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The Plumbe Family

Albert Edward Plumbe

Albert Edward Plumbe
Albert Edward Plumbe
photo from David Morris
Birth: 30 December 1861, in Henley on Thames, Oxfordshire, England

Baptism: 30 May 1862, in St. Mary's, Henley on Thames, Oxfordshire, England

Father: William Plumbe

Mother: Ann Richardby (Strange) Plumbe

Occupation: Brewery Clerk

Death: 6 May 1886, aged 24, in Henley, Oxfordshire, England

Buried: 12 May 1886, in St. Mary's, Henley on Thames, Oxfordshire, England

Census:
1881: Market Place, Henley on Thames, Oxfordshire

Sources:

Albert Granville Plumbe

Birth: 1880, in Tottenham, Middlesex, England

Father: Henry Martyn Plumbe

Mother: Louisa (Walker) Plumbe

Married: Laura Grace Nelson on 8 June 1904 at the Manse, First Church, 16th Ave., Seattle, King county, Washington, United States.
Laura was born in 1882/3, in Washington, United States.        
Occupation: Teamster (1900); Dry Goods Grocer (1910)

Census & Addresses:
1881: 11 Tilson Road, Tottenham, Middlesex
1904: Seattle, King county, Washington (marriage certificate)
1910: 1403 33rd Ave, Seattle, King county, Washington

Sources:

Albert Maclaren Plumbe

Birth: August 1908, in Atlin, British Columbia, Canada

Father: Samuel Henry Plumbe

Mother: Henrietta (Maclaren) Plumbe

Death: 17 January 1990, in Beacon Hill Lodge, North Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

Buried: 23 January 1990, in Boal Chapel, 1505 Lillooet Rd, North Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
nbsp;                             
Census:
1911: 62 Government Street, Victoria, British Columbia

Sources:

Alexandra Plumbe

Birth: 8 March 1863, in Henley on Thames, Oxfordshire, England

Baptism: 23 November 1864, in St. Mary's, Henley on Thames, Oxfordshire, England

Father: William Plumbe

Mother: Ann Richardby (Strange) Plumbe

Occupation: Governess

Death: 17 October 1912, in Henley on Thames, Oxfordshire, England

Buried: 23 October 1912, in St. Mary's, Henley on Thames, Oxfordshire, England

Census:
1881: Market Place, Henley on Thames, Oxfordshire
1891: Robinson Road, Mitcham, Surrey: Alexandra Plumbe, sister in law, is aged 28, born in Henley, Oxfordshire. Her occupation is governess.

Sources:

Alice (Plumbe) Widdowson

Alice (Plumbe) Widdowson
Alice (Plumbe) Widdowson
photo from David Morris
Birth: 1867, in Islington, Middlesex, England

Father: James Plumbe

Mother: Velebeth (Chibnall) Plumbe

Married: Joseph James Widdowson in 1895, in Amersham district, Buckinghamshire, England

Children: Occupation: Dressmaker (1891) and later landlady of the King's Head in Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire. This 15th century inn is now in the hands of the National Trust, but is still run as a public house.

Census:
1881: Box End, Kempston, Bedfordshire
1891: 18 Gery Street, Bedford St. Cuthbert, Bedfordshire
1901: Slough, Buckinghamshire

Death: 1948

Sources:

Alice May Plumbe

Birth: 1873, in Whitechapel, Middlesex, England

Father: Henry Martyn Plumbe

Mother: Louisa (Walker) Plumbe

Death: 12 October 1938 at 76 Eridge Road, Croydon, Surrey, England, aged 65

Will: proved on 2 November 1938 in the Principal Probate Registry, by Basil Roy Power, the executor
                            
Census:
1881: 11 Tilson Road, Tottenham, Middlesex
1891: Alice M. Plumbe, daughter, is aged 17, born in Whitechapel, London
1901: Croydon, Surrey: Alice M. Plumbe is aged 27, born in London St Marks E, Whitechapel
1911: Croydon, Surrey: Alice May Plumbe is aged 37
1938: 44 Heathfield Road, Croydon, Surrey   (London Gazette 16 December 1938 p8038)

Sources:

Alice Christine Norah Plumbe

Birth: 1896, in Ashton Keynes, Wiltshire, England

Father: John Plumbe

Mother: Alice Jane (Leaker) Plumbe

Death: 1980

Census:
1901: Ashton Keynes, Wiltshire; Age: 6; Place of Birth: Ashton Keynes, Wiltshire

Sources:

Andrew Reed Plumbe

Birth: 5 May 1835, in London, Middlesex, England

Baptism: 28 June 1835, in Wycliffe Chapel Philpot Street-Independent, Stepney, London, England

Father: Samuel Plumbe

Mother: Ann Serena (Payne) Plumbe

Death: 1881, in Reigate district, Surrey, England aged 45

Notes: Andrew Reed Plumbe was named after Andrew Reed, a minister at the Wycliffe Chapel on Philpot Street with which the Plumbes were associated. Andrew Reed was a well known philanthropist and was later to work with Ann Serena Plumbe in the establishment of one the first institutions to train the learning disabled in England. This was the Asylum for Idiots, initially located at Park House in Highgate, and later moved to Redhill, Surrey where it became the Royal Earlswood Hospital. Andrew Reed Plumbe was admitted to the institution as a patient in 1848, aged 13.

Sources

Anne (Plumbe) Ive

Birth: 9 January 1819, in Henley on Thames, Oxfordshire, England

Baptised: 8 February 1819, in St. Mary's, Henley on Thames, Oxfordshire, England

Father: John Simmons Plumbe

Mother: Charlotte (Aldworth) Plumbe

Married: Alfred Ive on 20 July 1840, in St. Mary, Henley on Thames, Oxfordshire, England. The marriage was witnessed by John Simmons Plumbe, Jane Billingham, Lucy Ann Ive and Emma Plumbe.

Children: Occupation: Wine Merchant

Death: 4 September 1892, in Eastbourne, Sussex, England

Buried: 9 September 1892, in Holy Trinity, Henley on Thames, Oxfordshire, England

Census:
1881: Hart Street, Henley on Thames, Oxfordshire

Sources:

Anne Clarissa (Plumbe) Seager

Baptism: 11 April 1821, in St. Martin in the Field, Westminster, London

Father: Samuel Plumbe

Mother: Anne Clarissa (Perkins) Plumbe

Married: Thomas Whittaker Seager on 30 September 1843 in Moradabad, North-Western Provinces, India
Bombay Times and Journal of Commerce 18 October 1843
At Moradabad on the 30th of September by the Revd A B Spry Lieut T W Seager 27th N I to Anne Clarissa elder daughter of the late Dr S Plumbe

Death: 22 November 1858, in Attock, Punjab Province, India
British Medical Journal 19 February 1859 p160
DEATHS.
SEAGER. On November 22nd, 1858, at Attock, Anne Clarissa, wife of Captain Thomas Seager, and daughter of the late Samuel Plumbe, Esq., Surgeon.

Sources:

Anne Richardby Strange (Plumbe) Duggua

Birth: 8 January 1855, in Henley, Oxfordshire, England

Baptism: 28 February 1855, in St Mary's, Henley on Thames, Oxfordshire, England

Father: William Plumbe

Mother: Ann Richardby (Strange) Plumbe

Married: George Oxley Duggua on 17 May 1888, in St. Marys, Henley on Thames, Oxfordshire, England

Children: Census:
1861: Henley, Oxfordshire: Anne R. S. Plumbe, daughter, is aged 6, born in Henley, Oxfordshire
1881: Market Place, Henley on Thames, Oxfordshire
1891: Robinson Road, Mitcham, Surrey: Annie R. Duggua, wife, is aged 36, born in Henley, Oxfordshire
1901: Bromley Road, Lee, London: Anne Duggua, wife, is aged 45, born in Henley, Oxfordshire
1911: Lee, London: Annie R. S. Duggua is aged 56, born in Healey On Thames, Oxfordshire

Sources:

Annie Plumbe

Birth: 1824/5, in London, Middlesex, England

Father: Samuel Plumbe

Mother: Caroline (Payne) Plumbe

Notes: Annie is referred to in Rolls Plumbe: An Authentic Memoir of a Child in A Series of Letters to a Child, and on on page 48, dated April 24 1832, we learn that Annie is seven years old.

Sources:

Annie Ethelreda (Plumbe) Gosnell

Annie Ethelreda (Plumbe) Gosnell
Annie Ethelreda (Plumbe) Gosnell
(click for full photo)
photo from Jerry Gosnell
Birth: 22 October 1859 in Maidenhead, Berkshire, England

Baptism: 6 December 1859, in Maidenhead Chapel, Maidenhead, Berkshire, England. The sponsors at the baptism were Mrs Charretie, Mrs Bellis (wife of her father's medical practice partner), and Captain Seager (uncle)

Father: Samuel Alderson Plumbe

Mother: Louisa Burton (Hulke) Plumbe

Marriage Register entry for Arthur William Gosnell and Annie Ethelreda Plumbe
Marriage register entry for Arthur William Gosnell and Annie Ethelreda Plumbe
entry scanned and posted at LINC Tasmania
Married: Arthur William Gosnell on 21 February 1889 in Holy Trinity Church, Hobart, Tasmania, Australia.
Arthur William Gosnell is recorded as a schoolmaster, of full age. Annie Ethelreda Plumbe is recorded as a spinster, of full age. The marriage was officiated by George Wood Shoobridge and witnessed by P. E. Raynor, B. C. Hunt and J. Mitchell.

The engagement took place in December 1886.

The Mercury (Hobart, Tasmania), 2 March 1889
    MARRIAGES.
GOSNELL—PLUMBE.—On February 21, at Holy Trinity Church, Hobart, by the Rev. G. W. Shoobridge, assisted by the Rev. G. A. Brequet, Arthur William Gosnell Esq., M.A., Head Mathematical Master of Christ's College, Hobart, only son of Thomas Gosnell, Esq., of Bideford, Devon, England, to Annie Ethelreda, third daughter of the late Samuel Alderson Plumbe, Esq., M.D., of Maidenhead, Berks, England.

Children: Notes: The day after their engagement, Arthur Gosnell sailed for Tasmania to establish himself there, and Annie joined him in Hobart two years later sailing for Hobart on the Tongariro, leaving London on 11 January 1889, and arriving in Hobart on 20 February 1889.
The Mercury (Hobart, Tasmania) 21 February 1889 p2
      SHIPPING.
  ARRIVED.—February 20.
Tongariro, R.M.S.S. (New Zealand Ship ping Co.'s line), 2,657 tons, J. Bone, from
London January 11, Plymouth, January 12, Teneriffe, January 17, Cape Town February 1. Passengers for Hobart—First saloon : Miss Plumbe ; 4 in the steerage. For Melbourne—7 in the steerage. For Sydney—First saloon : Rev. F. D. Brock ; second saloon : Mr. W. H. Jones ; and 2 in the st erage. Agents—Messrs. Macfarlane Bros. and Co.
RMS Tangariro
R.M.S. Tongariro
Although it is not stated on the original photograph, I believe that this picture is taken while the Tongariro was anchored at Hobart, probably around the time that Annie sailed on her.
photo from Clydebuilt Ships Database
  ARRIVAL OF THE R.M.S. TONGARIRO.
The royal mail steamship Tongariro (New Zealand Shipping Co.'s line) arrived at Hobart yesterday morning from London, having called at Plymouth, Teneriffe, and Cape Town on the journey. This boat is noted for her punctuality in arriving, and this trip cannot really be said to be an exception to the rule, for, although she was due here on Tuesday, she arrived yesterday at 2 a.m., thus keeping up her reputation. On her arrival the Tongariro was boarded by Dr. Barnard, the health officer, and Captain Riddle, harbourmaster, who were satisfied with the order that existed and the vessel received the usual clean bill of health. The passage does not seem to have differed much from the general run, the customary and greatly looked forward to entertainments and amusements being indulged in by the passengers, and no mishap occurred on the voyage. The passenger list is not so lengthy as usual, and only 16 passengers landed at Hobart for the Australasian colonies, their destination being as follows :— For Hobart, one in the first saloon and four in the steerage ; for Melbourne, seven in the steerage ; for Sydney, one in the first saloon, one in the second saloon, and two in the steerage. The roll of officers is the same as when the Tongariro was last here. Captain Bone is still in command, and Mr. Bloxam retains his post as chief officer, and Mr. Waring as chief engineer. Mr. Burlinson continues in his duties as purser, and is as obliging as ever in supplying information regarding the voyage. No casualties happened during the voyage, and no births or deaths are reported. The following is a short description of the voyage :—The Tongariro left London on January 11, and Plymouth on the following day at 1.37 p.m., with 206 bags of mails and 96 passengers. Moderate winds and a rough sea were experienced white crossing the Bay of Biscay and until arrival at Teneriffe on January 17, at 4.15 a.m. After coaling at that picturesque island the Tongariro sailed, at noon of the same day with moderate trades and variable winds, which accompanied her to the Equator, crossed on January 23. Light south east trades and southerly winds faced her to the Cape. She arrived here at 8.28 p.m on the 1st inst., and sailed at 1.26 a.m. on the 2nd inst. Unsettled weather with fogs now set in. After Kerguelan Island was passed, the usual westerly winds and fine weather prevailed until arrival at Hobart at the time stated above. One hundred and ninety five tons of cargo were discharged here and 200 tons of coal taken in. The Tongariro sailed yesterday afternoon for Wellington at 2.30 with four additions to her first saloon passenger list, viz.:— Mr. and Mrs. Duckworth and Messrs. Joseph Clarke and S. Rivington, all for New Zealand.

Critic (Adelaide, South Australia) 23 December 1899 p24
Mr. and Mrs. Gosnell, late of Clifton House School, are now living near Bristol, England, where Mrs. Gosnell receives delicate and backward boys for coaching.
Death: 13 June 1943, in Bridgwater, Somerset, England, aged 83

Will:
  MY WILL.
I, Annie Ethelreda Gosnell, make hereunder my last will and testament.
I leave all I possess, completely and entirely, to my husband Arthur William Gosnell, but if he should predecease me I desire my assets to be divided amongst my children as follows:-
A. To Wilfrid - I leave the four cottages, Nos 1,2,3,&4 Park View, Harefield, which originally belonged to his Godfather Willie Kennell, subject to Wilfrid repaying to my estate the sum of £300 (Three Hundred Pounds) which is deemed by me to have been advanced to him.
B. The remainder of my assets, including the above £300, I wish to be divided equally amongst my remaining children, viz. Enid, Kenneth, Alan, Phyllis, and Joan. The amount left to Enid is not to be given her as a lump sum, but should be paid out in weekly
or monthly instalments at the discretion of the Executors. The Executors shall decide in what manner this shall be done.
      I appoint Kenneth and Phyllis as co-executors, but in the event of Kenneth being detained abroad Phyllis shall act as sole executor, referring to Kenneth in case of difficulty.                                                                 
     Signed at Bexhill-on-Sea this third day of April (May  A.E.G.)1935
        Annie E. Gosnell
   in the presence of.
Witness. Benjamin Lister Oswell  Gentleman
                 17 Knebworth Road Bexhill on Sea 3 May 1935
Witness. Lucy Oswell.   Wife.   Same address May 3rd 1935  as above

Census & Addresses:
1861: Cookham, Berkshire: Annie E. Plumbe, daughter, is aged 1, born in Maidenhead, Berkshire
1871: Terrace, Winchcombe, Gloucestershire
1888: "Monkendons", Maidenhead, Berkshire (letters written to her from Hobart by her fiance, Arthur Gosnell). One letter, arriving in Maidenhead on 27 July 1888, was forwarded to the home of her sister Harriet (Plumbe) Whitfield, in Uxbridge, where Annie must have been visiting, following the birth of Harriet's first child in June 1888.
1890: "Monkendons", Shoobridge Street, Glebe, Hobart, Tasmania (birth notice of daughter Enid)
1901: High Street, Maidenhead, Berkshire
1911: The High School West End, Melksham, Wiltshire

Sources:

Annie (Plumbe) Robinson

Birth: 1864, in Islington district, Middlesex, England

Father: James Plumbe

Mother: Velebeth (Chibnall) Plumbe

Married: to William Hensman Robinson in 1895, in Cookham district, Berkshire, England

Children: Death: 1937

Sources:

Archibald Plumbe

Birth: 19 February 1909, in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada

Father: Samuel Henry Plumbe

Mother: Henrietta (Maclaren) Plumbe

Married: Rosalie Spendlove
Rosalie was born on 14 September 1909, in North Vancouver, British Columbia.

Death: 18 March 1988, in North Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
                              
Census:
1911: 62 Government Street, Victoria, British Columbia

Sources:

Arthur Plumbe

Birth: 20 July 1863, in Ashton Keynes, Wiltshire, England

Father: John Plumbe

Mother: Elizabeth Jane (Richards) Plumbe

Married (1st): Winifred Hettie Giles in 1896, in Ashfield district, New South Wales, Australia

Winifred was the daughter of Elizabeth S. _____. She died in 1922 in Mosman district, New South Wales, Australia.

Children: Married (2nd): Frances Mack

Occupation: Medical doctor. In the 1881 census, Arthur's occupation is recorded as "Medical Student". He became a doctor in Singleton, New South Wales, Australia.

Death: 1944 in Mosman district, New South Wales, Australia

Census:
1871: Manor House, Meysey Hampton, Gloucestershire
1881: Church Road, Ashton Keynes, Wiltshire

Sources:

Arthur Victor Plumbe

Birth: 12 October 1864, in Henley on Thames, Oxfordshire, England

Baptism: 23 November 1864, in St. Mary's, Henley on Thames, Oxfordshire, England

Father: William Plumbe

Mother: Ann Richardby (Strange) Plumbe

Married: Fanny Meagher in 1888 in Wandsworth, London, England

Children: Occupation: Commercial Clerk

Death: 15 May 1909, in Lewisham district, London, England

Buried: Brompton Cemetery

Census:
1881: Market Place, Henley on Thames, Oxfordshire

Sources:

Brooke Lambert Plumbe

Birth: 1867, in Whitechapel, Middlesex, England

Father: Henry Martyn Plumbe

Mother: Louisa (Walker) Plumbe

Occupation: Junior Clerk (1881), and sailor (1885). His death registration lists him as "App'Ce", presumably meaning apprentice aboard the merchant ship.

Death: 10 March 1885, at sea, aged 16. Brooke was on the merchant ship Shannon, an East Indiaman which was lost with all hands on a voyage from London to Calcutta.
The Liverpool Mercury 14 August 1885
Foundering of an East Indiaman - 45 Lives Lost
Information received from Lloyds yesterday morning states that the splendid iron ship Shannon of London, 1650 tons register, bound from the Thames to Calcutta with a valuable general cargo, is missing. She sailed from Deal on the 27th of January and was spoken near the Line on the 10th March, all well, but has never arrived at her destination. Underwriters have given up all hope of her safety, as she is two months overdue, and they are of opinion that the vessel has foundered off the Cape of Good Hope with all hands, numbering 45 all told.
The Board of Trade Wreck Report for the Shannon noted that she had a crew of 28 and also carried the master's wife at the time of her loss. They concluded:
The Court, having carefully inquired into the circumstances of the above-mentioned shipping casualty, finds, for the reasons annexed, that the said ship, when she left this country in January 1885, was in good and seaworthy condition, but that she was not sufficiently manned; and that there is nothing to shew how she was lost.

In the report it is noted that:
We are told that she had a master, three mates, a carpenter, a sail maker, 13 A.B.'s, an ordinary seaman, four apprentices, a boy, and three Lascars, of who one was the steward and another the cook.
                            
Census:
1881: 11 Tilson Road, Tottenham, Middlesex
2 Adelaide Villas, Northumberland Park, Tottenham, London  (Rootsweb WorldConnect (martingough))

Sources:

Caroline Mary Plumbe

Birth: 1858, in Winchcombe, Gloucestershire, England

Father: Henry Plumbe

Mother: Caroline (Straford) Plumbe

Occupation: Matron Nursing Institute

Death: 1937, in Aled district, Denbighshire, Wales, aged 78

Census:
1861: Abbey Terrace, Winchcombe, Gloucestershire
1871: Terrace, Winchcombe, Gloucestershire
1901: Richmond, Surrey: May Plumbe is aged 42, born in Winchcombe, Gloster and her occupation is Matron Nursing Institute
1911: Richmond, Surrey: Caroline Mary Plumbe is aged 52

Sources:

Caroline Ada (Plumbe) Thomson

Birth: 9 July 1864 in Maidenhead, Berkshire, England

Baptism: 12 November 1864 in Maidenhead Chapel, Maidenhead, Berkshire, England
Sponsors at christening were Caroline Plumbe, Elizabeth Hulke, and Mr Montgomery, her father's partner in medical practice.

Father: Samuel Alderson Plumbe

Mother: Louisa Burton (Hulke) Plumbe

Married: Henry John Phipps Thomson on 18 March 1884, in St Luke, Maidenhead, Berkshire, England
Henry is recorded as a widower, aged 43, resident in St Mary Magdelen, Taunton. He is Secretary to the Great Indian Peninsula Railway, Bombay. Caroline is recorded as aged 19. The marriage was witnessed by Samuel Thomson Plumbe M.D., Philip Algernon Plumbe, E. M. Thomson, Louisa B. Plumbe, and Laura Kate Plumbe.
London Evening News 20 March 1884 p4
MARRIAGES.
THOMSON—PLUMBE—On the 18th inst., at St. Luke's, Maidenhead, by the Rev. G. O. L. Thomson, M.A., brother of the bridegroom, assisted by the vicar, the Rev. W. G. Sawyer, M.A., Henry John Phipps Thomson, of Bombay, to Caroline Ada, fourth daughter of the late Samuel Alderson Plumbe, M.D.

Children: Notes: known as "Ada"
Harry returned to India now accompanied by Ada, in May 1886.
Ada lived at "Kia-Ora", Cooden Drive, Bexhill, Sussex after her husband, Harry Thomson, died in 1907. Her daughters Muriel and Edie also lived there, and her sister Ellen joined them there after the family home "Monkendons" in Maidenhead was sold in 1907.

Grave of Caroline Ada (Plumbe) Thomson
Gravestone of Caroline Ada (Plumbe) Thomson in St John the Evangelist’s Church Cemetery, Dormansland, Surrey
photo from gravestonephotos.com
Death: 29 April 1944 in Surrey South Eastern district, Surrey, England, aged 79

Burial: St John the Evangelist’s Church Cemetery, Dormansland, Surrey, England

Census:
1871: Maidenhead, Berkshire
1881: High Street, Cookham, Berkshire
1911: Bexhill, Sussex: Caroline Ada Thomson is aged 46, born in Maidenhead, Berkshire

Sources:

Charles Plumbe

of St. Dioinis, Backhurst, London

Birth: 27 December 1804, in Henley on Thames, Oxfordshire, England

Baptism: 1 February 1805, in St. Mary, Henley on Thames, Oxfordshire, England

Father: John Plumbe

Mother: Sarah (Simmons) Plumbe

Married: Mary Simmonds on 14 February 1828, in St. Mary, Henley on Thames, Oxfordshire, England. Witnesses were W. Plumbe and Robert Outhwaite. The first is presumably Charles's brother, William, and the second a relative of William's wife, Anne Outhwaite.

Death: 31 December 1875, in Henley, Oxfordshire, England

Will: proved 27 January 1876 "by William Plumbe, of Henley-upon-Thames, in the county of Oxford, Draper, James Plumbe, of 230, Upper-street, Islington, in the county of Middlesex, Ironmonger, Rowland Plumbe, of 13, Fitzroysquare, in the county of Middlesex, Architect and Surveyor, and Jolm Plumbe Payne, of 1, Northumberland-place, Bayswater, in the county of Middlesex, Gentleman, the executors named in the said will"

Addresses:
1875: Remenham Hill, near Henley-on-Thames, Oxfordshire (London Gazette 18 February 1876 p783)

Sources:

Charles Strange Plumbe

Charles Strange Plumbe
Charles Strange Plumbe
photo from David Morris
Birth: 19 October 1853, in Henley on Thames, Oxfordshire, England

Baptism: 28 December 1853, in St Mary, Henley on Thames, Oxfordshire, England

Father: William Plumbe

Mother: Ann Richardby (Strange) Plumbe

Education: Cleaver House School in Windsor

Married (1st): Frances Elizabeth Gosling on 20 March 1876, in Haverstock Hill, Pancras, London, England

Children: Married (2nd): Velebeth Plumbe on 11 August 1910, Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, England

Charles's second wife was his second cousin. The common ancestors were his great-grandparents, John Plumbe and Sarah Simmons.
David Morris notes that the reverse of the marriage certificate to Velebeth Plumbe is stamped by the Great Indian Peninsula Railway (19 January 1911) and by the Delta Metal Co. Ltd (dated 27 February 1911).

Children: Occupation: Draper, Accountant, Company Director.

After 2 years apprenticeship in London, Charles entered his father's draper's shop which fronted Market Place & Bell Street. After his father died in 1890, he became outside manager of Henley Brewery and lived at Everly House. In 1909, Charles became Secretary to Henley Water Co. and retired in 1934. In 1910 he became Secretary and Actuary to Henley Trustee Savings Bank which he served for about 20 years. Charles was a Borough Auditor and for many years was administrator for the Green School (a Henley charity founded by John Stevens in 1717) and was still auditor to the Henley Grammar School. He was a director of the former Henley Gas Co. for a number of years and chairman at the time of the amalgamation.

Death: 17 August 1939

Buried: 22 August 1939, in St Mary's, Henley on Thames, Oxfordshire

Notes: Charles was at one time a member of the Henley Rowing Club and won several prizes. He has always taken a keen interest in rowing and never missed viewing Henley Royal Regatta, usually from the river. He was a sidesman and regular attendant at St Mary's Church.

Census:
1881: Market Place, Henley on Thames, Oxfordshire

Sources:

Charles Leaker Plumbe

Birth: 9 July 1866, in Ashton Keynes, Wiltshire

Father: John Plumbe

Mother: Elizabeth Jane (Richards) Plumbe

Married: Muriel K. Chaffers-Welsh in 1911, in Inverell district, New South Wales, Australia

Occupation: Charles became a pharmacist's assistant, then an Insurance Agent for AMP in Pagewood, Sydney.

Death: 1936, in Hornsby district, New South Wales, Australia

Notes: Lost top of his finger in an accident.

Census:
1871: Manor House, Meysey Hampton, Gloucestershire
1881: King Alfreds College, Wantage, Berkshire

Sources:

Charles James Plumbe

Charles James Plumbe
Charles James Plumbe
photo from David Morris
Birth: 1877, in Islington, Middlesex, England

Father: James Plumbe

Mother: Velebeth (Chibnall) Plumbe

Married: Ellen Fensom in 1903, in Bedford district, Bedfordshire, England

Children: Occupation: Undertaker

Death: 1960

Census:
1881: Box End, Kempston, Bedfordshire
1891: 18 Gery Street, Bedford St. Cuthbert, Bedfordshire

Sources:

Charlotte (Plumbe) Coombs

Birth: 1828/9

Baptism: 11 March 1829, in St. Mary's, Henley on Thames, Oxfordshire, England

Father: John Simmons Plumbe

Mother: Charlotte (Aldworth) Plumbe

Married: William Walter Coombs on 8 July 1856, in St. Mary's, Henley on Thames, Oxfordshire, England. Witnesses were C. Plumbe, Wm Plumbe and Mary Strange. The first two witnesses are probably Charlotte's mother, Charlotte (Aldworth) Plumbe, and her brother William.

