The Final child of John Oakley & Jane Meabry- Fanny Fortnum Oakley.

 

 

Fanny Fortnum Oakley was the sixth and last child born to 44 year old John Oakley and his 45 year old wife Jane Meabry Oakley. She was born in 1846 at their private apartments at 183 Piccadilly, London, above the famous Fortnum & Mason business, of which her father was one of the partners.

  Fanny’s arrival would have been quite a surprise to the Oakley family, arriving as she did some eight years after the birth of their fifth child Frederick in 1838. There was an age gap of some 14 years between Fanny and her only sister, Jane Elizabeth.

  Fanny’s childhood years were spent at her family’s two residences at Piccadilly and Golders Green. It was at their Golders Green country home in 1861 that 15 year old Fanny’s father died of a heart condition.

   Jane Oakley, with only children Frederick and Fanny living under her roof, moved into a new home in St. Johns Wood, London. The address was Number 25 Cavendish Road West, and this remained the family home until after Jane’s death in 1893.

 The Oakley and Scorer families had been friends and business partners for decades. George Scorer was a partner with John Oakley in Fortnum & Mason, and the two families lived side by side at the 183 Piccadilly address. The two sons of George and his wife Elizabeth, George and Alfred, were born in 1834 and 1837 respectively, and would have grown up with the Oakley children. Despite an age difference of nine years, Fanny became engaged to Alfred at the age of twenty, and married him in 1865 when she had turned 21.

 

Above: 1861 census showing the details of the Oakley and Scorer families.

   The 1871 census return shows that Fanny and Alfred had set up their own home at 25 Marlborough Road, Marylebone. Alfred was stated as being a general merchant, and the couple’s first two children, Alfred and Frank, had been born. Three female servants were also living with the young family, a sign of their successful status.

Above: The Scorer family as they appeared in the 1871 census return.

 

 

 

 

 Alfred George Scorer was born in 1867, and his brother Frank in 1869. Two more sons were to follow, George Oakley Scorer in c. 1873, and Edgar Selot Scorer in c.1877. Edgar’s middle name came from John Francis Selot, who was another of John Oakley’s business partners and a close family friend.

 

 

   By the time of the 1881 census, Fanny and Alfred had moved into the house that was to be their home until their deaths. Called Abercorn Lodge and located in Upper Hamilton Terrace, Marylebone, it remained the Scorer family base until being sold after Fanny’s death in 1915.

 

Above: The 1881 census return for the Scorer family.

  Alfred was still a merchant in 1881, and of note were two girls who were staying in the Scorer home. They were 19 year old Gertrude Oakley and Beatrice, her 17 year old sister. Fanny’s nieces, and daughters of Fanny’s brother John Jeffryes Oakley, the girls are the only members of John’s family that we can locate on the 1881 census. Missing are John and his wife Harriett, as well as adult daughter Edith and 13 year old Constance. Only son, John Alfred, was studying as an undergraduate at Pembroke College, Cambridge, in 1881.Perhaps John and Harriett were travelling abroad, and the girls were staying with their Aunt for the duration until their parent’s return.

   By 1891, Alfred had retired from the grocery business, and was living on his own means. These means must have been very substantial, because as well as still employing three female servants, a coachman, groom and gardener had also been added to the staff. The gardener was William Barnett, and with his wife Emma and young family he lived in a cottage on the grounds. Both he and his wife were left legacies in the will of Fanny in 1915. Also left a legacy of one hundred pounds by Alfred Scorer and given praise “as a recognition of  long and faithful services” was servant Jessie Ainger, who is with the Scorers in both the 1891 and 1901 census returns.

 

Above: Census return for the Scorer family for 1891.

Above: The census return of 1901, which was the final census in which Alfred Scorer appeared. He died on October 14, 1904.

Above: The 1911 census, showing Fanny Fortnum Oakley Scorer for the final time. She died on April 9, 1915.

