Henry Sennett page 1 (Beginnings and Marriage to Kit)

Henry Sennett (1889 - 1965)

Harry was born in 1889, married 3 times and had (we believe) 3 children.

Harry was the older brother of James Sennett, who married Lizzie Fitzpatrick (my Grandma's parents). Harry & James came from the Byers Green area of Co. Durham. More here on their parents and other siblings.
Before we get into this post, I'll warn you that Harry's life got detailed, and that means this is pretty long.  One day I'll get round to splitting this up tidily to 3 separate posts, one for each wife... probably. But for now, email me if you have any queries, OK?

Click here to read a little about our Harry's success as an Operatic Tenor.

Early Life - brought up in Co. Durham.
Harry was born in Oakenshaw, Co. Durham in 1889. Not surprisingly for the family of a Miner, they moved around the Willington area several times. At the time of the 1891 Census, for example, the family are living at Witton park, while later birth entries for his siblings show us that they lived at Sunnybrow, Spennymoor and (by 1901) Byers Green. His father settled to a high-up job down the Byers Green pit by the time Harry was an adult.

The census of 1911 tells us that Harry became a Male Nurse with the Royal Navy at the former Royal Engineers' Barracks (St Mary's) of Medway, Kent.  He was described as a Sick-Berth Attendant.
Information from online sources about this work can be viewed here: from summer 1911 - changes afoot to improve the service - increased provision due to the newest Naval Hospital at Chatham, and increased training period to 12 months - where we read that Harry's uniform was a white tunic & trousers and his pay was 1s 9d, perhaps with an extra 6d per day allowance if working on a zymotic ward (infectious fevers).
Also more of the King's regulations from 1913, copied here in detail.
The Wiki-page on Naval medical assistants introduces the older term Loblolly Boy.

Info here on Rootschat forum about the work of male nurses then.
Story by a male nurse (from WW II): here.

I have also seen a copy of Harry's marriage cert from 1912, from which I know that he worked as a male nurse in Chatham, for the Royal Navy.

Harry's first Marriage

His first wife was known as Kit (we think!) and he had perhaps 3 children in that marriage. We presume this was in the West Midlands - we know he lived in Solihull as a young man.

The Ancestry site yields only two Sennett men marrying in the right sort of time -

• Henry Sennett marries Kate L Gardner in 1912, in the Warwick area. (Seems to be the right one.) Our Harry would have been aged just 23. (N.B. in the 1911 census of Aston, a Kate Gardner is aged 22)

• Harry H Sennett marries Hilda E. Cooper in 1917, Kings Norton, Staffs.

The facts aren't known for sure about how this marriage came to an end. Recently, though, I found a reference to people of the right names filing for judicial separation in 1936 (I looked in The National Archives, held at Kew...Divorce Court File: 967. Appellant: Kate Lucy Sennett. Respondent: Henry Sennett. Type: Wife's petition for judicial separation [wjs]). This would've been just before the Divorce Reform Act, 1937.

The court papers held there begin with a copy of the 1912 marriage certificate, which helps confirm that this is our Harry. (Father of the Groom was a foreman Miner, William Sennett.) Harry is given as a 23 year-old Male Nurse (Royal Navy) at Chatham {see also a photo here, and records here}, whilst the bride Kate Lucy Gardner (22) was given as a School Mistress, of 102 Queen St., Leamington Priors, Warwick. (A town now known as Royal Leamington Spa.)
The wedding took place at St. Paul's church in that town. It was June 1912, and we know their first child (John) was born in July 1912.
The bride's father is given as Frederick Gardner, a painter. Other family of the bride were witnesses: Frederick Gardner and Alice May Gardner.
{1901 Census shows us that Kate L Gardner lived at Leamington and was born in ~1890 in Leamington. The 1911 Census tells us that Kate Gardner was aged 22, living in Aston with her family.}

The court papers go on to give details of three children of this couple:
John Frederick Sennett, born July 1912
Joan Gardner Sennett, born December 1917
Kathlyn McQuire Sennett, born 1921. {Has she been given her paternal Gran's maiden name, McGuire?}

