Henry Sennett page 3

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.