 
Looking back at the Scorer family over a century later, it seems as though they were very charitable people. Alfred and Fanny both looked after their servants very well in their wills, and the fact that their servants tended to remain with the family as the decades passed is a true testimony of a good relationship between employer and employee. They also left substantial bequests to various charities, and appear in the London Times on a number of occasions for supporting various charities such as the Royal Hospital for Incurables and St. Mary’s Hospital Paddington.

  The four sons of Fanny and Alfred all married and, with the exception of Alfred, had children. 

 

ALFRED GEORGE SCORER married Isabel Matilda Staples, the daughter of merchant Thomas Henry Staples and Elizabeth Smee of London and Belmont House, Clarendon Park, Wiltshire, on January 24, 1895. It seems as though Isabel Matilda was also known as "Mabel", which is how she appears on several census returns. The Staples were a very wealthy family, and 'Mabel' was one of three daughters, her sisters being Ada Lizzie, born July 8, 1867, and Florence Julia, born September 2, 1868.

Above: Marriage of Thomas Henry Staples and Elizabeth Smee, the parents of Isabel Matilda 'Mabel' Staples.

Above: Baptism of the third and final daughter of Thomas and Elizabeth Staples, Isabel Matilda.


In the census of 1901 (below), the Alfred and Isabel Scorer were living at Caston, Norfolk. Alfred was noted as being a farmer, aged 34 years.

On the night of the 1911 census, both Alfred and Isabel were staying with their respective widowed mothers... 41 year old Isabel Matilda Scorer was residing with her mother Elizabeth and unmarried sister Florence,42, and four female servants, at Belmont House, Salisbury, Wiltshire.

  Alfred George Scorer was 44 years old, and living on "Private means", with his mother Fanny Scorer at Abercorn Lodge. Although Alfred and Isabel were apparently not living together (whether temporarily or permanently it is not known), both stated that they were married.

Isabel Staples Scorer died on January 25, 1930, at Belmont, Salisbury, and Alfred died thirteen years later in 1943.

 Above: Evidence that Alfred George Scorer was indentured to his maternal uncle, John Jeffryes Oakley, of Fortnum, Mason & Co, as an apprentice grocer in 1880, at the age of 14 years. In the 1881 census, however, Alfred Scorer was found as a pupil at Highgate School in Bishopwood Road, Hornsey, one of England's leading public schools.

 

The second son of Fanny and Alfred Scorer was FRANK SCORER, who was born in London on June 16, 1868, and baptised on August 11, 1868.
Frank became a surgeon, studying at St. Bartholomew's Hospital, London. On August 9, 1900, he married Violet Eleanor Norris:

"SCORER-NORRIS. On August 9, at Trinity Church, Bournemouth, Frank Scorer, M.R.C.S, Eng, L.R.C.P, London, son of Alfred Scorer of Upper Hamilton Terrace, London, to Violet Eleanor Norris, only daughter of Alfred Norris of Catford, Kent."
- Morning Post, 11 August, 1900.

(NOTE: M.R.C.S is "Membership of the Royal College of Surgeons", and LRCP is the diploma of Licentiate of the Royal College of Physicians)

Above: Frank Scorer and his wife of several months, Violet, as they appeared in the census of 1901.

Above: The Scorer family in the 1911 census.

 Frank and Violet had three children, the first of whom died in infancy. Frank Elmo Scorer was born in 1901 and died the same year. His brother was born the following year...on May 29, 1902, Frank Melville Scorer was born in Bournemouth, Dorset. Only daughter, Violet Thelma, made her appearance on February 14, 1904.

   Violet Thelma Scorer married Terence William O'Hara in Bournemouth in 1927.I can find three children born to the couple- an unnamed male in 1927, and sons Terence M. O'Hara born in Bournemouth in 1931, and David P. O'Hara born in 1936 in Eton district, Buckinghamshire.
   Terence William O'Hara died on July 21, 1961, aged 57 years. His probate notice stated that his address was Fosters Imperial Road, Windsor, and that he had died at King Edward VII Hospital, Windsor.
  Violet Thelma Scorer O'Hara died in 1998 in the Southampton registration district.

