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Beginners => Family History Beginners Board => Topic started by: polomint on Sunday 11 March 18 17:00 GMT (UK)
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My grandmother was Leah Widdows form Churchill in Oxfordshire. Among her effects I’ve found a marriage announcement for Doris Irene Widdows to George de Serionne in 1944. The wedding was in Leicestershire. I can’t find any death notice for her, could she still be alive?
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Maybe she was calling herself Doreen
Doreen Irene De Serionne
BIRTH 17 Dec 1903
DEATH Jun 1982 - York, England
Births Mar qtr 1904
WIDDOWS Doris Irene
Chipping Norton 3a 1115
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Wedding announcement in The Times calls her Doreen Irene Widdows. GRO marriage index has both options Doreen / Doris
Her probate has her as a Countess.
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http://www.chippingcampdenhistory.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/cms/st_catharines_graveyard1.pdf
de Serrionne George 31/1/1960 - A 27 F
de Serrionne Doreen 5/ 4/ 1982 - A 27 F
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Hello Rosie, I’m confused now, they married in 1944 and on the marriage announcement she’s Doris Irene Widdows. George was born in 1889 and died in 1960, I suppose Doris/Doreen could have lived until 1982! Crikey, a countess eh? Strange to change from Doris to Doreen especially with Irene as a second name. Did she leave a fortune to a long lost family member? 😄 It sounds like a French surname to me but I can’t find any trace of it anywhere, they obviously stayed in the UK and lived in York, I wonder if they had children.
Unfortunately I let my Genes Reunited membership lapse and I haven’t got round to renewing it so I can’t check where she comes in the family tree. Where did you find the Times announcement and the probate information?
Thank you so much for your help.
Liz
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What an interesting man!
http://www.monlib.org.uk/papers/aj/aj1960serionne.pdf
Bev
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What a fascinating find Bev! I had no idea of this at all, finding the little card piqued my interest in the family tree but I never expected to find something so exciting. It says in that article that he’s buried in Chipping Campden, although on GR it shows him dying in York. Chipping Campden is one of our favourite places,hopefully we shall visit when the weather improves and I’ll see if I can find his grave.
This forum is brilliant, thank you again.
Liz
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Probate information can be found here
https://probatesearch.service.gov.uk/#wills
Times newspaper - my county library service allows this paper to be searched from home using my library card numberto log in with.
Doris/Doreen has clearly called herself Doreen. Her marriage is entered under both names.
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Perhaps she felt Countess Doris sounded a bit down Market ! Thanks for the link to the probate records.
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Searching 'de Serionne' on newspaper archives brings up several articles mentioning George and who I assume is his father, Comte de Serionne. I cannot see an article that mentions George is a Count.
Maybe she just did not like Doris, many people don't like the names parents give them
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I haven’t looked again yet but I can’t see her name in those probate records, any idea what page you saw it on? It was interesting to see that his father was mentioned in dispatches for his work with the Suez Canal.
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https://probatesearch.service.gov.uk/Calendar?surname=De&yearOfDeath=1982&page=65#calendar
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Well today we went to Chipping Campden and visited St Catherine’s Cemetery, unfortunately there was no one around to help and I couldn’t find the grave. Very disappointing, there were several graves that were so badly worn the names couldn’t be read so maybe it was one of those. Presumably the church has a plan of the graveyard and could probably locate it through that so I might try to contact the priest and ask for his advice. We still had a lovely day, it’s such a beautiful village.