Beatrice Anne Biddulph [1880-1967]

 

 

Beatrice Anne Biddulph was born on the 14^th of August 1880 in St. Kilda’s, Parsonstown, now Birr, County Offaly.[1] She was the 14^th child and youngest surviving daughter of Francis Edward Biddulph and Annabella Kennedy, and had two sisters close to her in age, Amy, born in 1875 and May Biddulph, born in 1879. Beatrice was known as Bea, and also, in the family, as Biddy.

The family later moved to Marie Lodge in Dalkey, County Dublin, Beatrice and her sister May, appeared to have enjoyed a varied social life.

Fashion and Varieties. Departures from Kingstown per Royal Mail Steamers... Mrs Biddulph, Miss Beatrice Biddulph.[2]

They had enjoyed cycling in Parsonstown and continued to do so in Dublin, not always abiding by the law.

Petty Sessions 1905. Miss Beatrice Biddulph, Dalkey, Co. Dublin. Constable Talbot. On the 26^th of April 1905 at Johnstown, Co. Dublin, the defendant did unlawfully and wilfully prevent or interrupt the free passage of persons on the road by driving a carriage to wit  a bicycle on the footpath…Contrary to 14 and 15 Vic C92 S13.

Convicted and ordered to pay for fine the sum of two shillings and sixpence and for costs the sum of one shilling and sixpence or in default of payment forthwith to be imprisoned in [Kilmainham] Mountjoy Gaol for the period of seven days without hard labour unless said sums are sooner paid.[3]

No doubt the fine was paid.

The following year Bea began her training in Harcourt Street Children’s Hospital, Dublin. Her sister Amy had also trained as a nurse in the Royal Hospital, Baggot Street.

National Children’s Hospital Harcourt Street.

The following Red Cross Lady Probationers were selected to undergo twelve months training in the hospital from October 1^st: Miss Beatrice Biddulph…[4]

In 1912 she was presented in Dublin Castle.

Presentations. The following ladies and gentlemen had the honour of being presented to their Excellencies at St. Patrick’s Ball last night….Miss Beatrice Biddulph (by Mrs Comyn Kenny).[5] 

Mrs Jennings and Miss Joan Jennings are also included in this list.

Bea married Archibald Mateer in 1914. He was known as Archie, and also as Chicko. His father, Archibald Mateer having died in 1892, when Archie was still a child, his mother, Olivia Smythe, married as her second husband, John Howard Parnell, brother of Charles Stewart Parnell. They were married in the Mariners’ Church, Dun Laoghaire, the Kingstown, on the 13^th of June, 1907. John Howard Parnell was a bachelor and a City Marshall of Dublin.

Archie was to join the army, the Queen’s Liverpool Regiment.

INFANTRY.

8th (Irish) Battalion, The King's (LiverpoolRegiment); Archibald John Percival Mateer

to be Second Lieutenant. • Dated 15th September, 1911.[6] 

Family history suggested that Bea and Archie were already married in Liverpool and that the second marriage in Dublin was to please his mother. A record of the Liverpool marriage shows that this story is actually true! Archie was residing at 14 Elliot Street, Liverpool. Bea gave her address as Marie Lodge, Dalkey.

Archibald J. P. Mateer, Liverpool, Lancashire, England and Beatrice A. Biddulph.[7]

To please his mother Olivia, as he was very fond of her, a second marriage took place in Dublin.[8]

A marriage is arranged, and will take place the last week in December, very quietly, in consequence of the war, between Captain Archibald John Percival Mateer, A. D. C. of the King's Liverpool Regiment, only son of the late Archibald Mateer, Esq., J.P., Carlingford House, Carlingford, Co. Louth and Mrs John Howard Parnell, of 1 Clarinda Park, E., Kingstown, and grandson of the late Colonel J. Smyth, 2nd Batt. the Welsh

Regiment, and Miss Beatrice Anne Biddulph, youngest daughter of Lieutenant-Colonel F. E. Biddulph, of Marie Lodge, Dalkey, late of the 9th and 19th Regiments.[9]

A detailed description of the wedding seems to have appeared in a contemporary newspaper.

"Killarney" writes from Dublin: - It was quite refreshing to have a smartly-dressed wedding in our midst this week. Since the war began brides and bridegrooms have married very quietly in travelling garb, and in many cases the bridegroom has been called off at a moment's notice. In this instance the bridegroom was Captain Matier (sic) A.D.C to General Edwardes on the Mersey Defence Scheme, and his bride Miss Biddulph, daughter of Colonel Biddulph, late of the 19th Regiment. She had bridesmaids - two nieces, Miss Nellie FitzGerald and Miss Ellen Pease - and also a page, Master Francis Pease, who was dressed as a miniature soldier. It was a pretty wedding, and there was a reception afterwards, the happy pair having a great send-off. Captain Matier is son of Mrs. J. H. Parnell, of Clarinda Park, Kingstown.

Bea and Archie had no children.

Archie later became Assistant Commissioner of the Nigeria Police in 1919. 