   Frank Melville Scorer became a surveyor. In 1940 he married Elizabeth Clara Milner. I have not located any children born to Frank and Elizabeth, most likely because Elizabeth was aged about 47 years at the time of their marriage. Frank Melville Scorer died in 1992 in Devon. His wife Elizabeth (born December 25, 1893) died in 1973, in her eightieth year. Elizabeth Clara Milner was baptised in London on January 21, 1894, the daughter of Herbert Edward Milner, a clerk, and his wife Clara Elizabeth.

  Frank Scorer, surgeon, died on July 1, 1934, aged 66 years. His widow, Violet Eleanor Scorer, died ten years later, on March 1, 1944. A notice in the London Gazette noted that her address at the time of her death had been 58 Stirling Rd, Bournemouth, but that she was formerly of Berry Court Hotel, Bournemouth.

Third son, GEORGE OAKLEY SCORER, was an architect. He married a very exuberant lady by the name of Amy Lock, who was a member of the Selot family. Her mother Amy was the daughter of John Francis Selot, the business partner of John Oakley and George Scorer, and her grandmother Julia Selot was a Fortnum, so the grocers of Piccadilly certainly “kept things in the family”!

  

 

Amy Scorer must have found it a little dull being married to George. Several years ago one of Amy's descendants, contacted me re. our Oakley/Scorer genealogy. Despite his connection with Amy Lock, he and I are apparently not related, because he descends from Amy's daughter Betty, and his family stories state that she was the illegitimate daughter of Amy Scorer as the result of an affair that she was having with a man named Archibald Stoddart Walker. Following is what the descendant (who I will keep nameless!) wrote about the subject:

   “ Fanny Fortnum was the mother-in-law of my Great Grandmother, Amy Lock.
Amy married her cousin George Oakley Scorer who was, judging from her diaries, a deeply boring man. She took a number of lovers including the poet and academic Archibald Stoddart Walker and their liaison spawned my Grandmother. Infidelity is quite common in this particular part of my family tree - Amy's mother, Amy Marianne Selot (daughter of Julia Fortnum and John Francis Selot) grew weary of her husband James Lock (the famous Hatter) who was 44 years her senior. She had an affair with Edward Prince of Wales (subsequently King Edward VII) and had an illegitimate child - Charlie Fitzroy.”

I think Fanny Oakley's middle name of ‘Fortnum’misled Amy's descendant into thinking that Fanny was in fact related to the Fortnums, because I can see no way in which Amy Lock and George Oakley Scorer could have been cousins.

 Above: Baptism of Amy Marianne Selot, the mother of Amy Lock who married George Scorer.

Above: Marriage of James Lock and Amy Selot, 1872.

James Lock the 3rd was born in April 1800 and baptised at St James, Piccadilly, on May 27, 1800, the son of James and Caroline Lock. He surprised everyone when in 1872, at the age of 71, he married Amy Lock, some 45 years his junior. Their marriage notice appeared in all of the London papers of the time, including the following from the Morning Post of March 16, 1872:

"LOCK-SELOT- On the 14th inst, at St. George's, Hanover Square, by the Rev. H. Howarth, Mr James Lock, to Amy Marianne, second daughter of J.F Selot Esq of Grosvenor Street, Grosvenor Square."

 

Above: James Lock III, husband of Amy Selot and father of Amy Lock Scorer. This photo was discovered on the website of wonderful actor Miles Richardson, who is descended from James Lock by way of James' granddaughter, Betty Scorer, being Miles' grandmother. The following photograph of Amy Lock also came from Miles' site.

 

 

Above: Amy Marianne Selot Lock, wife of James Lock and mother of Amy Lock who married George Oakley Scorer.

   The marriage was to be short-lived...just over four years after his wedding, James Lock died. He passed away on July 13, 1876, at the age of 76 years, leaving a 2 year old daughter and a 31 year old widow.