Children: Death: 2 April 1868, in Weymouth, Dorset, England, aged 39

Sources:

Ebenezer Erskine Plumbe

Birth: 18 April 1833 in Bedford Square, London, England

Baptism: 30 June 1833 in Wycliffe Chapel Philpot Street-Independent, Stepney, London

Father: Samuel Plumbe

Mother: Caroline (Payne) Plumbe

Occupation: Tallow Chandler apprentice (1851); Labourer

Notes: Ebenezer's stepmother, Ann Serena Plumbe, was a driving force in the establishment of one the first institutions to train the learning disabled in England. This was the Asylum for Idiots, initially located at Park House in Highgate, and in 1855 moved to Redhill, Surrey where it became the Royal Earlswood Hospital. Ebenezer's half-brother, Andrew Reed Plumbe was admitted to the institution as a patient in 1848, aged 13, and records show that Ebenezer was discharged from Earlswood on 20 July 1860. It seems that he emigrated almost immediately to Australia (ship record entry found in 1860). Ebenezer's death certificate claims that he had been in Australia for 40 years, while this entry date would indicate 31 years. Most likely the death certificate, which contains several other incorrect entries, is a bit out.

Death: 24 May 1891, at Maitland St., Bingara, New South Wales, Australia, aged 58, of inflammation of the groin.

Buried: 25 May 1891

Probate: Granted on 13 July 1892 to Mary Ann Millar
England & Wales, National Probate Calendar Wills 1892 p179
PLUMBE Ebenezer Erksine of Bingara New South Wales labourer died 24 May 1891 at 23 Corsica-street Probate London 13 July to Mary Ann Miller (wife of  George Robert Miller) Effects £57 15s.

Census:
1841: Green End, Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire
1851: North Gate Street, Oakham Deanshold, Rutland

Sources:

Elizabeth Plumbe

Father: Samuel Plumb

Mother: Mary (Goff) Plumb

Buried: 25 November 1769, in SS Peter & Paul, Wantage, Berkshire (now Oxfordshire), England

Sources:

Ellen Plumbe

Birth: 7 April 1824, in Henley on Thames, Oxfordshire, England

Baptism: 7 May 1824, in St. Mary's, Henley on Thames, Oxfordshire, England

Father: William Plumbe

Mother: Anne (Outhwaite) Plumbe

Buried: 12 April 1827, in St. Mary's, Henley on Thames, Oxfordshire, England, aged 3

Notes: Baptised as Ellen, buried as Eleanor.

Sources:

Ellen A. Plumbe

Birth: 1843/4

Father: Thomas Plumbe

Mother: Ellen (Moss) Plumbe

Death: 12 February 1846, in Soharunpore, North West Provinces, India

Allen's Indian Mail 2 April 1846 p233
     DEATHS.
Plumbe, Ellen A. d. of Capt Thos. at Soharunpore, aged 2, Feb 12.

Sources:

Ellen (Plumbe) Cobb

known as "Nellie"

Birth: about 1865, in Islington, Middlesex, England

Father: James Plumbe

Mother: Velebeth (Chibnall) Plumbe

Married: to Thomas Cobb

Death: 1938

Sources:

Ellen Augusta Plumbe

Birth: 26 August 1867 in Maidenhead, Berkshire, England

Father: Samuel Alderson Plumbe

Mother: Louisa Burton (Hulke) Plumbe

Notes: Ellen lived at "Monkendens" in Maidenhead until her brother Samuel Thomson Plumbe died in 1909. The house was sold in September 1909, and Ellen appears to have moved to "Kia-Ora" in Cooden Drive, Bexhill, Sussex to live with her widowed sister (Caroline) Ada, whose own husband, Harry Thomson, had died in 1907. Her nieces Muriel and Edie also lived there.

Death: 1951, in Battle district, East Sussex, England, aged 84

Census:
1871: Maidenhead, Berkshire
1881: High Street, Cookham, Berkshire
1891: 86-90 High Street, Cookham, Berkshire
1901: High Street, Maidenhead, Berkshire
1910: 10 Jameson Road, Bexhill, East Sussex   (Rootsweb WorldConnect (martingough I240 citing her sister Ada's Codicil to her Will dated 4/4/1910)
1911: Otterbourne, Hampshire: Ellen Augusta Plumbe, visitor, is aged 43, born in Maidenhead, Berkshire. Ellen is a visitor at the home of her sister Laura Kate and brother-in-law, Charles Arthur Mason.

Sources:

Emily Plumbe

Birth: 23 February 1859, in Henley, Oxfordshire, England

Baptism: 3 March 1859, in St. Mary's, Henley on Thames, Oxfordshire, England

Father: William Plumbe

Mother: Ann Richardby (Strange) Plumbe

Death: 3 March 1859, in Henley, Oxfordshire, England

Burial: 5 March 1859, in St. Mary's, Henley on Thames, Oxfordshire, England

Sources:

Emma (Plumbe) Kinch

Birth: 30 April 1823, in Henley on Thames, Oxfordshire, England

Baptism: 28 May 1823, in St. Mary's, Henley on Thames, Oxfordshire, England

Father: John Simmons Plumbe

Mother: Charlotte (Aldworth) Plumbe

Married: Charles Kinch on 12 August 1844 in St. Mary's, Henley on Thames, Oxfordshire, England. John Simmons Plumbe, the brides's father and Charlotte Plumbe, presumably the bride's sister, were witnesses.

Children: Notes: Emma is recorded on a Return of Owners of Land, 1873 in Oxfordshire as having land in Henley-on-Thames of 4 acres and 27 poles (1 pole = 37.25 square yards) with a rental value of £191 16s.

Census:
1881: 6 The Elms, Toxteth Park, Lancashire (note: appears as Emma Kinck)
1901: Seaton Carew, Durham, living with her married son, William

Sources:

Emma Charretie (Plumbe) Seager

Birth: 1 July 1828 in Lower Bedford Place, London, England

Baptism: 29 July 1828, in Old Church, St. Pancras, London, England

Father: Samuel Plumbe

Mother: Emma (Lloyd) Plumbe

Married: Thomas Whittaker Seager on 2 July 1863 in the Republic and Canton of Neuchâtel, Switzerland
Marriage certificate #229 (part1, part2, part3)
    ACTE DE MARIAGE
        EXTRAIT
des Registres de la Circonscription de Neuchâtel
L'an mil huit cent Soixante-trois le premier Juillet a deux heures apres midi, par devant nous, Louis Barbier, officier de l'état de civil Neuchâtel, sont comparus: Thomas Whittaker Seager, Caputaine dans l'armée du Bengal, Grandes-Indes, originaire de Londres, Angleterre, domicilié a Neuchâtel, né le vingt-cinq Juillet mil huit cent dix-huir, majeur, fils de James Lys Seager, Esquire, demeurant a Southt Lambeth, Comté de Surrey, Angleterre, et de Henriette neé Whittaker, son épouse;  veuf en premier noces ie. Anne Clarissa Plumbe, décéseé le vingt-huit Novembre mil huir cent cinquante-huit a Attock dans le Punjaub Indes-Anglaises ainsi qu'il résulte d'un acte de decés délivré a Londres le deux Juin mil huit cent soixante-trois par les autorités compétentes d'une part; Et Emma Charritie Plumbe, sans profession, originaire de la Paroisse de St George, Bloomsbury, Comté de Middlesex Angleterre, domiciliée à Neuchâtel, neé le premier Juillet mil huit cent vingt huit, majeure fille de feu Samuel Plumbe Esquire, demeurant en son vivant, a Southampton-Street a Londres et de Emma neé Lloyd, son épouse, l'autre part
  Lesquels nous ont requis de procéder a la célébration de leur mariage. En conséquence lecture a été faire: 1e des publications ordonneés pour les Loi-publications qui ont en lieu sans opposition; 2e de l'arrêt d'autorisation donné par le Conseil d'Etat de la République et Canton de Neuchâtel, le vingt neuf Juin mil huit cent soizante-trois, 3e du chapitre de le Loi sur les droits et devoirs respectifs des époux, nous avons ensuite demandé au futur époux et a la future épouse, s'ils veulent se prendre pour mari et femme et chacun d'eux ayant répondu séparément et affirmativement, nous avons déclaré au nom de la Loi, que Thomas Whittaker Seager et Emma Charritie Plumbe, sont unis par le mariage
  Des pièces relatives à cet acte et déposées aux archives, sont au nombre de quatre et cotées, sous N229, troisième régistre et paraphé
  Fait en séance publique a l'hôtel de ville de Neuchâtel en présence de Henri Plumbe, Solliciteur, âgé de trente-trois ans, demeurant Winchcomb, Comté de Glouster, Angleterre, frerè de l'épouse et de Charles Tunod Professeur, âgé de soixante-trois ans demeurant à Neuchâtel, et ont, les époux et les témoins signé avec nous après lecture faite.
    (Signé) Thomas Whittaker Seager, Henri Plumbe, Emma Charritie Plumbe, Charles Tunod
(Signé) L Barbier
Délivré conforme au régistre pour nous officier de l'état civil de la circonscription A Neuchâtel 2 Juillet 1863
    L Barbier
  Le Secrétaire du Conseil d'Etat de la République at Canton de Neuchâtel en Suisse, certifie véritable la signature ci devant citoyen L. Barbier, Officier de l'état civil de la circonscription Neuchâtel. Il déclare de plus que le contrôle et le papier timbré ne sont pas en usage dans cet Etat
  Neuchâtel le deux Juillet mil huit cent soixante-trois (1863)
    Pr Secrétaire d'Etat:
Le premier Secrétaire de la Chancellerie
L Sandoz
This roughly translates as:
MARRIAGE CERTIFICATE
 EXTRACT
of the Registers of the District of Neuchâtel
In the year one thousand eight hundred and sixty-three on the first of July at two o'clock in the afternoon, before me, Louis Barbier, civil registrar of Neuchâtel, appeared: Thomas Whittaker Seager, Captain in the Bengal army, East Indies, originally from London, England, domiciled in Neuchâtel, born on July twenty-fifth, eighteen hundred and eighteen, of legal age, son of James Lys Seager, Esquire, residing in South Lambeth, County of Surrey, England, and of Henriette nee Whittaker, his wife; widower in first marriage ie. Anne Clarissa Plumbe, died on the twenty-eighth of November, one thousand eight hundred and fifty-eight in Attock in the Punjab of the English Indies, as results from a death certificate issued in London on the second of June, one thousand eight hundred and sixty-three by the competent authorities, on the one hand; And Emma Charritie Plumbe, without profession, originally from the Parish of St George, Bloomsbury, County of Middlesex England, domiciled in Neuchâtel, born on the first of July eighteen hundred and twenty-eight, adult daughter of the late Samuel Plumbe Esquire, residing during his lifetime, in Southampton-Street in London and Emma neé Lloyd, his wife, on the other hand
 Who asked us to celebrate their marriage. Consequently reading was done: 1st of the publications ordered for the Law-publications which have place without opposition; 2nd of the authorization judgment given by the Council of State of the Republic and Canton of Neuchâtel, on June twenty-ninth, one thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, 3rd of the chapter of the Law on the respective rights and duties of spouses, we then asked the future husband and wife if they wanted to take each other as husband and wife and each of them having responded separately and in the affirmative, we declared in the name of the Law that Thomas Whittaker Seager and Emma Charritie Plumbe , are united by marriage
 Documents relating to this act and deposited in the archives are four in number and listed under N229, third register and initialed
 Done in public session at the town hall of Neuchâtel in the presence of Henri Plumbe, Solicitor, aged thirty-three, residing in Winchcomb, County of Glouster, England, brother of the wife and of Charles Tunod, Professor, aged sixty -three years living in Neuchâtel, and have, the spouses and witnesses signed with us after reading.
 (Signed) Thomas Whittaker Seager, Henri Plumbe, Emma Charritie Plumbe, Charles Tunod
(Signed) L Barbier
Issued in accordance with the register for us civil status officer of the district A Neuchâtel July 2, 1863
 L Barbier
 The Secretary of the Council of State of the Republic at Canton of Neuchâtel in Switzerland, certifies the true signature in front of citizen L. Barbier, Civil Registrar of the Neuchâtel district. He further declares that control and stamped paper are not in use in this State
 Neuchâtel July 2, one thousand eight hundred and sixty-three (1863)
 Professor Secretary of State:
The first Secretary of the Chancellery
L Sandoz 

Morning Post 4 July 1863 p7
Seager-Plumbe.--On the 2d Inst., at Neuchatel, Switzerland, by the Rev. Louis Junod, Captain Thomas Whittaker Seager, of H.M.'s Indian Army, to Emma Charritie, second daughter of the late Samuel Plumbe, M.D., of London.

The marriage of Thomas and Emma was not legal in England at that time since Thomas had been previously married to Emma's half-sister, Anne, which is likely the reason that the marriage took place in Neuchâtel. A month before the wedding, Thomas had contributed £25 to the Marriage Law Reform Association which had "the exclusive object of promoting the passing of an act to render lawful marriage with a deceased wife's sister". Their marriage status in Eng;and is unclear - when Thomas died in 1866, Emma is recorded as "widow, the relict", but when the widowed Emma died in England in 1870, she was described as a a spinster, and her last name was listed as "Seager otherwise Plumbe".

Death: 4 November 1870, at 18 Powis Road, Brighton, Sussex, England, aged 42

Probate: Granted on 11 March 1871 to Samuel Alderson Plumbe and Henry Plumbe
England & Wales, National Probate Calendar Wills 1871 p90
SEAGER otherwise PLUMBE Emma Charretie Effects under £7,000. 11 March. The Will of Emma Charretie Seager otherwise Plumbe formerly of 47 Edwardes-square Kensington in the County of Middlesex afterwards of Neuchatel in Switzerland but late of 18 Powis-road Brighton in the County of Sussex Spinster who died 4 November 1870 at 18 Powis-road was proved at Lewes by Samuel Alderson Plumbe of Maidenhead in the County of Berks M.D. and Henry Plumbe of Winchcomb in the County of Gloucester Gentleman the Brothers two of the Executors.

Sources:

Eric Ashton Plumbe

Birth: 1903

Father: Thomas Plumbe

Mother: Susan (Argent) Plumbe

Sources:

Ernest Langley Plumbe

Birth: 12 May 1868

Father: John Plumbe

Mother: Elizabeth Jane (Richards) Plumbe

Sources:

Ernest Augustus Plumbe

Birth: 15 February 1869, in Henley on Thames, Oxfordshire, England

Baptism: 25 February 1876, in St. Mary's, Henley on Thames, Oxfordshire, England (recorded as being aged 7)

Father: William Plumbe

Mother: Ann Richardby (Strange) Plumbe

Death: 27 June 1890, aged 21, in Henley on Thames, Oxfordshire, England

Buried: 30 June 1890, in St. Mary's, Henley on Thames, Oxfordshire, England

Census:
1881: Market Place, Henley on Thames, Oxfordshire

Sources:

Ethel Plumbe

Birth: about 1888, in Watford, Hertfordshire, England

Father: Arthur Victor Plumbe

Mother: Fanny (Meagher) Plumbe

Sources:

Fanny (Plumbe) Talbot

Birth: 9 May 1808, in Wantage, Berkshire, England

Baptism: 3 June 1808, in SS Peter & Paul, Wantage, Berkshire, England

Father: Samuel Plumbe

Mother: Molly (Aldworth) Plumbe

Married: _____ Talbot in Calcutta, India. Fanny went out to India to stay with her brother Dr Robert Plumbe, a surgeon in the East India Company, and while there met and married Colonel Talbot.

Notes: After the death of her husband in India, Fanny retuned to live in Kensington, London, possibly with her widowed sister-in-law, Louisa (nee Davies), although the 1881 census finds her living in Somerset.

Census:
1881: 4 Oxford Terrace, Lyncombe & Widcombe, Somerset

Sources:

Fanny Plumbe

Birth: 29 March 1826, in Henley on Thames, Oxfordshire, England

Baptism: 3 May 1826, in St. Mary's, Henley on Thames, Oxfordshire, England

Father: William Plumbe

Mother: Anne (Outhwaite) Plumbe

Death: 1896

Census:
1881: Box End, Kempston, Bedfordshire

Sources:

Fanny Elizabeth (Plumbe) Langley

Birth: 1830, in Wantage, Berkshire (now Oxfordshire), England

Baptism: 22 September 1830, in SS Peter & Paul, Wantage, Berkshire, England

Father: John Plumbe

Mother: Elizabeth (Neate) Plumbe

Married: Noah Beldom Langley in 1869 in Ashton Keynes, Wiltshire, England.
Noah was born in 1831, in Harrow Weald, Middlesex, and baptised on 15 May 1831 in Great Stanmore, Middlesex, the son of George Langley and Ann. Noah was a surgeon and a member of the Royal College of Surgeons London and a Licentiate of the Apothecaries Hall of London,

Death: 1891, in Cricklade, Wiltshire, England, aged 60

Census:
1851: Mill Street, Wantage, Berkshire
1881: High Street, Cricklade St. Sampson, Wiltshire

Sources:

Fanny Maria Grace (Plumbe) Moore

Birth: 1 June 1850, in Benares, Bengal, India

Baptism: 6 May 1850, in Agra, Bengal, India

Father: Thomas Plumbe

Mother: Ellen (Moss) Plumbe

Married: James Sinclair Moore in 1881, in Lyncombe & Widcombe, Somerset, England

Children: Notes: Fanny was known as Grace.

Death: 1933, in St. Thomas district, Devon, England, aged 83

Census:
1871: Lyncombe & Widcombe, Somerset
1881: Abbey Villa, Lyncombe & Widcome, Somerset
1891: Great Yarmouth, Norfolk: Fanny M. G. Moore, wife, is aged 40, born in Borares, India
1901: Willesden, Middlesex: Fanny M. G. Moore, wife, is aged 50, born in India
1911: Wellington Urban, Shropshire: Fanny Maria Grace Moore is aged 60, born in India

Sources:

Fanny Elizabeth (Plumbe) Hobbs

Fanny Elizabeth (Plumbe) Hobbs
Fanny Elizabeth (Plumbe) Hobbs
scan courtesy of Liza Hobbs
Birth: 20 September 1852, in Ashton Keynes, Wiltshire, England

Father: John Plumbe

Mother: Elizabeth Jane (Richards) Plumbe

Married: Robert William Hobbs in 1874, in Ashton Keynes, Wiltshire, England

Children: Death: 1890, in Faringdon district, of pneumonia after being caught in a heavy downpour on a return journey to Kelmscott from a family visit to Meysey Hampton. She was 37.

Buried: Kelmscott Churchyard, Kelmscot, Oxfordshire, England

Census:
1871: Westham Farm, Ashton Keynes, Wiltshire
1881: Kelmscot, Oxfordshire

Sources:

Fanny (Plumbe) Fensom

Fanny (Plumbe) Fensom
Fanny (Plumbe) Fensom
photo from David Morris
Birth: 1873, in Islington, Middlesex, England

Father: James Plumbe

Mother: Velebeth (Chibnall) Plumbe

Married: John Thomas Fensom in 1902, in Maidenhead district, Berkshire, England

Children: Occupation: Drapers Dressmaker (1901)

Death: 1 May 1915, in Bedford district, Bedfordshire, England, aged 42

Probate:
FENSOM Fannie of North End Farm Stagsden Bedfordshire (wife of John Thomas Fensom) died 1 May 1915 Probate Northampton 9 June to Charles James Plumbe undertaker. Effects £700.

Notes: known as "Flo"

Census & Addresses:
1881: Box End, Kempston, Bedfordshire
1901: New Windsor district, Berkshire: Fanny Plumbe is aged 28, born in Islington, London and is a Drapers Dressmaker
1911: Bedford district, Bedfordshire: Fannie Fenson is aged 38
1915: North End Farm, Stagsden, Bedfordshire (probate)

Sources:

Florence Plumbe

Birth: about 1891, in Watford, Hertfordshire, England

Father: Arthur Victor Plumbe

Mother: Fanny (Meagher) Plumbe

Sources:

Frances (Plumbe) Sanders

Birth: 3 March 1771, in Wantage, Berkshire, England

Baptism: 27 March 1771, in SS Peter & Paul, Wantage, Berkshire, England

Father: Samuel Plumb

Mother: Mary (Goff) Plumb

Married: William Sanders on 2 February 1796 in SS Peter & Paul, Wantage, Berkshire, England.
Witnesses at marriage were Samuel Plumbe, Hannah A. Plumbe, L. G. Whitfield.

Children: Burial: 10 August 1834, in Wantage, Berkshire, England

Notes: It was around this time that the surname changed from Plumb to Plumbe. Frances' baptism record still uses Plumb.

Sources:

George Plumbe

George Plumbe
George Plumbe
photo from David Morris
Birth: 1861, in Islington, Middlesex, England

Father: James Plumbe

Mother: Velebeth (Chibnall) Plumbe

Occupation: Dairy Farmer

Death: 16 February 1900, killed in action at Dordrecht, in South Africa during the Boer War. George was in A Squadron, 2nd Regiment, Brabant's Horse.

Notes:
Papers in the deceased estate of George Plumbe, filed 18 May 1901
Final Liquidation and Distribution Account
Personal effects, clothing, nicknacks sent to England (relatives) in terms of the last will of the deceased valued at £26/5/-
Sold cream from cattle held on shares with Messrs F & B Ainslie £6/12/3 since death
Sale of shares in certain stock in hands of Messrs F and B Ainslie £140
Share of profits of dairy at Emerald Hill from January up to part of May 1900 £84/16/10
Out of hand sales of various items inc horses, ox, guns, cart, saddle, butter washer, gun cartridges, cheese presses, etc
Value of estate £1022/10/10
Amount available for distribution £814/18/4
The following disbursements were made in accordance with the will
     William Plumbe,  brother        £116.1.2
     Annie Robinson, sister        £116.1.2
     Ellen Plumbe, sister            £116.1.2
     Alice Plumbe, sister            £116.1.2
     Velabeth, sister        £116.1.2
     Fannie, sister                £116.1.2
     Charles James Plumbe, brother     £116.1.2
 
The sum of £2/6/6, being 2% succession duty, was deducted from each of the above sums.
The difference between the value of the estate and the amount available for distribution is accounted for by the settlement of numerous small debts, mostly to traders in the areas or towns of Port Elizabeth, Bedford, Adelaide, Cradock, Grahamstown.

Sources:

Harold Plumbe

known as "Harry"

Father: Samuel Plumbe

Mother: Caroline (Payne) Plumbe

Death: Probably around 1825. Although Philip and Annie are mentioned often in Rolls Plumbe, no mention is made of Harold except as an unnamed younger brother who died when Rolls was about four.
from Rolls Plumbe p8
When (Rolls) was about four years old...
Some time after this, his little brother, less than he, died. He was very much affected by his death and would look frequently into the coffin and weep. His mother consoled him by saying, "Your brother is gone to heaven."...

Sources:

Harriet Charlotte (Plumbe) Whitfield

Birth: 24 April 1861 in Maidenhead, Berkshire, England

Baptism: 8 July 1861, in Maidenhead Chapel, Maidenhead, Berkshire, England
The christening sponsors were Mrs Venables, Charlotte Hulke and Fred Hulke (Deal); the latter two are presumably her uncle Frederick Thomas Hulke and his wife Charlotte (Backhouse) Hulke.

Father: Samuel Alderson Plumbe

Mother: Louisa Burton (Hulke) Plumbe

Married: George Sydney Whitfield on 30 June 1886, in Cookham district, Berkshire, England

Children: Notes:
In June 1869, Harriet is recorded as attending day school at Miss Brown's in Maidenhead.
Harriet travelled quite extensively - in October 1879 she went to Paris, and in October 1881 she went to New Zealand for two years, returning in November 1883.
Harriet's outward trip to Australasia was aboard the SS Orient, leaving London on 27 October and arriving in Melbourne on 7 December 1881. The passenger list records "Misses Plumbe (two)" indicating that Harriet was probably travelling with one of her sisters,or perhaps a cousin.
The Australasian (Melbourne, Victoria) 10 December 1881 p24     
     DEC. 7.
Orient, s.s. (Orient line), 5,386 tons, W. F. Hewison, commander, from London Oct. 27, Plymouth Oct. 29, Naples 4th ult., Port Said 8th ult., Suez 11th ult., Aden 14th ult., and Adelaide 5th inst. Passengers— saloon: For Melbourne—Captain W. H. Bradley, Mrs. Bradley, and child, Mr. and Mrs. F. J. Coote, Miss Coote, Mr. and Mrs. William Swayne Fleetwood and child, Mr. and Mrs. H. M. Herrold, Mr. and Mrs. Howgate and Miss Howgate, Mr. and Mrs. James Macfarlane, family (five), and servant, Mr. and Mrs. J.G. Parker, Mrs. and Miss Sanders and servant, Mdme. Pauline Rita, Mr. and Mrs. J. K. Anderson, Miss Banner, Miss Chitty, Miss Johnson, Miss King, Misses M'Mullen, Misses Phillips (two), Misses Plumbe (two), Miss Segar, Misses Swayne (two), Miss Terry, Misses Tripp (three), Miss Weekes, Messrs. S. Ambler, Arthur Banner, Wilfred Banner, S. Godfrey, T. Harden, D. C. Howat, Edwin Johnson, J. K. Lawrence, Thos. Manley, Dudley F. Milner, Alex. Morrison, Kenneth Morrison, Rawson (two), Wm. Rennie, H. G. Rogers, W. G. Simmons, F. Uppili; and 71 second saloon, also 137 in the third cabin and steerage. For Sydney—Mr. and Mrs. J. B. Browne, Mr. and Mrs. John Deans and child, Miss Edwards, Miss Boriase, Miss Leckie, Miss Pearce, Miss Reinhard, Dr. Robt. Colquhoun, Captain T. Bowyer Bower, Messrs. Alfred H. Aitkin, H. J. Barnes, F. W. Bourne, J. O. Cox, W. Gilchrist and son, Algernon Grenfall, S. T. Heard, Jas. H. Howard, Edward Lacomme, Thos. K. Legge, C. H. Rendell, G. A. Thompson, H. A. Traill, John R. Wilson, Gilbert Wood ; also 64 second saloon, and 102 in the third cahin and steerage. Mr. Fred. J. French, purser. Gibbs, Bright, and Co., agents.

Harriet's onward journey to Wellington, New Zealand, where she arrived on the Rotomahana on 16 December 1881, was on her own, without her Plumbe companion from London.
Evening Post (Wellington, New Zealand) 17 December 1881 p2   
  The s.s. Rotomahana, which arrived from Melbourne via the South just as we were going to press yesterday, brought the following passengers:—Cabin—Misses Terry, Plumbe, Tripp (3), Phillips (2), Young, Leckie and Tulloch,, Mesdames Pearce, Young, Cowlishaw, Higginson, Kirby, Ward, Rapley, Marshall and child, Fleetwood and child, Russell and 5 children, Hutchison, Pen and family (6), Hon Mr and Mrs Haddington and maid, Messrs Penn, Weston, Field, Pearce, Rawson (2), Robertson, Hebbert, Blake, Waddell, Webb, Mackie, Rous Marten, Campbell, Bainberger, Rapley, Hutchison, Cook M'Pherson (2) Lees, Brown, and Young, Masters Pearce (2), Barnett and M'Kiltrick; 37 steerage. She left again to-day for Auckland via the East Coast.

