Robert Dell (1839 - 1911)

Born 3 Nov 1839 in Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, England, United Kingdom

Husband of Catherine Elizabeth (Wells) Dell — married 8 Jul 1864 in Wallingford, Berkshire, England, United Kingdom

Husband of Clara Margaret (Price) Dell — married 11 Jul 1893 in Streatham, London, England, United Kingdom

Descendants

Died 26 Jan 1911 at age 71 in Westminster, London, England, United Kingdom

Problems/Questions Profile manager: Gerald Wells [send private message]

Biography

Robert was born in 1839 at Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire. (A date of 3 November 1839 has previously recorded - source?). He is the son of Robert Dell and Elizabeth Jane Birkett who married at Wallingford, Berkshire in the first quarter of 1838.^[1] His birth was registered at Aylesbury in the fourth quarter of 1839. He was baptised on 18 December 1839 at St Mary's church, Aylesbury.^[2]

Robert first appears in the 1841 census as an infant with the family living at the Market Place (next to the White Hart Hotel), Aylesbury. Details listed, noting that in the 1841 census adult ages were often rounded down to the nearest five years, - father Robert Dell (30, wine merchant), mother Jane Elizabeth Dell (35), sister Catherine Jane Dell (2) and Robert Dell (1).

Robert's older sister died aged 6 in 1848, registered at Aylesbury in the fourth quarter of the year.^[3]

At the 1851 census Robert is recorded as resident at boarding school in Brighton, Sussex. At this same census the parental home remains at Market Square, Aylesbury, with his father continuing as a wine merchant, and there being a younger brother - Holland Robert Dell (7) - at home.^[4]

Robert's father died in October 1859 at Aylesbury.^[5]

In the 1861 census Robert is home with his mother at Hadley Green, Hadley, Middlesex. Details listed - mother Jane E Dell (widow, 59, fundholder, born Wallingford, Berkshire), Robert Dell (21, Cambridge undergraduate, born Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire) and brother Holland R E Dell (17, clerk Indian Mining Company, born Aylebury). Also noted is one servant.

From Cambridge University Alumni we learn Robert matriculated on 1 September 1858, securing a BA in 1862 and MA in 1865. He was ordained deacon at Ely Cathedral in 1862 and priest at Salisbury in 1865. His first position was as an assistant master at Marlborough College from 1863 to 1865. He was curate of St Mary's, Marlborough, Wiltshire, from 1865 to 1867, followed by curate of St Mark's, North Audley Street, London, from 1867 to 1870. He held the charge of vicar of St Peter's, Birmingham, from 1870 to 1889. Then followed a period as curate of St Mary Magdalene, Paddington, London, from 1889-91. He then served as vicar of South Baddesley, Hampshire from 1893 to 1907, living latterly at Bradninch, Iping, Sussex.

On 6 July 1864^[6] Rev. Robert Dell married Catherine Elizabeth Wells at St Mary's church Wallingford. The marriage was registered at Wallingford in the third quarter of 1864. ^[7]

At the 1871 census Robert's new family home is at 37 Highfield Road, Edgbaston, Warwickshire. Details listed - Robert Dell (31, MA, Vicar of St Peter's, born Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire), wife Catherine E Dell (27, born Wallingford, Berkshire), son Robert E Dell (6, born Marlborough, Wiltshire), daughter Rosalind M I Dell (4, born Marlborough), daughter Katherine G Dell (3, born St Marylebone, Middlesex), and son Henry L Dell (2, born St Marylebone). Four servants are also recorded - nurse/domestic, cook, housemaid and housemaid.

Between censuses three further children were born. One, Harriet, born in 1876, died as a tiny infant.

In the 1881 census Robert retains the same position and the family continue at 37 Highfield Road, Edgbaston. Details - Robert Dell (41, Vicar of St Peter's Birmingham, born Aylesbury), wife Catherine Dell (37), son Robert Edward Dell (16, scholar), daughter Rosalind Dell (14), daughter Katherine Dell (13, born London), son Henry L Dell (12, born London), son Alfred P Dell (9, born Edgbaston, Birmingham) and son Edgar M Dell (3, born Edgbaston). Three servants are resident - cook/domestic, nurse and housemaid.

Robert's wife died in 1888. It appears that soon after this he moved from the charge he had had as vicar of St Peter's, Birmingham, 18 years to London.

At the 1891 census the new home is at 7 Delamere Terrace, Paddington, London. Details - Robert Dell (widower, 51, Clerk in Holy Orders, curate, born Aylesbury), son Robert E Dell (26, journalist), daughter Katherine G Dell (25?, student of literature), son Henry L Dell (22, artist (painter)) and son Alfred P Dell (19, articled clerk (solicitor)). There is also a visitor, Florence A Johnson (19, born Overton, Shropshire), son Robert's wife to be.. Four servants are additionally recorded - sick nurse, cook/domestic, housemaid and under housemaid.

On 11 July 1893 Robert Dell (53, widower, Clerk in Holy Orders) remarried, marrying Clara Margaret Price (41, spinster) at St Leonard's Church, Streatham, London. The parish register records Robert's residence at the time as South Baddesley, Hampshire, and Clara's residence as Glen Eldon Road, Streatham. Robert's father is confirmed as Robert Dell, wine merchant, deceased, and Clara's father as Edward Price, merchant, deceased. The marriage was registered at Wandsworth, London, in the third quarter of 1893.