 I have been unable to locate Amy Lock or her daughter Amy in the 1881 census. I checked the entire length of Lower Berkeley Street, but living at Number 12 Lower Berkeley on the night of the census were John Abel, a constable, and his wife Louisa. Being a single couple living alone in a large house with no servants is not consistent with the street...on either side of Number 12 are wealthy families with a multitude of "help". For example, next door at Number 9 Lower Berkeley lived Magistrate and Barrister Henry Bosanquet, his wife, three teenage daughters and a butler, footman, 2 lady's maids, 2 general female servants and a kitchen maid. On the other side, at Number 13, the family of George Phillip, warehouseman, had a contingent of ten servants to assist with the smooth running of their household.
  I believe that John Abel and his wife Louisa were residing at Number 12 as caretakers while Amy Lock and her daughter were staying elsewhere..if only I could just discover where!!!

The baptism of Amy Lock's illegitimate son - born in 1884, some eight years after her husband's death- can be seen below.



 No father was named, as was usual on the baptismal and birth certificates of illegitimate children- so it is purely family hearsay that names the father of baby Charles as Edward, Prince of Wales(who subsequently became King Edward VII after the death of his mother, Queen Victoria). This is entirely plausible, as Edward was infamous for his affairs...over 50 such encounters are known of, and who knows how many more that he managed to keep secret.

Above: 1891 census return for Amy Lock and her son Charlie Fitzroy.

  I have found the task of locating Amy and her son Charles in the census returns of 1901 and 1911 impossible...they do not appear under any spelling or search criteria. Their normal residence at 12 Lower Berkeley Street is still owned by Amy Lock, but not inhabited by them on the nights that the census returns were taken.

  The census of 1901 for Number 12 Lower Berkeley Street appears below:

It can be seen that Amy and Charles Lock are not in residence...the house is occupied only by an Irish housemaid. It is noted that the house is "uninhabited" but "Occupied".

  The same situation is evident ten years later in the 1911 census:

  Telephone and Street Directories for London allow us to trace Amy and Charles until 1925. The London Phone Book has Amy Lock's address as 12 Lower Berkeley Street. Paddington, from 1905 to 1916.

  Electoral Rolls support this evidence...Amy Lock is recorded as being at 12 Lower Berkeley Street from 1889 until 1925. Charles Fitzroy also appears as residing at this address in the Rolls of 1921 and 1925.

  Amy Lock owned property in Buckingham Street, St Martin In The Fields, Westminster. She was paying land tax on this address at least from 1882:

The Land Tax record for 1903 is as follows:

The London Gazette of August 4, 1925, carried the following notification regarding Amy Lock's Buckingham Street property:

"H.M Land Registry Land Transfer Act. The following persons are about to be registered as proprietors of the following properties with Absolute or Good Leasehold Title:
309742/  London/  City of Westminster/  land and buildings at 19 Buckingham Street/  Freehold/  Charles Fitzroy Lock of 12 Lower Berkeley Street, Esquire."

  Further investigation shows that Amy Lock's husband, James Lock, had occupied the Buckingham Street address and paid tax on the property from as early as 1859. He was living there at the time of the 1851 census:

It appears from the records that the house at 19 Buckingham Street was home to several families occupying separate floors...James Lock occupied the third floor, according to tax records.

Above: The 1861 census for James Lock at his residence in Buckingham Street.

From "British History Online" comes the following about 19 Buckingham Street:
No. 19. —These premises comprise a wide front four storeys in height over a basement. Relief is afforded to an otherwise plain stock brick exterior by the windows to the flanks being grouped on each floor by means of an iron balcony and the major portion in the middle being slightly recessed.The central entrance doorway is set in a semicircular opening with a large radiating fanlight. The staircase is in stone with a semicircular end to the wall on plan, and has a continuous plain iron bar balustrading and mahogany handrail, with the well top-lit by a circular skylight. The rooms are plain.
From: 'Buckingham Street', Survey of London: volume 18: St Martin-in-the-Fields II: The Strand (1937), pp. 63-76. URL: http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=68273  Date accessed: 19 March 2013.