Harriet had two uncles living in New Zealand - William King Hulke was a dairy farmer in New Plymouth and Charles Hulke was teacher at Foxton School until 1882 when he returned to Europe for a two year visit. It is likely that Harriet spent at least some of her time ion New Zealand visiting these uncles. We find further mention of Harriet's travels in passenger lists indicating that she left Nelson aboard the Wanaka for Taranaki and Manukua on 30 June 1882 (Colonist (Nelson, New Zealand) 1 July 1882 p3), and arrived back in Nelson aboard the Rotorua from "Picton, Wellington and South" on 31 August 1883 (Colonist (Nelson, New Zealand) 1 September 1883 p3), only to sail again for "Picton, Wellington and South" on the Wanaka on 25 September 1883 (Nelson Evening Mail (Nelson, New Zealand) 25 September 1883 p2), arriving in Lyttelton on the Rotorua in 4 October 1883 (Press (Canterbury, New Zealand) 5 October 1883 p2). Harriet returned to England in November 1883.

Death: 9 December 1937, at 6 Richmond Ave., Bexhill-on-Sea, East Sussex, England, aged 76

Census:
1871: Maidenhead, Berkshire
1891: Bushey, Hertfordshire: Harriet Char Whitfield, wife, is aged 29, born in Maidenhead, Berkshire
1901: Watford Urban, Hertfordshire: Harriet C. Whitfield, wife, is aged 39, born in Maidenhead, Berkshire
1911: Watford Urban, Hertfordshire

Sources:

Helen Louisa (Plumbe) Fetherstonhaugh

Birth: 19 August 1905, in Torbolton, Ontario, Canada

Father: Samuel Henry Plumbe

Mother: Henrietta (Maclaren) Plumbe

Married: Claude Arnold Fetherstonhaugh
Claude was born on 12 June 1899 in Leduc, Alberta, the son of Richard Fetherstonhaugh and Ruth Draycott. He died on 23 February 1961 in Burnaby, British Columbia.
Census:
1906: Township 49, Strathcona district, Alberta
1911: Richmond riding, New Westminster, British Columbia

Notes:
Helen's aunt, Helen Elizabeth Maclaren married Richard D. Fetherstonhaugh, presumably of the same family as Claude Arnold Detherstonhaugh, but I have not determined the exact relationship.
                              
Census:
1911: 62 Government Street, Victoria, British Columbia

Sources:

Henry Plumbe

Birth: 7 June 1830, in St. George Bloomsbury, Middlesex, England

Father: Samuel Plumbe

Mother: Emma (Lloyd) Plumbe

Married (1st): Caroline Straford on 17 December 1857, in Belton, Rutland, England. Henry is recorded as aged 27, the son of Samuel Plumbe. Caroline is recorded as aged 23, the daughter of Joseph Cooper Straford. Caroline was born in 1835/6, in Charlton Kings, Gloucestershire, and died on 2 January 1871, in Winchcomb district, Gloucestershire, aged 35.

Children: Married (2nd): Mary Louisa Newman in 1872, in Winchcomb district, Gloucestershire, England.
Mary was born in 1844, in Winchcombe, the daughter of Thomas Newman and Mary Susanna Fisher. She died in 1919, in Isle of Wight district, Hampshire, aged 75.
Census:
1861: High Street, Winchcombe, Gloucestershire (next door to Henry Plumbe and family)
1871: High Street, Winchcombe, Gloucestershire (next door to Henry Plumbe and family)
1881: Abbey Terrace, Winchcombe, Gloucestershire
1901: Bedford St Peter, Bedfordshire: Louisa Plumbe is aged 57, born in Windecombe, Glos.
1911: Cheltenham, Gloucestershire: Mary Louias Plumbe is aged 67

Occupation: Solicitor. In the 1851 census, Henry is listed as an articled clerk. He was admitted as a solicitor in 1852 (The Law Times 31 August 1878 p310), then went into partnership with Joseph Cooper Straford in Cheltenham, doing business as Straford and Plumbe. The partnership was dissolved on 15 July 1854 (London Gazette 18 July 1854 p2246), but not all was lost - Henry married Joseph's daughter, Caroline, three years later. In 1861 he is listed as "Attorney Registrar of County Court". When he witnessed the marriage of his sister, Emma, in Neuchâtel, Switzerland, on 2 July 1863, he is described as a "solliciteur" and the 1871 census, and probate records for his brother in 1877 also list him simply as a solicitor.
Slaters Commercial Directory for Cheltenham, Gloucester, 1858-1859 lists:
Attorneys:
Plumbe Henry, Essex place, and at Winchcomb

Death: 5 August 1878 in Winchcombe, Gloucestershire, England, aged 48

Obituary:
The Law Times 31 August 1878 p310
       H. PLUMBE, ESQ.
THE late Henry Plumbe, Esq., solicitor, of Winchcombe, Gloucestershire, who died on the 5th inst., suddenly, at his residence in that town, in the forty-eighth year of his age was the last surviving son of the late Samuel Plumbe, Esq., surgeon, of Southampton-street, Bloomsbury, and was born in the year 1830. He was admitted a solicitor in Easter Term 1852, and was in practice at Winchcombe and Cheltenham; he was Registrar of the County Courts, Clerk to the Justices for the Winchcombe division of Gloucestershire and also Clerk to the Commissioners of Taxes for the district of Ford.

Census:
1851: "The Elms", Bray, Berkshire
1861: Abbey Terrace, Winchcombe, Gloucestershire
1871: Terrace, Winchcombe, Gloucestershire

Sources:

Henry Martyn Plumbe

Birth: 25 September 1836, in Bishopsgate, City of London, England

Baptism: 12 February 1837, in Wycliffe Chapel Philpot Street Independent, Stepney, Middlesex, England

Father: Samuel Plumbe

Mother: Ann Serena (Payne) Plumbe

Married: Louisa Walker on 4 July 1865, in Christ Church, Islington, Middlesex, England
Louisa was born in 1834/5, in Hackney, Middlesex, and died on 19 December 1886 at Denbigh Villa, 118 Lower Addiscombe Road, Croydon, Surrey, aged 49. She was buried on 23 December 1886 at Crystal Palace cemetery, London.

Children:
Occupation: Arrowroot Merchant. Henry was also an Officer in the 10th Tower Hamlets Rifle Volunteers.
Henry is shown in the 1875 Post Office Directory as operating the South Sea Arrowroot Company which his father had operated before him and then, after his father's death, his mother had run.

Advice to a wife and advice to a mother on the management of her own health p25 (Chavasse, 1907)
Genuine arrow-root of first rate quality, and at a reasonable price, may be obtained of H. M. Plumbe, arrow-root merchant, 8 Alie Place, Great Alie Street, Aldgate, London, E.

Henry was commissioned as Lieutenant in the 10th Tower Hamlets Rifle Volunteers on 13 December 1860 (London Gazette 18 December 1860 p5103). In the Croydon Guardian of 16 December 1899, he is referred to as Major H. M. Plumbe. In the 1881 census, his occupation is listed as "Houses Dividends Etc" and in 1901 he is shown as living on his own means

Death: 1 May 1915, at Denbigh Villa, 118 Lower Addiscombe Road, Croydon, Surrey, England, aged 78

Will: PCC Wills for 1915 gives death on 1 April 1915, leaving £438 11/- with Probate to daughter Alice May Plumbe.

Census & Addresses:
1841: Green End, Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire
1881: 11 Tilson Road, Tottenham, Middlesex
1891: Henry M. Plumbe is aged 54, born in Bishopsgate, London
1899: Denbigh Villa, 118 Lower Addiscombe Road, Croydon, Surrey (1899 Croydon Directory)
1901: Croydon, Surrey: Henry M. Plumbe is aged 64, born in London City EC Bishops Gate, living on own means
1911: Croydon, Surrey: Henry Martyn Plumbe is aged 74

Sources:

Henry Frederick Shepherd Plumbe

Birth: 7 June 1855, at "Monkendons", Maidenhead, Berkshire, England

Father: Samuel Alderson Plumbe

Mother: Louisa Burton (Hulke) Plumbe

Death: 17 November 1858, at "Monkendons", Maidenhead, Berkshire, England, of diptheria, aged 3 years and 5 months
British Medical Journal 27 November 1858 p994
DEATHS.
PLUMBE. On November 17th, at Maidenhead, Henry Frederick Shepherd, second son of Samuel Plumbe, M.D., aged 3 years.

Sources:

Henry Shepherd Plumbe

known as "Harry"

Birth: 5 June 1860, in Winchcombe, Gloucestershire, England

Father: Henry Plumbe

Mother: Caroline (Straford) Plumbe

Education: Cheltenham College
Cheltenham college register 1841-1889 p299
Plumbe, Henry Shepherd, son of Henry Plumbe, Esq., Solicitor, Winchcombe; born 5th June, 1860. 3b J-. Teighmore.
   Died 13th May, 1879.

Death: 13 May 1879, in Gloucester district, Gloucestershire, England, aged 18

Census:
1861: Abbey Terrace, Winchcombe, Gloucestershire
1871: Terrace, Winchcombe, Gloucestershire

Sources:

Henry Plumbe

known as "Harry"

Birth: 27 November 1861, in Ashton Keynes, Wiltshire, England

Father: John Plumbe

Mother: Elizabeth Jane (Richards) Plumbe

Census:
1881: Church Road, Ashton Keynes, Wiltshire

Sources:

Henry Martyn Baird Plumbe

Birth: 31 October 1903, in Atlin, British Columbia, Canada

Father: Samuel Henry Plumbe

Mother: Henrietta (Maclaren) Plumbe

Death: 22 September 1920, in North Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, aged 16
                              
Census:
1911: 62 Government Street, Victoria, British Columbia

Sources:

Irenie Plumbe

Birth: 1893, in West Green, Edmonton district, Middlesex, England

Father: Thomas Plumbe

Mother: Susan (Argent) Plumbe

Death: 1913

Census:
1901: named as Irene; living in Leyton, Essex; Age: 8; Place of Birth: West Green, Middlesex

Sources:

James Plumbe

James Plumbe
James Plumbe
portrait from David Morris
James Plumbe
James Plumbe
photo from David Morris
Birth: 10 July 1829, in Henley on Thames, Oxfordshire, England

Baptism: 4 September 1829, in St. Mary's, Henley on Thames, Oxfordshire, England

Father:William Plumbe

Mother: Anne (Outhwaite) Plumbe

Married: Velebeth Chibnall on 24 December 1857, in All Saints, Kempston, Bedfordshire, England. James was aged 28 at his marriage.

Children: Occupation: Ironmonger

Death: 1894, in Bedford district, Bedfordshire, England

Census & Addresses:
1876: 230 Upper Street, Islington, Middlesex (London Gazette 18 February 1876 p783)
1891: 18 Gery Street, Bedford St. Cuthbert, Bedfordshire

Sources:

James Ashton Plumbe

Birth: 1893, in Ashton Keynes, Wiltshire, England

Father: John Plumbe

Mother: Alice Jane (Leaker) Plumbe

Census:
1901: Ashton Keynes, Wiltshire Age: 8; Place of Birth: Ashton Keynes, Wiltshire

Death: 1945

Notes: The Gloucester records office has numerous items of miscellania from James's youth such as school report cards at Cirencester Grammar School (D4128/F11/7) and cricket fixture cards (D4128/F11/8)

Sources:

John Plumbe

Birth: 12 January 1764

Baptism: 25 January 1764, in SS Peter & Paul, Wantage, Berkshire, England

Father: Samuel Plumb

Mother: Mary (Goff) Plumb

Married: Sarah Simmons on 8 February 1792, in Turville, Buckinghamshire, England

Children: Occupation: Draper. In 1778 John was apprenticed to Robert Rathill of Henley upon Thames, Oxfordshire, a tailor and salesman. This seven year indenture contains terms that seem astonishing when viewed from a modern point of view. In 1792 John became a Burgess of Henley and became an Alderman in 1812. In 1812 and 1824 he was the Mayor of Henley.


Apprenticeship:
                     THIS Indenture Witnesseth,That John Plumb Son of Samuel
                                                    Plumb of Wantage in the County of Berks Clothier By and
                                                     with the approbation and consent of his said Father
                                                     testified by his executing these presents
                             doth put him self Apprentice to Robert Rathill of Henley upon Thames
                   in the County of Oxford Taylor and Salesman
                                                            to learn his Art, and with him after the manner of an Apprentice to serve from the Twelfth
                     day of January last past     - - - - - -          unto the full End and Term of
                           Seven Years from thence next ensuing, and fully to be compleat and ended, during which Term the
                                                            said Apprentice his  Master  faithfully shall serve, his  Secrets keep, his  lawful
                                                           Commands every where gladly do ; he shall do no Damage to his said Master nor see it be done
                                                            of others, but to his Power shall let or forthwith give notice to his said Master of the same.
                                                            The goods of his said Masterhe shall not waste, nor the same without Licence of his to
                                                            any give or lend. Hurt to his said Master he will not do, cause, or procure to be done ;
          he shall neither buy nor sell without his Masters Licence. Taverns, Inns, or Alehouses he shall not haunt. At Cards, Dice,
          Tables, or any other unlawful Games he shall not playMatrimony he shall not contract
            ~     nor from the Service of his said Master Day nor Night absent himself, but in all things as an honest and faithful Appren-
          tice shall and will demean and behave himself toward his said Master and all his during all the said Term. And the said
          Robert Rathill in Consideration of the Sum of Six pounds to him in hand paid by the Said
          Samuel Plumb before the Execution hereof the Receipt whereof the said Robert
          Rathill doth hereby acknowledge  -   -   -   -   -     the said Apprentice in the Art of
Taylor & Salesman which he now useth shall teach and instruct, or cause to be instructed, the best Way and Manner that he
          can, finding and allowing unto his said Apprentice sufficient Meat, Drink, Apparel, Washing, Lodging, and all other Necessaries
          during the said Term

          And for the true Performance of all and every the Covenants and Agreements aforesaid, either of the said Parties bindeth himself &
     themselves firmly by these Presents. In witness whereof the Parties abovesaid to these Indentures interchangeably have set their
          Hands and Seals, the Second Day of March in the EighteenthYear of the Reign of our
          Sovereign Lord George the third by the Grace of God of Great Britain, France, and Ireland, King, Defender of the Faith,
          and in the year of our Lord 1778

                                                                                                 John Plumb
                                                                Saml Plumb

N.  B.  The Indenture, Covenant, Article, or Contract, must bear Date the Day it is executed ; and what
    Money or other Thing is given or contracted for with the Clerk or Apprentice, must be inserted in
    Words at Length ; and the Duty paid to the Stamp Office, if in London, or within the Weekly Bills of
    Mortallity, within one Month after the Execution; and if in the Country, and out of the Bills of Mor-
    tality, within two Months, to a Distributor of the Stamps, or his Substitute; otherwise the Indenture will
    be void, the Master or Mistress forfeit Fifty Pounds, and another Penalty, and the Apprentice to be disa-
    bled to follow his Trade, or be made Free.

Death: 23 August 1840

Burial: 29 August 1840, in St. Mary, Henley on Thames, Oxfordshire, England

Sources:

John Simmons Plumbe

Birth: 5 December 1792, in Henley on Thames, Oxfordshire, England

Baptism: 11 January 1793, in St. Mary's, Henley on Thames, Oxfordshire, England

Father: John Plumbe

Mother: Sarah (Simmons) Plumbe

Married: Charlotte Aldworth on 14 December 1815, in SS Peter and Paul, Wantage, Berkshire, England

Children: Death: 14 February 1854

Burial: 3 March 1854, in Holy Trinity, Henley on Thames, Oxfordshire, England

Occupation: Draper, JP and Alderman. From 1833 to 1834, John Simmons Plumbe was the Mayor of Henley
Sources:

John Plumbe

Birth: 3 January 1797, in Wantage, Berkshire (now Oxfordshire), England

Baptism: 30 January 1797, in SS Peter and Paul, Wantage, Berkshire, England

Father: Samuel Plumbe

Mother: Molly (Aldworth) Plumbe

Married (1st):  Elizabeth Neate on 29 August 1822, in Cherhill, Wiltshire, England.

Children: Married (2nd): Matilda

Occupation: Draper and Coal Merchant. John is described as a draper at the baptism of his first two children and by the baptism of the third he is an "agent". In the census of 1841 and 1851, and a bond issued by his son in 1851, he is a coal merchant.

Census:
1851: Mill Street, Wantage, Berkshire

Death: 1868, in Wantage, Berkshire, England

Sources:

John Philip Plumbe

Birth: 29 May 1823, in Holborn, London, Middlesex, England

Father: Samuel Plumbe

Mother: Caroline (Payne) Plumbe

Notes: Probably known as Philip. The boy is referred to many times in Rolls Plumbe: An Authentic Memoir of a Child in A Series of Letters to a Child, but is always referred to as Philip.

Sources:

John Plumbe

Birth: 27 February 1825

Baptism: 8 April 1825, in St. Mary's, Henley on Thames, Oxfordshire, England

Father: John Simmons Plumbe

Mother: Charlotte (Aldworth) Plumbe

Death: November 1825

Burial: 2 November 1825 in Henley, Oxfordshire, England

Sources:

John Plumbe

Birth: 31 May 1826, in Wantage, Berkshire, England

Baptism: 28 June 1826, in SS Peter & Paul, Wantage Berkshire

Father: John Plumbe

Mother: Elizabeth (Neate) Plumbe

Married: Elizabeth Jane Richards on 21 July 1851

Children: Occupation: Farmer. John farmed the Ashton Fields farm, in Ashton Keynes, Wiltshire. Many of the records of this farm are held in the Gloucestershire Record Office (Reference: D4128).

In 1840, John had been apprenticed to "Jos. Plowman, Oxford, ironmonger, brush factor, oil and colour merchant, tinman, smith and cooper", but we have no further record of how John came from this apprenticeship to farming the large Ashton Field farm. A bond issued in 1851 "from Jn. Plumbe jnr., Ashton Keynes, yeoman, to Jn. Plumbe snr., Wantage, coal merchant, to secure £1000 and interest" does provide a clue!

Notes: In 1863, John Plumbe was given a "Testimonial presented with a 'handsome purse to Mr. John Plumbe of Ashton Keynes for the trouble and expense...that he has given to the prosecution of a gang of South Cerney thieves'"

John Plumbe's family was clearly close to the family of Charles Hobbs of Meysey Hampton in Gloucestershire. Not only did two of his daughters marry two of Charles's sons, but we see in the 1871 census that Robert Hobbs is visting the Plumbes at the Westham farm and that two of the young Plumbe boys (ages 7 and 4) are visting at the Hobb's farm in Meysey Hampton. Both families appear to have sent at least some of their boys to King Alfreds College in Wantage.

Death: 1871, in Cricklade district, Wiltshire, England, aged 44

Sources:

John Plumbe

John Plumbe
John Plumbe
photo from David Morris
Birth: 12 September 1852, in Henley, Oxfordshire, England

Baptism: 27 October 1852, in St. Mary's, Henley on Thames, Oxfordshire, England

Father: William Plumbe

Mother: Ann Richardby (Strange) Plumbe

Occupation: Draper

Death: 3 January 1898, in New Windsor, Berkshire, England, aged 45

Buried: 6 January 1898, in St. Mary's, Henley on Thames, Oxfordshire, England

Census:
1881: Market Place, Henley on Thames, Oxfordshire

Sources:

John Plumbe

Birth: 20 July 1854, in Ashton Keynes, Wiltshire, England

Father: John Plumbe

Mother: Elizabeth Jane (Richards) Plumbe

Married: Alice Jane Leaker in 1891 in Sandhurst, Gloucestershire, England

Children: Occupation: Farmer

Death: 20 May 1927, aged 72, at Ablington Manor, Bibury, Gloucestershire

Will: written 1895, proved 1927

Census:
1871: Westham Farm, Ashton Keynes, Wiltshire
1881: Church Road, Ashton Keynes, Wiltshire
1901: Ashton Keynes, Wiltshire Age: 46; Occupation: Farmer; Place of Birth: Ashton Keynes, Wiltshire

Notes: John farmed Ashton Fields farm near Ashton Keynes from his father's death in 1871 until 1915. (In the 1871 census, John and his mother are recorded on "Westham farm" but since they are surely on Ashton Fields at this point, either Westham was an earlier or alternative name for Ashton Fields, or there is an error in the 1871 census). In 1915, John moved to Manor Farm in Ablington, Bibury, Gloucestershire which he farmed as a tenant of the Sherborne estate. Farm records (Gloucester Records Office: D4128/F11/4) contain correspondence congratulating John Plumbe on proving the guilt of a shepherd and receiver of stolen lambs in 1892.

According to a short obituary in the "Gloucestershire Graphic" for May 28 1927, he was Chairman of the Parish Council and a prominent Freemason.

Sources:

John Hulke Plumbe

John Hulke Plumbe
Major John Hulke Plumbe
photo by Heath and Bullingham, printed in The Royal Navy p475 by William Laird Clowes
John Hulke Plumbe miniature
Portrait Miniature, possibly of Major John Hulke Plumbe
The miniature above, and the one of his wife, below, were found amongst the effects of my grandfather, Ken Gosnell (John Plumbe's nephew), with a note dated 2 Oct 1977 that reads "possibly Major John Plumbe, brother of Annie Plumbe, and John Plumbe's Wife". Some family members have expressed doubt that these minatures are in fact John and Florence Plumbe. To me it looks like an older version of the man in the photograph above, but John died aged 42, and the miniature may be of a man older than 42. I do have another likeness of Florence, so I really cannot say one way or the other.
Birth: 2 June 1858, in Maidenhead, Berkshire, England

Baptism: 8 July 1858, in Maidenhead Chapel, Maidenhead, Berkshire, England

Father: Samuel Alderson Plumbe

Mother: Louisa Burton (Hulke) Plumbe

Education: John went to Philberds School on 27 January 1873. Later he attended the Kensington School of Art. On 6 September 1876 he went to Oxford Military College, Cowley, and later trained at the Royal Military College, Sandhurst.

Florence (Hodgson) Plumbe miniature
Portrait Miniature, possibly of Florence (Hodgson) Plumbe
Married: Florence Hodgson on 15 October 1889 at The Minster, Beverley, Yorkshire East Riding, England
London St James Gazette 17 October 1889 p14
MARRIAGES.
PLUMBE—HODGSON.--At The Minster, Beverley, Captain John H. Plumbe, R.M.L.I., son of the late Samuel Alderson Plumbe, M.D., of Monkendons, Maidenhead, to Florence, daughter of Colonel Hodgson, of Westwood Hall, Beverley, Yorks, Oct. 15.

Florence, who was known as "Florrie", was born in 1860, in Beverley, Yorkshire East Riding, and baptised on 26 April 1860 in St Mary and St Nicholas, Beverley, the daughter of Richard Hodgson and Maria Helen Holden. Florence died in 1946, in Dover district, Kent, aged 85.
Census:
1861: Beverley St Mary: Florence Hodgson, daughter, is aged 1, born in Beverley, Yorkshire
1881: Westwood Road, Beverley St. Mary, Yorkshire
1891: Deal, Kent: Florence Plumbe, wife, is aged 30, born in Beverley, Yorkshire
1911: Deal, Kent: Florence Plumbe is aged 51, born in Beverley, Yorkshire

Occupation: Officer, in the Royal Marine Light Infantry. John was commissioned as a lieutenant in the Royal Marine Light Infantry on 19 September 1877 (London Gazette 26 October 1877 p5804). According to his diary, he was hospitalised at the Royal Hospital Haslar in 1879, with scarlet fever. John was a highly qualified officer, being a specialist in gunnery, fortification, torpedoes, and other subjects. He joined the flagship Duncan, stationed at Sheerness in Kent, as a marine lieutenant on 18 August 1880 (Navy List January 1881 p163).

The first major action in which John participated was in the Anglo-Egyptian War of 1882. This war was a suppression of a nationalist revolt led by Ahmed 'Urabi in February 1882. John sailed for Egypt with the Royal Marine Battalion on 29 June 1882. He joined the Alexandra, flag ship in the Mediterranean, with seniority of 30 June 1882 and was present at every action in which the Marines were engaged in during that expedition. On 11 July 1882 the navy began a bombardment of Alexandria and a month later a large force of British troops under General Wolseley occupied Alexandria as a staging location to secure the Suez Canal and continue attacking 'Urabi. John participated in Royal Marine actions at Tel-el-Mahuta near Kassassin in the Suez Canal zone on 28 August and "Urabi's counterattack at Kassassin on 9 September  1882.
The Royal Navy: A History from the Earliest Times to the Present, vol 7 p344
  Preparations for a general movement from Ismailia along the Fresh Water Canal towards Cairo went on steadily, until, at the end of the first week in September a considerable British force was concentrated at Kassassin, where on the morning of the 9th, the Egyptians attacked again. On that occasion the Marines were on the left of the British line, and with the King's Royal Rifles, soon began to drive the enemy back. After the Egyptian artillery, which was posted on a ridge, had been shelled, Captain Roger Pine Coffin, R.M.L.I., and Lieutenant Herbert Cecil Money, R.M.L.I., led a successful charge of Marines up the slope, and captured two Krupp guns, whereupon the enemy retired within his earthworks.

Four days later John participated in the culminating battle at Tel-el-Kebir, where he was slightly wounded in the hand and hip. He received the medal with clasp and bronze star.
The Royal Navy: A History from the Earliest Times to the Present, vol 7 pp345-6
  For three days longer the concentration at Kassassin continued. Then, on the night of September 12th, Sir Garnet Wolseley moved forward the bulk of his army over the intervening six and a quarter miles, marching in the gloom of a moonless night; and early in the morning of the 13th he surprised Arabi's army in its positions eastward of Tel el Kebir, and, attacking it at once, defeated it with great slaughter.
  The Naval Brigade on that day moved along the railway A battalion of Royal Marine Artillery, under Lieut.-Colonel Henry Brasnell Tuson, and another of Royal Marine Light Infantry, under Lieut.-Colonels Howard Sutton Jones, and Samuel James Graham, also took part in the action, the latter especially distinguishing itself. It formed the left of Major General Graham's (2nd) brigade of Lieut.-General Willis's (1st) division. After a long march, the brigade, as dawn was breaking, found itself 1200 yards from the front of the northern portion of the Tel el Kebir lines, but, having mistaken its way in the darkness, it was facing in the wrong direction. While a change of front was being effected the enemy opened fire, and ere the brigade was properly formed the fire had become heavy. Lieut.-Colonel Jones sent forward three companies into the firing line, and kept three in support, and two more in reserve, and so attacked over ground which afforded absolutely no cover. But the men moved forward with extraordinary steadiness, mounted the glacis, and reserved their fire until they were within little more than 100 yards of the ditch. The reserves, under Lieut.-Colonel Graham, then came up, and the whole force dashed into the ditch with a cheer, scrambled over the eight foot parapet on the other side, and engaged the Egyptians at hand grips. The enemy, after a brief resistance, broke and fled and was pursued for about four miles. The casualties in the Light Infantry battalion were; killed, Major Henry Harford Strong, Captain John Charles Wardell, one non-commissioned officer, and 10 men; wounded, Captains Roger Pine Coffin, and Leaver Henry Gascoyne Cross, Lieutenants John Hulke Plumbe, and Edwin Loftus McCausland, and 43 men. Lieutenant Wyatt Rawson, R.N., who was acting as naval A.d.C. to Sir Garnet Wolseley, was mortally wounded. He had undertaken to guide part of the force during the night by means of the stars. "Did I not lead them straight?" he asked the commander-in-chief, who rode back to visit him. He was specially promoted to the rank of Commander, but died on the 21st.
  The Naval Brigade was withdrawn to the ships on September 16th and the gallant Marines saw no more fighting, for Tel el Kebir had been the decisive battle of the campaign.

