Alice Mary Maude (Kemmis-Betty) David (1871-1944)

Alice Mary Maude "Mam" David formerly Kemmis-Betty aka Jourdeuil

Born 24 Mar 1871 in Swansea, Glamorgan, Wales, United Kingdom

Ancestors

Daughter of Rowland Veitch (Betty) Kemmis-Betty and Lydia Mary (Green) Kemmis-Betty

Wife of Achille Etienne Jourdeuil Ch LdH — married 6 May 1897 (to 9 May 1915) in 16th Arrondissement, Paris, Seine, France

Wife of Jean Baptiste David — married 28 Feb 1933 in Paris, Seine, France

Descendants

Mother of Marguerite Alice Marie Clara Jourdeuil, Yvonne Marguerite Alice Jourdeuil, Patrice William Jourdeuil and Fred Jourdeuil

Died 8 Mar 1944 at age 72 in Boussac, Guéret, Creuse, Limousin, France

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Profile last modified 30 Oct 2023 | Created 16 Dec 2016

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Genealogically Defined

1 Biography
2 Research Note
3 Sources

Biography

Birth

Alice was born on 21 March 1871 in Swansea, Glamorgan, Wales, UK. She is the daughter of Rowland Veitch Kemmis-Betty and Lydia Mary Green. ^[1]

At birth she was living with her mother, brother and two servants at the Knightstown Villas, 28 Walter St, Glamorgan ^[2]

Early Life

According to Alice’s Mémoires written in 1891, in 1875 her father left them to go find work in London. At that time they were living in a house that Lydia’s mother provided to them rent free in North Shields, Northumberland. By 1880 they had moved to Whitley, which was corroborated by the 1881 Census. It at this time that Alice was run over by a cart, injuring her ankle. ^[3].

In 1881 She resided with her mother and a servant at 15 St Mary’s Terrace in Whitley, in the district of Tynemouth, Northumberland, England^[4]

The winter after the 1881 census, they moved to London to stay with her brother William, likely at 13 Briton Place according to the 1881 Census, as Lydia could not survive another northern winter. Her father moved back in too, but didn’t stay long. After her mother’s death in July 1882, she moved in with her aunt Kate Simpson in lodgings in Cambridge Terrace a few doors down from her other Aunt Alice Rowley. From there she went to boarding school, until Summer 1887. The school, called The Ferns and located at 17 Newington Green, Finsbury, was a boarding school for girls. In 1881 (just before Allie went there) there were twelve "scholars", mostly in their late teens. The Headmistress (Miss C. Birchall) was 53 and with her were her mother (Hannah, 81) and her four younger sisters, Lydia, Hannah, Maria and Helen. Jeannette Delong (17) born in Paris was acting as an Assistant. There was also a cook, plus two housemaids. While there Alice studied art and music.^[5].

In July 1887 she moves to London to study painting with a Mr Davis. She resides across the street from the studio, on the third floor of a big house on Tavistock Street, Belford Square. This is funded by Aunt Cordie. After Uncle william’s death in 1889, Alice is taken on by Aunts Alice and Kate ^[6].

Marriage

She married Achille Etienne Jourdeuil on the 4th of May 1897 at 10:30 a.m. in Paris 16ieme. ^[7] This was followed by a society wedding ceremony held at the Church of St Honoré d’Eylau ^[8], Paris 16ieme on the 6th of May 1897.^[9] The wedding was held on the heels of the Paris Charity Bazaar fire.

Family

The couple returned to Villefranche-sur-mer and proceeded to have four children:

Marguerite Alice Marie Clara (1898-1899) ^[10]^[11]
Yvonne Marguerite Alice (1899-1917)^[12]
Patrice William (1903-1991) ^[13]
Frederic Raymond (Fred) (1904-1979) ^[14]

They built a villa on the Route de Beaulieu which they called Villa Marguerite after their first child. It must have been completed after Marguerite’s death in 1899. They remained there until 1907 when Achille was posted to the 154th Infantry Regiment as a captain (23 March 1907) in Lérouville. On 24 dec 1909 Achille is posted to the 8th Infantry Regiment in Calais. They resided at 6 rue de Varsovie in Calais. In 1913 Achille is posted to the 1 Regiment de Marche Etranger to serve in the Moroccan conflict. He remained there until the end of September 1914 and was awarded the Chevalier de la legion d’honneur on 31 décembre 1913. He returned to France to serve in the First World War.^[15] Achille was killed during the battle of Artois on 9 May 1915. ^[16]

Life as a Single Mother

When Achille dies, she is living at 7 ave de Montespan, Paris 16ieme ^[17] and as Patrice also lists this as his residence when he marries in 1929 we know that the family stays there until at least then^[18]. She raised her three surviving children until she saw them settled. We know from Patrice Jourdeuil's recollections that she visited with her brother William several times and that they got along quite well.

Second Marriage

She marries Jean-Baptiste David in Paris 16e on 28 Feb 1933 in the presence of her sons Patrice and Frederic.^[19]^[20]

Jean-Baptiste was born on the 19th of June 1865 in Saint Genest Lerpt (Loire) and is the son of Antoine David and Jeanne Beraud. When they married he is living at 7-7 Bis Ave de Montespan, Paris.

By 1936 she is residing with Jean-Baptiste David (1865 - ) on Rue Basse, in Aze, France. they are listed as husband and wife.^[21]

Death

We also know that she is a widow when she moves to Boussac with her son Patrice in 1940. ^[22]

Alice died on the 8th of March 1944 just two weeks shy of her 73rd birthday and before the end of the Nazi occupation. She is listed as being predeceased by her husbands Achille Etienne Jourdeuil (1915) and Jean Baptiste David. ^[23]^[24] Her headstone lists her as Alice DAVID, JOURDEUIL, Nee KEMMIS-BETTY. She is in grave F444 in the section to the immediate right of the main entrance.

Research Note

The next tasks are to track Alices whereabouts:

Between 1891 and Feb 1896, when she meets her husband to be in Villefranche-sur-mer, and

Between 1929 and 1936. We know that she and the children are in Calais when her husband dies in 1915, although their regular residence is at Ave de Montespan in Paris. Her second husband, Jean Baptiste David, dies before 1940.^[25]. I have now found a 1936 census record for the commune of Aze, where she and Jean summered and where the cousins visited. Many thanks to Philippe Jourdeuil for the annotated pictures which allowed me to make this discovery.

Also in 1939 she is living at The Potteries with her cousin Florence M Kemmis Betty, a nurse, aged 67 in enumeration district EDIG, in the borough of Fareham , regn districe 91-1, Hampshire, England.^[26]