After Archie’s retirement as Commissioner of the Nigeria Police, the couple came home to live in a house called Maplegrove, in Ballybrack, County Dublin. There they kept hens, and a rooster, and Archie built caravans. Bea kept Maltese Terriers. Archie organised the annual flower show in Dun Laoghaire Town Hall. Harold de Mowbray Parnell, a meteorologist and the son of Henry Tudor Parnell, lived with them until his death in 1961.

Beatrice, known in the family as Bea or Biddy, died suddenly in 1967 at home in Maplegrove.  She was 87. Her body was laid out in the drawing room overnight.

She is buried in Deansgrange Cemetery, County Dublin.[10]

Deansgrange Cemetery

No.165

In Cherished Memory of | BEATRICE (BIDDY) | daughter of Col. And Mrs. BIDDULPH | of St.Kilda, Birr and Marie Lodge, Dalkey | died 27th June 1967 | adored wife and comrade of |ARCHIE MATEER for 54 years | All her life she trusted in God | and His Son Jesus Christ |

From 1967 on, Archie lived at the Abbey Hotel, Haigh Terrace, Dun Laoghaire, County Dublin, Ireland where he was wonderfully looked after by Mrs Moreland, only moving into a nursing home towards the very end of his life.

Archie became a Catholic shortly before his death. His funeral took place from St. Joseph's Catholic Church in Glasthule, which he said he and Bea had often visited together.

He is buried in Deansgrange Cemetery with Bea.

Above named ARCHIE MATEER | died 3rd August 1983 also rests here | Sometime Captain 8th Battalion | The Kings Liverpool Regiment | and retired Commissioner Nigeria Police | May they rest in Peace.

 

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[1] 1880 Oct/Dec Birth Parsonstown Beatrice Anne [GRO 3 474]

[2] FJ, April 27, 1898.

[3] Petty Sessions Court Registers, Cabinteely, Dublin, 1905.

[4] Dublin Daily Express 28 September 1906

[5] Dublin Daily Express, 19 March 1912.

[6] The London Gazette, 20 October, 1911.

[7] Marriage quarter 4, Vol. 8B, marriage year 1914, p. 203

[8] 1914 Oct/Dec Marriage Rathdown Beatrice Anne GRO Vol 2. 809.

[9] Leinster Reporter 12 Dec 1914

[10] Deansgrange Cemetery Plot: St. Nessan/J/100

Myra, or Alice, Biddulph [1877-1877], Kilmainham, Dublin

Myra Biddulph was the daughter of Francis Edward Biddulph, Brevet-Major, 9^th Regiment, and his wife Annabella. She is a mystery as, while there is no mention of a Myra in the family, she appears as Myra in the official civil records.  She is believed to have been called Alice by the family. There are no civil records of a birth or a death of Alice. Possibly she was called after her sister Isabella Alice who died in Pembroke Dock in 1875.

Myra, or Alice, was born on the 29^th of August 1877, in Rosemount, New Kilmainham, Dublin.

Biddulph - August 29th, at Rosemount, New Kilmainham, the wife of Captain F.E. Biddulph, 9th Regiment, of a daughter, who survived her birth only two days.

 

She was buried on the 4^th of September 1877 in Grangegorman Military Cemetery.

Myra Biddulph, bur. 4 Sept 1877, age 3 days, infant daughter of Corp. Biddulph, 9th Regiment.[1]

What grief there must have been at the death of another child after the sad deaths in Wales.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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[1] http://www.interment.net/data/ireland/dublin/grangegorman/greg_af.htm

Isabella Alice Biddulph [1874-1875] and Ormus Llewellyn Biddulph [1874-1874], Pembroke Dock, Wales

Isabella Alice and Ormus Llewellyn Biddulph were born on the 12^th of February 1874 at Upper Law [sic] Street, Pembroke Dock, Wales, twin children of Francis Edward Biddulph and his wife Annabella.

BIDDULPH - February 12th, at Pembroke Dock, South Wales, the wife of Captain Francis E. Biddulph, 9th Regiment, of twins (boy and girl).[1]

They were baptised on April the 11^th, at St. John the Evangelist’s, by Geo Wylde, Chaplain to the Forces.

 

Ormus Llewellyn died on the 2^nd of September 1874. He is buried in Llanion Cemetery.

BURIAL 5 September 1874. Pembrokeshire County Council. Llanion Cemetery, Pembroke Dock. Grave reference G/42[2]

Isabella Alice died on the 6^th of March 1875, also at Pembroke Dock.

 

Deaths. At Pembroke Dock, on the 5th inst., Edith, aged 3 years, and on the 6th William, aged 4 years, same day, Isabella, aged 1 year, the dearly beloved children of Capt. Biddulph. 1st Bat., 9th Regiment.

She is buried in Llanion Cemetery with Ormus.

BURIAL 9 March 1875. Pembrokeshire County Council. Llanion Cemetery, Pembroke Dock. Grave reference G/42.[3]

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[1]  Irish Times Mon February 16, 1874

[2]  https://www.deceasedonline.com/servlet/GSDOSearch

[3]  Ibid.

Ethel Emily Biddulph [1872-1875]

Ethel Emily Biddulph was the second daughter of Francis Edward Biddulph and his wife Annabella. Her older sister, Catherine, had died in India in 1869 so Ethel was now the only girl.

