The Chartwell Wedding Group

This should interest Winston Churchill fans, since he acquired the Chartwell property in Kent, which became the Churchill family seat, from the Campbell-Colquhoun family in 1921, about six years after this wedding took place.

The Chartwell Wedding Group. 22 November 1915.
Courtesy of Nicholas Shelley Tanner.

Background

The marriage of Frederick St. Clair Farran (1876–1934) and Rose Eleanor Campbell-Colquhoun (1871–1937) took place at the Holy Trinity Church at Crockham Hill in Kent, England on 22 November 1915.[1] After the marriage ceremony, the wedding party gathered in front of Chartwell House where they sat for the above photograph.[2]

List of Sitters

Pictured in the photograph are:

        Back Row (from left to right):

1. Henry Theodore Augustus Bosanquet (1870–1959) in Royal Navy officers’ uniform. Aged 45. Husband of Lilian Powys (Campbell-Colquhoun) Bosanquet, father of Lilias Merelina Bosanquet and elder brother of Nicholas Bosanquet, Nicholas Conynghame Symonds Bosanquet. During WW1, he initially served with the Trade Division of the Admiralty War Staff and then with the Royal Naval Air Service where he was Head of the Navigation Section. By 1918 he had become a Lt.-Col. in the Royal Flying Corps.[3]
    
2. Cicely Alice Colquhoun Bosanquet (1893–1954). Aged 21 and three days shy of her 22nd birthday. Sister of Eveline Louise Emmeline Bosanquet and daughter of Alice Emily (Campbell-Colquhoun) Bosanquet. 
     
3. Eveline Louise Emmeline Bosanquet (1899–1977). Aged 16. Sister of Cicely Alice Colquhoun Bosanquet and daughter of Alice Emily (Campbell-Colquhoun) Bosanquet. 
     
4. Nicholas Conynghame Symonds Bosanquet (1881–1955). Aged 34. Wearing the service dress uniform of an officer of the 11th (Prince Albert’s Own) Hussars. Husband of Eveline Janet (Campbell-Colquhoun) Bosanquet (five years her junior), father of Dauphine Letitia J. C. Bosanquet and younger brother of Henry Theodore Augustus Bosanquet. At the time of the wedding he was a 2nd-Lt. (on probation) in the 11th Hussars. After the war, he was promoted to the substantive rank of Captain in 1920. No record of him being awarded campaign medals for war service. He became a rubber planter and often travelled from England to his estates in Malaya and Kenya, being accompanied by his secretary and niece, Lilias Merelina Bosanquet. 
     
5. Kate Madeline Farran (1882–19??). Aged 33. Daughter of Ethel Kate (Simmons) Farren. Sister of Frederick St Clair Farran (bridegroom), Gwendolen Ethel Chomley Farran and Esme Eileen Louisa Farran. 
     
6. Esme Eileen Louisa Farran (1893–1987). Aged 22. Daughter of Ethel Kate (Simmons) Farren. Sister of Frederick St Clair Farran (bridegroom), Kate Madeline Farran and Gwendolen Ethel Chomley Farran. 
     
7. Gwendolen Ethel Chomley Farran (1880–1939). Aged 35. Daughter of Ethel Kate (Simmons) Farren. Sister of Frederick St Clair Farran (bridegroom), Kate Madeline Farran and Esme Eileen Louisa Farran.
     
   Front Row (seated from left to right):  
8. Dauphine Letitia J. C. Bosanquet (1914–1980). Aged 11 months. Infant daughter of Nicholas Bosanquet, Nicholas Conynghame Symonds Bosanquet and Eveline Janet (Campbell-Colquhoun) Bosanquet. 
     
9. Eveline Janet (Campbell-Colquhoun) Bosanquet (1876–1943). Aged 39. Wife of Nicholas Bosanquet, Nicholas Conynghame Symonds Bosanquet (five years his senior), mother of Dauphine Letitia J. C. Bosanquet and daughter of The Rev. John Erskine Campbell-Colquhoun and Emily Agnes (Bevan) Campbell-Colquhoun. 
      