Named in the Proceedings
The papers also say that they lived at 20 Cranbrook Rd., Handsworth (a leafy avenue), and that in June 1936 Harry moved out to live at 511 Coventry Rd, Small Heath, Birmingham, with a widow named Trehearn (first name seems to have been obscured). The lady Trehearn is named in the proceedings.
After much to-ing & fro-ing about alimony & appeals, Kate was granted a Judicial Separation in 1937, with alimony settled at £140 per annum in 1938. {Using the calculator on this page, we see that's the equivalent of ~£7000 in 2008.}

Of Harry's children, we remember; Jack, and two girls. The girls later married; one to the Director of the Austin Motor works (links here to Wiki and a council history site); another to someone from Jacobs Tailor shops (?) and had a son, Jack.  Who knows if any of this will ever turn out to be correct?!

In the Warwick area, there are records of the births of just two Sennett children (mother's maiden name, Gardner): John F W Sennett in 1912; and then Joan G Sennett in 1918.
I went back again to FreeBMD (they are continually adding new records) and found Kathlyn M. Sennett (mother's name Gardener), born in 1921, West Bromwich district.

FreeBMD also lists marriages:- there is a possibility of a hit for his middle child, as we see in 1938, Joan P.G. Sennett marries Rex Hancock in the Bromsgrove district. (No other likely hits.)
A possible hit for the marriage of the eldest child, John - in Hinckley, 1946, a John W. Sennett married Marjorie I. Worth. (No hits for a John F. W. Sennett.)
And finally, only one match for a marriage of Kathleen Sennett - in Hull in 1949, to Noel A.F. Jubb. (Jubb...Jacob...?)

Harry's work
His day job was as a dole officer, and then later as a higher grade in the Social Security Office of Jesmond (written down in old notes as 'Director of N.S. Security'??!!).
The 1936 Sennett vs Sennett separation papers tell us that Harry's job was as a 3rd Class Officer in the Ministry of Labour.
The Hancock biography {see below} gives Harry as a retired CEO of the Ministry of Pensions (in 1960). So we believe he lived in the Midlands - left his first wife Kit - then met Jim, and moved back to the North East (Jesmond?) when Jim retired.)

There is a database online for the Civil Service Records, but only 2% of records were kept, and our Harry was not one of the lucky ones.

Harry's Second Wife: Kunzle Cakes and the Showman.

Harry met Katura Treherne in the Midlands {see below for her true name}. After Harry's separation they lived together in Birmingham & then Jesmond. Katura was her Sunday Best name, but she was known in the family as Aunt 'Jim'. A note on the back of her photo tells us that she was "nee Treherne". I really don't know if Jim was short for Jemima, etc., but I suspect it was a pet name as she had such an unpronounceable/unusual given name. Katura's a pretty rare name; it comes from the Hebrew for incense (link to my source here).
We were told her father was a Silversmith, in the Midlands.

From the separation papers for Harry & Kate Sennett, we know that (Keturah) Trehearn was a widow - but I can only presume that her maiden name was Trehearn.
{There is a marriage record from 1928, in the Worcester district between Joyce K Treherne and William T. SUFF. But if he died before 1936, the record for it has not yet been transcribed on FreeBMD. A Joyce Kathleen Treherne was born in 1900 in the Newent district, which borders Worcestershire.
A lady named Joyce could have been known as "Jim"?? - Yes, I know Jemima is much more likely and I'm clutching at straws!}

**LATEST**
511 Coventry Road (where Harry & Katura lived) is now a part of a vehicle hire company?? But I don't see it when I look on Google Street View.

Ah! This was exciting, to turn up this little snippet from the papers!
Thanks to the London Gazette searchable archives, I found an announcement by Keturah of her change of name by deed poll.  It's from the paper dated 24th June 1938, so just after his separation was granted.

"I FLORENCE KETURAH SENNETT of 511, Coventry Road, Birmingham in the county of Warwick Widow of no occupation a natural born British subject, heretofore called and known by the name of Florence Keturah Trehearn hereby give notice that I have renounced and abandoned the name of Florence Keturah Trehearn and that I have assumed and intend henceforth on all occasions whatsoever and at all times to sign and use and to be called and known by the name of Florence Keturah Sennett."

