grace mallandaine + alexander william daldy
Grace was born in Whitton near Twickenham in the spring of 1882, to Alfred Mallandaine and his first wife Eleanor Cochran, and baptised on 28 July 1882 at St Philip and St James in Whitton, the same church where her parents married. Her father was studying at the Army music school at Knellar Hall in Twickenham and when he finished his studies, he was posted to India with the Royal Warwickshire regiment. The family initially settled in Calcutta but moved throughout India as they followed Alfred’s military postings.
Grace worked as a governess before marrying Alexander William Daldy at St Thomas Cathedral in Bombay on 24 January 1905 with her father acting as one of the witnesses. Alexander was born on 3 July 1876 in Belvedere near Bexley Heath in Kent to Frederick Richard Daldy, a publisher, and his wife Mary Mason Mantell. He attended the Charterhouse School in Godalming, Surrey and after completing his studies in 1893, he was admitted to the Royal Military College in Sandhurst, Berkshire which was the training academy for infantry and cavalry officers for the British and Indian armies. After graduating from the College on 4 August 1896, he was appointed Second Lieutenant in the India Staff Corps and assigned to the Bombay Infantry the following year. He was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant in 1898 and shortly after his marriage, he was promoted to Captain in the Military Accounts Department which was responsible for the payroll and accounting functions of the British Indian Army.
After becoming pregnant, Grace decided to return to England to give birth to her first child and as it would have been unusual for a pregnant woman to travel on her own, a family member likely travelled with her. Alexander’s father died several weeks after their marriage so he may have been the one to travel with Grace and visit his family at the same time. Grace gave birth to their son, Alfred Frederick, in Bournemouth on 14 November 1905 but she died three weeks later from complications.
It is unclear from the records what happened in the months and years following Grace’s death. Alexander appears on a passenger list for the Circassia that sailed from Liverpool on 2 January 1906, which indicates he was in England for both his son’s birth and his wife’s death, but his name is crossed off the manifest indicating he was booked to sail but did not make the voyage. There are two further passengers lists, in 1909 and 1914, where he is listed but his name is crossed off although it appears that he had returned to India after 1906 as he was promoted to the rank of Captain with the 121st Pioneers in 1908.
His son Alfred was placed in the care of Alexander’s widowed mother, Mary Mason Daldy, and his sister, Mary Edith. In 1911, Alfred was living with his 75 year old grandmother and 51 year old aunt at Heatherbrae, a 9 room house on Belle Vue Road in Southbourne, Hampshire. His grandmother died two years later at Eltham Cottage Hospital in Kent and probate on her £3000 estate was granted to sons Frederic Francis, a solicitor, and Arthur Herbert, a publisher.
Alexander was still serving in the Indian Army with the Military Accounts Department and on 5 August 1914, he was promoted to Major. Just over two months later, on 28 September, he married a second time to Frances Norah Raban at Holy Trinity Church in Bolarum near Hyderabad. But sadly, history was to repeat itself when Frances died in Murree, on 6 July 1917, two days after giving birth to their stillborn daughter.
Alfred was fourteen years old when his aunt, Mary Edith, died at Lane End, High Wycombe in 1919 but it is not known if he stayed with her after his grandmother’s death, was placed in the care of one of his uncles or went away to boarding school. His aunt lived at 5 Twynham Road in Southbourne before her death and probate on her £1300 estate was granted to her brother Frederic and Alice Gertrude Atkins, wife of Henry Price Atkins.
Two years later, Alexander returned to England for a visit and while home, he married a third time to Marjory Louise Fisher, nee Grantham, at All Saints in Knightsbridge on 1 September 1921 and his son Alfred was one of the witnesses. Marjory was born on 6 July 1884 in Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire to Herbert Alfred Grantham, a Clerk in Holy Orders, and his wife Mary Louise Potter. She was the widow of Frederick Fisher who was also a Major in the Indian Army and was living in Knightsbridge when they married. Alexander was staying at the vicarage of Sparsholt near Winchester with his brother-in-law Edward Cyril Raban, the vicar of Sparsholt.
Alexander and Marjory returned to India and remained there until his retirement in 1929. When he retired, he was the Military Accountant General in India and although his record during the First World War isn’t known, he was awarded an OBE for his services during the war. When they returned to England, they settled in a house in Lock’s Lane in Sparsholt but only four years after retiring, Alexander died at the Enniskerry Nursing Home in Winchester on 9 August 1933. Probate on his estate, valued at £2300, was granted to Rev. Edward Raban and Henry Donald Grantham, an Indian Police official and brother to Marjory. Following Alexander's death, Marjory remained in Wiltshire, living in the neighbouring village of Littleton in 1939, until her death in 1970.
His son Alfred married Katherine Honor Dorothy North in Winchester in 1934 and they went on to have three children. Katherine was born on 20 February 1912 in Jubbulpore India to Julian North and Dorothy Louisa Grantham. Her father was the Superintendent of Indian Telegraphs and her mother was sister to Alfred’s step-mother, Marjory.
Alfred worked as a Civil Engineer in the Colonial Service and worked on projects in the Caribbean, South America and Africa. The family moved to Nigeria in the 1930s and also spent time in Northern Rhodesia and Sierra Leone in the 1950s. When they returned to England permanently, they also settled in Sparsholt in a house on Church Lane called Woodrows. Alfred died in Winchester on 24 November 1978.