Sir,
I hope that with the help of your letters page I can trace relatives of a Sir John Simon.
Amongst my late great-aunt's possessions I inherited a book entitled 'Portrait of My Mother'. It is a moving tribute by a son to his mother, following her death. The book is written by Sir John Simon and contains two pictures of his mother.
The subject of the book, published in 1936, is Fanny Allsebrook. Fanny was born at Chadwick Manor (on the edge of the Lickey Hills) in 1846, married Edwin Simon, 'a theological student from a remote farmhouse in Pembrokeshire', in 1872 in Rubery, and died in Manorbier on October 31, 1936. Fanny was laid to rest beside her husband in the churchyard, Cheriton. The book contains an etching of the tombstone.
Inside the book's cover my great-aunt had written her own name, followed by 'Glan-y-mor', 1936. My great-aunt's name was A. D. M. Stephens (Alethea Dorothy Mildred) and she died in Tenby in 1971. Known simply as 'Aunty Do' she had been a nurse at the Military Hospital, Pembroke Dock, during the First World War and at that time the family lived at East Back in Pembroke (John and Archibald Stephens, Engineers, East Back Works).
It is probable my great-aunt became acquainted with Fanny Allsebrook Simon through her nursing. In 1931 the Stephens family left Pembroke and moved to Victoria Street in Tenby. Later, growing up in Tenby in the early 1950s, I can recall having to be very quiet during the daytime if Aunty Do was sleeping, following a night shift. I mention this because after the war Aunty Do continued her nursing in a private capacity and may have nursed Sir John Simon's mother in Manorbier in 1936.
Could the name 'Glan-y-mor' be the name of the house in Manorbier where Fanny lived at the time of her death? The book indicates that following the death of her husband in 1920 Fanny went to live with a devoted daughter in Manorbier.
Can your readers help me find Fanny's relatives?
Marie Hurlow-Jones,
'Pinewood',
Bevelin Lane,
Rushey Lake,
Saundersfoot.