So now that I have a good idea of the correct spelling of her name, I can search for other records about her. Keturah, Katurah - it is still a hebrew name meaning incense.
So far - Goggle has brought up this page of MI's from a church in Erdington, Warwickshire.  Keturah is on page 90, along with a Percy Edward Trehearn. And a Florence Trehearn of Erdington in the census of year 1901 (but as she was then aged 34 - she can't be our Keturah).

Following on from the discovery that Keturah's first name was Florence, I was able to dig up some dates for her online - not seen all the certificates themselves, so I am assuming they are her at this stage.


Marriage cert for Florence Trehern: there are two possibilities - one in Barnet in 1911, one in South Stoneham in 1900. (There are none recorded in Warwickshire.)

(Her second marriage to Harry) -  Marriage cert for Florence K Sennett & Henry Sennett in Wednesbury, Staffs, winter 1943.
Coincidentally in the same year, 1943, Kate L. Sennett died - in Birmingham, aged 57.

Now I have this 1943 certificate & it tells me that the bride's father was a Silversmith, Alfred Eagles.  So Florence Keturah Eagles married a Treherne, was widowed, and then met & married our Harry.

Knowing this helped me find a reference on FreeBMD for her 1921 marriage to Percy E. Trehearn, in the Burton-on-Trent area. Ancestry further provided me with their ages (him 36, her 24) and their fathers' names (Harry Trehearn & Alfred Eagles), and that they married on the 19th October, 1921.

Presumably, then - he died between 1921 & 1936??

Indeed, I found him in the year 1929, Birmingham North district, died aged 40.
The info source Ancestry has a wills index in which we can read about poor young Percy:
{Many Thanks to Elliot for digging up this treasure!}

So, from that snippet we learn that he died in a Birmingham Hospital, in March 1929, and that he had left a will naming his wife although he was only 40.  We see the address of No 511 confirmed again, and we are fascinated to read the amount of his estate (effects, not property) given as £1930 1s. 1d.
Measuring Worth.com helps us to calculate that amount of money in 1929 to be roughly equivalent to £90,000 in 2008, which helps to explain how Keturah came to be well-off!

In the Trade Directories (olde Yellowe Pages) for the Warwickshire area in 1912 I found a Treherne family business which seems to fit nicely:
Trehearn, P.E. & Co - baker's sundriesmen, at 511 Coventry Rd, Warks.

- Talking of which, Google Street View lets us see the area very clearly, but doesn't let us see which house is 511.  Here (image above) is a shot of 510a from a letting agency - next door is the one I think is 511.  It is a pair to this one, named Victoria House, you'll see the name on that balcony on the top floor. I imagine it looked very smart in it's day.

The 1943 marriage cert also tells me that Harry & Keturah lived in Rushall, at 18 Station Road (Walsall). This address was the home of Harry's sister Mary at that time, I'm assured by her family. {Thanks, Pat!}
Harry's father William was confirmed as still alive, and a retired Colliery Official.  Harry himself gives his occupation as Civil Servant in the Ministry of Labour.  The witnesses were E. Eagles (a relative of Keturah?) and M. Rogers (Harry's sister Mary).

Since Harry lived in Rushall and worked for the Ministry of Labour, I wonder if he enjoyed the pleasure of this Ministry of Labour office in Bloxwich - it was converted from a Music Hall in 1941.  During WW II, the Ministry of Labour dealt with National Service and deployment of reserved occupations, as well as the peace-time Labour Exchange duties.

Eagles family in the Census
A likely match in the 1901 Census for our Florence is a 4yr old living alone with her mother (not widowed) - Keturah Eagles.  So her father was away for the night, perhaps a man named Alfred Eagles who working in the potteries?
Alfred Eagles married Keturah Elizabeth Howl  in 1896 in the Aston district. Their only child Florence Keturah Eagles was born in Birmingham in the last Q of 1897.

