Roma Alice WARR / BENNETT / BILLINGTON
My grandmother, Alice WARR was born in Neithrop, on the edge of Banbury, in 1887. Her father, Jason John WARR, was a coachman and the WARR family had been living mainly in South Newington – indeed, they were back there by 1891. Somewhat against the rules, Alice was recorded in that census both with her parents and with her paternal grandparents (all in South Newington). Her mother, Patience, née STRATFORD, had come from Wigginton. Jason was also a lay preacher in the Congregational Church. At some point in the early C20th the family moved to Coleshill. The Coleshill Congregational Church minutes record several events involving the family – including the fact that “Mrs WARR had gone to the Methodists” (which must have been quite a spectacular piece of news, at the time).
Alice married Leonard BENNETT in November 1911. He was a month older than she and the youngest of his family; his father, a corporation labourer, had died while he was still only 10. His next two elder surviving siblings were brothers who had served in the army. Leonard was workingfor a tailor, in 1901, but seems to have been attracted to modern transport and engines and he became a Birmingham tram driver. The marriage brought two sons but was probably not a happy one. Leonard deserted his young family in May 1916 – coincidentally(?) when conscription was extended to married men. Understandably, his absence was always put down to his having gone to serve in WW1 and been killed, but he had actually crossed the Atlantic to Canada. Research into his subsequent life suggests that, however difficult life was after he left, my grandmother and his two sons were much better off without Leonard in their lives.
Alice had to make ends meet, somehow, in a time when there was no welfare state. The elder son was put into an orphanage and the six-month-old baby boy was looked after by her parents, in Coleshill. Revealingly, Jason recorded in the 1921census that both his grandchild’s parents were still alive.
My father’s memories of his mother were fragmentary, so I know that she had some gifts and skills but I haven’t found out which ones she was able to deploy at this challenging time in her life. I’m told that she wrote children’s stories but I’ve never been able to locate any – even though I’ve tried to search under all of her possible names. He recalled standing beside her as she played the piano and sang but I’ve found no record of concerts or recitals that included her name.
In December 1923, by which time she had added “Roma” as a first name, she married the widower, Dr Sydney Guy BILLINGTON, in Ormskirk Register Office. He was a year or so younger than she and had two daughters. I’ve never seen any newspaper appeal to suggest that they tried to find out if Leonard were still alive, so they appear to have skipped that requirement and relied on the seven-year desertion. In fact, it’s very likely that they were aware that Leonard was still alive – it was my mother who (eventually) told me that, contrary to her marriage certificate’s assertion that the groom’s father’s occupation was “HM Forces deceased 1914-18”, he was actually rumoured to have gone to the States – though it was still maintained that he had gone to the war, first. (I found out that he evaded WW1 – and WW2 – and actually died in Florida, in 1967.)
Dr BILLINGTON came from a wealthy Cheshire family and his eldest brother, William, was also an eminent medic. He had set up his (GP) practice in Leamington and they lived in a lovely house, no 59 Holly Walk. The doctor , a bacteriologist, had an additional professional activity of pursuing research into blood cancers. He must have been a very good stepfather: he made sure that the two boys both had a good education (far better than Leonard could have done – or would even have considered relevant) and, when it came to tertiary education, the elder brother chose to study medicine and the younger brother embarked on a degree in biochemistry (with the specific intention of being able to assist his stepfather’s research) – although, ultimately, both became Church of England clergymen. Perhaps, after his death, the world of medicine no longer looked so attractive and their hearts and minds were open to other ideas.
It seems likely that a man of such quality would have cherished his wife’s singing gift. I should love to know what pieces Alice – Roma Alice –sang and to see accounts of concerts and recitals in which she performed. As a soprano, myself, I feel very confident that the precious gift I have inherited comes from her. Sadly, she died in June 1927, before my father reached his twelfth birthday, so there was never a chance that I might know her or hear her sing.
Postscripts: After Alice died, Dr BILLINGTON married her elder sister, Annie. Unfortunately, it is said that her status as favourite aunt did not survive the changed relationship and she did not make a good stepmother. The doctor died in March 1934, having moved to Kenilworth in about 1931. A number of newspapers in the wider area carried his obituary and accounts of his funeral.
Other members of the WARR family gravitated to Leamington at different times:
Thomas (b ca 1830), Jason’s cousin, is buried in Whitnash graveyard. George (b 1839), Thomas’s younger brother, settled with his family in Leamington.
Frederick (1843-1918), another younger brother of Thomas, lived in St John’s Rd, Leamington for many years, with his wife & family.
© 2023 Christine Bennett
