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Yorkshire Chess History |
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Contents: |
Conrad Gallimore Wenyon |
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Photos courtesy of grandson Luke Bedford
Non-Chess Life
Conrad Gallimore Wenyon’s father was Edwin James Wenyon, BA, BSc, MB (London), M.R.C.S (Eng.) (born 17/12/1852, West Bromwich). Edwin's father was originally called Samuel Onions, but this got changed to Wenyon as described below. His mother was Sarah Ann Gallimore, which is where our man got his middle name from.
Samuel Onions had wished all his sons to become Methodist ministers, but Edwin James Onions went his own way, training for medicine at Guy’s Hospital, London, eventually qualifying. He became a house surgeon at Guy’s, then went to the Rotunda Maternity College, Dublin, then returned to Scotland.
In 1879, the Onions family clubbed together to remedy their embarrassing surname. Accordingly, the Times of 26/05/1879 carried the following:
“Wenyon” is in fact an anglicised pronunciation and spelling of the Welsh for onion, of which there are various forms, the one nearest to “Wenyon” perhaps being wynwyn.
On 30/09/1890, at Helensburgh, in modern Strathclyde, Edwin James Wenyon (né Onions) married Flora Agnes Fraser (born 01/03/1871, Edinburgh), 19-year-old daughter of an Edinburgh banker. James continued his medical career as medical officer on Sandy, one of the more northerly of the Orkney islands.
The transcription of the 1901 Scottish census records resulted in the birthplace of four of their children being rendered “Lady Parsse, Landayn B”. Unfortunately the custodians of the Scottish Census have not allowed public access to images of the original documents via genealogy websites, so interpretation of this placename is difficult. Fortunately, our man took a trip to the United States in 1933, and the typewritten arrival records for his voyage clearly stated his place of birth as “Sanday, Orkney”. The main settlement on Sanday, roughly in the middle, is called Lady, so that part of the census birthplace seems likely to be correct. The “Parsse” defies analysis, unless it means “parish”. “Landayn” looks like a misreading of “Sanday”, with a terminal squiggle of the “y” being read as “n”, and the “B” could be a misreading of “Is.” for “Island”. Thus we have “Lady Parish(?), Sanday Is.”
Dr. Wenyon and his wife, Flora Agnes née Fraser had at least the following five children:
The Oban Times of 10/10/1891, in its births column, recorded: WENYON, - At Sanday, Orkney, on the 6th inst,. The wife of Dr. E. Y. [sic] Wenyon, a son. Various other Scottish newspaper carried the same notice.
There was reportedly a “Winona”, supposedly the fourth child, whose birth was not registered (under that name at least), possibly because the father was of uncertain identity. Edwin Wenyon died as a baby.
The family seems to have lived on Sanday from 1890 or 1891. Then, after about six years, Flora Agnes Wenyon went off to Calcutta with the Sanday parish minister, the Rev. Alex Morrison, leaving her children behind with her husband and a nurse maid.
Kelly’s directory of Staffordshire for 1900, whose data probably relate to 1899, listed Edwin James Wenyon BA, MSc, MB London, at The Mount, Knutton Road, Wolstanton, Stoke-on-Trent. This was probably a brief residence in England before a return to Scotland.
In 1900, Edwin James Wenyon, by then of Dundee, sued his wife for divorce on the grounds of her adultery with the Rev. Alex Morrison, parish minister of Sanday, Orkney Islands. On 11/12/1900, Lord Low, in the Edinburgh Court of Session, granted the divorce and also a claim for £100 damages lodged against the co-respondent, with expenses also going against Rev. Alex Morrison (who was presumably at some stage defrocked). The case had been heard the previous week and was undefended. (Times, 12/12/1900)
Flora Agnes Wenyon was replaced by 17-year-old Mary Ellen Skellam, who had been nurse maid to the first clutch of children. The doctor and Mary Ellen Skellam may never formally have married (in view of her description in Dr. Wenyon's probate record). The doctor and Mary Ellen Skellam had the following children:
* became a doctor like his father
If Mary Ellen Skellam was the mother of Aurora, then that child had been conceived before the divorce . . .
The family may have lived for a short while afterwards in Arbroath (hardly 20 miles from Dundee), in view of the birthplace of the first of the second batch of children, but the parents soon settled more permanently in Dundee.
The 1901 Scottish census found the family of two parents and the first four children and Aurora living at 4 Dudhope Place, Dundee, Angus, which remained Dr. Wenyon’s residence until his death. Mary Ellen Skellam was at this stage 21 years of age, about 10 years younger than the doctor.
Prior to the age of about 12, Conrad had attended the Morgan Academy on Forfar Road, then, in 1904, he started at Dundee High School, on Euclid Crescent.
Family members have various university certificates that show he was at St Andrew’s University from 1910-1913. He was awarded a second class MA in Mathematics according to the Dundee Courier of 28/06/1913. He passed his final exam for a B. Sc. (Higher Standard) in chemistry, according to the Dundee Courier of 10/10/1914. He also passed his final exam for a B. Sc. in Pure Science, according to the Dundee Courier of 19/10/1914. (BSc degrees were then Higher Standard with Distinction, Higher Standard or Lower Standard).