John returned to England from Egypt on 23 October 1882. John sailed for Hong Kong on 29 April 1883, joining the Audacious, returning to be flag ship on the China Station after a re-fit on 27 June 1883 (Navy List September 1883 p196). There he transferred to the Victor Emanuel, a receiving ship in Hong Kong with service effective 25 April 1883 (Navy List 1884 p250). John was promoted to captain on 5 March 1886 (London Gazette 16 March 1886 p1281) and returned to England in October 1886. In 1891, John was the instructor of gymnastics at the depôt in Walmer (Navy List 1891 p181). John was promoted to major on his appointment as paymaster on 22 January 1895 (London Gazette 25 January 1895 p487).

HMS Doris
H.M.S. "DORIS."
The "Doris" the flagship of Rear-Admiral Harris at the Cape, supplied the commander and some of the men who fought under Lord Metheun, and in the Admiral's cabin Cronje was confined after his surrender.
photo by Crabb published in With the Flag to Pretoria p134
John sailed from Southampton to South Africa on the Union Steamship Company's steamer Norman on 23 September 1899 (The London Times 22 September 1899 p8a), to join his ship Doris, as British forces in South Africa were being built up as tensions rose in the area. At the outbreak of the Boer War on 11 October 1899, the mobile Boer forces quickly attacked the towns of Ladysmith, Kimberley and Mafeking. One of the immediate British responses was to establish a Naval Brigade from ships presently in Simonstown with orders to escort two 12-pounder guns up the railway toward Kimberley although this expedition, after moving close to the front, did not see action and the brigade eventually retreated to Queenstown, handed over the guns to the Royal Artillery and returned to their ships in Simonstown where a new Naval Brigade was already being organised. John was also part of this new brigade going to join Lord Methuen's column for the relief of Kimberley. I have quoted an extensive part from early in the book Naval Brigades in the South African War, 1899-1900 by Thomas T Jeans. Much of the account was written by Captain A. E. Marchant of the R.M.L.I. and detail the activities of the Naval Brigade, of which John was second in command, in the weeks before his death.
Naval Brigades in the South African War, 1899-1900 pp2-18 (Thomas T. Jeans, 1901)
On October 12 commandoes poured across the Natal frontier, and, on the other side, Boers derailed and destroyed an armoured train patrolling the line south of Mafeking.
  Troops were but few in number; some were hurried up to Kimberley just in time, and with the enemy arrogantly proclaiming their determination to drive every Britisher into the sea by Christmas time, the Navy was asking to be allowed to furnish a brigade to stem the tide of invasion. On the 13th, orders came down to Simonstown for two 12-pounders with full field guns' crews of bluejackets to be held in readiness to proceed to Cape Town. The Royal Marines began to think that they were to be left out, but happily this was not to be for on the following day the orders were amended and as many marines as could be spared were to form the gun escort of the first Naval Brigade.
  Then commenced a general bustle all round. Time was short and many things had yet to be done.
  The two senior officers detailed to land—one in command of the whole Brigade and the other of the Marines—were ordered by the G.O.C. to attend at Cape Town, to arrange details and receive confidential instructions.
  Khaki clothing, not then supplied to the Navy, was obtained from the Ordnance Stores at Cape Town, piled into and on top of cabs, hurried to the station and sent down by rail to Simonstown.
  The officers met to discuss final matters and arrange personal business, khaki was issued, also military great coats, to the bluejackets, all equipment was got ready, and marines' belts, pouches, and rifle slings were scrubbed and dyed a colour meant to be khaki, but not quite, with permanganate of potash.
  Some stout men, for whom no khaki could be found large enough, tried the experiment of dyeing their white clothing a coffee colour. The result may best be left to imagination. However, everything eventually was arranged, and on October 20 the Naval Brigade landed from H.M.S. 'Doris' (flag), 'Monarch' (guardship), 'Powerful' (from China, homeward bound), and 'Terrible' (to China, outward bound). There was tremendous enthusiasm in the fleet. All hands on board manned and cheered ship, and a hearty reply was given from every boat as it pulled ashore laden with its khaki-clad bluejackets, stokers, and marines. Inside the dockyard the Brigade was formed up for inspection by the Rear-Admiral Commanding the Station, who made a short address, and specially confided the care of the guns to the marines, saying, 'The corps must prevent them at all hazards from being captured. With such an escort, I rest assured that if the guns don't come back, no bluejackets or marines will come back either.'
  There were many dismal faces among those left behind, nothing but cheerful smiles on the faces of those chosen as they formed 'fours' and wheeled through the dockyard gates on their way to the station.
  The Brigade was composed as follows:
  Commander Ethelston of H.M.S. 'Powerful' in command.
  Major Plumbe, R.M.L.I., of H.M.S. 'Doris' 2nd in command
  9 Naval officers.
  58 bluejackets.
  7 Marine officers.
  290 N.C.O.'s and men of the Royal Marines.
  The guns were two 12-pounder 8-cwt. guns on ordinary field mountings.
  The road to the railway station was packed with an enthusiastic cheering crowd of friends, and well-wishers. At the station the Brigade entrained for Cape Town, and so well had the secret been kept, no one knew what was to be the destination of this force. There were many conjectures; not a few men said, in sorrowful tones, that they were only going to Cape Town, to be stationed in the Castle for garrison duties, and so release some soldiers for duty up country. The scene all along the line was splendid. Thousands of people turned out and waved and cheered vociferously. At Cape Town (Salt River Junction) a staff officer boarded the train gave orders, printed and otherwise, the engine whistled and started for——where?  
  All necessary precautions were taken against surprise, and orders issued in case of being attacked, blown off the line, or otherwise rudely interfered with. After proceeding for many miles it gradually became known that the destination might be De Aar. The trip went along splendidly and smoothly with little or no excitement. Arrangements had been made for the issue of rations, &c., and, to the joy of every one, RUM was to be issued daily. It required some tact and patience on the part of all concerned to shake the men together, comfortably and well, and it speaks well for their discipline that no man had to be pitched into for any fault. Keen to do their duty to the utmost and thoroughly and sincerely loyal to their officers, it was very difficult to find fault with them, though naturally the unusual conditions under which they found themselves tended to get them a little 'out of hand' at first. On the route we got occasional items of war news. The telegram announcing the victory at Glencoe met us at one station and was received with round after round of cheering and much enthusiasm.
  The country until the Great Karroo is reached was very picturesque, but there are no words to describe the desert. A never-ending tract of waterless and treeless country, with an occasional house, apparently put there by mistake. Beaufort West, a town of importance, with many sympathisers of the Republics, was passed, and eventually De Aar was reached. A large depôt was being formed here, and one could not help being struck with the fact that it was a place very exposed, and open to attack and capture. One amusing incident occurred on the train. It was reported that a man speaking with a foreign accent was seated on the engine, and would give no satisfactory account of himself or of his movements, nor would he produce his pass or permit to travel on the line. It soon became known amongst the men that he was a spy. There couldn't be a doubt of it, &c., &c.
  An officer interviewed him, could get no explanation from him, and promptly had him placed in a luggage van, handcuffs on, and a sentry mounted with orders to shoot him if he attempted to escape. Eventually it was discovered that the foreign spy was a German boasting of an English name, who was travelling up and down a certain section of the line as railway and traffic superintendent.
  Staff officers on the line could not give us any information as to our destination, and all conversation with civilians was forbidden and men kept in the train.
  From De Aar the train was sent eastwards with a pilot engine to look out for pitfalls. The Commander attached himself for duty as amateur engine-driver and look-out man to this pilot engine, and at the end of the journey when we reached camp it was hard to distinguish him. He was as black as a chimney-sweep. The experience had been a trying one.
  It was reported that we might be attacked or blown up, and there was great keenness amongst the men to be ready and under fire and get in their first shot at 'they Bo-ers.'
  On the way to Stormberg Junction, which was now known to be the Naval Brigade's destination, we passed through Naauwpoort Junction, an important place held by half a battalion of the Berkshire Regiment, and which the Boers ought to have occupied at once.
  We saw a number of refugees at Naauwpoort, who had been sent out of the Orange Free State, and they looked very miserable and depressed, and asked many awkward questions as to our doings, movements, and destination. Secrecy was the order of the day, and even then it was hard for the men not to talk.
  Stormberg, an important railway junction, about fifty miles south of the Free State border, was eventually reached on Sunday evening, October 23, and it was a great surprise and pleasure for the Naval Brigade and Marines to have so especially cheery a welcome from the Berkshire Regiment—old friends and comrades of McNeill's zareba days in the Soudan. The manner in which the officers and men of this regiment treated us was beyond description. Nothing could possibly be kinder, and it was a sad parting when good-byes had to be said later on.
  Every one was very glad to get into camp at last and put in a satisfactory sleep, for we had been working at tension during this train journey, and what with the crowding and jolting had got very little.
  Now that camp was formed the hard work of daily routine camp life began.
  The weather was bitterly cold at night and very hot by day. Every morning we stood to arms at four o'clock, shivering with cold and excitement, waiting for an attack by the Boers at dawn, but it never came. But we could not slack up a little bit. It was always present in one's mind how necessary it was to keep the men aware of the fact that they were on active service—conditions very different from those of peace. After the outposts were relieved, and mounted infantry sent out, a good deal of necessary shaking-together drill had to be done, working parties went away to dig and work on defences, washing parades were held as often as possible, if water and time permitted, and before dusk the night outposts marched away. These outpost duties fell very heavily on the officers and men, but were always performed cheerfully, willingly and intelligently. The men were generally away from camp for twelve hours, and on arriving in camp were immediately detailed for other duties, and there was no taking off of boots and clothes except for washing, and even all parties sent away for washing took their arms with them and had a covering party on the look-out for the slim Boer, who is an expert in the art of sniping from safe cover.
Officers of the Naval Brigade who fought at Graspan
Officers landed with the Naval Brigade to defend Stormberg, and who afterwards took part in the Action at Graspan
John Hulke Plumbe is in the center of the photo, marked #2
photo published in Naval Brigades in the South African War, 1899-1900 p20
  The Naval Brigade camp at Stormberg was pitched on a plain surrounded by high kopjes (or rocky hills), fairly well put into defence by Berkshires and the Naval Brigade. It is difficult for those who know the place to realise how the disaster to General Gatacre's force on December 11 occurred. The Berkshire Mounted Infantry and infantry, from their experience of the country for some months, must have known every inch of the ground.
  The country south of the Orange River is of very peculiar formation, and admirably suited to Boer tactics—Boers possessing, as they do, that most important qualification, mobility. Boers were known to be moving south near Norval's Pont and Bethulie, armoured trains were busily occupied, and the men of the Naval Brigade had many exciting times careering about with their mule guns. Probably this is the first time in the history of the Navy that muleteers have been borne on ships books.
  The excitement at Stormberg began to increase as soon as General Buller arrived at the Cape, and the Naval Brigade expected to be moved forward and take a part—a very prominent part too we fully intended it should be—in the general advance. Stores and provisions were piled into the place as quickly as possible, ready for expected troops. We now heard that the first Boer prisoners were to be put on board the 'Penelope,' and others on the cricket ground at Simonstown. One day in camp we had a general alarm, turned out hurriedly, and then found out that it was only for practice—very necessary, of course, but disappointing, as we thought we were in for a fight.
  After being in camp for nearly a fortnight, the Naval Brigade got sudden and hurried orders to strike camp and prepare to move. Now was our time, we thought, and every one worked his hardest to get things together quickly, and take them to the station as ordered. We felt certain that we were to move forward to fight some Boers who were known to have crossed the Orange River, and were supposed to be marching on Naauwpoort and Stormberg. Preparations had previously been made to provision the various fortified places round about, as we expected to be attacked at any moment.
  On arriving at the station, we were grievously disappointed to hear that our movement was to be by train to the rear, probably to Queenstown, and when it was whispered that General Sir Redvers Buller had, for strategic reasons, decided to withdraw the troops from Stormberg, there was much regret expressed, and men were actually seen to be weeping from disappointment. Never was disappointment more plainly written on men's faces. It was some considerable time before the news leaked out that our destination was Queenstown, and we heard eventually that probably the disaster at Nicholson's Nek was the primary cause of this hurried evacuation of Stormberg.

Chapter II.
QUEENSTOWN was reached at 7 P.M. on November 2, and a large and enthusiastic crowd of inhabitants welcomed us. They seemed to look upon the arrival of the Naval Brigade as their salvation. Camp was pitched that night and next day the remainder of the Stormberg garrison arrived and all necessary precautions for defence immediately taken in hand. Before leaving Stormberg all stores were loaded up and those burnt for which no room was available, and the defences destroyed. The Naval Brigade had their first experience of the real discomfort of camp life on active service soon after their arrival here, for suddenly a gale (or dust storm) sprang up and blew most things away.
  News of the progress of the campaign was very hard to get, especially from Natal; the wildest rumours flew round, and very sinister were some of these. We were much amused at getting letters from Simonstown saying that the Naval Brigade at Stormberg was surrounded on all sides, and likely to be cut up. We also heard of the Naval Brigade's doings in Ladysmith and the death of poor Egerton.
  A remount depôt had been formed at Queenstown, and the officers of the Brigade were promptly fitted out with all necessary horse equipment, and occasional riding parties did much to pass the time. Cutlass drill on horseback as tried by two of the officers one day led to a most amusing, and quite unintended, cavalry charge into the middle of the tents, their frightened steeds not being used to such treatment. Though we begged them to go through their interesting performance again, they were much too modest to do so.
  Queenstown itself is a charming little town lying on a plain with a range of hills to the north. The inhabitants treated us well, and we were eventually very sorry to leave. The Berkshires' band used to play inspiriting tunes, and the fair inhabitants, many of them Boer sympathisers, no doubt, enjoyed the unusual treat, and often were to be seen in our camp, as guests. But we were very suspicious of everybody, and the men were instructed never to give any information whatever to strangers, and taxed their imaginations to give ingenious and misleading replies. To one visitor, who, on being shown the guns, asked: 'What do they fire?' the private of marines, remembering his orders, had a brilliant inspiration, and replied: 'Oh, them there guns? Well, you see, when our fellers 'ave to go away from camp on dooty we fires biscuits after 'em. It saves a deal of trouble.'
  The duties at Queenstown were very heavy for our men, and there was plenty of digging and building for them to do; the weather being bitterly cold at night, and exceedingly hot during the day. Sometimes there was as much as forty-five to fifty degrees variation in temperature, varied by occasional gales of wind, and dust storms, quite enough to spoil one's 'stretch off the land' and temper. It was very amusing on one night, when the top-gallant halyards of the mess tent carried away, to see officers in varicoloured night garments running about trying to keep the marquee from travelling heavenwards. However, by dint of hard work, hard language, and a number of strong men the situation was saved.
  Some reinforcements were sent up to this garrison, but when the railway west of Queenstown was cut it was decided to withdraw the garrison altogether, and with bitter expressions on all sides, and much sympathy from the Berkshires, the Naval Brigade was entrained for East London. This disappointment was awful to us, as we quite thought that all our chances of being in action had gone. We returned horses, saddlery, water-cart, and all army stores, and actually handed over the guns to a second lieutenant of Royal Artillery. To return without their guns was an exceedingly great blow to our men, and the night before we left it is vouched for that two of the gun's crew approached an officer, and, after a good deal of scratching of heads and shuffling of feet, asked permission to disable their guns. When asked 'what the devil they meant?' they answered, 'Well, sir, seeing as how we can't take 'em back ourselves, we don t want 'em to fall into the hands of nobody else.'
  There were heavy hearts when the good-byes were said to our friends in the garrison. The Berkshire band played us away, and a big crowd assembled at the station to see the last of the Naval Brigade, who during their short stay in garrison had become exceedingly popular. Every one hoped to meet us again, and still hoped to meet us fighting.
  At East London we were met by the senior naval officer, who said it was quite true that we were to rejoin our ships. We had fondly hoped that Natal might be our goal. Here the 'Terrible's' men of the Naval Brigade embarked on board a transport for passage to rejoin their ship, and to see some fighting in Natal, and the remainder embarked on board the 'Roslin Castle,' and left immediately for Simonstown. Champagne to drown one's sorrows and quench one's thirst was the order of the night, and after a good dinner, a smoke and sing-song, we, to a certain extent, forgot our sorrow and took a more cheerful view of the situation; but the disappointment and disgust at being sent back, bloodless, to our ships may be better imagined than described. At East London we heard how well the Natal Naval Brigades had been doing, and wished and hoped for our chance to come.
  On the way round to Simonstown there was deep-seated anger at the thought of being on the point of rejoining the fleet without having a chance of fighting, and we wondered if we should be badly chaffed. Imagine our joy on arriving on Sunday, November 19, to see men in khaki parading on board the ships, and to receive a signal that a new Naval Brigade was being organised, that we were to form part of it, that we were to be entrained at four o'clock that same afternoon, all under the command of Flag Captain Prothero, and that we were going to join Lord Methuen's column for the relief of Kimberley. Round after round of cheering rent the air, and there was a good deal of hand-shaking and congratulations. Those of us whose wives were living at Simonstown were lucky enough to be able to get ashore for a few hours, and then off to the front again.

Chapter III.
  THE force was reconstituted, more guns and more bluejackets were taken, the whole of the force being made up to something like 400 of all ranks—half of these being marines; four 12-pounder 12-cwt. guns on improvised mountings (Scott's), with guns' crews, stokers for stretcher-bearers, and a medical staff.
  The same tremendous enthusiasm was shown on this day as on October 20. The Rear-Admiral inspected us on the lawn of Admiralty House and wished us God-speed; a south-easter blowing with unaccustomed vigour gave us a final send-off, and we left to join Methuen's Kimberley relief force in the highest spirits.
Naval Brigade Simonstown 1899
MARINES OF THE NAVAL BRIGADE WHICH FOUGHT AT ENSLIN
The detachment is here represented marching out of Simonstown on it way to the front.
photo published in With the Flag to Pretoria p150
  The whole town and dockyard turned out, and with drums beating and colours (if we had them) flying we marched gaily to the station, entrained for Cape Town, being cheered all along the route, and left at 9 P.M. that night for De Aar. Shortly after leaving Beaufort two trains collided and blocked the line, and as our Commanding Officer had orders to get on to Lord Methuen as quickly as possible, he decided to transfer all our train load into another train about half a mile ahead. It was a tough job, but the men splendidly helped by a squadron of South African Light Horse, worked with a will from 10 P.M. till 2 A.M. and did it, and we proceeded. The collision looked a suspicious affair, but it was quite impossible to apportion the blame. Probably Boer sympathisers were about. All necessary precautions were again taken to guard against surprise, or to resist an attack, and we arrived at De Aar without further incident. RUM was again regularly issued, and was a very cheering addition to our mid-day meal.
  Lord Methuen waited for the arrival of the Naval Brigade at Witteputs before making his advance on Belmont, where a hard fight took place on November 23, in which the Guards and Northumberland Fusiliers behaved splendidly and suffered heavily, and the Naval Brigade came under fire for the first time during the war. The Naval Brigade was delayed marching with the force on account of the late arrival of its transport, and the night march that followed was a particularly trying one. All baggage of officers was cut down to 35 lbs., swords were left behind, and much of the men's gear packed in a railway truck as base luggage. One officer's horse, with brand-new saddlery, &c., bolted and was never seen again. The horse was loot, so probably it was a judgment. At 8.30 P.M. the Naval Brigade column, somewhat resembling a long gipsy caravan, was finally mustered and got under way, the mules being very troublesome, wagon loads heavy, and drivers not quite experienced yet in their work. After some time two wagons got hopelessly stuck in the heavy going, and the rear guard of one company of marines was left to bring them along as well as possible. It seemed a hopeless and endless task, but by dint of hard work and perseverance the column did eventually reach the camp at Belmont, where water was very welcome. A night march with obstinate mules is a very trying experience. The Naval Brigade was fortunate enough to come into action and under fire, but did not have very much to do in the fight. The going was very heavy and in places very rocky for the 12-pounder guns on improvised, dockyard-built wooden mountings. The weather was very hot; and mules and men were much distressed and dead beat after this trying night march and fight.
        A. E. Marchant

More details of the Naval Brigade's actions at Belmont can be found in Captain Prothero's dispatches:
The London Gazette 30 March 1900 pp2125-6
       H.M.S. "Doris," Simon's Bay,
SIR,                      4th December, 1899.
   IN accordance with your orders I left Simon's Bay on Sunday the 19th November, and arrived with the Naval Brigade at Lord Metheun's Headquarters at about 1 o'clock on the 22nd. On reporting myself to Lord Metheun I received orders to accompany him that afternoon to Belmont. Having to wait for transport from Orange River, which arrived very late in the evening, I could not manage to leave until the brigade had already marched some hours. Having packed waggons and harnessed mules I marched at 8.30 to Belmont. Being a long column it was necessarily a very slow march, and the mules were troublesome.
  2. On arriving within one mile of Belmont I received orders through a staff officer to go back along the road, and to be in Belmont by 3 o'clock next morning to report myself to the General. On arriving at headquarters at 3 A.M., I received orders to communicate with Colonel Hall, commanding Royal Artillery; having met him, I marched out of Belmont by road in company with Colonel Hall's battery of Field Artillery. After clearing Belmont kopjes, we turned off the road on the open veldt; day was just dawning, and we could see the top of the line of kopjes held by the enemy. We were then advancing towards the centre of his position, over very rough ground intersected with dykes. This tried our gun-mountings very severely.
  Unfortunately, one gun capsized, but was soon righted, and I was relieved to find that there was no damage done, and that the dockyard work stood the test so well.
  On proceeding to higher ground, a view of the Boers position was then obtained. A long line of kopjes, which looked very much higher at dawn of day than they really were, the light being very bad indeed, and the sun coming up behind the kopjes cast dark shadows, which made it very hard to distinguish any objects. In addition to this there was a mist round the lower part of the kopjes.
  3. Firing was now going on in our front, the Boers evidently having been repulsed. Colonel Hall here turned away to his left, and to the left of the Boer position, on the understanding that I should take up a position across the railway line on higher ground, and he would soon communicate with me. This I did, but had great difficulty in taking my heavy ammunition waggons and guns across the railway-line, finally succeeding. I here brought the battery into action to try the range of the extreme depth of the Boer position, but after firing a range-finding shot, and not seeing it pitch, I limbered up.
  4. Hearing heavy firing on the right of the position, and not having had any communication from Colonel Hall, I determined, if possible, to get the battery in range of the large kopje, which a battery of the Royal Artillery were shelling. The guns not being mobile, and having to cover heavy ground I was unfortunately too late to take part in shelling the top of the kopje, which the guards carried.
  5. I then turned to the left between two kopjes, and found the Boers on the rear kopje, firing upon advancing infantry. I immediately got the battery into action, and at 1,700 yards shelled the Boers, who were firing on our troops, the practice being excellent. The Boers were very soon silenced and retreated.
  6. I received orders from the General to take my guns, if possible, on to a low kopje, about 800 yards from my front, so as to shell the retreating Boers from their position. I limbered up, and advanced as quickly as possible over very rough ground, and advancing well ahead myself to survey the kopje. I found, when I arrived on top, that it was impossible to take wheels over it, so reluctantly had to give it up. Here my officers, men, and mules were almost dead beat, and the battle over. Having watered my mules, I returned to the camp with the remainder of the troops.

