years, only resigning when he and his wife Dick went to England. As previously mentioned, he and Everald went to school in Montreal towards the end of World War I. Fred went to Lower Canada College and then to McGill University where he graduated with a Bachelor of Commerce degree. In 1932, he qualified as a Chartered Accountant and became a member of the Canadian Institute of Chartered Accountants as well as the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Quebec. In 1932, Fred returned to British Guiana and joined Messrs. Fitzpatrick Graham & Co., and in due course became Senior Partner in Georgetown. In 1934, Fred married Mabel Eileen (‘Dick’) Austin (1908-1990), daughter of Arthur Piercy Gardiner Austin and Louisa Frances Austin, at St. Michael’s Cathedral, Bridgetown, Barbados. They had four children.
Fred and Dick divorced and he married Pamela Muriel Wickham (née Austin) (1914-1981).
634. Frederick Arthur Bruce Farrar
Frederick Arthur Bruce Farrar was educated at Queen’s College, British Guiana, Lodge School, Barbados, Cranleigh in England, and joined the British Merchant Marine as an officer cadet. He later returned to British Guiana where he worked for the Colonial Development Corporation in timber extraction. He returned to England and then emigrated to Canada where he worked for a well-known pharmaceutical company until his death. He married Janelle Weedon (1935-1994) from Australia, in 1968, but they had no children.
456. Sybil Joan Austin
Jo was born in Georgetown, British Guiana and was educated at the Ursuline Convent in Georgetown and later at Codrington High School in Barbados after her parents moved there. In 1936, she went to England and trained in what was then known as domestic science. At the outbreak of World War II, Jo volunteered as an ambulance driver and saw service in the East end of London which was one of the most heavily bombed parts of the London during the blitz. She was on duty in the crypt of Southwark Cathedral when it received a direct hit and although not physically injured, was very badly shocked. Jo later enlisted in The Women’s Royal Air Force (WRAF), and was posted to 617 Squadron, Bomber Command, better known as the ‘Dam Busters’. She was invalided out of the WRAF in early 1944, very possibly as a result of her experiences as an ambulance driver during the blitz and, in particular, the Southwark incident. It was while Jo was in the WRAF that she met Terrence Fitzgerald ‘Terry’, whom she married in the Catholic church in Leatherhead in Surrey in 1944.
After the war, Terry and Jo went to live in Malvern in Worcestershire, where Terry worked for Lamson Paragon. In 1960, Terry was promoted and the family moved to Dublin where he and Jo spent the rest of their married lives until Terry died in 1998. They adopted two boys, Michael and Patrick, both of whom live in Eire. Jo lived latterly in a home for service veterans in Dublin, where she was lovingly cared for by her son Patrick and her wonderful companion of many years, Ann.
Was in the British Expeditionary Army in France soon after the outbreak of war and was at Dunkirk.
David Stewart Murdoch was educated at U.C.S. College and joined Sun Life Insurance on leaving school. At the outbreak of World War II, he was commissioned in the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve (RNVR) and sent to Gibraltar where he served on a ship seeking contraband. The vessel was torpedoed off the coast of Portugal in 1942 and, after he had been repatriated to England, he spent the rest of his war service on convoy duty in the North Atlantic in armed trawlers. His last posting after the war ended was with a naval group which had the responsibility of clearing the River Thames, round the Port of London, of unexploded bombs. After the war, David continued his career in insurance. Apart from his family, the love of his life until the day he died was the Royal National Lifeboat Institution. He was a founder member of the Mortimer and District Branch and, during his long association with that Branch, held most of its executive posts. In 1986, David was awarded the Institution’s Silver Badge in recognition of his dedicated support of the lifeboat service, and in 1999, he was awarded the Gold Badge in recognition of his long and devoted service with the Mortimer and District Branch. David died just a few days before he was due to be presented with the award. Bullar and her son attended the ceremony at which David was posthumously honoured. David was a quiet and very modest man, who always gave credit to others. His ashes were scattered in the Solent at a ceremony arranged by the RNLI. As a further mark of respect for David, the village of Beech Hill planted an English oak in Beech Hill Park in his honour.
641. Sandra Jane Murdoch
Sandra Jane, was a beautiful girl who loved life. Sadly, while she was on the way back to her job at Benenden Riding School in Kent, after spending the weekend with her parents in Reading, she was murdered.
460. Clodach Marie Austin
In 1936 she married Gilbert William White (1912-1977) of the 60th Rifles, King’s Royal Rifle Corps. He was in Palestine at the outbreak of World War II and was sent to Cairo where he later joined the staff of Field Marshal Montgomery in the Western Desert. Meanwhile, Clodagh was a VAD in Cairo, but left for Cape Town and then sailed to Trinidad, arriving there with her young son, Christopher. Gilbert became a Brigadier and was badly wounded during World War II at the D-day landings at Normandy in 1944. He was for a while Commandant of Eaton Hall, the National Service Officer Training Establishment in the U.K. Clodagh and Gilbert retired to Dominica in 1965.
They have two sons. The first, Christopher Nicholas, was born in Cairo in 1942, and became an airline captain. In 1965 he married Ann Jennifer Sargentson, and they have four children, Nicholas William (1967- ), Caroline Ann (1968- ), Sophie Jane (1970- ) and Julian Anthony Malcolm (1978- ). Nicholas, Caroline and Sophie are now married and have children.
The second child, Adrian Harold Michael, was born in London in 1945 and became a Chartered Accountant and works in the City of London. In 1970, he married Helen Frances McKay Cox, daughter of Sir Herbert Charles Fahie Cox of St Kitts and Demerara. They have a son, Hugh Edward James (1978- ).
Gilbert William White (1912-1977) of the 60th Rifles, King’s Royal Rifle Corps. He was in Palestine at the outbreak of World War II and was sent to Cairo where he later joined the staff of Field Marshal Montgomery in the Western Desert. Gilbert became a Brigadier and was badly wounded during World War II at the D-day landings at Normandy in 1944. He was for a while Commandant of Eaton Hall, the National Service Officer Training Establishment in the U.K.
461. Eric Malcolm Gardiner Austin
Eric was born in British Guiana and subsequently educated in England at Repton School. After leaving school he sought adventure in Australia in 1927 where he found work and much rugged enjoyment as a stockman on a sheep ranch. He visited the UK briefly in 1930, but returned to Australia for a further sojourn. By 1939, Eric had returned to the UK, and, following the outbreak of war, volunteered for active service in the Royal Navy. He held a commission in the RNVR and served in the Middle East and in the Persian Gulf. He married Nancy Ruth Pickard in 1939 and they had one daughter.
After the war, they lived in Beckenham, Kent where, true to his Austin background he played a great deal of club cricket. Eric and Nancy later moved to Great Bourton near Banbury. Eric worked for ALCAN (Aluminium Company of Canada), and during this period qualified as a Cost and Works Accountant. In 1951 he returned to British Guiana to work for Bookers. After a short period with Bookers, he resigned to become chief financial officer, and later a director, of William Fogarty & Co., the department store in Georgetown.
He formed and trained the Colony's first volunteer fireboat service in Georgetown, and brought his fellow volunteers up to a high degree of efficiency. As waterfront buildings in the Georgetown were mostly made of wood, the existence of this happy band of volunteers was extremely important.
Eric retired in 1970, he and Nancy returning to Robertsbridge in Sussex, England and ultimately to Hastings where Eric died in 1990. Nancy died in 2001.