She was born in Aghada, County Cork on the 6^th of Feb 1872, and baptised on the 14^th of February 1872. Her baptismal sponsors were Richard E. Biddulph, Harriet Anderson, and Margaret Kennedy.

Richard Edmund Biddulph was her half uncle, half brother of her father Francis. He was 20 years old at the time, and studying in Trinity College in Dublin. He later joined the Royal Navy as a Surgeon.

Margaret Kennedy was her maternal grandmother, and the widow of John Campbell Kennedy.

Who was Harriet Anderson?

 

Ethel Emily Biddulph died on the 5^th of March 1875, in Pembroke Dock, Wales. She was three years old.

Deaths. At Pembroke Dock, on the 5th inst., Edith, aged 3 years, and on the 6th William, aged 4 years, same day, Isabella, aged 1 year, the dearly beloved children of Capt. Biddulph. 1st Bat., 9th Regiment.

She is buried in Llanion Cemetery, Pembroke Dock, with her siblings.

BURIAL 9 March 1875. Pembrokeshire County Council. Llanion Cemetery, Pembroke Dock. Grave reference G/43.[1]

 

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[1] https://www.deceasedonline.com/servlet/GSDOSearch

 

William Henry Biddulph [1870-1875]

William Henry Biddulph was the sixth son of Francis Edward Biddulph, and his wife Annabella.  He was born on the 20^th of October 1870 at 17 Montpelier Hill, Arbour Hill, Stoneybatter, Dublin. He was baptised on the 19^th of December  1870 in the Church of Ireland  Parish of St. Paul, in the City of Dublin.

His father, Francis, was a Captain in H.M.  9^th Regiment of Foot.

He died at Pembroke Dock, Wales, in 1875.

Deaths. At Pembroke Dock, on the 5th inst., Edith,aged 3 years, and on the 6th Wiliiam, aged 4 years, same day, Isabella, aged 1 year, the dearly beloved children of Capt. Biddulph. 1st Bat., 9th Regiment.

William is not buried in the Military Cemetery of St. John's Pembroke Dock but in the civil cemetery with his siblings.

Charles Thomas Biddulph [1869-1900]

Charles Thomas Biddulph was the fifth and youngest surviving son of Francis Edward Biddulph and his wife Annabella. He was born on the 7^th of June 1869  in Bangalore, India, and baptised on the 1^st of July 1869 in  Holy Trinity Garrison Church, Bangalore.

He never married.

Early in his career he joined the Colonial Office, and served as Superintendent of Police in The Gambia. He was later forced to return to England due to ill-health.

In February 1900 he decided to accompany the 3^rd Battalion Leinster Regiment to South Africa. He may not have been fully recovered from the effects of his ill health in the Gambia, as only a few weeks later he died of enteric fever at Queenstown, South Africa, on April 26th, 1900. Typhoid fever (enteric fever) is an infection caused by the bacteria Salmonella typhi (S typhi) or contaminated food.

He was buried with full military honours. His gravestone carries the following inscription.

Sacred to the Memory of Capt. Charles Biddulph 3^rd Bn. Leinster Regt., second son of Colonel Biddulph formerly commanding H.M. 9^th Regiment of Foot who died of Enteric Fever at the Frontier Hospital, Queenstown on the 26. of April 1900.

In the midst of life we are in death.

This Memorial is erected by his brother officers H. C. officers and men as a mark of esteem.

 

There is a memorial obelisk in Birr, County Offaly, which bears, among others, Capt. Charles Biddulph’s name. It is located in the military cemetery near the ruined barracks at Crinkill.

This Monument was erected by the Officers warrant Officers Non-Commissioned Officers and Men of the 3^rd Batt., Leinster Regiment in Memory of their Comrades who were killed in action and died of disease in South Africa during embodiment between 18 January 1900 and the 26^th May 1902.[1]

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[1] http://www.irishwarmemorials.ie/pdf/557.pdf

Catherine Mary Biddulph [1861-1869]

 

 

Catherine Mary Biddulph, known in the family as Kate, was the eldest child of Francis Edward Biddulph and his wife Annabella. She was born in Haddington Road, Dublin on the 25^th of November 1861.

Births, on the 25th inst, in Dublin, the wife of Francis [?] Biddulph, Esq., 12th Regiment, of a daughter.[1]

The family sailed for the Mediterranean on H.M.S.Trafalgar in 1863. Kate’s brother Nicholas Trafalgar was born at sea on the 6^th of December.

Two more children were born in Tonghoo, British Burmah. Francis was born on the 9^th December 1865 and survived four days. He died of convulsions. Hugh Wray Biddulph was born on the 12^th of November 1866.

The family then moved to Bangalore, India, where Arthur Stuart Biddulph was born in 1868 and Charles Thomas Biddulph was born the following year in 1869.

Kate died of typhoid fever at 6 Ulsoor Rd., Bangalore, India, on the 24^th of July 1869, aged seven years and eight months. Her burial is recorded in Bangalore Trinity Church.

By October 1870 the family had returned to Ireland.

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[1] Nenagh Guardian, Wed., Nov. 27, 1861