Practice makes perfect Pigs

Thomas Maitland Lovett

Thomas Maitland Lovett appears twice in the (very rough and ready!) family tree that I have drawn up to help work out family connections. He appears as the son of Hubert Richard Lovett and Lina Mary Maitland (Hubert being the brother of Arthur Lovett and thus Thomas being the cousin of Guinevere Violet Lovett) but also as the first husband of Millesaintes Laura Joan Long (the daughter of Robert Chaloner Critchley Long and Maud Felicia Frances Ann Willes Johnson). By my reckoning, that means that Thomas married his uncle’s niece.

As already stated, Thomas was the eldest child and only son of Hubert and Lina Lovett. Hubert was a Major in the Kings Royal Rifles, but after his father (Thomas Heaton Lovett) died in 1892 Hubert inherited Henlle Hall and by the time Hubert and Lina’s youngest child, Cecil, was born in 1895 the family

were regularly spending time there. The four Lovetts plus 7 servants are shown at Henlle Hall on the 1901 census.

On 28th October 1908, Hubert died following a short illness. Lina, Thomas and Cecil continued to live at Henlle Hall. On the 1911 census, both Thomas and Cecil are described as being students, but by 1913 Thomas had joined the army. Thomas signed the guestbook just days after the 1911 census, so this is the signature of a 17 year old schoolboy.

The London Gazette (3rd March 1913) records that Thomas (late second lieutenant Grenadier Guards) is to be second lieutenant in Shropshire Yeomanry. The same paper on 4th September 1914 records Thomas’ move from the Shropshire Yeomanry to the 4th Dragoon Guards. I haven’t been able to find Thomas’ army service records yet, but his medal roll index card indicates that he first entered the war on 18th June 1915.

Just over a year later, on June 24th 1916 Thomas married Millesaintes Laura Joan Long at St Michael’s, Chester Square. This marriage didn’t last, and Millesaintes and Thomas were divorced in 1920.

The Western Morning News (15 May 1922) carried an announcement of Thomas’ second marriage, stating that On the 11th May, the marriage arranged between Thomas Maitland and Norah Fawcett only daughter of Mr and Mrs H F Brunskill of Hacketty Way, Porlock, Somerset, took place in London. On 23rd May 1923, Thomas’s only child (Anne Hilda Lovett) was born at Henlle Hall. Also in 1923, Norah requested a judicial separation. A judicial separation is a legal status which is designed to prove that you should no longer be considered a couple (in terms of assists or as a beneficiary in a will, for example) but is not the legal ending of the marriage. One of the most common reasons to apply for a judicial separation rather than a divorce is because the faith of one or both of the parties prevents divorce from being acceptable.

Norah moved away and by the time of the 1939 register she was living in Wheddon Cross, near Minehead. Thomas remained at Henlle Hall. In 1936, Norah and Thomas divorced. Perhaps the reason for this can be explained by an announcement that was made in the Dundee Courier (20 Jan 1937) which stated that the engagement was announced between Thomas Maitland Lovett and Millicent Alison Augusta, the only surviving daughter of the late Augustus Kennedy-Erskine and Mrs Kennedy-Erskine of Dun, Angus. Millicent was the great-grandaughter of King William IV, via his illegitimate daughter Lady Augusta FitzClarence. A portrait of Millicent with her mother and sister can be seen here Alice Marjorie Cunningham (d.1943), Wife of Augustus Kennedy-Erskine, 18th of Dun, with Their Daughters Marjorie and Millicent | Art UK

Ten days after the announcement of the engagement came a second announcement – this time that the marriage will not now take place (see Montrose Standard, 5th Feb 1937 or Dundee Courier 29th Jan 1937). On the 1939 register, Thomas was at Henlle Hall with only his servants for company. However he was not to be on his own in the house for long – by 1940 Ardmore School of Tunbridge Wells had relocated their school to Henlle Hall.

Between 1937 and 1943 there must have been a reconciliation between Thomas and Millicent because the pair finally married at St Peter’s Catholic Church, Leamington Spa on July 17 1943. Tragically, their happiness was not to last – on September 6th 1946 at the Oswestry and District Hospital, Thomas died following an operation. His funeral took place at St Oswald’s Catholic Church (as per Montrose Standard 11 Sept 1946). Millicent died in 1980 and was buried at Dun Old Cemetery, Angus.