In the 1911 Census, Alfred Eagles (born 1871) was recorded living in a large house at 170 Cheshire Road, Smethwick (Worcestershire) - with Keturah Eagles (born 1872, Wolverhampton), and their child Florence Eagles (aged 13).  The extra data in the 1911 form tells us that the couple had been married 14 years (fits with the year 1896) and had had only one child.
Alfred is described as a Stamper, working in the Silversmith industry.  He must have been fairly well-paid, as the family of 3 lived in a house of 6 rooms.

Alfred Eagles died aged 51 in the Kings Norton district, in 1922. Keturah Eagles I haven't found in later records - perhaps her name changed, or was badly misspelled.


Percy Trehearn in the Census
In the 1901 census, a 12 year old Percy Trehearn was in his father's house (above the shop) - at 222 High St., Erdington - his father Harry Trehearn (36) managed a Boot shop. His mother's name was Florence {Harry & Florence!!}, and there is a Stafford connection there - both her sons were born in Burton-on-Trent. {RG13/2875/page 9}
Percy appeared in the 1911 Census, aged 22, living in Kings Norton, Worcestershire.

Florence Keturah Eagles, then, was born in Birmingham in 1897 to a silver-worker Alfred Eagles & Keturah Elizabeth Howl...

She married her first husband Percy Treherne in 1921.
Her father died in 1922. Her husband died in March 1929, leaving her almost £2000.

In 1937 she was named in the separation proceedings of Harry Sennett, and then she changed her name by Deed Poll to Sennett in 1938 (so they could live together, presumably?).  They finally married in 1943 in Rushall. By 1946 they were living in the Jesmond area of Newcastle.

Keturah died in the late 1950's.

Keturah's work
Ever heard of Kunzle Cakes, or Lyons Showboat Cakes? [Some links here (that's my favourite one!), here, or here, for more info & pictures.]

Well, Great-Great-Aunt Keturah (Aunt Jim) made & supplied the wrappers! She had her own business, with a factory in Coventry - making wrappings for chocolates - and a major customer was Kunzle cakes. She also imported doilies from Czechoslovakia.
She was 'well off'!

My Grandad said,
'When Uncle Harry came to visit they were always like a race apart from us.' Jim's business was in the Midlands. When Mary and Eric first married (1946) he had to work in Nantwich and lived in digs. When Mary was staying at Jim & Harry's house near Jesmond Dene (Tyneside), Eric enjoyed the rare treat of being able to talk to his new wife, because they had a telephone in the house! When he visited, 'they treated me very well. Had a good meal put on. Mary and Jim were obviously great pals and Mary was well-liked.'

On Ancestry.com, you can actually search through an online database of old phone books. What a fantastic resource, but I wouldn't want to have to sit with a scanner & a vast pile of musty old books! Not so many phone numbers in those days, of course.
Anyway - living in Wales as I do, with our own sensible government - we can access parts of Ancestry.com from the local Library without paying. Marvellous. So I looked up Harry & Keturah, and found these entries in the Newcastle books for 1948 ish.

A. - found H. Sennett in Gosforth in the 1948 & 1949 Phone Book Archive (BT),
Address: 52, Keyes Gardens, GOSFORTH 53402 {which seems to be near the modern-day Jesmond Dene Tennis Club}

B. - found H. Sennett in Gosforth in the 1950, 1951 & 1952 Phone Book Archive (BT)
Address, 13 Wiseton Court, Benton Park Rd, GOSFORTH 53402 (NB kept same number) {Wiseton Court isn't known by Google maps now - but it seems to be near the Catholic school.}

See map linked from here - marked with A & B. The area could be thought of as 'off Jesmond Dene'.
I did find other H. Sennetts - but they are in Midlands, London books. We are fairly happy that this is an entry for our Harry. We have also a record of an address, 29 Matthew Bank in Jesmond, which is right by the Tennis Club, too.


Two photos of Keturah here - (the first was a photo of Keturah with Harry in costume for a production they took part in) - things that make you say Whoah!!

In the second photo; I wonder how old she is, which year? On the back was the tantalising note, Katura, nee Treherne. It seems to be, in fact, that Keturah Treherne was her married name (she was widowed before meeting Harry).


Aunty Jim was a singer, and also a 'wonderful pianist'. Eric remembers, when visiting her at Jesmond, "she brought tears to the eyes as she played the baby grand." She also had a small dog.