The 1901 census confirms Robert at South Baddesley Vicarage, East End, Boldre, South Baddesley, Hampshire. Details - Robert Dell (married, 61, clergyman of C of E, born Aylesbury) and wife Clara M Dell (48, born Clapham, Surrey). In addition there is one visitor and 4 servants - cook, parlour maid and two housemaids.

The Reverend Robert Dell of Baddesley Spur, Hill Avenue, Parkstone, Dorset, clerk, died 26 January 1911 at St George's Hospital, Westminster, Middlesex. Probate ...... Henry Watkins Wells, gentleman, and John Frederick Carl Daman, solicitor. (National Probate Calendar - 1911) Robert's death was registered at St George Hanover Square, London, registration district in the first quarter of 1911.

His death was as the result of an accident.^[8] The accident occurred with a horsedrawn cab whilst walking in St James 'Park, London, according to this unsourced reference.^[9]

Find A Grave list a memorial to Robert, shared with his second wife, Clara, who died in 1927, and his eldest son (born to his first wife), at St Bartholomew's Graveyard, Brightwell Baldwin, near Watlington, Oxfordshire.^[10] There is a seperate memorial to Robert's first wife, Catherine. It is unclear what the connection to Brightwell Baldwin is. Rudkin^[11] notes Catherine is buried at Sotwell (of Brightwell cum Sotwell), adjacent to Wallingford, with a memorial stone there. Perhaps Find a A Grave have mistakenly filed the Dell graves against the wrong "Brightwell"?

Sources

1. ↑ England & Wales, Civil Registration Marriage Index, 1837-1915 for Jane Elizabeth Birkett, 1838, Q1-Jan-Feb-Mar
2. ↑ England Births and Christenings, 1538-1975, database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:N5V7-YZ6 : 19 March 2020), Robert Dell, 1839.
3. ↑ England & Wales, Civil Registration Death Index, 1837-1915 for Catharine Jane Dell, 1848, Q4-Oct-Nov-Dec
4. ↑ 1851 England Census for Jan Elizabeth Dell, Buckinghamshire, Aylesbury, 5d
5. ↑ England & Wales, National Probate Calendar (Index of Wills and Administrations), 1858-1995 for Robert Dell 1859 (Ancestry.com)
6. ↑ date from Pedigree of Wells of Wallingford by Major H R E Rudkin, 1935
7. ↑ England and Wales Marriage Registration Index, 1837-2005, database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:2DVG-YD5 : 13 December 2014), Robert Dell, 1864; from "England & Wales Marriages, 1837-2005," database, findmypast (http://www.findmypast.com : 2012); citing 1864, quarter 3, vol. 2C, p. 56, Wallingford, Berkshire, England, General Register Office, Southport, England.
8. ↑ Cambridge University Alumni added to by Crockford citing The Times, Jan. 28, 1911
9. ↑ https://www.geni.com/people/Rev-Robert-Dell/6000000010998240594
10. ↑ https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/197045444/robert-dell
11. ↑ Pedigree of Wells of Wallingford by Major H R E Rudkin, 1935

• England & Wales, Civil Registration Birth Index, 1837-1915 for Robert Dell, 1839, Q4-Oct-Nov-Dec

• Robert Dell in the England, Select Births and Christenings, 1538-1975 (Ancestry.com)

• 1841 England Census for Robert Dell, Buckinghamshire, Aylesbury, District 3

• 1851 England Census for Robert Dell, Sussex, Brighton, St Peter, 1q

• 1861 England Census for Robert Dell, Middlesex, Hadley, District 1f

• Robert. Dell in the Cambridge University Alumni, 1261-1900 (Ancestry.com) by courtesy of Venn, J. A., comp.. Alumni Cantabrigienses. London, England: Cambridge University Press, 1922-1954.

• England & Wales, Civil Registration Marriage Index, 1837-1915 for Robert Dell, 1864, Q3-Jul-Aug-Sep

• 1871 England Census for Robert Dell, Warwickshire, Edgbaston, 13

• 1881 England Census for Robert Dell, Warwickshire, Edgbaston, District 18

• 1891 England Census for Robert Dell, London, Paddington, St Mary Paddington, District 06

• London, England, Church of England Marriages and Banns, 1754-1936 for Robert Dell, Lambeth, St Leonard, Streatham, 1889-1902 (Ancestry.com)

• England & Wales, Civil Registration Marriage Index, 1837-1915 for Robert Dell, 1893, Q3-Jul-Aug-Sep

• 1901 England Census for Robert Dell, Hampshire, Boldre, District 09

• England & Wales, Civil Registration Death Index, 1837-1915 for Robert Dell, 1911, Q1-Jan-Feb-Mar

• England & Wales, National Probate Calendar (Index of Wills and Administrations), 1858-1995 for Robert Dell, 1911

Acknowledgements

Thanks to Gilly Wood for starting this profile. Click the Changes tab for the details of contributions by Gilly and others.