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Research in Other Countries => Other Countries => Topic started by: debbiebozkurt on Tuesday 17 May 22 20:26 BST (UK)
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Hi
Very unusual story and not sure where to go next in our quest. A Gwendoline Fayers was a single mother from Northampton who moved to Leamington Spa. She had one son in 1911 in a wayward mothers home in Marylebone and all that her Grandson knows about her is that she married a barrister in law called Tajuddin Pir or Pir Tajuddin from Lahore, I can not find a marriage in Britain, though her husband was living in England at the start of the 1st Word War. Her Grandson has in his possession a letter written by his father trying to trace his mother through the British Embassy in India - his father last heard from his mother in 1924 when she wrote from Lahore. I found in British Indian newspapers, Civil & Military Gazette, Tajuddun Pir barrister in law and a Mrs Pir who was described as a European Lady. If it was Gwendoline she was managing an Orphanage in Lahore and was still alive in 1959. Does anyone know where I can go to find deaths, marriages, births that may not be registered with British overseas - we would love to know if this was Gwendoline and if so did she have other children. Her husband had at least 1 daughter which I found in an article Mrs Razia Attaullah Khan. There maybe other Indian Newspaper that have biographies that I can not trace. I did find a migration record for a Gwendoline Pir about the right age off to India via Sydney in 1923. Any help much appreciated.
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The 1911 entry - if it's her - shows her b 1891 Northants but there is no birth under that name in Northants
A Gwendolen Lyndon Houghton Fayers was baptised 16.4.1893 to single mother Frances Elizabeth Fayers in Northants. There is a Fanny Fayers death Dec qtr 1901 aged 41
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Gwen Pir - same person?
The London Gazette 2s June 1945
https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/37144/page/3281/data.pdf
This is the first page
https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/37144/page/1
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A female G Pir aged 29 arrived London 3.6.1921 from Bombay1921
Outward - to Bombay 3.3.1922 - Mrs Gwendoline Pir aged 29- address 79 Gloucester St SW2.
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The 1911 entry - if it's her - shows her b 1891 Northants but there is no birth under that name in Northants
A Gwendolen Lyndon Houghton Fayers was baptised 16.4.1893 to single mother Frances Elizabeth Fayers in Northants. There is a Fanny Fayers death Dec qtr 1901 aged 41
Yes that is her she was registered under the name Houghton. Her mother had 6 children by 4 different fathers and never married any of them. Her maiden name was Fanny Downing
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A female G Pir aged 29 arrived London 3.6.1921 from Bombay1921
Outward - to Bombay 3.3.1922 - Mrs Gwendoline Pir aged 29- address 79 Gloucester St SW2.
Saw the going back but not the too England. No idea how she met her husband he was wealthy muslim india and she was a poor illegetimate young girl and single mother. Her grandson thinks she married between 1918 and 1922 but knows nothing else except for the letter his father wrote with her husbands name on it. Just want proof that the news paper articles from Indian was of Gwendoline. Dont know how to get death or bith information from lahore thanks
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I have tried to find 79 Gloucester St on ER’s for 1921 & 1922 in case there were any clues from the residents names at that time. She doesn’t appear to have had any children up to 1922 unless they were still in India
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As you may have already seen there looks to be a lot of possible newspaper references to Tajuddin and Gwen, some of which may offer some additional leads. A few below that seemed of interest.
And some of these have photos of Mrs Gwen Pir and/or Mrs Tajuddin Pir. If you have any family photos of Gwen you may be able to compare them.
India
20 Feb 1914
page 3, column 1
Mr Tajuddin Pir, of 18, Elgin Avenue, W, sends us an interesting letter, for which we regret we have not the room in its entirety, on the article entitled "The Congress as a Political Party", which appeared in or issue of last week.
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Is this Elgin Avenue the street in Maida Vale, London? If so, it's a short distance from Warncliffe Gardens, where the Fayers were in 1911. (I had the wrong Fayers family here)
Map: Elgin Avenue, NW London
https://maps.nls.uk/geo/explore/#zoom=18&lat=51.52843&lon=-0.18885&layers=170&b=1
Map: Warncliffe Gardens, NW London
https://maps.nls.uk/geo/explore/#zoom=18&lat=51.52705&lon=-0.17545&layers=170&b=1
Map: Elgin Avenue, NW London
https://www.openstreetmap.org/#map=15/51.5260/-0.1872
Civil & Military Gazette (Lahore)
21 Dec 1920
page 5, column
Mr Harkishen Lal's Election
Congratulatory Dinner
A very pleasant function took place on Saturday evening when Mailk Girdhari Lal Mullick, merchant, and Mr K C Vidyarthi, Manager, Bharat Insurance Company, entertained Mr Harkishen Lal to a dinner at Neou's Hotel in honour of his election to the Legislative Council.