After the victory at Belmont, Metheun's column continued up the railway line towards the next Boer entrenchment at Graspan, near Enslin station.
Naval Brigades in the South African War, 1899-1900 pp20-34 (Thomas T. Jeans, 1901)
CHAPTER IV
THE general advance along the railway was recommenced at 1.30 P.M., the armoured train moving abreast of the Division, and being followed by another train with the naval-12 pounders on trucks. Lieutenant Dean was in command of these, and their mule teams had been lent to the field batteries, in order that the exhausted horses might reserve their strength till actually in contact with the enemy.
  Our destination was two shallow dams, about seven miles north of Belmont, and as it was expected that their possession would be contested, the advance was exceedingly slow to allow of very careful scouting ahead. However, the Boers were good enough not to give any trouble, and at sunset a final halt was called, and the Division bivouacked for the night, between two small kopjes on either flank, the Naval Brigade occupying the post of honour on the extreme right, and throwing out a company of marines to hold a narrow 'nek' of rising ground in the right rear.
  The local topography of this narrow 'nek' became tolerably well known that night, for on the opposite side lay the two dams from which water had to be obtained.
  The men, carrying water bottles and mess tins, were taken across a company at a time, and will not readily forget these excursions. The night was extremely dark, except for the occasional treacherous light of a quarter moon; great boulders brought them up with a 'round turn' and barked shins; loose stones tripped them and spilt the water they carried; and deep holes, concealed by long grass, laid pitfalls for those who had managed to steer clear of other dangers.
  These dams were only three-quarters of a mile away, yet the double journey occupied two hours, and as they were very shallow, with about twelve inches of mud and three of water, more mud than water was brought back. However, we tried to imagine it was rum.
  By the time water was obtained and fires burning brightly it was reported that our commissariat wagons had dragged themselves up, so the gunner went off in the dark to hunt for them, and after a long search returned with sufficient tinned meat and ship's biscuit to issue a small ration to all. As a great luxury, the officers opened a tin of preserved kidneys, and these, biscuits and muddy water, eaten round the fires, formed our supper.
  The fact, however, that this was 'real soldiering' made the fare seem luxurious, and in the circumstances, the 'sardine, beer, and onion' suppers after a long 'coal-ship' day could not stand comparison.
  Supper being finished we smoked round our fires and discussed the situation generally, the chances of getting some sleep and the probable events of to-morrow.
  'We must get the chance of a "show" before reaching Kimberley,' was the general opinion, and the 'show' we meant was a little infantry work in addition to our long-range artillery business.
  Almost as this opinion was expressed, out of the darkness into the light of our fire stepped the good fairy we had invoked, a somewhat dust-grimed A.D.C., inquiring 'Is this the Naval Brigade?'
  'Yes, old chap. Sorry we can't give you a drink.'
  'I want the officer commanding.'
  We directed him to Captain Prothero, and heard him say as he handed the captain some orders, 'You will have a nice job to-morrow, sir, something more to your liking.'
  Immediately the officers were summoned, and the captain read the laconic order, 'The enemy, about four hundred strong, hold a hill on our line of advance two miles to the north. The Naval Brigade will lead the attack, supported by the K.O.Y.L.I. and a field battery. . . .' Then followed precise instructions as to movements and dispositions.
  'Good night, sir,' said the A.D.C., and disappeared.
  At last the Navy was to have a 'show' all to herself; the news seemed almost too good to be true, and it was some short time before we could believe it and realise our luck.
  The officers went to their companies, and told them there would be work for them next day, though the actual arrangements were kept secret. A thrill of excitement ran through the Brigade. 'By Jove, what sport!' said a midshipman. 'What luck!' said an officer of marines. 'Is it really true, sir?' asked a company sergeant, radiant with the anticipation of an infantry job; every one felt a sense of subdued joy and satisfaction that something was going to happen to-morrow. The only people that night who did not share equally in the good news were the fifty bluejackets manning the guns on the railway, who would have to stay with them, and would not be able to take part in the infantry attack.
  The men lay down by their arms and the officers in groups of two and three, but sleep was long in coming, fitful and but little refreshing when it came.
  The night was very cold; the wagon with our blankets, great coats, and waterproof sheets had lost its way in the darkness and could not be found; it was impossible to find a spot where we could lie down without resting on the sharp corner of some rock, and in our thin cotton khaki we shivered through the night. It was our first experience of a very cold night after a hot day, and without our blankets we did not enjoy it.
  The picket in the right rear was relieved at 11 P.M.
  Saturday, November 25.—The picket was withdrawn at 2.30 A.M. and the Brigade stood to arms at 3 A.M. Magazines were charged and rifles carefully examined. This being done we marched silently down to the place of assembly and were joined by the cavalry, mounted infantry, and the K.O.Y.L.I., the remainder of the 9th Brigade forming up in rear and the Guards in charge of the baggage. At 3.45 A.M. an advance was made in mass of quarter-column, the spaces between companies being slightly opened out. The mounted troops bore away to the flanks, and in the growing daylight we could just make out a hill ahead of us which we imagined was our objective and on which we could see a few figures moving against the sky-line. As we drew nearer a murmur of disappointment ran through the ranks, for these moving figures turned out to be our own scouts and we were afraid our chance had gone.
  However the Boer position was not nearly reached yet.
  The whole Division advanced parallel to and about a mile on the right of the railway, the cavalry well away on the flanks, the two field batteries well to the front, and the Naval Brigade proudly leading the infantry. Slowly puffing along the line on our left was the armoured train, with the naval 12-pounders on trucks behind it, and away on our right the sun was just appearing over the horizon.
  The air was delightfully cool and bracing, and we marched over the veldt at a steady pace, the 'going' being very good. Occasionally we halted for a few minutes.
  After marching for a couple of hours the scouts came in touch with the enemy and found their main body strongly posted in a position very similar to that at Belmont, except that the line of kopjes they held was broken in their left centre and the kopjes themselves did not run so high. The extent of the position was about three miles from flank to flank, running eastwards at right angles to the railway. The right flank was beautifully drawn back, and the field of fire commanded was, if possible, more nearly approaching the ideal than even that at Belmont, with splendid opportunities for posting and concealing guns amongst the rocks, whilst attacking artillery had no commanding positions to seize and would have to unlimber in the open. There was not the slightest cover for an attacking force except for an occasional ant-hill dotted here and there over the veldt, which extended for thousands of yards round the front and flank and was covered with rank brown grass about eighteen inches high.
  Away on the enemy's extreme left stood a boulder-strewn kopje, higher than the rest, a fortress in itself. It appeared to be almost isolated, but we found later that a low lying spur, covered with great rocks, ran out towards and a little in front of it from the central kopje, and gave splendid cover for a deadly cross-fire as we advanced to the attack.
  Its strength and size were such that it evidently formed the key of the position, and it was against it that the attack was ultimately pushed home.
  A field battery now galloped out and commenced shelling it at a range of about 2,500 yards. On our left the naval guns and the other battery were also in action and were being vigorously replied to by two Boer guns.
  Thus about seven o'clock — we had already marched for three hours it must be remembered— the general position was as follows. The Naval Brigade, extended to single rank, leading, and the 9th Brigade, similarly extended in support, were opposite the right centre of the Boer position and distant about 3,500 yards. The Guards' Brigade was guarding the baggage on the railway, the cavalry were hovering round the enemy's right to intercept their retreat, one battery and the naval guns were busy on our left, and the second battery far away on our right flank was pouring shrapnel over that isolated kopje on the Boer left.
  At this point the intended attack on the Boer left flank commenced to develop. The Naval Brigade, now extended to four paces, the K.O.Y.L.I. and the half-battalion of Royal North Lancasters were ordered to move away to the right, and the remainder of the 9th Brigade, consisting of the Northumberlands and Northamptons, pushed on, straight ahead, for the centre of the enemy's position, to demonstrate against this point and to act as a containing force.
  Slowly we laboured across the front of the kopjes whilst the guns merrily pounded away, and extended as we were in a line about eight hundred yards long, perhaps longer, this diagonal march of nearly two miles was very tedious.
  Not quite certain why this movement was taking place, for only the commanding officers knew exactly what we were intended to do, we trudged along through the coarse grass, keeping our left shoulders well up to avoid the ugly rocky kopjes in our immediate front. The sun was beginning to be very hot and we were becoming somewhat 'droopy,' as no one had had any breakfast, except a few who had been wise enough to save a little biscuit or bread from their supper over night, and we had been marching already for three hours and a half. The men were taking frequent 'pulls' at their water bottles, and the advice to 'Save your water, men, you'll want it presently,' had not much effect. Lucky were those who still had a little two hours later.
  Now and then a greis-buck would get up and scamper down the line; and sometimes a covey of frightened partridges would remind us that we had rifles in our hands, not shot-guns.
  We glanced at the kopjes and almost wondered why the guns poured such a tempest of shrapnel over them; rarely did we catch sight of a figure moving among the rocks, and with the exception of the enemy's guns on their right, vigorously replying to our own, the whole position looked harmless and untenanted.
  At 7.45 we were some seven hundred yards from the base of the isolated kopje on the Boer left, and the field battery ceased filing. Almost immediately from the rocks, which a moment before seemed lifeless, there opened the wild crackle of Mausers.
  Bang! Bang! the battery commenced again, firing over our heads. Even now our firing line was continuing its diagonal march, but at the moment we heard the crackle of musketry and the whistling of bullets each man instinctively turned to his front and the line paused.
  Captain R. C. Prothero, R.N., led the advance, and Major J. H. Plumbe, R.M.L.I., Captain A. E. Marchant, R.M.L.I., and Colour-Sergeant Dyson were in advance of the various marine companies.
  Midshipman T. F. J. L. Wardle acted as A.D.C. to Major Plumbe and accompanied that officer. In some places the line was somewhat crowded and 'bunched,' but the average extension was about four paces.
  As supports, there were seven companies of the K.O.Y.L.I., which later on reinforced the right of the firing line, and in reserve, the half-battalion of the Royal North Lancasters.
  The composition of the firing line from right to left was as follows:
  1 Company of Bluejackets {Comm. A. P. Ethelston, Lieut. Hon E. S. H. Boyle, Gunner E. E. Lowe, Midship. C. A. E. Huddart, Midship. W. W. Sillem} 55
{'A' Company R.M.A. Captain Guy Senior
  'B' Company R.M.L.I. Lieut W. T. C. Jones
  'C' Company R.M.L.I. Lieut F. J. Saunders }  190
  1 Company of K.O.Y.L.I.   85
    Total strength of firing line 330
  The Brigade paused and half wondered what all this crackling going on in front meant; there was a sound of whistling in the air, and instinctively we raised our left arms as if to protect our faces from a hail storm.
  Advance! Advance! And on we went at the 'quick'; the crackling grew fiercer and we looked anxiously to see if any one was hit.
  Down dropped three men, falling forward; 'Get up!' shouted an officer, but only one rose and he was dazed and bleeding from the back of the neck—a shrapnel had burst overhead.
  A few paces forward and the line sank down; officers shouted the distance—600 yards; non-commissioned officers gave, 'Volleys! Ready! Present! Fire!' and those of the men who heard obeyed. Fire control was, however, almost impossible; the men were too far apart and the noise of the enemy's fire drowned all orders.
  Officers and men quickly grasped the situation and used their rifles independently. This was our first halt after coming under fire, and from here onwards the attack took the form of a succession of short rushes.
  The line worked automatically, firing rushing on and dropping down to fire again. Men advanced, crouching low, some holding their water bottles in their left hands, ready to moisten their lips at the next halt; the scorching heat and overwhelming excitement had parched our throats, and each drop of water gave us strength for another spring.
  As the line halted each man threw himself at full length on the ground, drew himself to a tuft of grass, loaded his rifle, adjusted his sight and fired at the top of the kopje. Only an occasional head was visible there, and it is an extraordinary fact that, though under fire for the first time, many men, in order to make their aim more accurate, actually lowered their sights frequently as they advanced, disregarding the rule laid down of fixed sights below 500 yards, and thus displaying a most unexpected coolness during a period of intense excitement.
  The Boer fire was hottest between 500 and 200 yards—a short-range fire in front from the crest of the hill sending down a continual stream of bullets—ploughing up the ground all round us, splashing against stones and rocks, and flying by with a shriek, or whistling past us with a noise like the crack of a whip. But a far more deadly cross-fire swept the line from our left. This came from the before-mentioned rocky spur jutting out from the central kopjes, and down to which the Boers had poured, to reinforce their left, and to get away from the fire of the guns near the railway.
  Here they were unmolested, except for an occasional shell, and could use their rifles with deliberation.
  Most of our casualties took place whilst dashing on; some were shot as they lay firing, all remained helpless where they were struck down on the open veldt and frequently were hit again and again as they lay. Those who could do so dragged themselves to an ant-heap or tuft of grass and waited for the next bullet to hit them. Others, regardless of wounds, struggled on till brought down by another.
  The officers lost heavily. Commander Ethelston, Major Plumbe and Captain Senior were shot dead, Captain Prothero, R.N., and Lieut. Jones were both severely wounded, and Midshipman Huddart was mortally wounded whilst struggling to advance after being twice hit.
  Nearly all the petty officers and non-commissioned officers were killed or wounded, but the line still advanced without the slightest wavering. One may well ask how the men were led?
  Drill books have taught that men should not lie down during the last 500 yards of the attack, because of the supposed impossibility, once they had laid down, of making them rise and face a short-range magazine fire.
  It is certain, however, that the whole attack would have been swept away if they had remained on their feet continually, and there was no difficulty whatever in making them 'rise up' again. They wanted no leading; they were only too anxious to close with the enemy and get it over; many, in fact, had to be restrained to prevent the line losing its cohesion. If an officer sprang up, all his men followed like clockwork; there was no hesitation, and so it continued till the foot of the kopje was reached.
  Here we were to a great extent sheltered by the very steepness of the kopje, and paused to take breath in this 'dead space,' the bullets flying past well overhead. Whilst we waited, our supports of the K.O.Y.L.I. rushed across the fire-swept belt we had just crossed and reinforced our right, bayonets were fixed, and on we went again.
  Climbing was difficult and we had in places to haul ourselves up on hands and knees, painfully and slowly. The frontal fire never ceased till we were within twenty-five yards of the top, and then we knew the Boers thought it was time to quit. With a last scramble and rush we gained the crest only to find the enemy flying down the other side.
  We still had to keep under cover, for they gained the shelter of some rocks a few hundred yards in rear of the kopje they had just vacated, and opened fire. We were also again enfiladed from the left, but two companies of supports, swinging round their right and manning the left of the kopje, completely commanded the rocky spur to which the Boers were still clinging and quickly drove them out. The only thing now to be done by infantry was to dislodge the few Boers who remained to cover the main retreat. This was done by men of various corps, but luckily for the enemy they were partially screened in this retreat by the smaller kopjes, and as they had already jumped on their horses and obtained a good start, they got away almost unscathed until they were at long range, when a few probably useless volleys were sent after them. They had purposely galloped through the dam (pond)—the only water supply—to stir up the mud and spoil it for drinking.
  Officers and men were terribly disappointed at not closing with them, and still more so when their wagons and baggage could be seen trekking northwards across the open veldt as fast as they could go, and we were powerless to stop them. The batteries galloped round and fired a few shrapnel, but did little damage, and the cavalry horses were in such poor condition that they had to give up the pursuit.
  Meanwhile the remnant of the Naval Brigade assembled under Captain Marchant R.M.L.I., the senior unwounded officer present, and the work of collecting the wounded and burying the dead commenced.
  Many were the anxious inquiries for those who no longer answered to their names. They lay in little brown patches, dotted over the veldt at the foot of the dearly-won kopje, some dead, others with life fast ebbing most of them helpless with wounds. Looking down from the top of the kopje we could see the surgeons and their orderlies already moving amongst them, stopping at each prostrate khaki figure to give first aid, or turning it over to make certain that life was extinct and passing on to the next. Many that day owed their lives to Fleet Surgeon Porter and his stoker stretcher-bearers, who had followed close in rear of the firing line, and had done their work under the hottest fire.
  Already the collecting place for the wounded had been formed, and backwards and forwards toiled the stretcher men, in the terrible heat, with their human burdens.
  Now, down from the kopje, came the survivors to look after their messmates and lend a hand in getting them to the ambulance. 'For God's sake, a drop of water!' was each man's cry; one, mortally wounded and with one arm smashed, unable to pull out the stopper, had bitten off the metal neck of his water-bottle in the agony of thirst and pain.
  As they found a messmate they would ask, 'What's up, Towney?'
  'They've got me' would be the reply, and the injured part proudly pointed out.
  The number of marvellous escapes had been very great. There was scarcely an officer or man who had not had his clothes or accoutrements shot through; one officer, over six feet high and very broad, had four bullets through his uniform without being even scratched.
  The marines of the Brigade added that day yet another leaf to the laurel wreath, the badge of their corps. They had lost two officers, and nine men killed, and one officer and seventy-two men wounded (including eleven non-com.'s) out of a strength of five officers and 190 men: or a percentage loss of 44.
        ... W. T. C. Jones.  

Death of Major Plumbe
DEATH OF MAJOR PLUMBE AT THE BATTLE OF ENSLIN.
His little terrier followed him up the hill and kept watch by him for hours after he had been mortally wounded, until he was picked up by the ambulance.
The illustration by F.J. Waugh is from With the Flag to Pretoria p151
Pathetic Incident of the African War
PATHETIC INCIDENT OF THE AFRICAN WAR
   The picture here presented was sketched by Lester Ralph, special correspondent of London Black and White with Lord Metheun's forces. He calls it "The Faithful Terrier, " and explains that at the battle of Graspan Maj. J. H. Plumbe, of the royal marine light infantry, was among the many killed while storming the main kopje. He had a pet dog, a terrier, which ran up the hill with him under the fiercest fire imaginable. When he fell the dog sat down and guarded his body until the ambulance removed it six hours later. The pathos of the situation baffles description.
Biloxi Herald 1 April 1900 pg 3
Death: 25 November 1899, in Graspan, Cape Colony, South Africa, shot through the heart.

John died in the Battle of Graspan, in the Boer War. This battle is sometimes known as the Battle of Enslin, or Rooilaagte. In H. W. Wilson's With the Flag to Pretoria pp150-2, there is a more general account of the battle, including this description of the Naval Brigade's frontal assault on the kopje, and the loss of Major Plumbe:
The Naval Brigade led the storming force, extended in a single line, each man six paces apart from his neighbour on either hand. "As the line passed me," writes Colonel Verner, "I noted how each hard, clean-cut face was from time to time anxiously turned towards the directing flank, so as to satisfy each individual that the interval and dressing were properly kept. . . . No better kept line ever went forward to death or glory." As they began the ascent, advancing by brief rushes in very open order, the hill suddenly appeared to swarm with enemies; from the crest, from behind every boulder, poured a murderous fire. The naval officers of the brigade still carried swords and could be readily distinguished; they were the target of every Boer rifle. "In the breathing time between the rushes of the assailants," says Colonel Verner, "one conspicuous figure was to be seen standing erect, and marking the station taken up by the Naval Brigade. This was their commanding officer, Captain Prothero, R.N., a man of great stature and immense physique, who elected thus to stand leaning on his walking-stick while his men, lying prone, gathered breath for another rush. . . . Eventually the inevitable occurred and he was seen to drop, happily only wounded and out of action for a time." It was at this point that Commander Ethelston of the Powerful was hit half-a-dozen times and killed, and that Major Plumbe of the Marines, who was gallantly leading in front of his men, closely followed into the storm of battle by his little terrier, staggered, shouting to his superb soldiers not to mind him, but to advance. He never rose again.
... Throughout the advance of the Naval Brigade the naval officers behaved with the most reckless and devoted courage. "Your fellows are too brave," said a soldier-officer of famous gallantry to a sailor-officer. "It is utterly useless for you to go on as you do, for you will only all get killed in this sort of warfare. I saw your officers walking about in front of their men, even when the latter were taking cover, just as if they were carrying on on board ship." "Did you watch the Naval Brigade?" said Colonel Barter to a staff officer. "By Heaven, I never saw anything so magnificent in my life."

John's last words, after his wounding, were encouragement to his troops to keep going..."Forward! never mind me."

John's death with his faithful terrier was the subject of a poem by Baroness D'Anethan.
Black and White Budget 26 May 1900 p230
THE LAST WATCH.
  Baroness d'Anethan, of the Belgian Legation at Tokyo, Japan, who is one of our readers, having been much struck by tlie incident in the battle of Graspan, when Major Plumbe's pet terrier dog followed him through the fiercest fire, and was found six hours after the fight, guarding his master's dead body, has written the following verses :—
"Good-bye, my dearest dog, my faithful Tip."
  He faltered—as in accents low and kind,
And swimming eye, and pale and trembling lip,
  Before he left—he gave one look behind.

"Good-bye, good-bye, old dog," he breathed again,
  "For where I go, old friend, you must not come."
And with these words, he strode across the plain,
  Dreaming his last sad dream of love and home.

'Mid cannon's roar, and rifle's deaf ning crack,
  One has but little thought of woe or weal;
But once Tip's master gave a quick glance back,
  And smiled to see Tip trotting at his heel.

The kopje's stormed, fierce raged that dreadful fight.
  They gain the top at last with British yell!
With one last piercing cry for "Queen and Right,"
  One prayer—one thought—one groan—Tip's
master fell !

The battle's o'er; while there, beneath the skies,
  The hero's life blood stains the dark earth red.
In death's grim agony Tip's master lies;
  But trusty Tip is watching by his head.

Ah ! loving, faithful Tip! he licks the hair
  That clotted lies upon the noble brow;
And raises on those features once so fair,
  A wan faint smile in that dark hour of woe.

He feebly strokes Tip's round and silky head;
  The effort's great, and with a last low groan,
The hero murmurs—as he sinks back dead,
  "I thank Thee, God—I do not die alone."

The hours drag on, and midst the broken cries
  Are mingled raging wind and beating rain.
Yet when at length dawn glimmered in the skies,
  The terrier still stood guard beside the slain !

Buried: 26 November 1899, near Enslin Station, Cape Colony, South Africa
Naval Brigades in the South African War, 1899-1900 pp38 (Thomas T. Jeans, 1901)
The men killed were buried near the foot of the kopje, but the three officers were buried next morning at Enslin, a little east of the siding there, on a bare, red plain; a pity almost that they should not have remained with the men who had fallen with them and beneath the shadow of the hill they had laid down their lives to gain.
  Our men put up a rough, wooden cross, and the Australian Light Horse fenced the grave in, a deed for which the Navy will be for ever grateful.

Memorial:
A memorial to John Hulke Plumbe can be found at the West End Cemetery in Kimberley, South Africa. The memorial reads:
In memory of the Officers of the Royal Navy and Royal Marines of the Naval Brigade who fell at the battle of Graspan, 25 November 1899, Commander A.P. Ethelston, R.N. H.M.S. 'Powerful' Major J.H. Plumbe, R.M.L.I. H.M.S. 'Doris' Captain G. Senior, R.M.A. H.M.S. 'Monarch''

Devonport Gun Memorial
HMS Doris "Gun" Memorial in Devonport, Devon
1907 postcard from Devon Heritage
The HMS Doris "Gun" Memorial in Devonport, Devon has an inscription that reads:
READY - AYE - READY
This gun captured from the Boers during the South African War 1899-1902 has been erected here by the Officers and Men of HMS Doris in the memory of their shipmates who lost their lives in that campaign.
J H Plumbe, Major, HMLI; C A E Hubbart, Midshipman, RN; John Boyle, Private, HMLI; Francis Doran, Private, HMLI; Francis Coleman, AB; Matthew Wise, AB; Albert C Edwards, AB; John E Hook, Ord; William Lockett, Stores; W J Phillips, 2nd SBS; Lewis Wills, 2nd (Dom)

Royal Marines Graspan Memorial
Royal Marines Graspan Memorial on The Mall, London
photo from Royal Marines Online
Another plaque to Major Plumbe can be found in St Mary Church in Upper Walmer, Kent, and his name is inscribed on the Royal Marines Graspan Memorial in the Cambridge enclosure, St. James's Park, London.

Administration:
DEATH ON OR AFTER 1st JANUARY, 1898
    BE IT KNOWN that   John Hulke Plumbe of Ladywell Herschell Road Walmer in the County of Kent
died on the 25th Nove day of November 1899 at Graspan Cape Colony South Africa intestate

AND BE IT FURTHER KNOWN that at the date hereunder written Letters of Administration of all the Estate which by law devolves to and vests in personal representative of the said intestate were granted by Her Majesty's High Court of Justice at the District Probate Registry thereof to Florence Hulke Plumbe of Ladywell aforesaid the lawful Widow and Relict of the said intestate.    

Resworn July 1902 £1104-19-7
Dated the 20th day of January 1900
Gross value of Estate ... £500.17. 6 .
Net value of Personal Estate £

Obituary:
Officers who died in the Boer War 1899-1902 extracted from The "Last Post" being a roll of all officers (Naval, Military or Colonial) who gave their lives for Their Queen, King and Country, in the South African War, 1899-1902. p306 (Mildred G. Dooner):
Plumbe. - Major John Hulke Plumbe, Royal Marine Light Infantry, was killed in action at Graspan, Nov. 25th, 1899. The third son of the late Dr. S. A. Plumbe, of Maidenhead, he was born in 1858, and educated at the Oxford Military College. He entered the Royal Marines in 1877, was promoted capt. 1880, and major 1885, and is stated to have been a highly qualified officer, being a specialist in gunnery, fortification, torpedoes, and other subjects. He served in the Royal Marine Batt. in Egypt in 1882, and was present at every action in which it was engaged from the occupation of Alexandria to the actions of Tel-el-Mahuta, Kassassin, Aug. 28th, Kassassin, Sept.  9th, and Tel-el-Kebir, where he was slightly wounded in the hand and hip. He received the medal with clasp and bronze star. In the battle of Graspan Major Plumbe was in command of the Royal Marines belonging to the Naval Brigade. In this action their losses amounted to forty-three per cent., due to the "unflinching and self-sacrificing heroism of the troops that led the assault." Three officers and 72 men of the Royal Marines were killed or wounded out of a total of 5 officers and 190 men. In the Naval Brigade Major Plumbe, Commander Ethelston, Captain Senior, and Midshipman Huddart were killed, and almost all the petty and non-commissioned officers were struck down. Just before he was killed Major Plumbe said, "Rush for the hill, men," and when mortally wounded his last words were, "Forward! never mind me." A pet dog he took into action with him watched by his body for six hours, until the arrival of the ambulance. Major Plumbe was at first buried on the battlefield, but on the morning of Nov. 26th his body was moved, and he now lies close to Enslin Station beside Commander Ethelston and Capt. Senior. Their graves are marked by a large cross. Major Plumbe's servant, Private Doran, died of his wounds. The names of Major Plumbe and his servant are inscribed on the monument erected in the Cambridge enclosure, St. James's Park, by the officers and men of the Royal Marine Artillery and Light Infantry, in memory of their comrades who fell in South Africa and China.

Notes: John was the "Berger Master" of Deal, Kent. In 1889 we find him playing cricket for Maidenhead (The Slough, Eton and Windsor Observer, 29 June 1889 p4 col 4).

Census:
1861: Cookham, Berkshire: John H. Plumbe, son, is aged 2, born in Maidenhead, Berkshire
1871: Maidenhead, Berkshire
1881: Vessel "Duncan", Minster In Sheppey - Sheerness, Kent
1891: Deal, Kent: John H. Plumbe, head, is aged 32, born in Maidenhead, Berkshire

Sources:

John Chapman Plumbe

Birth: 1867, in Whitechapel district, Middlesex, England

Father: Henry Martyn Plumbe

Mother: Louisa (Walker) Plumbe

Death: 1870 in Tamworth district, Staffordshire and Warwickshire, England, aged 2

Sources:

John Cecil Plumbe

known as "Cecil"

Birth: 1888, in West Green, Edmonton district, Middlesex, England

Father: Thomas Plumbe

Mother: Susan (Argent) Plumbe 

Death: 1920

Census:
1901: (named as Cecil) living in Leyton, Essex; Age: 13; Place of Birth: West Green, Middlesex

Sources:

John Leaker Plumbe

Birth: 1892, in Ashton Keynes, Wiltshire, England

Father: John Plumbe

Mother: Alice Jane (Leaker) Plumbe

Occupation: with the Railways. Retired in 1956.

Death: 1961, in Ablington, Bibury, Gloucestershire

Census:
1901: Ashton Keynes, Wiltshire Age: 9; Place of Birth: Ashton Keynes, Wiltshire

Notes: The Gloucester records office has numerous items of miscellania from John's youth such as school report cards at Cirencester Grammar School (D4128/F11/7) and cricket fixture cards (D4128/F11/8)

Sources:

Joseph Plumbe

Birth: 27 June 1800, in Wantage, Berkshire, England

Baptism: 25 July 1800, in SS Peter & Paul, Wantage, Berkshire, England

Father: Samuel Plumbe

Mother: Molly (Aldworth) Plumbe

Married: Hannah _____. Hannah was born about 1794, in Wick Rissington, Gloucestershire, England

Occupation: Landed Proprietor

Death: in Shipton under Wychwood, Oxfordshire, England, of "softening of the brain"

Buried: 9 April 1867, in Shipton under Wychwood, Oxfordshire, England

Notes: Said to have gone abroad to South America, came home married but with no children.

Census:
1841: Mill Street, Wantage, Berkshire

Sources:

Kate Plumbe

Birth: 31 July 1831

Father: Samuel Plumbe

Mother: Emma (Lloyd) Plumbe

Notes: Died young

Sources:

Kate Plumbe

Birth: 23 November 1864, in Ashton Keynes, Wiltshire, England

Father: John Plumbe

Mother: Elizabeth Jane (Richards) Plumbe

Death: 1894

Census:
1881: Farm House, Bampton, Oxfordshire

Sources:

Kitty Plumbe

Birth: 7 September 1825

Baptism: 5 October 1825, in St. Pancras, Middlesex, England
Kitty is recorded as being born on 7 September 1825, the daughter of Samuel and Emma Plumbe. Samuel is a surgeon of Gt Russell St, Bloomsbury

Father: Samuel Plumbe

Mother: Emma (Lloyd) Plumbe

Burial: 25 March 1826, in St. John at Hackney, Middlesex, England
Kitty is recorded as 6 month old, resident at Great Russell Street Bloomsbury

Sources:

Laura Kate (Plumbe) Mason

Birth: 21 December 1865, at 37 Lower St, Deal, Kent, England

Father: Samuel Alderson Plumbe

Mother: Louisa Burton (Hulke) Plumbe

Married: Charles Arthur Mason on 15 February 1890, in All Saints, Malabar Hills, Bombay, India
Charles Arthur Mason is recorded as the son of Francis John Mills Mason. Laura Kate Plumbe is recorded as the daughter of Samuel Alderson Plumbe.
Colonies And India 5 March 1890 p30
MARRIAGES.
Mason—Plumbe.—Feb. 15, at All Saints', Malabar Hill, Bombay, by the Rev. A Goldwyer Lewis, Senior Presidency Chaplain, the Rev. Charles Arthur Mason, M.A., chaplain of Nowshera, Punjab, youngest son of Major Mason, J. P., The Firs, Warwick, to Laura Kate, fifth daughter of the late Samuel Alderson Plumbe, M.D., of Maidenhead.
Laura and Charles were engaged in June 1889.

