Studley Priory Family Lairs

[Baird]

Does anyone know if Major David Lionel Henderson was interred at Studley Priory after his death in 1945.
Many thanks,
Baird

[emeltom]

According to 'The History of Horton cum Studley' by Tim Hallchurch

"Major David Henderson of the 7th Bn., Seaforth
Highlanders who died on Friday 16 February 1945, Age 27. He
was son of Capt. Robert Ronald Henderson, M.P., and Margaret
Frances Henderson, of Studley Priory, Oxfordshire. He lies at
Brookwood Cemetery." 

[Baird]

Hello Emeltom and many thanks for the swift response.
According to the Brookwood cemetery site Major Henderson is only commemorated there not interred.
According to the CWGC he should have been buried in the Reichswald Forest British Cemetery  but that lair is 'vacant'.
We wre wondering if , due to his connections , his body was repatriated and interred at the family home.

Thanks again for your interest,
Baird

[CarolA3]

Hello Baird,

If it helps, there are four HENDERSON burials in the parish records of St Barnabas, Horton cum Studley.  All four show the person's address as Studley Priory and the first two mention a brick grave or vault in Studley Priory Wood.  Your David isn't listed but his parents are.  (Incidentally the term 'lair' isn't usual in English records, but I knew what it meant.)

There's also a HENDERSON marriage and four baptisms in the same parish.

I don't have an Ancestry sub at the moment but the images should be available there.  Alternatively I can give you details of the above events as transcribed by Oxfordshire Family History Society on their CD (OXF-HED02).

Carol

[hanes teulu]

The Times, 2 April 1945
A service in memory of Major David Henderson, the Seaforth Highlanders, will be held at the Parish Church, Horton-cum Studley, near Oxford, on Saturday, April 7, at 3pm.

The Times , 8 March 1945, had previously reported "In Feb 1945, killed in action on the Western Front Major David Lionel Henderson ..."

[Baird]

Hello Hanes and Carol,  many thanks for your information which is very helpful but still no identification of the location of the Majors' remains.
Killed 16th February 1945 and originally buried in Badburg -Hau  with others from his regiment.
1946 they were all reinterred at Reichswald Forest British Cemetery ( source CWGC)
in 1954 the grave located as that of Major Henderson is listed as vacant by the CWGC.
Brookwood Memorial has Major Hendersons name only, not a grave.
Thanks again,

Baird

[CarolA3]

Baird, I'm wondering who would feel the need to have the remains moved from Reichswald Forest between 1946 and 1954?  Was this unusual?

Was he an only child?  His father died in 1932 (abode Studley Priory) but his mother lived until 1959.  Here's her record in St Barnabas' burial records:-

"1959 / 23 June / HENDERSON / Margaret Frances / 73 / abode Cirencester formerly of Studley Priory / died 28 May 1959, the bones (cremated) of"

If Margaret left instructions for her own remains to be returned to Studley, might she previously have done the same for her son?

Maybe they're all in the brick grave/vault - is this it in 1898, bottom of the map?

[Baird]

Careful or you will get as intrigued as we are. It certainly is a mystery.

Baird

[cuffie81]

Looking at news items of David's grandparents (?), John (died 1893) and Jessie (died 1920) Henderson, they were both buried in a newly constructed (at the time of John's death) family vault about half a mile from the Priory. Some reports describe it as a brick vault and others describe it as a large vault with a monument of grey granite, in Horton Wood.

That sounds like the vault Carol referenced.

If it was a family vault, rather than just for John and Jessie, it seems slightly odd that David's parents were buried in the parish church.

Find A Grave Memorial
Capt Robert Roland Henderson (1879-1932)
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/100934064/robert-roland-henderson