James Lock was still resident at 19 Buckingham Street at the time of the 1871 census, and his housekeeper was still Amelia Sellars, who had been with him in 1851 as a young widow named Amelia Fox who had a five year old son, George.

  I don’t know the extent of the knowledge within the Scorer family that Betty Scorer was not in fact George’s natural daughter.  Fanny Oakley Scorer certainly left both Betty and her mother Amy legacies in her will, and one wonders if this would have been the case if it were common knowledge that Amy had been unfaithful to Fanny's son.

“ To Amy wife of my son George Oakley Scorer one hundred pounds.

To my granddaughters Daphne and Betty , daughters of my son George Oakley Scorer, five hundred pounds each.”

The family of George Oakley Scorer and Amy Lock consisted of Daphne Amy Scorer, born 1901; Paul Geoffrey Scorer born 1905, and Betty Scorer born 1911. The 1911 census noted that Amy Scorer had given birth to three children up to that point, two of whom were still living.

Above: Portrait of Archibald Stodart Walker, who was supposedly the father of Betty Scorer.

 Betty Scorer led an amazing life, travelling the world as a dancer and later becoming a journalist under the name Elizabeth Barron. She married Aloysha Frank, a Russian dancer, and together they toured Australia in 1937 with Colonel de Basil's legendary Ballets Russes. This company of dancers were described as displaying brilliant choreography, music and design from the leading Russian and European artists of the time, and took Australia by storm during their tours.
  Betty provided her mother, Amy Lock Scorer, back in England a colourful running commentary on her tour in the form of a barrage of letters. These letters have been digitised by the National Library of Australia, and are online to peruse, much to my delight. They offer a wonderful insight to both the social culture of the Ballets Russes, and to Betty Scorer herself.

 

Above: Betty Scorer's husband, Russian dancer Aloysha Frank .

Above: Betty Scorer and husband Aloysha Frank photographed in Sydney with a dog that they adopted and named Apsia. Theatre Royal, Sydney, February 1937.

Betty and Aloysha had one child, a daughter named Maroussia Frank. She became a fine actor, and was one of the founders, with her husband Ian Richardson, of the famous Royal Shakespeare Company.

 
Above: The stunning Maroussia Frank and Ian Richardson on their wedding day in 1961.

While researching this branch of the family, I came across a beautiful article in which Maroussia was interviewed after the death of her husband Ian in 2007. It is reproduced as follows:

"The night Ian Richardson died in my arms.
 
Millions of television viewers were moved when Dame Helen Mirren burst into tears as she dedicated her Best Actress BAFTA to the actor Ian Richardson, who had died just a week before. But it was a particularly poignant moment for the actor's widow Maroussia.
Now, four months later, speaking for the first time since his death, she says: "I was quite taken by surprise when Helen said that. It was wonderful of her to say such nice things about Ian, and I must say I did have a little cry."
Then, with a twinkle in her eye, she reveals that her late husband was once "in lust" with Helen, although he was already married to Maroussia.
"They were in All's Well That Ends Well together," she says.
"Helen was 18 - so gorgeous and terribly talented - and Ian was quite smitten. But I don't think she even noticed.
"He did take her under his wing, though, and became a bit of a mentor to her - as he did with many young actors. He liked to help people."