10. The Rev. John Erskine Campbell-Colquhoun (1831–1917). Aged 84. Husband of Emily Agnes (Bevan) Campbell-Colquhoun. Father of Eveline Janet (Campbell-Colquhoun) Bosanquet, Rose Eleanor (Campbell-Colquhoun) Farren (the bride), Lilian Powys (Campbell-Colquhoun) Bosanquet and Alice Emily (Campbell-Colquhoun) Bosanquet. Owner of Chartwell Estate.
11. Emily Agnes (Bevan) Campbell-Colquhoun (1839–1916). Aged 76. The bride’s mother. Wife of John Erskine Campbell-Colquhoun. Mother of Eveline Janet (Campbell-Colquhoun) Bosanquet, Rose Eleanor (Campbell-Colquhoun) Farren (the bride), Lilian Powys (Campbell-Colquhoun) Bosanquet and Alice Emily (Campbell-Colquhoun) Bosanquet. 
      
12. The Bridegroom, Frederick St Clair Farran (1876–1934). Aged 39. Newly married husband of Rose Eleanor (Campbell-Colquhoun) Farren (five years her junior). Son of Ethel Kate (Simmons) Farren. Brother of Kate Madeline Farran, Esme Eileen Louisa Farran and Gwendolen Ethel Chomley Farran. 
      
13. The Bride, Rose Eleanor (Campbell-Colquhoun) Farren (1871–1937). Aged 44. Recently married wife of Frederick St Clair Farran (five years his senior). Daughter of The Rev. John Erskine Campbell-Colquhoun and Emily Agnes (Bevan) Campbell-Colquhoun. 
       
14. Ethel Kate (Simmons) Farren (1856–1930). Aged 59. Mother of Frederick St Clair Farran (the groom), Kate Madeline Farran, Esme Eileen Louisa Farran and Gwendolen Ethel Chomley Farran. 
      
15. Lilian Powys (Campbell-Colquhoun) Bosanquet (1872–1947). Aged 43. Wife of Henry Theodore Augustus Bosanquet, mother of Lilias Merelina Bosanquet and daughter of The Rev. John Erskine Campbell-Colquhoun and Emily Agnes (Bevan) Campbell-Colquhoun. 
      
16. Alice Emily (Campbell-Colquhoun) Bosanquet (1867–1932). Aged 48. Wearing mourning dress. Widow of the late Lt.-Col. Lionel Arthur Bosanquet (1862–1915), who was killed in action while leading his battalion at Gallipoli three months previously, on 22 August 1915. Mother of Cicely Alice Colquhoun Bosanquet and Eveline Louise Emmeline Bosanquet. She and Lionel had also been married at the Holy Trinity Church and her sister’s wedding must have been a bitter-sweet occasion for Alice.
     
    Seated alone on lawn (front centre):
17. Lilias Merelina Bosanquet (1902–1983). Aged 13. Daughter of Henry Theodore Augustus Bosanquet and Lilian Powys (Campbell-Colquhoun) Bosanquet. In adulthood she was secretary to her uncle Nicholas Bosanquet, Nicholas Conynghame Symonds Bosanquet. She never married.

Comments

It is interesting to note that: 

• The Bosanquet and Campbell-Colquhoun families pictured in the photograph are not only related to each other by marriage but also by blood, since all, apart from The Rev. Campbell-Colquhoun, are descend from the union of David Bevan (1774–1846) and Favell Bourke Lee (1780–1841).
   