When did Keturah die?
Not sure what year Jim died - sometime in the late 1950's? We are told it wasn't a very long gap before Harry had married again (which was 1960).

Death cert in Northern Durham region, 1957 - Florence Sennett, aged ~65 (so born in approx 1892).  But note that I also found this entry:  Death cert in Bournemouth Hampshire, 1960 - Florence K Sennett, aged ~62.  This is too close to Harry's third marriage to match up with memories, but it's not impossible, especially as we know for certain he lived in Bournemouth later on.

My Gran also had a rather spooky photo of Aunt Jim which Harry sent out to all the family ... of his wife Jim in her open coffin! This was not considered normal, by the way.
I'll save you all from that one, unless you beg!! Perhaps it'd be a good Halloween posting. No respect at all, these young uns...

Let the show go on!

Harry's Third Wife

His third marriage was the subject of a bit of interesting detective work - described in this Trunk Calls post; Here's a link to someone famous.

Some time after Aunt Jim died, Harry was married to Lucie Lilian (Lily) Hancock - from 1960 until his death in 1965. Lily was the famous Tony Hancock's mother.

I got hold of the new biography of Tony Hancock by John Fisher, and in it are some interesting details about our Harry & his time with Lilian Hancock. Lily married our Harry soon after the sudden death of her second husband, Mr. Walker: so they were married from September 1960 until Harry died on 15th Jan, 1965.

I have found a ref to their marriage certificate - issued in the Poole district, in Sept 1960 for Lucie L. Walker & Henry Sennett.

They lived in Durban, South Africa from 1963 - returning when he grew sick with a liver problem, haemochromatosis. Tony Hancock had refused to attend their wedding (apparently so that the press would not bother his Mum on her Wedding Day), and also he did not come to Harry's funeral. {Death cert for Henry Sennett, aged 75, was issued in Bournemouth district in 1965.}

Latest finding - an article in the local press (2009) about Mrs Hancock's tragic story; "Lily remarried a third time. Her third husband, Harry Sennett, died in 1965 at a Bournemouth nursing home at the age of 75. "

No mention is made in the Biography of our Harry's singing or character otherwise, but we do learn that he was a retired CEO from the Ministry of Pensions. I have had a good rootle in some BMD records, but found only a few relevant marriage certificates, death records or evidence of maiden names for Harry's wives. His first wife is a particular mystery.
I'll let you know if I do find anything. In the meantime, please help if you can?

And Finally - A Honeymoon Cruise for the Sennetts?
My Mum remembers a postcard from Harry in somewhere exotic like Hawaii - travelling on the SS Oriana, pretty flash!  {By the way, take care not to confuse this old P&O/Orient Lines Oriana with the modern-day Oriana cruise ship; they are very different!!}

Also a news clipping from "The Age", Australia, December 1960, can be viewed online {here} and it gushes about the Oriana guests - quoting Mrs. H. Sennett on the plans of her son Tony Hancock to visit Oz.

Ancestors Onboard, an online database of old passenger lists, (1890-1960) lists Mr Harry Sennett (b.1891) and Mrs Lucie Lilian Sennett (b.1890) as travelling from Southampton to Los Angeles in 1960. So that would be their honeymoon cruise, perhaps?
Harry still gives his occupation as Civil Servant, even though he was surely retired.  They give their address as Ferndown in Dorset. (That's fairly near to Bournemouth, where Lily had been living before, and where they both later passed away in a Bournemouth Nursing Home.)
Here we can see a snippet from those passenger cards, with their signatures: Harry & Lily -

{Later trips to Durban etc. would not yet appear online with this database.}

Further press coverage of the Oriana is seen in these pages of the Life magazine from March 1961 (go see the groovy pictures of the interior!).

The Oriana ended her days without too much dignity, as we see at the bottom of this information page, and also on this page about her crash, and her time moored at Dalian.  Follow the SS Maritime links for pages and pages of info, tales and photos - some of the exterior, and some particularly evocative photos of the interior.


More information on Genealogy for the Warwickshire area - here, or here.