Ian Richardson - best known as the Machiavellian Francis Urquhart in the television series House Of Cards - died in his sleep on February 9. His death came a shock to those dearest to him: he had not been ill and was due to start filming an episode of the series Midsomer Murders two days later.
His widow recalls: "That day, we had been to see the costume and wig people about the role, and then came home and had a very pleasant evening together. We talked about plans for our anniversary lunch. It was our 46th wedding anniversary the week before but we hadn't had the chance to celebrate it.
"We went to bed, and at 2am Ian made a little bit of a noise, as if he were having a dream. I just shook him a little and expected him to mutter something like: 'What, oh sorry' - but he didn't. I got up and went round to his side of the bed."
Her husband died in her arms a few minutes later.
Maroussia is remarkably composed as she recalls the slightly farcical events surrounding the death of the man from whom she was practically inseparable for 46 years.
"I didn't quite know who to call, so I rang our GP. Well, talk about gallows humour. This woman answered and said: 'Hello, my name is Jenny. How may I help?'
"So I said: 'I think my husband has just died' and she replied: 'Not a problem.'
"I blurted out something like: 'It may not be a problem for you, but it is for me.' She told me to dial 999, and the next thing I knew about 12 policemen and paramedics arrived.
"Because Ian's death was sudden and he hadn't been ill, the death certificate couldn't be signed until they had done a post mortem," she explains.
"And because it was the early hours of Saturday morning, they couldn't do one until the Monday.
"It turned out that he'd had a heart condition which could have been there for ages without being detected. He actually died from left ventricular failure."
Portentously, when I interviewed the actor a year ago, he told me he wanted to be the first to die.
"I could not contemplate living any longer if Maroussia was not with me," he said. "There would be no point. I fully intend to be the first to go because I would be completely lost without her."
Maroussia is quite sure he meant it.
"Ian would have been helpless on his own. I did everything for him. He didn't even know which bank his account was with. In a way, it is good that he died in his sleep rather than suffer from a long illness - a wonderful way for him to go."
Clearly the more practical half of their loving partnership, she is not given to self-pity.
"I think it's different for women who lose a partner because our brains have so many different compartments," she says.
"Some of them you don't go into because it is too painful - so you just deal with all the other things that are going on in your life.
"The evenings when I'm not working are quite difficult. It's usually when I sit down with a glass of wine and watch TV that it hits me. Just a week after his death, I made the mistake of listening to a recording he'd done, and that was just too much for me.
"But I don't mind being on my own. Since Ian died, people have come round so I am not often alone - and after a while, I do find myself thinking: 'I do wish you would go away.' That's just the way I am."
She has herself survived breast cancer and, last year, suffered from severe heart problems.
Perhaps the fact that she comes from a long line of survivors has helped Maroussia to cope with suffering and grief. Her grandparents were exiled from Russia in 1922 after the Revolution.
It was while she was at the Royal Shakespeare Company that she met Ian. She was 19 and he was 25, yet she found herself playing his mother, the Queen of Aragon, in The Merchant of Venice.
Ian has, in the past, recalled their meeting as love at first sight. In her typically forthright manner, Maroussia dismisses this as "absolute tosh".


She says: "He was engaged to several other girls at the same time, so it certainly wasn't love at first sight. In fact, I thought he was incredibly pompous. He wore suits and ties, and I was going through my beatnik period, which he didn't approve of at all. But he got rid of the other girls and we moved in together. I really don't know exactly how or when we clicked, but we did.
"But I do remember his terribly un-romantic proposal in the Shakespeare hotel in Stratford. He said: 'I suppose we might as well get married,' and I replied 'We might as well.' And that was it.
"We were together for 46 years. Apart from when the children were very young, we spent every minute of every day together - and I'm glad of that because it means I have so many memories of him.
He did drive me mad sometimes. He was terribly bad at being idle, so if he was not working he would start making jam or framing pictures or making models of things.
"He was a terrible squirrel and hoarded everything. After he died, I threw away 27 suitcases which we never used."
Since Ian's death, their grown-up children, Miles, an actor, and Jeremy, who works in computers, have been incredibly supportive of their mother and she has taken delight in the company of her six grandchildren.
But her real lifeline has been returning to the theatre for the first time in 26 years at the age of 66. Just three weeks after Ian's death, she was offered the only female role in a powerful new drama set in the Vatican, The Last Confession, which stars David Suchet.
After touring round the country with it, she is now on stage in London's West End at the Theatre Royal Haymarket. Although her role as a nun, Sister Vincenza, is only small, it has given her something to concentrate on other than her sudden widowhood.
Nor did her return to the stage stop her organising Ian's memorial service on May 15, which was attended by more than 300 people and featured readings by such theatrical luminaries as Peter Hall, Helen Mirren and Donald Sinden.
Maroussia says: "It took quite a bit of planning but I think we did Ian proud. It was a very emotional day for me, and by the time I got to the theatre that night [the director was unable to give her the night off], I was quite drained.
"But I had a bottle of champagne later that Judi Dench had sent me for my first night appearing in the play. When I came off stage, I thought it would be the perfect moment to open the bubbly, and, with a couple of other members of the cast, we toasted Ian.
"It really has been wonderful to get back to work. It was an incredible act of kindness of the director to offer me the role.
"Without it, I don't think I could have coped quite as well as I have since Ian's death."