• The Rev. Campbell-Colquhoun had four sons who did not attend the wedding, likely because they were serving with the armed forces in the war against Germany. One such son, Archibald John Campbell-Colquhoun, a subaltern with the 6th Battalion, The Queen’s Own Cameron Highlanders, was wounded in action in Flanders in September 1915, being hospitalized before re-joining his battalion in December that year.[4]

 

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Photo Citation:

The Chartwell Wedding Group, 22 November 1915, Chartwell House, Westerham, Kent, England, digital image, digital collection of Jeremy Peter Frank Stone, New Territories, Hong Kong, 2013; the photograph pictures a family gathered outside Chartwell House to celebrate the marriage of Frederick St. Clair Farran (1876–1934, bridegroom) and Rose Eleanor Campbell-Colquhoun (1871–1937, bride). From left to right, the sitters are, back row: (1) Henry Theodore Augustus Bosanquet (1870–1959); (2) Cicely Alice Colquhoun Bosanquet (1893–1954); (3) Eveline Louise Emmeline Bosanquet (1899–1977); (4) Nicholas Conynghame Symonds Bosanquet (1881–1955); (5) Kate Madeline Farran (1882–19??); (6) Esme Eileen Louisa Farran (1893–1987); (7) Gwendolen Ethel Chomley Farran (1880–1939); front row: (8) Dauphine Letitia J. C. Bosanquet (1914–1980); (9) Eveline Janet (Campbell-Colquhoun) Bosanquet (1876–1943); (10) The Rev. John Erskine Campbell-Colquhoun (1831–1917); (11) Emily Agnes (Bevan) Campbell-Colquhoun (1839–1916); (12) the bridegroom; (13) the bride; (14) Ethel Kate (Simmons) Farren (1856–1930); (15) Lilian Powys (Campbell-Colquhoun) Bosanquet (1872–1947); (16) Alice Emily (Campbell-Colquhoun) Bosanquet (1867–1932); and seated on lawn (front centre), (17) Lilias Merelina Bosanquet (1902–1983). The photograph passed from Cicely Alice Colquhoun (Bosanquet) Shelley (sitter no. 2) to her grandson, the current owner, Nicholas Shelley Tanner (Cirencester, Gloucestershire), 2013.

Sources:

• “Bosanquet, Henry Theodore Augustus.” 1883–1948. Online biography. Royal Museums Greenwich. http://collections.rmg.co.uk/collections : 2013.
• Buczacki, Stefan. Churchill and Chartwell: The Untold Story of Churchill's Houses and Gardens. London, UK: Frances Lincoln Ltd., 2007.
• The Chartwell Wedding Group. 22 November 1915. Chartwell House, Westerham, Kent, England. Photograph of family group celebrating the marriage of Frederick St. Clair Farran (1876–1934) and Rose Eleanor Campbell-Colquhoun (1871–1937). Privately held by Nicholas Shelley Tanner, Cirencester, Gloucestershire. 2013.
• “England & Wales, FreeBMD Marriage Index, 1837-1915.” Online database. Ancestry.com. 2006. www.ancestry.com : 2013.

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[1] “England & Wales, FreeBMD Marriage Index, 1837-1915,” online database, Ancestry.com, 2006 (www.ancestry.com : accessed 13 May 2013), citing General Register Office. England and Wales Civil Registration Indexes, London, England, pp. 38 & 205, marriages registered in October, November and December 1915 in Sevenoaks (Kent) registration district, vol. 2a, p. 2303, marriage of Frederick St. C. Farran and Rose E. Campbell-Colquhoun.

[2] The Chartwell Wedding Group, 22 November 1915, Chartwell House, Westerham, Kent, England, digital image, digital collection of Jeremy Peter Frank Stone, New Territories, Hong Kong, 2013; the photograph pictures a family gathered outside Chartwell House to celebrate the marriage of Frederick St. Clair Farran (1876–1934, bridegroom) and Rose Eleanor Campbell-Colquhoun (1871–1937, bride). It passed from Cicely Alice Colquhoun (Bosanquet) Shelley (1893–1954) who was pictured in the photograph, to her grandson, the current owner, Nicholas Shelley Tanner (Cirencester, Gloucestershire), 2013.

[3] “Bosanquet, Henry Theodore Augustus,” 1883–1948, online biography, Royal Museums Greenwich (http://collections.rmg.co.uk/collections : accessed 12 March 2013).

[4]Stefan Buczacki, Churchill and Chartwell: The Untold Story of Churchill's Houses and Gardens (London, UK: Frances Lincoln Ltd., 2007), pp. 113-4.