...
[Guests included Mr and Mrs Pir Taj-ud-Din]
Civil & Military Gazette (Lahore)
26 Dec 1927
page 7, column 5
St John Ambulance
Lahore, Dec 22
The following is a list of the candidates who were successful in the Home Nursing Examination held in the Masonic Hall on December 16:-
Mrs Kapur, Mrs Pearce, Sahibzad Kusia Begum, Mrs Hatton, Miss Sells, Mrs Sethammal Iengar, Mrs Khuda Buksh, Mrs Thomas, Mrs Hardie, Mrs Guran Ditta, Miss Bonnaud, Mrs Gwen Pir, Mrs Niamatulla, Mrs Swahney, Miss Battye, Miss Johnston and Mrs O'Connor.
Certificates will be presented to these ladies by Mrs Dent, Lady Superintendent-in-Chief of the Brigade Overseas, at a public meeting at the YMCA on January 6 at 6pm.
Civil & Military Gazette (Lahore)
25 Jan 1949
page 9, column 1
Begum Liquat Ali Khan Visits Hospital
Begum Liquat Ali Khan accompanied by Miss M E A Macqueen visited the Red Cross Disabled Soldiers Home and the Combined Military Hospital at Sialkot on Sunday. She was met by Brigadier Latiff Khan; Lt-Col Hussain; Mr M M Ahmad, Deputy Commissione, Sialkot; Capt Rashid, in charge of the Red Cross Home; Mrs G Pir; and Mr C E Gibbon, Honorary Secretary, Pakistan Red Cross.
...
Civil & Military Gazette (Lahore)
03 Apr 1949
page 8, column 4
[photos of Major Wainwright and Mrs Pir; good quality]
Major J M E Wainwright, Additional Military Secretary, will on Monday succeed Colonel Craster as Military Secretary to the Governor. Mrs Taj-ud-Din Pir (right) has taken charge of Ganga Ram Refugee's Home from Mrs R Craster.
Civil & Military Gazette (Lahore)
05 Apr 1949
Colonel Craster Departs
[photo, including Mrs Taj-ud-Din Pir; poor quality though]
Civil & Military Gazette (Lahore)
25 Mar 1950
page 3, columns 3, 4
Recipients of Red Cross Awards
[photo of recipients; reasonable quality]
Above - Proud recipients of Red Cross awards at t the Annual Meeting of the Society held at Government House, Lahore, on Friday. From l. to r. - Mrs E M Thick; Miss Gladys Ada Penhearow; Mrs Gwen Pir; Mrs Robina Hardy; Mrs Najma A Huq; and Mrs Nusrat Akram.
Civil & Military Gazette (Lahore)
09 December 1954
page 4, column 2
[death of Pir Tajuddin]
If you can find death records or wills you might want to follow up on Tajuddin's death, to see if Gwen is named in any documents.
Civil & Military Gazette (Lahore)
27 Apr 1961
page 5, column 1
Girl Guides Fund Raising Drive Inaugurated
Mrs M Khurshid, wife of the Provincial Chief Secretary, said in Lahore yesterday that projects of adult literacy and grow more food were the two most fundamental needs of the country.
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Mrs Khurshid distributed the following awards to Girl Guides workers for long and meritorious service.
1. Miss K Niazi, (Provincial Secretary), Medal of Merit
2. Miss N Rauf (Trainer), Medal of Merit
3. Mrs G Pir, Crescent or [of?] Pakistan
4. Mrs Maqbool Nazir, Certificate of Merit
5. Miss Anisa Nazir, Certificate of Merit
The Pakistan Girl Guides Association has a Crescent of Pakistan award for adults. You might want to check to see if they have any historical records to see if they have more details about this Mrs G Pir.
Pakistan Girl Guides Association - Awards
https://pgga.org.pk/awards/
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THere's a photo of a Mrs Gwen Pir receiving a Red Cross award in Lahore (it's not a very good photo!), in the Civil & Military Gazette, 25th March 1950.
I've accessed it via FindMyPast - I don't think that I'm allowed to repost here, unless anyone can tell me otherwise?!? just noticed that you've already found it!