Children:

Notes:
Laura travelled to the United States with her husband and youngest child, Ada, then 15, aboard the Columbia (manifest) which sailed from Glasgow on 24 November 1919, arriving in New York on 4 December 1919. Laura Kate Mason is recorded as 53 years and 11 months old, born in Deal, England, last resident in Kingsley, England. She is described as 5' 4½" tall, of fair complexion, with light brown hair and blue eyes, with a mark on her chin.

Laura Kate is also recorded entering the United States on 2 January 1930, aboard the Arcadian (manifest) which sailed from Hamilton, Bermuda on 31 December 1939. Kate Mason is recorded as aged 65, born in Deal, England. She is listed as a national of Canada, living at 11 Admiral Road, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, and is in transit in New York for three days. Kate is described as 5' 9" tall, of fair complexion, with brown hair and blue eyes.

Death: 3 April 1937, in York, Ontario, Canada

Gravestone of Laura Kate (Plumbe) Mason and Charles Arthur Mason
Gravestone of Laura Kate (Plumbe) Mason and Charles Arthur Mason in Mount Pleasant cemetery, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
photo by Kellylm posted at findagrave.com
Buried: Mount Pleasant cemetery, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Census & Addresses:
1871: Maidenhead, Berkshire
1881: High Street, Cookham, Berkshire
1901: High Street, Maidenhead, Berkshire
1911: Otterbourne, Hampshire: Laura Kate Mason, wife, is aged 45, born in Deal, Kent
1920: Mitchell Street, Rockledge, Brevard county, Florida
1929: 11 Admiral Road, Toronto, Ontario   (manifest of the Arcadian)

Sources:

Lillian Mary Plumbe

Lillian Mary Plumbe
Lillian Mary Plumbe
photo from David Morris
Birth: 1877, in Henley on Thames, Oxfordshire, England

Baptism: 31 October 1877, in St. Mary's, Henley on Thames, Oxfordshire, England

Father: Charles Strange Plumbe

Mother: Frances Elizabeth (Gosling) Plumbe

Married: Edward Strange Lang

Death: 1928

Notes: At the 1881 census, Lillian, aged 3, is with her grandparents. Her mother had just had another baby.

Census:
1881: Market Place, Henley on Thames, Oxfordshire

Sources:

Louisa Elizabeth (Plumbe) Thomson

Birth: 11 September 1856 in Maidenhead, Berkshire, England

Father: Samuel Alderson Plumbe

Mother: Louisa Burton (Hulke) Plumbe

Married: George Osmond Lees Thomson on 30 December 1884, in St Luke, Maidenhead, Berkshire, England
Guardian 31 December 1884 p30
MARRIAGES.
Dec. 30, at St. Luke's, Maidenhead, by the Rev. E. C. Lowe, D.D., Canon of Ely, and Provost of Denstone, assisted by the Rev. W. G. Sawyer, Vicar, the REV. GEORGE OSMOND LEES THOMSON, Head Master of the King's College, Taunton, to LOUISA ELIZABETH, eldest daughter of the late SAMUEL ALDERSON PLUMBE, M.D., of Maidenhead.

George and Louisa were engaged to be married in August 1884.

Children:

Notes: known as "Lily"

Death: 1900, in Bicester district, Oxfordshire, England, aged 44

Buried: 16 October 1900, in Merton, Oxfordshire, England

Census:
1861: Cookham, Berkshire: Louisa E. Plumbe, daughter, is aged 4, born in Maidenhead, Berkshire
1871: Maidenhead, Berkshire
1881: High Street, Cookham, Berkshire
1891: Kings College, Taunton St Mary Magdelen, Somerset

Sources:

Louisa Jane (Plumbe) Hobbs

Louisa Jane (Plumbe) Hobbs
Louisa Jane (Plumbe) Hobbs c1905
(click for full photo)
photo courtesy of Peter Duffill
Birth: 5 May 1859, in Ashton Keynes, Wiltshire, England

Father: John Plumbe

Mother: Elizabeth Jane (Richards) Plumbe

Married: Charles Hobbs

Children: Census:
1881: Farm House, Bampton, Oxfordshire

Sources:

Louisa Elizabeth Ann (Plumbe) Chappell

Birth: 1872, in Whitechapel, Middlesex, England

Father: Henry Martyn Plumbe

Mother: Louisa (Walker) Plumbe

Married: William Henry Chappell on 14 May 1902, in Addiscombe, Surrey, England. William Henry Chappell is recorded as aged 30, single, the son of John Chappell. Louisa Elizabeth Ann Plumbe is recorded as aged 29, single, the daughter of Henry Martyn Plumbe.

William was born in 1872 in Croydon, Surrey, and baptised on 29 September 1872, in Croydon, the son of John Chappell and Abigail Drake Chappell. He was a veterinary surgeon, and a Member of the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons. William died on 1 February 1927 in Kings Lynn district, Norfolk, aged 54. He died intestate and his estate letters of administration were granted on 1 March 1927 to Fanny Abigail Fulcher and Louisa Wicks.
Kelly's Directory of Norfolk, 1912 p248
NORFOLK KING'S LYNN
Chapell Wm. Henry, veterinary surgeon, 8 Railway rd

Census & Addresses:
1881: 34 Surrey Street, Croydon, Surrey
1901: Croydon, Surrey: William H. Chappell is aged 28, born in Croydon, Surrey. He is a Veterinary Surgeon
1911: King's Lynn district, Norfolk: William H. Chappell is aged 39
1927: Seafordhaven, Avenue Road, King's Lynn, Norfolk (London Gazette 11 March 1927 p1659)

Death: 1926 in Kings Lynn district, Norfolk, England, aged 54
                            
Census & Addresses:
1881: 11 Tilson Road, Tottenham, Middlesex
1901: Croydon, Surrey: Lucy E. A. Plumbe is aged 29, born in London St Marks E, Whitechapel
1911: King's Lynn district, Norfolk: Louisia Elizabeth Ann Chappell is aged 40
1912: 8 Railway Road, King's Lynn, Norfolk (may be business address) (Kelly's Directory of Norfolk, 1912 p248)

Sources:

Mabel Gertrude (Plumbe) Tillett

Birth: 1869, in St Pancras, Middlesex, England

Father: Rowland Plumbe

Mother: Fanny Payne (Russell) Plumbe

Married: Pedro Juan Tillett on 22 July 1896 in St Andrew, Wells Street,  St. Marylebone, London, England
Musical Courier 6 August 1896 p12
    A Brilliant Wedding.
THE genial and highly-esteemed Mr. Pedro J. Tillett, a partner with Mr. N. Vert in the well-known Cork Street firm, must be a happy man. Not only has he won the affections of a beautiful and accomplished young lady, Miss Mabel Gertrude Plumbe, but the large number of people who gathered at the wedding to bid the young couple God-speed was certainly representative, and showed how many friends Mr. Tillett has already made. Nor did these friends come empty-handed. They brought upwards of 200 gifts, embracing such a wide variety of useful and ornamental presents that these young people will have plenty of souvenirs of this happy occasion through life.
  We are unable for want of space to give a complete, list of the presents, but take pleasure in recording here a few of the names of the donors. The marriage ceremony took place at St. Andrew's, Wells Street, on July 22nd, at 2 o'clock. The service was fully choral, and very impressive. Afterwards a reception was held at Queen's (small) Hall, when several hundred people proffered their congratulations and best wishes.
  Most of the presents were arranged on the stage of the hall in such a manner as to make an effective display. We noticed a complete set of table-glass and decanters by Mr. and Mrs. Edward Lloyd; a case of silver spoons and sugar-tongs by Mr. and Mrs. Watkin Mills; a brass lamp and shade by Mr. and Mrs. Bantock Pierpoint; an inlaid writing-table by Miss Ella Russell; a corner cabinet and Japanese cabinet by Mr. N. Vert; an ivory silver mounted paper knife by Mr. C. A. E. Harris, of Montreal; dining-room and bedroom suites by Mr. Rowland Plumbe, father of the bride; a full service of cutlery by Mrs. Plumbe; inlaid table by Sir John and Lady Hutton; silver muffineer by Mr. Frank Dicksee, R.A.; two cloisonné vases by Mr. T. H. Watson, F.R.I.B.A.; bas relief by Mr. Frampton, A.R.A.; silver dessert spoons by Mr. W. Cutler, F.R.I.B.A.; plated fruit dish by Dr. Percy Down; case of silver spoons by Professor and Mrs. Bannister Fletcher; a pair of silver vases by Mr. and Mrs. J. Hunter Donaldson; a Satsuma vase by Dr. and Mrs. Gwynn; photo screen by Dr. Gollum; oak salad bowl, various dishes, and a chair by Miss Russell; piece of old china by Professor and Mrs. A. H. Church; pair of brass candlesticks and afternoon tea stand by Mrs. Tillett; wrought iron and copper flower stand by Mr. J. H. Tillett; Limoges china tea service and picnic tea basket by Mr. R. Leigh Ibbs.
  Among other musicians who contributed to the handsome array of presents were :—
  Mr. and Mrs. Franklin Clive, Mr. and Mrs. W. S. Hoyte, Mr. G. B. J. Aitken, Mr. Charles Copland, Miss Louise Nanney, Mr. Arthur Barlow, Mr. and Mrs. W. Kuhe, Mr. Dan Price, Miss Meredyth Elliott, Mr. and Mrs. Archibald Ramsden, Mr. and Mrs. Maybrick, Mr. and Mrs. Douglas Powell, Mr. and Mrs. Rose (Mme. Clara Samuell), Mr. George Bell, Mr. George Holmes, Meister Glee Singers, Miss Carlotta Desvignes, Miss Florence Hoskins, Mr. F. Lewis Thomas, Mr. and Mrs. Basil Tree, Mr. and Mrs. Ambrose Austin, Mr. and Mrs. Norman Salmond, Mr. Turner Lloyd, Miss Greta Williams, Mr. Ernest Meads, Mr. and Mrs. Fred Walker, The Misses Conway, Mr. George Clutsam, Mons. Jonannes Wolff, Miss Macintyre, Miss Hilda Wilson, Messrs. Réne and F. Payne, Mr. and Mrs. Fischel (Mme. Zippora Monteith), Mr. Kennerley Rumford, Miss Mabel Berrey, Mr. Braxton Smith, Mr. Douglas Beaufort, Mr. J. Berren (manager, Pleyel Wolff's), Queen's Hall staff, Mr. Barton McGuckin, Mme. Belle Cole, Mme. Alice Gomez, Mr. John Gill, and Mons. Joseph Hollman.
  Mr. and Mrs. Tillett have gone to Cornwall to spend their honeymoon, and will return about the first of September.

Children:
Death: 1941, in Willesden district, Middlesex, England, aged 71

Buried: Highgate cemetery, London, England. Mabel is buried in the same grave as her father and grandmother.

Census & Addresses:
1881: 13 Fitzroy Square, St. Pancras, London
1891: 13 Fitzroy Square, St. Pancras, London
1901: Hampstead, London: Mabel G. Tillett is aged 31, born in London St Pancras.
1911: Willesden, Middlesex: Mabel Gertrude Tillett is aged 71 (! - must be a typo for 41)
1918: 62 Cranhurst Road, Willesden Green, London  (Commonwealth War Graves Commission)

Sources:

Margaret (Plumbe) Thomson

Birth: 29 December 1826, in London, Middlesex, England

Baptism: 29 January 1827, in Old Church, St. Pancras, London, England

Father: Samuel Plumbe

Mother: Emma (Lloyd) Plumbe

Married: John Buck Thomson on 11 December 1851, in St Georges, Ramsgate, Kent, England

Children: Notes:
Margaret received a legacy of £250 from her uncle, Robert Plumbe, in January 1874.

Death: 1874, in Thanet district, Kent, England

Census:
1871: Ramsgate, Kent

Sources:

Margaret Shepherd (Plumbe) Waddy

Birth: 1864, in Winchcombe, Gloucestershire, England

Father: Henry Plumbe

Mother: Caroline (Straford) Plumbe

Married: Edward Waddy in 1888, in Cheltenham district, Gloucestershire, England

Children: Death: 1918, in Aston district, Warwickshire, England, aged 54

Census: 1871: Terrace, Winchcombe, Gloucestershire
1881: 4 Bassett Road, London, Middlesex
1901: Bournemouth, Winchester: Margaret Waddy is aged 37, born in Winchester, Gloucestershire; Occupation: Lady Matron

Sources:

Marian Charlotte Plumbe

Birth: 17 March 1851, in Henley, Oxfordshire, England

Baptism: 28 May 1851, in St. Mary's, Henley on Thames, Oxfordshire, England

Father: William Plumbe

Mother: Ann Richardby (Strange) Plumbe

Buried: 28 August 1920, in St. Mary's, Henley on Thames, Oxfordshire, England

Census:
1881: Market Place, Henley on Thames, Oxfordshire
1891: Robinson Road, Mitcham, Surrey: Marion C Plumbe, sister-in-law, is aged 40, born in Oxfordshire. She is living on her own means.

Sources:

Martha Plumbe

Birth: 9 April 1810, in Wantage, Berkshire (now Oxfordshire), England

Baptism: 4 May 1810, in SS Peter & Paul, Wantage, Berkshire (now Oxfordshire), England

Father: Samuel Plumbe

Mother: Molly (Aldworth) Plumbe

Death: 8 August 1887, in Wantage, Berkshire (now Oxfordshire), England

Census:
1841: Mill Street, Wantage, Berkshire
1851: Mill Street, Wantage, Berkshire
1881: Mill Street, Wantage, Berkshire

Sources:

Martha Plumbe

Father: Samuel Plumbe

Mother: Caroline (Payne) Plumbe

Notes: From clues in Rolls Plumbe we conclude that Martha died young. It is noted on p47 that two siblings of Samuel Rolls', born after him, had died young (and before his death in 1832). Since Philip and Annie are alive at Rolls' death, the conclusion is that Harold and Martha were the ones who died young.

Sources:

Mary (Plumbe) Aldworth

Birth: 26 October 1798, in Wantage, Berkshire, England

Baptism: 28 November 1798, in SS Peter & Paul, Wantage, Berkshire, England

Father: Samuel Plumbe

Mother: Molly (Aldworth) Plumbe

Married: Joseph Aldworth on 4 August 1823, in Wantage, Berkshire (now Oxfordshire), England

Children: Occupation: School Mistress

Census:
1851: Lock House, Latton, Wiltshire
1881: Mill Street, Wantage, Berkshire

Sources:

Mary (Plumbe) Payne

Birth: 21 July 1800, in Henley on Thames, Oxfordshire, England

Baptism: 20 August 1800, in St. Mary's, Henley on Thames, Oxfordshire, England

Father: John Plumbe

Mother: Sarah (Simmons) Plumbe

Married: Samuel Payne on 8 October 1831, in St. Mary's, Henley on Thames, Oxfordshire, England. The marriage was witnessed by John Simmons Plumbe, Mary's elder brother.

Children: Census:
1881: 1 Premier Place, Exeter, Devon

Sources:

Mary Plumbe

Birth: 11 December 1827, in Henley on Thames, Oxfordshire, England

Baptism: 9 January 1828, in St. Mary's, Henley on Thames, Oxfordshire, England

Father: William Plumbe

Mother: Anne (Outhwaite) Plumbe

Buried: 20 December 1833, in St. Mary's, Henley on Thames, Oxfordshire, England, aged 6

Sources:

Matilda (_____) Plumbe

Birth: 1801/2, in Wantage, Berkshire (now Oxfordshire), England

Married: John Plumbe

Census:
1851: Mill Street, Wantage, Berkshire

Sources:

Murray Kinnock Plumbe

Birth: 1837

Father: Samuel Plumbe

Mother: Elizabeth (Perkins) Plumbe

Death: 1837

Notes: Died 7 weeks

Sources:

Nina Fanny Elizabeth (Plumbe) Ross

Birth: 1890, in West Green, Edmonton district, Middlesex, England

Father: Thomas Plumbe

Mother: Susan (Argent) Plumbe 

Married: Alfred Ross

Death: 1925

Census:
1901: living in Leyton, Essex; Age: 10; Place of Birth: West Green, Middlesex

Sources:

Nora Beatrice (Plumbe, Dicksee) Butler

Bookplate of Nora Beatrice (Plumbe) Dicksee
Bookplate of Nora Beatrice (Plumbe) Dicksee by R. Anning Bell
image from Ladies' book-plates p125 (Norna Labouchère, 1895)
Birth: 1873, in Pancras district, Middlesex, England

Father: Rowland Plumbe

Mother: Fanny Payne (Russell) Plumbe

Married (1st): Lawrence Robert Dicksee in 1894, in Marylebone district, London, England

Children:
Married (2nd): Leonard Butler in 1934, in Kensington district, London, England

Census:
1881: 13 Fitzroy Square, St. Pancras, London
1891: 13 Fitzroy Square, St. Pancras, London
1901: Hampstead, London: Norah B. Dickson is aged 28, born in London
1911: Hampstead, London: Nora Beatrice Dicksee is aged 38
1916: 153 Haverstock Hill, London  (Commonwealth War Graves Commission)

Sources:

Percival Charles Plumbe

Percival Charles Plumbe
Percival Charles Plumbe
photo from David Morris
Birth: 1881, in Henley on Thames, Oxfordshire, England

Baptism: 11 July 1881, in St Mary's, Henley on Thames, Oxfordshire, England

Father: Charles Strange Plumbe

Mother: Frances Elizabeth (Gosling) Plumbe

Occupation: Missionary. 
Percival was initially apprenticed to Debenham and Freebody, in London. While there he took up religious work in his spare time amongst the poor in London's East End. He later became a full time missionary with the Chinese Inland Mission and, when based there was "three months bullock-cart ride from Peking".

Death: 1910, in Henley district, Oxfordshire, England, aged 28

Buried: 24 January 1910, in St Mary's, Henley on Thames, Oxfordshire, England

Census:
1881: Market Place, Henley on Thames, Oxfordshire (in the 1881 census, Percival is the unnamed infant, aged 1 month)

Sources:

Philip Algernon Plumbe

Philip Algernon Plumbe
Philip Algernon Plumbe
circa 1915
(click for full photo)
photo from Alison Wreyford
Birth: 24 February 1863 in Maidenhead, Berkshire, England

Father: Samuel Alderson Plumbe

Mother: Louisa Burton (Hulke) Plumbe

Education: Attended school at Hurstpierpoint, Sussex (1877). Philip's brother-in-law, and uncle of his future wife, Rev. George Thomson, was Second Master at the school at the time.

Married: Ethel Mary Thomson on 4 November 1903 in St Peters, Southsea, Hampshire, England

The reception appears to have been held back at Ethel's then home, being 84 St Andrew's Road, Southsea.

Ethel was the step-daughter of Philip's younger sister, Caroline Ada Plumbe, who married Henry John Phipps Thomson after the death of Ethel's mother, Sarah Wagstaff.

Children: Occupation: Bank Clerk; Philip worked solely for the Bank of England: he was elected as unattached Clerk aged 18 on 5 May 1881.  Gradual progression through the ranks, to final high office by 1911 as Principal of the Power of Attorney office.  He was pensioned 23 February 1928 aged 65.

Death: 29 September 1929, at 54 Dorset Road, Bexhill-on-Sea, Sussex, England, of heart trouble

Burial: Oxhey, Hertfordshire, England

Census & Addresses:
1871: Maidenhead, Berkshire
1881: High Street, Cookham, Berkshire
1891: Northumberland House, New Kings road, Fulham, London. Philip is renting one furnished room on the third floor, paying 10 shillings per week.   (London Electoral Registers, 1891)
1891: "The Firs", Harefield, Uxbridge, Middlesex
1896: 10 Napier Avenue, Hurlingham, London. Philip is renting two furnished rooms on the first floor, paying £1 per week.   (London Electoral Registers, 1896)
1901: 8 Napier Avenue, Hurlingham, London   (Rootsweb WorldConnect (martingough I455) citing a letter dated 14 March 1901)
1901: Merton, Oxfordshire [Philip was staying with George Osmond Lees Thomson, the widower of Philip's elder sister, Louisa who had died the previous autumn. Also staying there at this time was Ethel Mary Thomson, George's niece, whom Philip would marry two years later.]
1903: "Trehearne" Chalk Hill, London Road, Oxhey   (Rootsweb WorldConnect (martingough I455)
1911: Watford Urban, Hertfordshire: Philip Algernon Plumbe is aged 48, born in Maidenhead, Berkshire

Sources:

Robert Plumbe

Title: Dr.

Birth: 19 November 1803, in Wantage, Berkshire, England

Baptism: 27 December 1803, in SS Peter & Paul, Wantage, Berkshire, England. The IGI has the baptism date as 16 December 1803.

Father: Samuel Plumbe

Mother: Molly (Aldworth) Plumbe

Married: Louisa Mary Davies

Occupation: Surgeon. Robert was admitted M.R.C.S. in 1825, and served initially in the Indian Army. He was surgeon on the 'Countess of Harcourt' 1825-26, surgeon mate on the 'Bombay' from 1827-28 and surgeon on the 'Moira' from 1828-29. After this he joined the East India Company, and was selected by the EIC Board of Examiners for Madras in 1829. He was appointed Assistant Surgeon on 10 October 1829 and Surgeon on 31 January 1846. Robert retired on 30 September 1849.

Death: 19 December 1873, in Kensington district, London, England, aged 70. Living at the last at 11 Leonard Place, St Mary Abbotts, Kensington.

Notes:
Dr Robert's sisters Mary Aldworth, Widow, and spinster Martha Plumbe, (both stated to be of Wantage) were provided annuities, together with his nieces Mary and Ann Aldworth (Mary's daughters). He settled £1142-17-2d in July 1873 on brothers Dr Samuel A. Plumbe and Col. Thomas Plumbe of Bath, to give a 3.5% annuity to the above poorer relatives.

Robert's  will was proved on 16 Jan 1874, principally in favour of his widow, with  £200-250-300 legacies to his nephews Dr Samuel A. Plumbe, Henry Plumbe (solicitor), and his nieces Grace, and Margaret (Thomson).

Sources:

Rosa Louisa (Plumbe) Chalmers

Birth: 29 July 1856, in Henley on Thames, Oxfordshire, England

Baptism: 22 October 1856, in St. Mary's, Henley on Thames, Oxfordshire, England

Father: William Plumbe

Mother: Ann Richardby (Strange) Plumbe

Married: John Chalmers on 6 September 1887, in St. Mary's, Henley on Thames, Oxfordshire, England

Notes: The baptism and marriage records show Rosa Louisa. The 1881 census has Rose L., and the 1901 census has simply Rose, indicating that she probably used Rose rather than Rosa.

Death: 1936

Census:
1881: Market Place, Henley on Thames, Oxfordshire
1901: living in Newport, Shropshire; Age 40, born in Henly on Thames, Oxon

Sources:
Rowland Plumbe
Rowland Plumbe (1890)
photo from Building News 6 June 1890 p798

Rowland Plumbe

Birth: 2 February 1838, in Whitechapel district, Middlesex, England

Father: Samuel Plumbe

Mother: Ann Serena (Payne) Plumbe

Married: Fanny Payne Russell on 14 May 1867, in St Nicholas, Brighton, Sussex, England. Rowland Plumbe is recorded as aged 29, the son of Samuel Plumbe. Fanny Payne Russell is recorded as aged 38, the daughter of William Russell.

Fanny was born on 29 March 1829, in Brighton, Sussex, the daughter of William Russell. She died on 13 January 1910, at 29 Brondesbury Park Road, Willesden, Middlesex, aged 80. She is buried in Highgate cemetery, London.
Census:
1901: Saint Pancras, London: Fanny P. Plumbe is aged 62, born in Brighton, Sussex

Children: Occupation: Architect.
Rowland was elected an Associate of the Royal Institute of British Architects (A.R.I.B.A.) on 1 December 1862 and elected a Fellow (F.R.I.B.A.) on 19 April 1869. He was President of the Architectural Association, an architecture school, from 1871-2.
Rowland designed many public buildings, churches, hospitals and housing estates in and around London. Prominent buildings designed by Rowland Plumbe include the Woodford Congregational Church in Essex, built in 1874 and the Noel Park housing estate of 2200 properties for which he was the Consulting Architect in 1881. Plumbe designed Woodlands Park House in 1885  for which:
  Plumbe was commissioned 'with a free hand, unfettered in the slightest degree by economical considerations' to design a mansion in the Gothic Style. The most modern innovations were incorporated and Woodlands Park became one of the first country houses with electric light, renowned for the grandeur of its oak panelled Grand Hall.

Rowland Plumbe was Consulting Architect for the rebuilding of London Hospital in 1897 and designed the Middlesex County Asylum in 1900 as well as the Y.M.C.A. building on Tottenham Court Road (1911) which was described in The New international year book 1912 p67 as
the largest and most complete structure of its kind in the kingdom, constructed largely of concrete and steel, and comprising a college, clubrooms, and lodgings for 1000 men, besides the usual association meeting and reception-rooms. The cost was $1,000,000.

Directory of British Architects 1834-1914 p383
Plumbe, Rowland, 1838-1919
Date of Birth: 2 Feb 1838
Date of Death: 2 Apr 1919
Place of Death: Ashleigh, 29 Brondesbury Park, London NW
Address:
5 Highbury Park South, London, England (1862)
13 Fitzroy Square, London W (1869, 1914)
34 Bloomsbury Square, London
Education and training:
Articled to Nockalls Johnson Cottingham (1823-1854) and Frederick Peck (1827 or 8-1875). University College, London. In America 1858-60 in office of Frederick Clark Withers (1828-1901)
Professional qualifications:
ARIBA 1 Dec 1862: proposed by T L Donaldson, R Kerr, J Edmeston; FRIBA 19 April 1869: proposed by J P Seddon, J Edmeston, R W Edis.
Professional and practice information:
Commenced independent practice in the City of London 1860.
District Surveyor of South Islington from 1875, and of West Hamstead until 1891. Partner of Frank Morrish Harvey 1903-8, and of Charles Lionel Fleming-Williams (d. 1919) and John Charles Stephen Mummery (1862-1949) from 1913.
Works:
No list on RIBA Nomination papers
See RIBA Journal obit
Other information:
President AA 1871-2. Past Master of the Painter-Stainers' Company. FSI.
Obituaries:
Builder v116, 11,18 Apr 1919, p358,381
RIBA Journal v26, 1919, p140-1
References:
General sources:
Avery obit
Builder illustrations index
Dixon & Muthesius
Graves
Pike London
RIBA Drawings Catalogue
Thieme-Becker
Ware
Who's who in architecture (1914)
Articles:
Building News v58, 6 June 1890, p793
Builders' Jnl 20 May 1896, p227
Location of unpublished material:
BAL Drawings Collection
Portraits:
Building News v58, 6 June 1890, p798
Pike London, p276
RIBA Nomination Papers A v3 p151
F v4 p71
RIBA Nomination Papers fiche reference: 6/E1, 82/D4
BAL Biography File

Publications:
The Flooring of Sanitoria by Rowland Plumbe F.R.I.B.A., Consulting Architect to the London Hospital, in The British journal of tuberculosis January 1907 p314

Notes:
Rowland visited the United States for two years from 1858 to 1860, where he worked in office of Frederick Clark Withers. Rowland arrived in New York  in May 1858, aboard the City of Baltimore from Liverpool (New York Times 13 May 1858).

