William Frederick Henry Howe (1913 - 1983)

Born 28 Jul 1913 in Edmonton, Middlesex, England, United Kingdom

Ancestors

Husband of Eleanor Lena Mary (Bamford) Howe — married 28 Aug 1941 in New Delhi, Delhi, India

Descendants

Died 5 Dec 1983 at age 70 in Derby, Derbyshire, England, United Kingdom

Problems/Questions Profile managers: Mick Howe [send private message] and Paul Unwin [send private message]

Biography

Birth

William (Bill or Billy Boy) Howe was born in Edmonton, Middlesex in 1913. He was the eldest son of William Howe and Rosa Smitham. ^[1]

Around 1916 his parents W.E.D and Rosa Emily migrated to India, his mother died six months after the birth of Bill's younger brother Eddie. This left his father William Edwin Dolling Howe with 2 young boys and no wife. W.E.D. Howe did not remain unmarried for long, marrying Myrtle Murray in 1916. Bill is thought to have been farmed out to Myrtle's eldest (childless) sister Laurine. It is thought that Laurine raised Bill and his younger brother Eddie. W.E.D. Howe and Myrtle went on to have three further sons of their own (W.F.H. Howe's half brothers) Ron, Harold and Leslie. His younger brother Eddie (Horace) died age 6 in 1921. Later, Ron was to settle in Australia and Leslie would return to the UK, but not until around 1970, after he had raised two families of his own in Calcutta.

Bill spoke little of his upbringing or his family. He did talk of walking 3 miles to school barefoot, so it seems, his early years were beset by not only grief and loss, but also poverty.

Like Eleanor, Bill was a good athlete, and had competed in swimming and tennis. These and his love of tropical fish were his principal interests outside of work.

Bill met Eleanor Bamford at a tea dance whilst she was teaching in Delhi. They were married in 1940 after an 18 month courtship at the Catholic Cathedral, Delhi. His father W.E.D. Howe, (a Free Mason) was seemingly unhappy with Bill's choice to convert to Catholicism. William failed to name any of his sons William - and after all he had 4 opportunities! This broke a chain of 6 Williams dating back to 1770. We can only guess as to whether he was aware of this or whether he wanted to make a break with his Howe ancestry. No members of Bill’s family were present in any of the wedding photos. (See Image: William Howe and Bamford Family) W.E.D seems to have become estranged from all of his sons for one reason or another. Bill gave all his boys bibical names, in what seems a deliberate break from his father.

After their marriage, Bill and Eleanor lived at Eleanor's parents compound at 15 Ratendone Road, New Delhi between 1940 and 1946. Eleanor's father Walter Cecil had died in 1943 and with Indian independence and partition the family had to decide where to settle. As William was born in London they were able to chose England. (other parts of Eleanor's extended family had to remain in India or emigrate to Canada and Australia because they had no such recent link to the UK)

Bill, Eleanor and their daughter Jennifer left India on 7/10/1946 on the RMS Franconia (previously used by Churchill at Yalta). On this trip the Franconia also repatriated 600 Italian POWs en-route through the Mediterranean (stopping at Naples and Malta) to Liverpool. His daughter aged 3 was making the reverse trip of that which he made at the same age in 1916 - after which he lost his mother. For the whole duration of his return journey to England (a trip that was particularly stormy) he was separated from his wife and child as a result of strict gender segregation. Was he ever aware of this symmetry? Joanna Lumley made the same journey as a one year old on the Franconia, a year later in 1947.

He would later suggest to his daughter that he made HIS original migration to India, aged 12. Was this a response to his losing his mother and his younger sibling Eddie all by 1920? In his recounting of his own family history, Bill never spoke of these childhood losses and effective abandonment by his father.

They landed at Liverpool but headed to Seaford in Sussex, as they had friends, the Gregory's in the area, and there were jobs at the nearby British Rail Engineering Design Dept in Brighton. Initially the family lodged in a B&B at 23 Pelham Road. At some point they moved up the road to No.9 and were subsequently joined by Lena (Eleanor's Mother) and Sheila who made the trip in May 1947.

Bill and Eleanor subsequently had four sons: Christopher Michael, Nigel Jeremy, Adrian Paul and Timothy David, all of whom were born in Eastbourne or Brighton, the youngest was 18 years younger than his eldest sister Jennifer.

The Brighton Design office for British rail closed circa 1961, and this forced Bill and family to move to Derby and subsequently to 22 Grange Drive , Castle Donington.

Work was important to Bill and he struggled with using computers in design and engineering work. Despite this he worked til the age of 67 but survived only 3 years of retirement.

Bill died on 5th Dec 1983 in Derby Royal Infirmary. Probate was granted (Manchester) 27 Jan 1984 - Effects £9997

^[2] contributed by various users. https://www.familysearch.org/tree/person/details/L6JN-MDL Birth Registration: September 1913 Edmonton, Middlesex, England, United Kingdom

Death record. ^[3] Name: William Frederick H Howe Event Type: Death Registration Registration Quarter: Oct-Nov-Dec Registration Year: 1983 Registration District: Derby County: Derbyshire Event Place: Derby, Derbyshire, England Birth Date (available after June quarter 1969): 28 Jul 1913 Volume: 6 Affiliate Line Number: 133

• Fact: Occupation (1941) Electrical Engineer / Draftsman India

Death

He passed away in Derby, Derbyshire in 1983.^[4]

Name: William Frederick Henry Howe. ^[5]

Born 28 Jul 1913. Waltham Abbey, Epping Forest, Essex, England, United Kingdom. ^[5]

Died 5 Dec 1983. Derby, Derbyshire, England, United Kingdom. ^[5]

Birth Registration Sep 1913. Edmonton, Middlesex, England, United Kingdom. ^[5]

Death Registration 1982 Derbyshire, England, United Kingdom. ^[5] Dec 1983. Derby, Derbyshire, England, United Kingdom. ^[5]

Occupation 1941 India ^[5]

Marriage Husband @I234@. Wife @I245@. Marriage 1941 Madras, Madras Presidency, India. ^[6] Child: @I246@. Child: @I247@. Child: @I248@. Child: @I249@. Child: @I250@.

Sources

1. ↑ "England and Wales Birth Registration Index, 1837-2008," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:2NDZ-JW5 : 1 October 2014), William F H Howe, 1913; from "England & Wales Births, 1837-2006," database, findmypast (http://www.findmypast.com : 2012); citing Birth Registration, Edmonton, Middlesex, England, citing General Register Office, Southport, England
2. ↑ (http://familysearch.org : modified 30 January 2021, 01:57), entry for William Frederick Henry Howe(PID https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/4:1:L6JN-MDL);
3. ↑ https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QVZ7-KYKZ
4. ↑ "England and Wales Death Registration Index 1837-2007," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QVZ7-KYKZ : 4 September 2014), William Frederick H Howe, 1983; from "England & Wales Deaths, 1837-2006," database, findmypast (http://www.findmypast.com : 2012); citing Death Registration, Derby, Derbyshire, England, General Register Office, Southport, England.
5. ↑ ^{5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 5.5 5.6} Source: S2
6. ↑ Source: S2

Acknowledgements

From notes on a conversation between Paul Unwin and Eleanor Howe in 1998 at The Alley Cafe, Nottingham.

• Source: S2 "FamilySearch Family Tree," database, FamilySearch   The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Publication: (https://www.familysearch.org)