Henry Cross (1865 - 1898)

Born 14 Apr 1865 in Beccles, Suffolk, England

Ancestors

Died 10 Sep 1898 at age 33 in Atbara, Egypt

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Biography

Henry Cross, son of retired Indian Army Lt. Colonel, William Cross, and his second wife, Isabel Batten, was born at Beccles in Suffolk in 1865 but by 1871 the family was living at 2 Goldington Rd., Bedford. ^{[1] [2]}

Like his older brothers, William and Arthur, Henry was educated at Bedford Grammar School.

He later went on to Hertford College, Oxford matriculating 14 October 1884. ^[3][4]Henry rowed number 8 in the Oxford boat in 1888. ^[5] He had been picked to row the previous year but had been replaced by someone called MacLean. Whether MacLean was better or Henry withdrew because of the illness of his father remains a mystery. In 1888 Cambridge won. Henry's oar was kept at Bedford and his brother, Arthur, took it with him when the house was sold after his mother's death. When he died in 1830 his widow, Lucy Cross, took it with her and it ended up at her final home in Brundall where it hung over the door. The son of his nephew Wilfrid Cross, remembers seeing it there on visits after the second World War. No one knows what happened to it after Lucy's death. ^[6]

After graduating Henry took a post as a teacher at his old school, Bedford Grammar. He appears to have been a productive and poplar schoolmaster active in many ways including taking some pupils on boating trips during the holidays.

He was dining with a friend, Ernest Bennett, in 1898 who talked of his pending journey to the Sudan as a war correspondent. Henry was excited by the thought and obtained a similar job with the Manchester Guardian. He set out on 27 July 1898 and on 29th he and Ernest sailed aboard the Sind out of Marseilles bound for Alexandria in the company of the young Winston Churchill bent on the same adventure. ^[7] Henry was a talented artist and has left a small collection of drawings he made in Egypt and also a few photographs that he took. He wrote many reports for his employers and was present at the Battle of Omdurman on the 2nd of September 1898, going about his business although he was very ill with a fever. Henry died at Atbara on the 10th of September 1898.^[8]

A memorial Inscription was placed on the pavillion at Bedford school:-

"This pavilion in its present place and form was erected to the memory of Henry Cross M. A. formerly exhibitioner of this school. Scholar of Hertford College Oxford and member of the Oxford crew in 1888 was a master on the school staff from Jan 1890 to July 1898 at which date he left to join the Khartoum Expedition as special correspondent of the Manchester Guardian and was present at the Battle of Ombdurhman but was stricken down with fever at Atbara in September of the same year and died as he had lived, doing his duty.

This pavilion which owed to his enterprise both in inception and the means of its completion is dedicated to his name. The enduring gift of nature in him his modesty and ( ) worth, his many sided activity, his enthusiasm and devotion to the service of others have raised for themselves an abiding memorial in the hearts of those who knew him." ^[9]

Sources

1. ↑ 1871 Census of England
   2 Goldington Rd, Bedford, Bedfordshire, England

   First Name	Last Name	Relationship	Marital Status	Gender	Age	Occupation	Birth Place
   William	Cross	Head	Married	Male	63	Retired lt Col Madras	Latton, Essex
   Isabel	Cross	Wife	Married	Female	53	-	Rochester, Kent
   Isabel	Cross	Daughter	-	Female	13	Scholar	Kensington, Middlesex
   William	Cross	Son	-	Male	11	Scholar	Clifton, Gloucestershire
   Arthur	Cross	Son	-	Male	9	Scholar	Beccles, Suffolk
   Henry	Cross	Son	-	Male	5	Scholar	Beccles, Suffolk
   Mary Ann	Bayes	Servant	Unmarried	Female	19	Domestic servant housemaid	?, Bedfordshire
   Ann	Stapleton	Servant	Unmarried	Female	29	Domestic servant cook	?, Bedfordshire
   Elzth	Lisuran	Servant	Unmarried	Female	17	Nurse servant	Little Slaughton, Bedfordshire

2. ↑ 1881 Census of England
   2 Goldington Rd, Bedford, Bedfordshire, England

   First Name	Last Name	Relationship	Marital Status	Gender	Age	Occupation	Birth Place
   William	Cross	Head	Married	Male	73	lt Col Madras Army Retired	Latton, Essex
   Isabel	Cross	Wife	Married	Female	63	-	Rochester, Kent
   Isabel Fanny	Cross	Daughter	Unmarried	Female	23	-	Kensington, Middlesex
   Henry	Cross	Son	-	Male	15	Scholar	Beccles, Suffolk
   Emily	Kingham	Servant	Unmarried	Female	20	Domestic servant housemaid	Bedford, Bedfordshire
   Marianne	Small	Servant	Unmarried	Female	21	Domestic servant cook	Lower Winchenden, Buckinghamshire

3. ↑ Alumni Oxonienses: the Members of the University of Oxford, 1715-1886 by Joseph Foster Cross, Henry
4. ↑ Foster's Alumni Oxoniensis Page 21 Henry Cross 4th son of William Cross of Beccles arm. Hertford College. Matriculated 14 Oct 1884 aged 19
5. ↑ Wikipedia: List of Oxford University Boat Race crews
6. ↑ As told to C Mackinnon in numerous family conversations.
7. ↑ "The downfall of the dervishes: being a sketch of the final Sudan campaign of 1898", London: Methuen, 1898 Ernest Bennett
8. ↑ National Probate Calendar (14 October 1898 Henry Cross died 20 September 1898 at Atbara in the Soudan. Administration granted to the Reverend Arthur Cross clerk. Effects £2240 12s 6d resworn February 1899 £2690 5s 4d
9. ↑ As recorded in his notes by his brother, Arthur.

• Census of England 1891