The 1911 Scottish census found father Edwin James Wenyon, stepmother/mother Mary Ellen Skellam/Wenyon, and all ten children born to date, except Edwin Wenyon (b. 1906) living in Dundee.
On 27/07/1911, at St. Mary's, Dundee, “Conrad Wenyon”, son of “James Edwin Wenyon” (forenames reversed) and Flora Agnes Fraser, married Helen Ann Stott Litster (born 26/12/1894, Dundee), daughter of Alexander Litster junior and Jessie Margaret Sutherland, in a double wedding in which a John Litster junior (presumably Helen's brother) married Mary Urquhart, daughter of John Urquhart and Helen Macdonald.
Conrad Gallimore Wenyon of Dundee became a notable swimmer. He began swimming in 1908, became a member of the Belmont swimming club, becoming club champion in 1909, and becoming the Scottish 200-yard record holder. In 1911, having switched from using the trudge(e)on stroke, a form of sidestroke named after John Trudg(e)on (1853-1909), to the front crawl, he won the Tay Swim. The narrowest crossing of the Firth of Tay in the vicinity of Dundee is between Broughty Ferry and Newport. In 1912 he won the (Scottish?) 200‑yards open water championship, the 100-yards Midland Counties title, and the 100-yards Scottish championship.
Then, at the 1913 annual gala of the Belmont Club at Dundee swimming baths, the Scottish 200-yard record was again broken by “Conrad G. Wenyon, the Dundee lad who has brought many fine trophies to the city and possesses an imposing array of local prizes.”
The Dundee Evening Telegraph and Post of 25/08/1916 recorded the death, suddenly, at “Skailbrae”, Dundee, of Cyril Aubrey Owen Wenyon, aged 8 years, son of Dr. and Mrs. Wenyon.
At some time from 1916 to 1918, Conrad and Helen evidently moved to Huddersfield, as in 1918 the first of their three England-born children was born there, these children being:
* known as “Margot”
That Heather was born in the Stow district of Suffolk is difficult to explain, it perhaps being a brief place of residence before Huddersfield. Her place of birth was given as Stowmarket in the 1921 census wherein the Wenyons were recorded as living at 56 Bankfield Road, Huddersfield, the household consisting of parents Conrad and Helen, 5 children (Cecil, Maurice Heather, Joan and Lynette), along with a servant called Mary E Burrows whose place of birth was Stowmarket (suggesting a connection with Heather’s place of birth).
Telephone directories of 1929, 1930 and 1931 listed C. Wenyon at “Eske Idge” [Eske Lodge?], Dalton, Huddersfield. As the subsequently mentioned Long Lane is in the Dalton district of Huddersfield, “Eske Idge” may have been the name of 100 Long Lane mentioned below.
The Dundee Evening Telegraph and Post of 02/03/1933 reported, “At Wormit East Church, on 1st March, 1933, by Rev. John A. Tweedie, [the marriage of] Edwin J. M. Wenyon, M.B., Ch.B., elder son of Dr. and Mrs. Wenyon, Skailbrae, Dundee, to Agnes J Lowson, M.A., elder daughter of Mr. & Mrs. P. S. Lowson, Ledair, Wormit.”
In 1933 Conrad Gallimore Wenyon undertook a trip to the United States. Accordingly, 41-year-old chemist Conrad Wenyon, of 100 Long Lane, Huddersfield, was recorded as departing from Liverpool aboard the White Star line’s Georgic on 23/09/1933. Nine days later, 41-year-old chemist Conrad Gallimore Wenyon, of Huddersfield, born on Sanday, Orkney, was recorded as arriving from Liverpool at New York aboard the Georgic on 02/10/1933.
Flora Agnes Fraser, Conrad's mother, ended up in Australia, and died on 18/08/1935, and was buried at Drayton and Toowoomba Cemetery, Toowoomba, Queensland, Australia. Her age then is quoted as 67, though 65 would seem nearer.
By 1937, Conrad senior had divorced.
Conrad’s father died on 20/02/1937. Probate records gave his address as Skailbrae, 4 Dunhope [sic, meant Dudhope] Street, Dundee, and referred to his widow as “Mary Ellen Skellam or Wenyon”, suggesting perhaps that they weren’t actually married. (Graves in Scotland often, at one time usually perhaps, recorded a deceased married woman’s name using her maiden name and then “wife of”, so maybe that approach was being adopted here.)
Conrad Wenyon was still resident in Huddersfield in 1939. The 1939 Register found him living at 154 Long Lane, Huddersfield, seemingly as a lodger, and was described as a departmental manager in the dyestuff industry, and also an air warden in the ARP. At some time from 1939 to 1945 he moved to Cheshire. An article in the Huddersfield Examiner of 17/08/1940 described him more specifically as being works chemist, I. C. I. (Dyestuffs) Ltd, Dalton, Huddersfield.