KN
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Have you seen this? Seems to be her husband's family:
https://www.geni.com/people/Pir-Tajuddin/6000000007456614648
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A couple more news items which reference Mrs Pir, of the Red Cross, and seem to tie in with other news items.
Civil & Military Gazette (Lahore)
02 Mar 1948
page 3, columns 1, 2
Readers Write To The Editor
Grateful
Sir - May I convey my grateful thanks to all those who came to the help of the poor refugees in this part of Model Town? The need was urgent, for those exhausted people, with their pitiful thin rags, were trying to sleep, lying on both sides of the roads, in the cold early January night, and then it rained.
The Salvation Army came to their rescue. Commissioner Hodgson and Colonel Hughes arrived one morning and saw for themselves the urgent necessity. Within 24 hours Colonel Hughes put a trained nurse, Sister Fergusson, in charge, fetched an ample supply of the food milk powder generously sent by America to the Christian Relief Committee, started a milk bar, and provided hundreds of shirts, blankets and wadded or blanket pullovers for children, which were distributed daily.
Though the interest of Mrs Barne, who came herself and helped, the Women's Voluntary Service sent Rs. 500 to the Salvation Army for this work. Mrs Pir, of the Red Cross, spent much time and trouble selecting large bundles of suitable clothes, mostly for babies and little ones, and gave an ample supply of bandages. Mr Mahmud, of the Red Cross, also helped us in every way.
...
L M Statford
IES (retd)
Model Town, Lahore
Civil & Military Gazette (Lahore)
08 Apr 1949
page 7
Red Cross Convention In Lahore
Miss MacQueen's Review
The following is Miss MacQueen's review of the reports of the Red Cross Society and the St John Ambulance Association:
"You have before you the report if the Red Cross, the St John Ambulance Association and Brigade Overseas for the years 1947 and 1948. Last year, unfortunately, it was not possible to hold the Annual General Meeting, so we have two years' reports to consider.
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Gratitude
"We have also lost the services of Mrs Pir, who took over charge of the Depot in 1947. Mrs Pir's hard work and energy were largely responsible for our having been able to do as a much as we did for the refugees. Much though we regret her departure, we appreciate the importance of the work she has taken on, and wish her all success in it.
...
[Lengthy item in which Miss MacQueen discusses their activities in supporting refugees in West Punjab following the Partition and their activities at the Red Cross Home at Sialkot for disabled servicemen]
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Thank you so much for all your help I did have some of the newspaper articles but never thought to look up Gwen Pir and there she was - I thought I would need death certificate to prove but I think the name gives it to me. I notice the post thank you which showed her family on line and am not sure by describing her as Gwyn (mummy) that means she had other children. It is so interesting to find her but my friend Nick Fayers says it is bitter sweet as his grandfather really was a family man and was upset that he lost contact with his mother and to find out he may of had siblings he would have loved that. However Nick says he is proud of what his Great Grandmother achieved and also thank you for making his father happy to have found his grandmother who he never new. I will speak to them but I may be brave enough to contact the PIR family but they may never have known Gwendoline's background and that may upset them. I will ponder on it. So thanks again for all your help much appreciated. Debs
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Have you seen this? Seems to be her husband's family:
https://www.geni.com/people/Pir-Tajuddin/6000000007456614648
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This lady really turned her life around and came up trumps.
It appears she had children with her husband T Pir. I hope contact is made and interest in her life in Lahore expressed..perhaps her earlier life couod be described diplomatically.
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Hello,
I am fascinated to have found this thread. Tajud Din Pir is my great grandfather. I have known him to be married "to an English lady" but didn't know anything else. I am wondering if this is her! Tajud Din (or Tajuddin or Pir Tajud Din, not sure how this Muslim naming works as there was a conversion to Catholicism by the time you get to me and little knowledge of the Muslim way) does have a daughter Rezia and as well as three sons (one of which is my grandfather). He was a Barrister and went to Sandhurst. I am so elated to see all this information!
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Hello,
Of note is that I was told Tajud Din was married to "a Patan lady" and "an English lady". I find it interesting that this link provided DOES show him married to two women. So it is consistent in the stories I have heard. https://www.geni.com/people/Pir-Tajuddin/6000000007456614648.
Best, Ali
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Hello again,
Here is a family picture I have of Tajud Din Pir and his English wife (the possible Gwen).
Best, Ali
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Lovely photograph.
Was taj pir married to both ladies at the same time.
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Quite possibly but I am not sure. If I find out I will post it.