Rowland was commissioned as a Lieutenant in the 38th Middlesex Rifle Volunteer Corps on 14 June 1871 (London Gazette 30 June 1871 p3006) and resigned that commission on 21 October 1874 (London Gazette 20 October 1874 p4792)

Death: 2 April 1919 at Ashleigh, 29 Brondesbury Park, Willesden, Middlesex, England, aged 81

Buried: Highgate cemetery, London, England. Rowland is buried in the same grave as his mother and eldest daughter.

Census & Addresses:
1862: 5 Highbury Park South, London    (Directory of British Architects 1834-1914 p383)
1868-1909: 13 Fitzroy Square, London  ('Fitzroy Square', Survey of London: volume 21: The parish of St Pancras part 3: Tottenham Court Road & neighbourhood (1949), pp. 52-63)
1881: 13 Fitzroy Square, St. Pancras, London
1891: 13 Fitzroy Square, St. Pancras, London
1901: Saint Pancras, London: Rowland Plumbe is aged 63, born in London
1911: Willesden, Middlesex: Rowland Plumbe is aged 73

Sources:

Rowland Richards Plumbe

Birth: 1886, in West Green, Edmonton district, Middlesex, England

Father: Thomas Plumbe

Mother: Susan (Argent) Plumbe

Occupation: Drapers Warehouseman

Census:
1901: (named as Roland) living in Leyton, Essex; Age: 14; Occupation: Drapers Warehouseman; Place of Birth: West Green, Middlesex

Sources:

Samuel Plumbe

Birth: 29 November 1764

Baptism: 14 December 1764, in SS Peter & Paul, Wantage, Berkshire, England

Father: Samuel Plumb

Mother: Mary (Goff) Plumb

Married: Molly Aldworth on 19 November 1794, in SS Peter & Paul, Wantage, Berkshire, England.

Children: Occupation: Wool Merchant and Clothier

Death: 16 January 1852, in Wantage, Berkshire, England

Buried: Wantage churchyard

Will: dated 28 November 1848. Proved 11 May 1852 Court of Archdeacon of Berkshire

Notes: Samuel Plumbe was a wool merchant and clothier of Mill Street, Wantage. He owned cloth mills and held contracts for the supply of cloth for army greatcoats.

Census:
1841: Mill Street, Wantage, Berkshire
1851: Mill Street, Wantage, Berkshire

Sources:

Samuel Plumbe

Samuel Plumbe
This illustration in Rolls Plumbe does not explicitly state that it is of the Plumbe family (Samuel as the father) but it seems likely to be from the context, and if not is at least indicative of the era.
Birth: 25 March 1794, in Henley on Thames, Oxfordshire, England

Baptism: 23 April 1794, in St. Mary's, Henley on Thames, Oxfordshire, England

Father: John Plumbe

Mother: Sarah (Simmons) Plumbe

Married (1st): Caroline Payne on 20 May 1818 in St. Botolph Without Aldersgate, London, England

Children: Married (2nd): Ann Serena Payne on 23 June 1834 in St. Dunstan, Stepney, London, England.

Marriage to the sister of a deceased wife was prohibited by the Marriage Act in 1835, although marriages that had already taken place (such as that of Samuel and Ann Serena) were explicitly authorised. The prohibition was lifted in 1907.

Children: Occupation: Arrowroot merchant.
Samuel founded and operated the "South Sea Arrowroot Company", an importing business

Notes: Caroline Payne and Ann Serena Payne were sisters. Samuel Plumbe first married Caroline, and went to live in Tiverton, Devon, in about 1827. They had "a pretty cottage out of the town, that they might fully enjoy the country" (Rolls Plumbe p13). Caroline became ill and her sister Ann Serena Payne went to Tiverton and stayed with them, apparently to look after the children during her sister's illness. In November 1831 the family moved back to London, where first Samuel Rolls, and then Caroline died.

Samuel joined the church of Dr. Andrew Reed, and became a close associate of the minister.
Memoirs of the life and philanthropic labours of Andrew Reed, D. D. pp293-4 (ed. Andrew Reed, 1863):
This help came in the form he most desired it, and in the accession to the church of an eminently godly man, Mr. Samuel Plumbe. This gentleman came from Tiverton to reside in London, and he at once took a prominent position in Dr. Reed's church. He possessed a cultivated mind, an amiable character, and ready gifts for Christian usefulness. He was a favourite alike with young and old, rich and poor. He had singular quickness and activity of body and of mind. He was in truth a most ready man. He could deliver a good religious address, prepare a scientific lecture, write a capital letter, compose an anniversary hymn, utter a good impromptu speech, visit acceptably the sick and dying, converse well with religious inquirers, bring harmony in place of strife by his tact and love, and fill with cheerfulness the dullest and most timid society. Such qualities, crowned with sterling and devout piety, were a rare treasure to both pastor and church. With all these gifts to win the people, he was no rival to the minister, was never spoilt, but always to be trusted. This new association afforded Dr. Reed unspeakable relief and invaluable help.

Death: 15 February 1840, in Whitechapel district, Middlesex, England, of paralysis.
Samuel suffered a long illness before his death. In the spring of 1839, Dr. Reed visited "his friend and deacon, Mr. Plumbe, who was lying ill at Aylesbury" (Memoirs p313). On 14 February 1840, Dr. Reed wrote in his journal (Memoirs p315):
  "Dear Samuel Plumbe is taken from us. I must not trust myself to add another word at present: 'Aaron held his peace.' How I shall fulfil the last duties to his memory, I know not. My prayer is, that it may be for the glory of God."

and again on 3 March 1840, Dr. Reed writes (Memoirs p316):
  "Dear Plumbe is gone! He endured great suffering for eight months. All that time I have felt bereaved; but the issue is a grievous stroke. We interred his remains on Friday. I improved the occasion on Sabbath evening. The chapel was crowded to the ceiling. My subject was, 'Weep not for me, but for yourselves.' We held a prayer-meeting afterwards, at which full two thousand persons remained. I have been much affected and humbled, in going over his papers, to discover the strength of his attachment to me."

Buried: 28 February 1840

Addresses:
1832: Richard Street, in St. George's in the East, London  (Bunhill Fields Burial Index entry for Samuel Rolls Plumbe)

Sources:

Samuel Plumbe

Samuel Plumbe
Samuel Plumbe circa 1830
photo from British journal of derm., v. 69, p. 216, reproduced at Images from the History of Medicine
Birth: 8 October 1795

Baptism: 4 November 1795, SS Peter and St. Paul, Wantage, Berkshire, England

Father: Samuel Plumbe

Mother: Molly (Aldworth) Plumbe

Married (1st): Anne Clarissa Perkins on 18 Jan 1820 in St. Martin in the Fields, Middlesex, England
Samuel Plumbe is recorded as a bachelor, resident in St Martin in the Fields. Anne Perkins is recorded as a spinster, resident in Chertsey, Surrey. The marriage, by license, was witnessed by James ???, Eliza Watten and Mary Watten.

Children: Married (2nd): Emma Lloyd on 26 January 1824 in Old Church, St Pancras, London, England
Samuel Plumbe is recorded as a widower, of the parish of St George Bloomsbury, Middlesex. Emma Lloyd is recorded as a spinster, of St Pancras. The marriage, by license, was officiated by Henry Shepherd, minister, and witnessed by Philip Charretie and ??? Perkins.
The New Monthly Magazine 1 April 1824 p183
Marriages.—
At St. Pancras, S. Plumbe, esq. of Russell-street, to Miss Emma Lloyd.
Children: Married (3rd): Elizabeth Perkins on 31 December 1832, in Broadwater by Worthing, Sussex, England

Children: Occupation: Surgeon and Dermatologist. Samuel was one of the first physicians to make a clear description of the skin disease psoriasis. This disease, at one time known as Willan-Plumbe syndrome, was first described by Willan in 1808, and then by Samuel Plumbe in his book A Practical Treatise on Diseases of the Skin, published in London by Underwood in 1824. Samuel was the senior surgeon at the Royal Metropolitan Infirmary for Children.

In 1814 Samuel entered St. Thomas's Hospital, apprenticed to Mr. Stephen Wentworth of Oxford. The next year he was admitted as M.R.C.S. at the Royal College of Surgeons of London. From 1816 to 1820 he served in the East India Company's Navy. During this time he evidently became interested in skin diseases, and in the following years he started publishing results of his research. In 1821 he published A Practical Essay on Ringworm of the Scalp and the next year published On Diseases of the Skin which won him the Jacksonian Prize from the Royal Colege of Surgeons. In 1824 he published his landmark study "A Practical Treatise on Diseases of the Skin: arranged with a view to their constitutional causes and local characters : including the substance of the essay to which the Royal College of Surgeons awarded the Jacksonian prize, and all such valuable facts as have been recorded by continental authors on these subjects to the present time". Samuel also published A popular and impartial estimate of the present value of vaccination as a security against Small Pox in 1830 and An Address to the Governors of Christ's Hospital on the causes, and means of prevention of the disease called Ring-worm in that establishment. From 1824 to 1830, Samuel was a member of the Medico-Chirurgical Society and from 1827 to 1830 was a surgeon at the Royal Metropolitan Infirmary for Children, becoming senior surgeon by 1830.

In December 1836, Samuel was resident at Southampton Street, Bloomsbury Square, London.

Death: 1837

Addresses:
1822: Great Russell Street, Bloomsbury   (The Monthly Magazine 1822 Part 1 p179)
1824: Great Russell Street, St Pancras, Middlesex   (baptism of son Samuel)
1836: Southampton Street, Bloomsbury Square, London

Sources:

Samuel Rolls Plumbe

Samuel Plumbe
This illustration in Rolls Plumbe does not explicitly state that it is of the Plumbe family (Rolls as the child) but it seems likely to be from the context, and if not is at least indicative of the era.
known as "Rolls"

Birth: 20 April 1821, in Holborn, London, Middlesex, England

Baptism: 1 July 1821, in Haberdashers Hall Independent, London, England

Father: Samuel Plumbe

Mother: Caroline (Payne) Plumbe

Death: 26 April 1832, in London, England. The death is recorded in Rolls Plumbe p51...
"His aunt said, "My dear, you are very ill, and you are about to leave us: is Jesus still precious to you?"
He smiles sweetly, and said, "Yes!"
"Where," he asked, "is mamma, and Philip and Annie!"
They were by his bedside, but they were too much affected to speak
His papa said, "Are you happy, dear?" His voice failed, and he could not answer.
"If you are quite happy, dear," his papa said, "squeeze my hand."
He did so.
His father repeated to him the words of David, "Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me."
Rolls took his hand and drew it towards him, and placed it on his mouth to kiss it; but his powers failed, and without a struggle or a sigh, and with a kiss of filial love on his lips, he expired!"

Burial: 30 April 1832 at Bunhill Fields Burial Ground The burial index, has "Samuel Rolls Plume (sic) age 11, brought from Richard Street, St George in the East and buried Monday 30 May 1832 at 3 o'clock". The month is presumably a typo for April (especially since 30 April was a Monday, 30 May a Wednesday)

Notes: Rolls was the subject of a book Rolls Plumbe: An Authentic Memoir of a Child in A Series of Letters to a Child, written by Dr. Andrew Reed, the minister at his church. The book records the spirituality of the boy who was ill for most of his life, and died young.

Sources:

Samuel Alderson Plumbe

Birth: 29 October 1824, in Bloomsbury London, Middlesex, England

Baptism: 26 November 1824, in Old Church, St. Pancras, London, England
Samuel Alderson Plumbe is recorded as born on 20 October 1824, the son of Samuel, a surgeon, and Emma Plumbe, of Great Russell Street.

Father: Samuel Plumbe
 
Mother: Emma (Lloyd) Plumbe

Married: Louisa Burton Hulke on 30 September 1852, in St. Andrew's, Deal, Kent, England
Samuel Alderson Plumbe is recorded as a physician, a bachelor, resident in London, the son of Samuel Plumbe, surgeon. Louisa Burton Hulke is recorded as a spinster, resident in Deal, the daughter of William Hulke, surgeon. The marriage was witnessed by Henry Plumbe, Margaret Thomson, J. W. Hulke and Emma Plumbe.
Observer 4 October 1852 p8
MARRIED.—
30th, at St Andrew's Church, Deal, Samuel Alderson Plumbe, M. D., Maidenhead, Berks, eldest son of the late Samuel Plumbe, Esq., Southampton-street, Bloomsbury, to Louisa Burton, second daughter of William Hulke, Esq., Deal, Kent

Morning Chronicle 4 October 1852 p8
     MARRIED.
On the 30th ult., at Deal, Samuel Alderson Plumbe, M. D., surgeon, of Maidenhead, Berks, to Louisa Burton, second daughter of William Hulke, Esq., surgeon, of Deal, Kent.

Children: Occupation: Doctor of Medicine

From the Provincial Section of the London and Provincial Medical Directory for 1858:
Samuel Plumbe: Maidenhead, Berks, (Bellis and Plumbe) MD, Kings Coll. Aberd. 1850; MRCS, Eng. 1849; LSA, 1850." (LSA is Licenciate of the Society of Apothecaries)

From the Post Office Directory of Berkshire, 1854
PHYSICIANS: Bellis & Plumbe, High st. Maidenhead
Maidenhead: TRADERS: Bellis & Plumbe, surgeons, High street

1864 Mr Samuel A Plumbe, Surgeon, Union Workshouse
              Samuel A Plumbe, MD, Physician, High Street

From Harrod & Co.'s Directory of Berkshire, 1876 for Maidenhead:
Private Residents:
Plumbe Samuel A., Esq., M.D., High street

Professions and General Trades
Plumbe Samuel A., physician, High st.

Notes: Samuel came to Maidenhead in 1852 (obituary of son Samuel Thompson Plumbe)

Extract from an article called Victorian Maidenhead in The Maidenhead Advertiser, Wednesday, April 24th, 1935
Monkendons - This large Georgian mansion, better known to many generations of Maidonians as "Dr. Plumbe's", etc....
The Doctors - In Victorian times the place became notable as the residence and dispensary of Dr. Benjamin Bellis and Dr. Samuel Plumbe. Dr. Bellis took up municipal service as his recreation and relief from arduous professional duties and became Mayor of the town in 1847-1860-61. Dr Plumbe senr., seems to have indulged in musical accomplishments; his sudden decease whilst attending a rehearsal of the old Philharmonic Society when under the conductorship of the late Mac Schultz, must yet be as fresh in the memory of my contemporaries as of my own.  My father and sister were present at that rehearsal which would be about the years 1872-4. The late Dr. E.C. Montgomery, father of Dr. E. Cecil Montgomery, became associated with Dr. Plumbe senior, and afterwards with his son who succeeded his father.  The succession of Dr. E. Cecil Montgomery and his work in conjunction with Dr. Plumbe until the latter's lamented removal by death and the transference of the "Monkendons" dispensary to the Marlow-road - Castle Hill corner, belongs partly to a period later than the Victorian era.

A query on "Monkendons" has been posted on www.curiousfox.com for Maidenhead:
"Monkendens" was situated at 151 High St where, I'm told, its roof had a landmark copper dome or cuppola. On the land now, I am told a mere supermarket stands! Dr SA Plumbe served the area in a joint practice from about 1863 till his death in 1876, while his son Dr ST Plumbe took over and must have made his mark till his own early demise in 1909. About 1910 the house-contents were sold, and we think the site was cleared at that time.
A Catalogue of Sale for the house-contents dated 1 September 1909 shows that the house had 5 bedrooms, 2 maid-rooms, Billiard room, Drawing room, Morning room, Library, Dining room, Entrance Hall, Kitchen, Scullery and Larder.

Death: 6 December 1876, whilst attending a rehearsal of the old Philharmonic Society, in Maidenhead, Berkshire, England, aged 52
Guardian 13 December 1876 p10
   On Wednesday Alderman Plumbe, a well-known physician at Maidenhead, died suddenly in the British School-room, whilst conversing with Herr Schultz, the conductor of a concert, in which Miss Plumbe was to assist. Dr. Plumbe, who leaves eleven children, was fifty-two years of age.

Will:
This is the last Will and Testament of me Samuel Alderson Plumbe of Maidenhead in the County of Berks Doctor of Medicine I revoke all former Wills by me heretofore made I bequeath the household goods furniture plate linen china books pictures wines liquors and provisions which may be in or about the house in which I may reside at my decease to my dear Wife Louisa Burton Plumbe for her absolute use I also bequeathto my said Wife the sum of Fifty pounds which sum I direct my Executors to pay to her within one month after my decease in order to supply her immediate occasions I bequeath to Henry Plumbe of Winchcomb in the County of Gloucester Gentleman and my said Wife Louisa Burton Plumbe All my personal estate and effects whatsoever not herein specifically disposed of And also all my messuages lands tenements hereditaments and real estate whatsoever and wheresoever (except estates vested in me as a Trustee or Mortgagee) To hold the said real and personal estates to the said Henry Plumbe and Louisa Burton Plumbe their heirs executors administrators and assigns according to the nature thereof upon trust that they or the survivor of them their his or her assigns or his or her heirs executors or administrators (my Trustees or Trustee for the time being) shall with all convenient speed after my decease sell dispose of and convert into money so much of my personal estate as shall be in its nature saleable and collect get in and retain and receive the residue thereof And also make sale of all or any part of my real estate by Public Auction or Private Contract altogether or in lots at any time or times and subject or not to any conditions or stipulations as to title or otherwise with power to buy in the same at any such Auction and to rescind or vary any Contract for sale without being subject to make good any loss in price occasioned thereby and shall convey assign and dispose of the property sold to the purchaser or purchasers thereof or as they or he may direct And I declare that the Trustees or Trustee for the time being shall stand possessed of such part of my residuary personal estate as shall consist of money or retained securities and of the monies to arise from the sale or conversion of my real and personal estate Upon the trusts hereinafter declared (that is to say) In the first place to satisfy the costs and expenses attending such conversion and sale and in the next place to pay and discharge all my just debts whether due on Mortgage bond or simple Contract and my funeral and testamentary expenses And lastly to lay out and invest the residue of the said monies in their or his names or name in the Parliamentary Stocks or funds of Great Britain or on real Securities in England (but not in Ireland) or on the Debentures or guaranteed stock of any Railway or other Company or of any Municipal Corporation in the United Kingdom or upon the Loans or securities of any Foreign Government or any English Colony or Dependency or of the United States of America and with full power from time to time to alter and transpose the said securities and any securities retained for others of the prescribed nature And as to the application of the said residuary trust funds and securities upon trust to pay the annual income thereof to my said Wife during her life And after her death I declare that my Trustees or Trustee shall hold the said trust funds and securities In trust for all my children or any child who being Sons or a Son shall attain the age of twenty one years or being Daughters or a Daughter shall attain that age or marry And I declare that the shares of my Daughters shall be for their respective sole and separate use and benefit independent of the debts control or engagements of any Husband with whom they may marry and their receipts alone given after the same shares shall be payable shall be good discharges to my Trustees And I declare that after the decease of my said Wife or with her consent in writing during her life the Trustees or Trustee for the time being shall and may at their his or her discretion pay or advance for or towards the education or the preferment or settlement in the world of any child all or any part of the then presumptive or vested portion under the trusts aforesaid And that my said Trustees or Trustee shall either forthwith sell and convert into money my said residuary real and personal estate or any part thereof or defer such sale and conversion at their or his discretion without being responsible for any loss occasioned thereby the rents and profits of any property remaining unsold being applied in the manner in which the interest of the money to be produced by a Sale would be applied if the same were sold And in case my Son Samuel should not have joined me in my practise at the time of my death it is my express wish that he should have the option of succeeding to my share therein he giving his Bond for payment of the premium (to be arranged on the usual basis) by easy instalments with interest the amount of and period over which such installments shall extend I expressly leave to the discretion of my said Tustees or Trustee whom I specially absolve from all responsibility with reference thereto And I devise all estates which may at the time of my decease be vested in me upon any trusts or by way of Mortgage unto the said Henry Plumbe and Louisa Burton Plumbe their heirs executors administrators and assigns respectively according to the nature and quality thereof respectively Subject to the trusts and equities affecting the same respectively And I appoint the said Henry Plumbe and Louisa Burton Plumbe Executor and Executrix of this my Will. In witness whereof I have to this my last Will and Testament set my hand this Sixth day of Dec. One thousand eight hundred and seventy five.
Signed by the said Samuel Alderson Plumbe the Testator as his last Will and Testament in the presence of us being present at the same time who at his request and in his presence and in the presence of each other have hereunto subscribed our names as Witnesses.
Samuel Alderson Plumbe.
S.H. Gascoigne, Lieut. General, Ivybridge, Devon.
Edwin C. Montgomery of Maidenhead, Surgeon.

Proved at Oxford, the Sixteenth day of January 1877, by the Oaths of Henry Plumbe, the Brother, and Louisa Burton Plumbe, Widow, the Relict, the Executors to whom Administration was granted.

The Testator Samuel Alderson Plumbe was late of Maidenhead in the County of Berks, Doctor of Medicine, and died on the Sixth day of December 1876, at Maidenhead aforesaid.

Under £9000 pounds.

Henry Plumbe, Solicitor, Winchcomb.

Census:
1861: High Street, Cookham, Maidenhead, Berkshire
1871: Maidenhead, Berkshire

Sources:

Samuel Thomson Plumbe

Samuel Thomson Plumbe
Samuel Thomson Plumbe
photo from Claire Freestone
Samuel Thomson Plumbe
Samuel Thomson Plumbe
photo from Claire Freestone
Birth: 8 July 1853 in Maidenhead, Berkshire, England

Baptism: 7 November 1853 in Maidenhead Chapel, Maidenhead, Berkshire, England

Father: Samuel Alderson Plumbe

Mother: Louisa Burton (Hulke) Plumbe

Occupation: General Practitioner.
Samuel began training at St Bartholomews in October 1872 and he was there for five years. He was appointed House Surgeon at the Kent and Canterbury Hospital on May 2 1877 as House Surgeon. He was M.D., London, 1882; M.B., M.R.C.S., and L.S.A., 1877.

1883 Samuel Thomson Plumbe, MD, Surgeon
         Montgomery & Plumbe, Surgeons, 88 High Street
               
1903 Montgomery & Plumbe, Surgeons, 88 High Street
         Plumbe, Samuel Thomson, MD London, MRCS England, Physician & Surgeon 

Samuel was one the founding members of staff at the Maidenhead Cottage Hospital in Norfolk Park, Maidenhead, which was opened in 1879, at which time it could accommodate seventy three patients. The cost of the building was met largely by public donations. It was enlarged in 1908, 1911 and 1921, and by the time the final extensions were completed in 1930, it accommodated over five hundred patients. In 1948 it was absorbed into the National Health Service as Maidenhead General Hospital. It was closed in 1974 and its patients moved to St Mark's Hospital, Maidenhead. Samuel worked there until his death in 1909, and a brass memorial plaque was created in his honour reading:
"Samuel Thompson Plumbe, MD, member of the staff of the hospital, 1879-1909. Erected March 1910."

Notes:
Samuel played football for the Maidenhead Football Club, scoring the first goal in the club's first match at the York Road on 16 February 1871. York Road is believed to be the oldest senior football ground continuously used by the same club in the country ("Country's 'oldest' football ground in Maidenhead gets plaque" BBC News, 13 October 2012)

BBC Berkshire, 18 February 2011
      Maidenhead Football club celebrates140 years of history
  On 16 February, 140 years ago Maidenhead played their first football match at York Road.
  The club began life two months earlier, playing at Bonds Meadow, but moved to York Road after receiving permission from Maidenhead Cricket Club.
  Today Maidenhead FC claims to hold the record as the oldest continuously used senior football ground in the world.
... Back in 1871, Maidenhead's first match at York Road was against Marlow.
  At 1530 GMT 15 Maidonians dressed in white with a black and green Maltese cross, faced up to fifteen Marlovians dressed in blue and white stripes.
  The rugby sized line up reflected the fledgling years of the game when many of the rules were interchangeable.
  Marlow won the toss and opted to kick up the slope. The first half hour was even with Marlow's brawn being matched by Maidenhead's speed and creativity. The scene was thus set for the first ever goal at York Road which was reported as follows:
  "Mr Plumbe has seen his chance. He runs with astonishing speed - gets it - and keeps it - until - gently kicking - he has skilfully, gradually, obliquely, worked it along to the desired spot, and the first goal is won by Maidenhead.
  "The excitement now becomes great and, amidst the cheers of the bystanders, Mr Plumbe is carried round the goal on the shoulders of his exulting confederates."
  After half time Maidenhead's Basset hit the post and shortly before the end the captain, Goulden, sealed the win for the home team with a neat dribble and shot.

A query on the Plumbe home "Monkendons" was posted on www.curiousfox.com for Maidenhead:
"Monkendens" was situated at 151 High St where, I'm told, its roof had a landmark copper dome or cuppola. On the land now, I am told a mere supermarket stands! Dr SA Plumbe served the area in a joint practice from about 1863 till his death in 1876, while his son Dr ST Plumbe took over and must have made his mark till his own early demise in 1909. About 1910 the house-contents were sold, and we think the site was cleared at that time.
A Catalogue of Sale for the house-contents dated 1 September 1909 shows that the house had 5 bedrooms, 2 maid-rooms, Billiard room, Drawing room, Morning room, Library, Dining room, Entrance Hall, Kitchen, Scullery and Larder.

Death: 7 June 1909, at "Monkendens", High Street, Maidenhead, Berkshire, England, aged 55
Maidenhead Advertiser 9 June 1909
PLUMBE.—On June 7th, at Monkendons, Maidenhead, suddenly, Samuel Thomson Plumbe, M.D. London, aged 55. Funeral service on Thursday at 2.15 at St. Luke's Church, and at the Cemetery.

Gravestone of Samuel Thomson Plumbe
Gravestone of Samuel Thomson Plumbe in Maidenhead cemetery, Berkshire
photo from Mark Smith
Buried: 10 June 1909, in Maidenhead cemetery, Maidenhead, Berkshire, England.