Meanwhile, the Register found ex-wife Helen Ann Wenyon (omitting the “Stott”) living with four of the children at 22 Bilton Grove Avenue, Bilton, Harrogate. As regards occupation, Maurice Litster Wenyon (listed first as though “head” of the family) was a musician, mother Helen was listed as “independent (private means)”, Helen Ann Wenyon was a “manaquinn” (mannequin can mean a person employed to wear and display clothes, now called a “model”) and in the Land Army, Lynette Margot Wenyon was a typist, Conrad Gallimore Wenyon [jun] was a costing clerk.
Cecil Edgar Gallimore Wenyon was not listed in Harrogate. He had been resident at Long Lane , Huddersfield, in 1936 (per a newspaper article). He had married Mary Stansfield (born 04/06/1913) in early 1937, in Bradford, and joined The Royal Regiment of Artillery in 1938. He was discharged after the end of the war on 22/12/1945 due to “age limit”. In 1939, wife Mary lived at 4 St Chad’s Avenue, Brighouse, with their daughter Ann C Wenyon born late 1937.
Heather was listed in the 1939 Register living at the Spa Hotel, Croft, Darlington, were she worked as a bar dispenser. The Register has the surname “Gunn” added to indicate she later acquired that surname by marriage, but such a marriage is difficult to trace.
The marriage of Conrad G. Wenyon senior to Marjorie Wilcox was registered at Bucklow, Cheshire, in the third quarter of 1944 (date possibly Iate June). Marjorie was Conrad Gallimore senior’s second wife. The death of his first wife, Helen A Wenyon at age 68 was registered in SE Surrey in the first quarter of 1962.
From this point on C. G. Wenyon senior lived in Cheshire and worked for ICI Trafford Park. A chess record of 01/12/1945 places him there. An article in the Manchester Evening News of 16/01/1952 about a spectacular but minor fire at Trafford dye-works described “Mr C. G. Wenyon” as “factory manager”.
Conrad senior and second wife Marjorie had a daughter:
Sergeant Conrad Gallimore Wenyon (junior), an RAF gunner with 101 squadron, is recorded as having died on 01/07/1944 and being buried at St. Doulchard Communal Cemetery in France.
Telephone directories for 1945 through to 1959 listed C. G. Wenyon at 843 Kingsway, Didsbury, Cheshire.
He retired from ICI Trafford Park in 1953.
In 1959/60 he moved to 7 Lees Road, Syddall Park, Bramhall, Manchester, where he was listed in telephone directories of 1959 to 1960, the year of his death, and as late as 1963.
Death
The death of Conrad G. Wenyon, aged 68, was registered in the third quarter of 1960 in north-east Cheshire. His stepmother, Mary Ellen Skellam/Wenyon, outlived him, her death at age 83 being registered in the second quarter of 1963 at Portsmouth, Hants.
Chess
An early instance of CG Wenyon playing for Huddersfield was in the I. M. Brown (weaker than Woodhouse Cup) on 23/01/1923. The following season he was playing in the Woodhouse Cup, appearing on board 4 on 15/11/1924, and thereafter on board 2 (with H. E. Atkins on board 1) on 29/11/1924, 17/01/1925, 31/01/1925, 14/02/1925, and 28/02/1925.
His debut in county chess appears to have been in 1925. He played for Yorkshire against Warwickshire on 10/10/1925 in the English Counties' semi-finals, and in the subsequent final against Middlesex on 12/12/1925. In each case his middle initial was widely printed as “E”, explicable by a mishearing of “G”. As his club was recorded as Huddersfield there is no doubt this county player was C. G. Wenyon.
Besides representing Huddersfield in the Woodhouse Cup, and Yorkshire in county matches, C. G. Wenyon was Yorkshire champion in the season 1928/29. He was presumably the most northerly-born Yorkshire Chess Champion ever.
He won the championship of Huddersfield Chess Club in the seasons 1924-1925, 1927-1928, 1928-1929, 1929-1930, 1936-1937.
On 24/11/1945, a chess match was played at the ICI Recreation Club, Leeds Road, Huddersfield, between ICI Huddersfield and ICI Trafford Park, with 6 boards, with 2 games being played at each board, results reported in the 01/12/1945 Huddersfield & Holmfirth Examiner (colours unknown) being:
The Manchester Evening News of 18/04/1950 reported some match results (all a little oddly 7-board matches) which included a Division 3 result St. Robert’s 5, ICA Trafford Park 2. Whether C. G. Wenyon played regularly for ICI Trafford Park isn’t known. One imagines that playing strength in Division 3 might not have attracted him. Nevertheless, he was evidently keenly involved, if only supporting if not actually playing, as his present-day descendants have a chess clock inscribed as follows:
“Presented to C.G. WENYON by the members of ICI Trafford Park Recreation Club on his retirement October 1953”.
As a postscript, it might be mentioned that Conrad Gallimore Wenyon’s great-grandson, Rudi Bedford, (to quote his father) “has inherited some of Conrad’s genes. He is 10 years old [as at October 2024], a very keen chess player, has won various junior tournaments, is rated 1600+, and is currently playing matches in division one of the Shropshire league.”
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Created 07/03/2013 |
Copyright © 2013 to 2024 Stephen John Mann Census information is copyright of The National Archive, see UK Census Information |
Last Updated 13/10/2024 |