Obituary:
The Slough, Eton and Windsor Observer, 12 June 1909 p8 column 4
       SUDDEN DEATH OF DR. PLUMBE.
  We deeply regret to have to record the death, under peculiarly distressing circumstances, of Dr. Samuel Thomson Plumbe, the sad event occurring with painful suddenness at his residence, Monkendons, High-street, Maidenhead, on Monday morning last. The doctor discharged his professional duties on Sunday, and when he retired to rest at shortly after midnight he appeared in his customary health and strength and was as cheerful as usual. At between 8 and 9 o'clock on Monday morning one of the domestic servants went to his room to call him, but obtaining no response she entered the apartment and was amazed to find her master lying dead on the floor of the room. She promptly called Miss Plumbe, the doctor's sister, to whom, of course, the discovery was a great shock. Dr. Cecil Montgomery—Dr. Plumbe's partner—was telegraphed for, and on arrival found that the worst fears were justified, and that life was extinct. He was of opinion that death had taken place about an hour previously. Three years ago Dr. Plumbe had an attack of syncope, and it was then known that he suffered from heart disease.
  The news of the sudden death of Dr. Plumbe caused a profound sensation in the town and district, and confirmation of the sad intelligence on inquiry at the surgery and residence was received with the utmost regret, no resident being more widely known or more highly esteemed.
  The deceased was a son of Dr. Samuel Alderson Plumbe, who came to Maidenhead in 1852, and who died suddenly on December 6th, 1876, at the age of 52. He received his early trining in medical and surgical skill at St. Bartholomew's Hospital, where he was for five years. He was then appointed House Surgeon at the Kent and Canterbury Hospital. After this, and twelve months after the death of his father, Dr. Plumbe joined Dr. Edwin Cuthbert Montgomery, in 1878, thus taking the place of his father, who had been in partnership with Dr. Montgomery for some 14 years. On the retirement of Dr. Montgomery last year, Dr. Plumbe took Dr. Montgomery's son (Dr. Edwin Cecil Montgomery) into partnership. The late Dr. Plumbe was M.D., London, 1882; M.B., M.R.C.S., and L.S.A., 1877. He was 54 years of age.
  Dr. Plumbe was not only a very skilful medical practitioner, but he was a true friend of his patients - attentive, sincere, sympathetic, and kind-hearted. he was ingenuous and outspoken, but tactful, and always most conscientious in the discharge of his responsible duties. No call made on his professional skill came too late or too early an hour, and no summons came from too great a distance. To all requests for his attendance he responded with alacrity, and with a cheerfulness that was remarkable. The need, and not the person, was Dr. Plumbe's first consideration. He was a real friend to the sick poor who came under his treatment and influence, and his death is little short of a calamity to the town and district.
  He was Medical Officer to the Post Office, Police, and most of the local friendly Societies and Slate Clubs, as well as Medical Officer under the Factory Act.
  He was unmarried, and resided with his sister, Miss E. A. Plumbe, for whom, as well as the other members of the family, the deepest sympathy is felt and expressed in their peculiarly sad bereavement.

British Medical Journal, 26 June 1909 p1578
   Dr. PLUMBE, who had practised for thirty-one years at Maidenhead, was found dead in his bedchamber on the morning of June 7th. He had attended as usual to his professional work the day before, and seemed to be well and strong when he retired to rest, but he had suffered from an attack of syncope three years earlier, and it was then discovered that he was already the subject of heart disease. His father died suddenly in December, 1876, at the age of 52, and Dr. Samuel Plumbe himself was only 56 at the date of his decease. He died unmarried. Dr. Samuel T. Plumbe was the son of Dr. Samuel Alderson Plumbe, who settled in Maidenhead in 1852. He studied.at St. Bartholomew's Hospital. He graduated M.B.Lond., and obtained the diploma of M.R.C.S. and L.S.A. in 1877, and took the degree of M.D.Lond. in 1882. He held for a time after his first qualification the appointment of House-Surgeon to the Kent and Canterbury Hospital. In 1878 he joined his deceased father's partner, Dr. Edwin Cuthbert Montgomery, in practice. Dr. Plumbe was widely and deservedly popular, being skilful, prompt, punctual, and extremely humane. His funeral, which took place at Maidenhead Cemetery on June 10th, was very largely attended, and the assemblage of persons representative of all classes was a striking testimony to the affection and esteem in which he was held throughout the town and district.

Administration: granted 3 July 1909 to Philip Algernon Plumbe and Harriet Charlotte Whitfirld
National Index of Wills and Administrations 1909 p395
PLUMBE Samuel Thomson of Monkedons Maidenhead Berkshire died 7 June 1909 Administration London 3 July to Philip Algernon Plumbe bank clerk and Harriet Charlotte Whitfield (wife of George Sydney Whitfield). Effects £20921 8s. 5d.

Census:
1861: High Street, Cookham, Maidenhead, Berkshire
1871: Holyport, Bray, Berkshire
1881: Taplow Mills, Taplow, Buckinghamshire
1891: 86-90 High Street, Cookham, Berkshire
1901: High Street, Maidenhead, Berkshire

Sources:

Samuel William Plumbe

Birth: 1866, in Winchcombe, Gloucester, England

Father: Henry Plumbe

Mother: Caroline (Straford) Plumbe

Married: Edith Thompson in 1908 in King's Norton district, Worcestershire, England.
Edith was born in 1876/7 and died in Birmingham district, Warwickshire, in 1938, aged 69.
Census:
1911: King's Norton, Worcestershire: Edith Plumbe is aged 34

Death: 7 September 1927, in Birmingham North district, Warwickshire, England, aged 60

Census & Addresses:
1871: Terrace, Winchcombe, Gloucestershire
1881: 9 Johnstone St, Bathwick, Somerset
1911: King's Norton, Worcestershire: Samuel William Plumbe is aged 39, born in Winchcombe
1927: 68 Lower Essex Street, and 75 Addison Road, King's Heath, both in Birmingham, Warwickshire (London Gazette 13 January 1928 p335)

Sources:

Samuel Henry Plumbe

Birth: 28 September 1866, in Whitechapel district, Middlesex, England

Father: Henry Martyn Plumbe

Mother: Louisa (Walker) Plumbe

Education: Christ's Hospital School (London)

Married: Henrietta Maclaren on 11 September 1902 in Atlin, British Columbia, Canada
Henrietta was born on 17 April 1871 (? - see source notes) in Ontario, Canada, the daughter of Henry Maclaren and Helen Baird. She died on 2 June 1943, in North Vancouver, British Columbia, aged 70. Probate was granted on 6 August 1943.

Henrietta's sister, Helen Elizabeth, married Richard D. Featherstonhaugh who became a mine manager in Atlin, B.C. and it was presumably during Henrietta's visit to her sister recorded in the 1901 census, that she met Samuel Plumbe, also a mine manager in Atlin.
Census:
1881: Torbolton, Carleton, Ontario
1891: Torbolton, Ontario
1901: Bennett & Atlin sub-district, Burrard, British Columbia
1911: 62 Government Street, Victoria, British Columbia

Children:
Occupation: Accountant, earning $2000 a year in 1901, and superintendent of mining companies.
Samuel went to Atlin in northern British Columbia as superindendent for the Birch Creek Mining Company and he later, as representative of the Nimrod Mining Syndicate of London, managed the McKee Creek Hydraulic Company.
Victoria Daily Colonist 28 September 1906 p5
                   PROGRESS AT ATLIN.<
The McKee Hydraulic Company Makes a Good Clean-up.
  Atlin advices of September 15th, say:
  S. H. Plumbe, manager for the McKee Amalgamated Hydraulic company, was in town on Saturday last with a clean-up which his company made the previous Tuesday. Five hundred and thirty-three ounces of gold, valued at over $9,000, were obtained as the result of 23 days piping. Although the water was slowly falling off, the company last week commanded a 6-inch head and Mr. Plumbe is fairly confident that he will have one, if not two, good clean-ups before the end of the McKee Creek season.

Samuel was the manager of the Amalgamated McKee Creek Mining Company which also owned leases on McKee Creek.
Annual report of the Minister of Mines 1905 p69
             ATLIN MINING DIVISION.
REPORT OF J. A. FRASER, GOLD COMMISSIONER
                          MCKEE CREEK
  Nearly all the ground on this creek is owned by companies and only from 10 to 15 individual miners operated on it during the summer, but those were rewarded by good returns.
  The scarcity of water and the uncomfortably close quarters into which Ginaca & Co., and the McKee Consolidated Hydraulic, Limited, had worked themselves in 1904 induced the latter company to suspend operations for this season, so as to enable the said Ginaca & Co. to work past the point of conflict and interference, which they did with satisfactory results. They operated on the Old England and Winnemucca leases, and with five men and the use of the hydraulic plant and water of the above-mentioned McKee Creek Consolidated Hydraulic, Limited, uncovered about 5,500 square yards of bed-rock and moved about 27,500 cubic yards of gravel, with satisfactory results.
  The Amalgamated McKee Creek Mining Company, under the management of Mr. S. H. Plumbe, operated further down stream on the Beta and Gamma leases, with a force of from 8 to 12 men and an expenditure of about $15,000, and uncovered about 4,700 square yards of bed-rock, and as the banks were very high (about 130 feet), moved a considerable quantity of material, which averaged about $4.70 per square yard of bed-rock exposed, and gave a handsome net profit for the season's operations, notwithstanding the shortage of water, which, unfortunately, permitted of the use of two monitors for a few weeks only, and towards the end of the season of one monitor only for a few hours a day.

Annual report of the Minister of Mines 1907 p48
             ATLIN MINING DIVISION.
REPORT OF J. A. FRASER, GOLD COMMISSIONER
                          MCKEE CREEK
  Only four individual operators were engaged on this creek this last season, and they for but a comparatively short time. Their ground being pretty well worked out and water being scarce the results were not as satisfactory as in former seasons. The whole creek being practically under one management, although held by two companies, the McKee Consolidated Hydraulic, Limited, owning the leases on the upper portion of the creek, was granted exemption from the operating conditions of said leases on account of the scarcity of water, and so as not to embarrass the operations of the Amalgamated McKee Creek Mining Company, Limited, on the lower portion of the creek. This company, under the superintendence of Mr. S. H. Plumbe, with Mr. Geo. Adams as foreman, and latterly under the direct supervision of Mr. Fletcher T. Hamshaw, president and general manager, commenced operations about the middle of May and continued as water would permit until October 8th. About midsummer the company was compelled by the scarcity of water to reduce the width of the sluices to make the available quantity more effective. Notwithstanding these and other difficulties, this company, according to the president's report, moved about 500,000 cubic yards of overburden, washed nearly 60,000 cubic yards of pay gravel, thereby uncovering nearly 7,000 square yards of bedrock and recovering therefrom nearly $24,000. The last pit worked was the best, and according to said report averaged $8.45 per square yard of bedrock. It also removed a great quantity of overburden (nearly 400,000 cubic yards), which leaves a large amount of pay gravel exposed for next season's operation. About $8,000 was expended on new plant, pipe-lines, etc., which, with the amount of dead-work already done, leads to the expectation of a good start and excellent results for next season. A force of about 20 men was employed during the season.

In 1909 Samuel was superintendent of supplies for J. M. Heney, the contractor in charge of the construction of the Copper City - Cordova railway in Alaska.

Notes: Samuel went to the United States in 1891, according to a family letter. In the 1901 census, Samuel lists that he emigrated to Canada in 1894. The 1900 census shows him working in Alaska, having located there in August 1898, but listing his home as Victoria, B.C. A legal document lists his home address on 1st February 1899 as being 408 Union St, Seattle, King county, Washington, United States.

Railroad construction in Abercrombie Canyon
Construction of the railroad through Abercrombie canyon. It was during this construction that Samuel Plumbe was struck by a train and killed.
scan of postcard from Alaska's Digital Archives
Death: 9 May 1909 at Cordova, Alaska, United States, aged 42. Samuel was struck by a train in Abercrombie canyon, and died of a punctured lung from broken ribs.
Victoria Daily Colonist 12 May 1909 p6
          Victorian Killed in North
  News has been received in the city of the death at Cordova, Alaska, of S. H. Plumbe, well known amongst mining men of the north and Atlin, where he spent many years, and also in this city, where up until a few months ago he has for some time been residing. Mr. Plumbe was transportation agent for M. J. Heney, the contractor upon the Copper river railway, and on Saturday last was struck by a train while passing through Abercrombie canyon. He died the following day. Word was received by Hon. Dr. Young, who was an intimate friend of the deceased, asking him to break the news to the bereaved family. The body has been shipped south to this city for interment by the steamer Northwestern.

A letter from Archie W. Shield in Cordova to Hon. Dr. Young gives more detail on Samuel's death:
Copy of a letter from A Shield to Hon. Dr. Young.
M. J. Heney
Railway Contractor
Cordova, Alaska
                                        Cordova, Alaska May 10th 1909
  My Dear Young:
    It is with the deepest feelings of sorrow that I have to confirm to you my telegram telling you of the death of our poor friend Plumbe. Until two oclock on the afternoon of his death he was considered by us all to be out of danger and his sudden taking away has been a great shock to us all. I hope poor Mrs. Plumbe is bearing up well under her great bereavement and that you & Jack will be able to be some comfort to her.
  We are sending his remains down on the Northwestern leaving this morning and I am wiring you that this has been done & asking you to confer with our Seattle office in regard to the transfer from that city to Victoria. Dr Whitting is writing you on this steamer also.
  The accident that caused his death was one of those things that no one can explain. he walked down the track towards a train that was slowly coming towards him with the intention of jumping on board & taking a ride. the train was not going in excess of a mile an hour, as she was just pulling out after taking water. he caught ahold of the hand bar an got his foot onto the step; but in some way either slipped or in climbing up got a cramp and let go. he was not struck by the wheels, but by the boxing of the trucks which knocked him clear of the wheels and under the Car. the train was of course immediately stopped and the poor old chap taken out and over to the hospital where everything was done for him that could be. he was conscious when we got him out from under the car, and rested very easy Friday night. Saturday and Saturday night he was feeling very well although not hungry. in fact he did not seem to want anything to eat but fruit, on Sunday morning he was more cheerful still, and the Doctors gave it as this opinion that he was out of danger, and we were discussing if it would not be a wise thing to send him down home to build up his strength, on the steamer leaving here on the 20th. at two oclock on Sunday afternoon he seemed suddenly to collapse and from that on till the end came at seven thirty he sank very rapidly. the end was very peaceful he appeared to be free from all pain although must have been badly crushed internally. to all outward appearances his injuries consisted of a broken collar bone and three fractured ribs. I will write you on the next boat, old man and arrange to send down the poor boys effects at that time. I am enclosing you a short note to Mrs Plumbe which I hope you will please hand to her. will you please also keep me posted as to how she bears up under her great sorrow, and if there is anything in the world we can do for her please do not hesitate to advise me
    very sincerely yours
        Archie W. Shield

Buried: 17 May 1909, in Ross Bay cemetery, Victoria, British Columbia. His grave is in Block T, plot 88 W 44.
Victoria Daily Colonist 18 May 1909 p7
          ACCIDENT'S VICTIM LAID TO REST
Late S. H. Plumbe Recently Killed at Cordova Buried Here Yesterday
  The funeral of the late S. H. Plumbe, who recently was accidentally killed at Cordova, Alaska, where he was acting as superintendent of supplies for J. M. Heney, the contractor in charge of the construction of the Copper City-Cordova railway, took place yesterday afternoon from the B. C. Funeral Furnishing parlors. His Lordship, Bishop Perrin, assisted by the Rev. Baugh Allen officiated, and the attendance was large. Interment took place at Ross Bay cemetery.
  The late Mr. Plumbe was one of the best known residents of the north, and had a host of friends throughout British Columbia, Alaska and the Yukon. Liked by everyone who knew him, he was extremely popular. His tragic death at the early age of 42 came as a real shock to everyone.
  Mr. Plumbe had been at Cordova but a few months when the accident occurred. For the past year he has made Victoria his home, and his family, a wife and four children, reside here on Government street, near the Dallas road.
  Of the 20 years which he had spent in B.C. the last 12 years were passed in Atlin. Going there originally as superindendent for the Birch Creek Mining Company, he later as representative of the Nimrod Mining Syndicate of London, managed the McKee Creek Hydraulic Company. Some six years ago he married Miss McLaren, of the well-known family of Ottawa, Ont., and Buckingham, Que. His father lives in Croydon, Eng., and one brother, A. G. Plumbe, is a resident of Seattle. He with W. C. McLaren, a brother-in-law, of Calgary, were present here for the funeral.
  The regard in which the late Mr. Plumbe was held by his large circle of friends was manifested by the beautiful floral tokens which were recelved. Countless telegrams and letters of condolence have been received by the bereaved family.
  The pallbearers yesterday were E. Roselli, Hon. Dr. Young, J. Byrom, C. Bourne, J. Canavan and J. H. Brownlee, all old friends of the deceased.

Probate: Samuel Henry Plumbe's will was probated in the British Columbia Supreme Court in 1909.
                          
Census & Addresses:
1881: Christ's Hospital School, Newgate Street, City of London
1900: Broadway, Skagway, Alaska Territory
1901: Bennett & Atlin sub-district, Burrard, British Columbia
1909: 62 Government Street, Victoria, British Columbia (Directory of Vancouver Island 1909 p284)

Sources:

Sarah (Plumbe) Dunn

Birth: 25 September 1795

Baptism: 21 October 1795, in St. Mary, Henley on Thames, Oxfordshire, England

Father: John Plumbe

Mother: Sarah (Simmons) Plumbe

Married: Thomas Henry Dunn on 11 July 1821, in St. Mary, Henley on Thames, Oxfordshire, England. Marriage witnessed by John Simmons Plumbe (bride's brother), Charlotte Plumbe (wife of John Simmons Plumbe) and Mary Plumbe (presumably the younger sister of the bride)

Children: Death: 17 August 1886

Notes: Claire Freestone's data has the marriage of Sarah to Thomas Highgate, but I can find no corroboration of this and I believe it to be a transcription error of Thomas Dunn of Highgate.

Sources:

Thomas Plumbe

Birth: 14 July 1806, in Wantage, Berkshire, England

Baptism: 8 August 1806, in SS Peter & Paul, Wantage, Berkshire, England

Father: Samuel Plumbe

Mother: Molly (Aldworth) Plumbe

Married: Ellen Moss on 1 June 1841, in Trinity Church, Marylebone, Middlesex, England

The Asiatic Journal, June 1841 p166
June 1. At Trinity Church, Marylebone, Capt. T. Plumbe, 27th Bengal Infantry, to Ellen, youngest daughter of D. Moss, Esq., of Portland-street, Portland-place.
Ellen was born in 1816/17, in Kensington, London, the daughter of D. Moss. Her father was a successful businessman in Lima, Peru. Ellen was converted from the Jewish faith by a prominent American evangelist whilst sailing to England from Peru. She died in 1906, in Wellington district, Shropshire, aged 89.
Census:
1871: Lyncombe & Widcombe, Somerset
1881: Abbey Villa, Lyncombe & Widcome, Somerset
1891: Great Yarmouth, Norfolk
1901: Willesden, Middlesex: Ellen Plumbe, mother-in-law, is aged 84, born in Kensington, London.

Children: Occupation: Army Officer. Thomas served in the 27th Native Infantry in the East India Company's service. He was commissioned as a cadet in 1824 and sailed from England on the Boyne on 5 January 1825, arriving in Madras on 6 May 1825. In 1839, he was a lieutenant interpreter and quarter master of the 27th regiment of native infantry, and appointed to act as station staff at the Ferozepore station on 27 April 1839 (Calcutta Monthly Journal and General Register 1839 p103). Thomas was made captain on 8 October 1839 (East India Register and Army List 1845 p118). His unit was stationed to Moradabad in June 1843 (East India Register and Army List 1845 p118). Thomas was promoted to Brevet Lieutenant-Colonel on 28 November 1854 (Allen's Indian Mail 31 October 1856 p642) and a full Lieutenant-Colonel on 28 November 1856 (India Office and Burma Office List 1857 p73). During the Indian Rebellion of 1857 the loyalty of the sepoys, or native enlisted men, of the 27th Native Infantry was questioned as other regiments in the region had started to mutiny. Thomas argued strenuously in favour of the loyalty of his sepoys, but was overruled and the regiment was disarmed and disbanded.

Memorials of the Life and Letters of Major-General Sir Herbert B. Edwardes p130-1 (Sir Herbert Benjamin Edwardes, 1886)
  Hitherto a large garrison of Hindostanee troops had been deemed necessary to occupy this Afghan valley. It was now proposed to reverse matters, to disarm the majority of the Troops and call in the people and mountaineers instead; this, too, when our prestige was gone. But it was the least of evils. And the General choose it with characteristic promptitude.
  All the Commanding-officers of corps were summoned. Day dawned before they were collected at the Residency, and for two hours the Commandants of the condemned regiments protested against the measure. It was impossible not to sympathize in the soldierly feelings of Colonel Harrington and Major Shakespear; but when Colonel Plumbe declared his 'implicit confidence' in the 27th Native Infantry to be unshaken by the events in Hindostan, and had nothing to recommend but 'conciliation,' while the Colonel of the 51st Native Infantry, on the other hand, predicted that 'his men would attack the guns if called on to give up their muskets,' hesitation was at an end.
  General Cotton announced his determination to to disarm the four most doubtful regiments, and ordered them to parade, each on its own ground, at seven a.m. for that purpose (already it was past six).
  The events of the next hour were to decide the fate of Peshâwur during this war, and those who best knew the disaffection of the Sepoys, and had been most convinced of the necessity of disarming them, felt most anxiously as to the issue.
  The corps to be disarmed were the 5th Light Cavalry, 24th, 27th, and 51st Regiment Native Infantry.
 
Whether Thomas's faith in the loyalty of his men was justified or misplaced will never really be known - the regiment was disarmed without incident. His loyalty during the Rebellion was not appreciated by more militant officers - Edwardes later writes:
Memorials of the Life and Letters of Major-General Sir Herbert B. Edwardes p132
... the 7th, which was the most doubtful, was commanded by a firm and vigilant officer (Colonel Mulcaster) who was not infected with the disease of 'implicit confidence;'

Thomas retired on 23 July 1858 and was given a step promotion to the honorary rank of Colonel (London Gazette 23 July 1858 p3413).

Death: 10 January 1894, at 15 Cambridge Gardens, Kilburn, Middlesex, England, of chronic brochitis and old age, aged 87.

Census & Addresses:
1871: Lyncombe & Widcombe, Somerset
1873: Bath (mentioned as a trustee of annuities established by his brother, Robert)
1881: Abbey Villa, Lyncombe & Widcombe, Somerset
1891: Great Yarmouth, Norfolk

Sources:

Thomas Plumbe

Birth: 26 January 1828, in Wantage, Berkshire (now Oxfordshire), England

Baptism: 19 March 1828, in SS. Peter & Paul, Wantage, Berkshire, England

Father: John Plumbe

Mother: Elizabeth (Neate) Plumbe

Death: 9 November 1844, aged 16

Buried: in Wantage, Berkshire (now Oxfordshire), England

Sources:

Thomas David Plumbe

Birth: 1842/3

Father: Thomas Plumbe

Mother: Ellen (Moss) Plumbe

Death: 7 February 1843, near Allahabad, North-Western Provinces, India, an infant

Bombay Times and Journal of Commerce 15 March 1843
On the 7th Feb near Allahabad Thomas David the infant son of Capt T Plumbe 27th Regt NI

Sources:

Thomas Plumbe

Birth: 1857, in Ashton Keynes, Wiltshire, England

Father: John Plumbe

Mother: Elizabeth Jane (Richards) Plumbe

Married: Susan Argent in 1882, in Hackney district, Middlesex, England

Children: Occupation: Warehouseman (Silk trade)

Death: 1936

Census:
1901: Leyton, Essex; Age: 43; Occupation: Warehouseman Silk Trade; Place of Birth: Ashton Keynes, Wiltshire

Sources:

Thomas Strange Plumbe

Birth: 17 September 1865, in Henley on Thames, Oxfordshire, England

Father: William Plumbe

Mother: Ann Richardby (Strange) Plumbe

Death: 20 November 1865, in Henley on Thames, Oxfordshire, England

Sources:

Thomas Argent Plumbe

Birth: 1884, in West Green, Edmonton district, Middlesex, England

Father: Thomas Plumbe

Mother: Susan (Argent) Plumbe 

Married: Violet Danford

Occupation: Drapers Warehouseman

Death: 1967

Census:
1901: Leyton, Essex; Age: 17; Occupation: Drapers Warehouseman; Place of Birth: West Green, Middlesex

Sources:

Velebeth Plumbe

Velebeth Plumbe
Velebeth Plumbe
photo from David Morris
Birth: 27 July 1870, in Islington, Middlesex, England

Father: James Plumbe

Mother: Velebeth (Chibnall) Plumbe

Married: Charles Strange Plumbe on 11 August 1910, Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, England

Children: Death: 1947, in Henley district, Oxfordshire, England

Notes: Velebeth was known as "Vi". She married her second cousin. The common ancestors were her great-grandparents, John Plumbe and Sarah Simmons.

Census:
1881: Box End, Kempston, Bedfordshire
1891: 18 Gery Street, Bedford St. Cuthbert, Bedfordshire

Sources:

William Plumbe

William Plumbe
William Plumbe
portrait from David Morris
Birth: 14 April 1798, in Henley on Thames, Oxfordshire, England

Baptism: 16 May 1798, in St. Mary's, Henley on Thames, Oxfordshire, England

Father: John Plumbe

Mother: Sarah (Simmons) Plumbe

Married: Anne Outhwaite on 7 January 1823, in St. Mary's, Henley on Thames, Oxfordshire, England. The marriage was witnessed by John and Mary Plumbe, and James and Robert Outhwaite.

Children: Occupation: Ironmonger in Henley upon Thames, Oxfordshire

Death: 6 June 1845, in Henley on Thames, Oxfordshire, England. William died at the Henley regatta.

Burial: 13 June 1845, in St. Mary's, Henley on Thames, Oxfordshire, England

Sources:

William Plumbe

Birth: 15 February 1802, in Wantage, Berkshire, England

Baptism: 30 March 1802, in SS Peter & Paul, Wantage, Berkshire, England. The IGI has the baptism date as 19 March 1802; I note that there is a discrepancy of exactly 11 days, and that this is the same as the discrepancy for William's younger brother Robert. It seems quite a coincidence that the Old Style / New Style date discrepancy is 11 days even though this should only ever be a factor for dates before 1752. Keith's data is taken from transcripts prepared by the Oxfordshire Family History Society.

Father: Samuel Plumbe

Mother: Molly (Aldworth) Plumbe

Notes: Died abroad

Sources:

William Plumbe

Birth: 21 February 1821, in Henley on Thames, Oxfordshire, England

Baptism: 2 May 1821, in St. Mary's, Henley on Thames, Oxfordshire, England

Father: John Simmons Plumbe

Mother: Charlotte (Aldworth) Plumbe

Married: Ann Richardby Strange

Children: Occupation: Magistrate Alderman Draper. William was the Mayor of Henley in 1858, 1874 and 1882.

Death: 14 March 1890, aged 69

Buried: 20 March 1890, in St. Mary's, Henley on Thames, Oxfordshire, England

Census:
1881: Market Place, Henley on Thames, Oxfordshire

Notes:
William is named as an executor in the will of Thomas Strange (his father-in-law):
Thomas Strange. Personal Estate £2.916.6s.8d. 1 January. The will with a codicil of Thomas Strange late of Swindon in the County of Wilts Gentleman who died 29 August 1883 at Swindon was proved at the Principal Registry by William Strange of Bilbrooke in the County of Somerset Paper Manufacturer the son and William Plumbe of Henley-on-Thames in the County of Oxford and James Lang of Ludlow in the County of Salop drapers and Thomas Coll of Stroud in the County of Glouucester Banker the Executors.

Sources:

William Henry Plumbe

William Henry Plumbe
William Henry Plumbe
photo from David Morris
Birth: 31 December 1860, in Henley on Thames, Oxfordshire, England

Baptism: 10 January 1861, in St. Mary's, Henley on Thames, Oxfordshire, England

Father: William Plumbe

Mother: Ann Richardby (Strange) Plumbe

Occupation: Draper

Death: 4 April 1894, in Henley, Oxfordshire, England

Buried: 7 April 1894, in St. Mary's, Henley on Thames, Oxfordshire, England

Census:
1881: Market Place, Henley on Thames, Oxfordshire

Sources:

William Plumbe

Birth: about 1859, in Islington, Middlesex, England

Father: James Plumbe

Mother: Velebeth (Chibnall) Plumbe

Occupation: Photographer of 76a High Street, Maidenhead. Some of William's work can be found in the National Portrait Gallery

Death: 1915, in Henley on Thames, Oxfordshire, England

Sources:
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