- by LESLIE MIDDLEHURST,  28 June 2007, Daily Mail, UK.

Maroussia and Ian Richardson had two sons- Jeremy born in 1961, and actor Miles born in 1963. Jeremy was of enormous assistance to me some years ago in sorting out the Scorer family in all of their flamboyant glory.

  Betty Scorer's two elder siblings were as follows:

DAPHNE AMY SCORER: was the first-born child of George and Amy Scorer. She was born on June 24, 1901, in London. She had a successful career as a stage actress in the 1920s, later making several films. These included 'Sunshine Susie' in 1931; 'The Sport of Kings', 1931; and 'The Good Companion', 1933.

 
 
Above: Daphne Scorer returning to England with a troupe of actors in 1926, aged 24 years.


 Daphne Scorer was also a well-known agent in London acting circles. She married late in life...in 1960 she married Jack E. Hobbs in Essex. Daphne Scorer Hobbs died in January 1988 in Brighton, Sussex, aged 86 years.

Paul Geoffrey Scorer, brother of Daphne and Betty, was born in London in May of 1905. He married Natalie Frank, the sister of Aloysha Frank who married Betty Scorer. The Franks came from Russia, travelling and fleeing from one country to another, until the family eventually settled in London after WW2. Natalie Frank  met Paul Scorer before the war and came to London, where sons Mischa and Peter were born.

 

 

 

  Paul Geoffrey Scorer was too young to have served in WW1, but WW2 was to prove his downfall...he was killed in the Bay of Biscay on August 27, 1943, aged 38 years. There is some controversy surrounding the circumstances of Paul's death and two other RAF members who were on the ship 'Egret' when it was bombed. From the website

http://www.worldnavalships.com/forums/archive/index.php/t-1282.html

comes the following information:

On the 27th of August 1943 HMS Egret, lead ship of the "Egret"class of sloops,was hit and almost cut in two by a "Glider Bomb". This occurred in the Bay of Biscay and resulted in great loss of life. There are conflicting reports to the numbers involved but it is safe to say that around 194 died and around 35 survived inc 6 officers.
It is interesting to note that certain authorities on the subject claim that there were in fact 3 RAF personnel on board (not mentioned in the casualty list). They were purported to be from the SIE (Signal Intelligence Establishment) who were "Boffins" working on the "Enigma" intercepts.
  Egret most definitely did have personnel on board from the RAF Y-Service. They all perished in the attack and are NOT included in the official RN loss number of 194. I have their names: RAF Flying Officer Paul Geoffrey Scorer and Telegraphists Signals Officers Shields and Keith. In addition, Squadron Leader Cuthbert William Prideaux Selby was with the RAF Volunteer Reserve and acted as coordinator between the ships and RAF Coastal Command. The reason these individuals were on board is because the British knew in advance that the Germans might use these new weapons. In fact, I believe one mission of the 1st Support Group was to precipitate such an attack so that the Y-Service personnel could record the signals."

Above: The ship 'HMS Egret' was an anti-aircraft escort vessel that in 1943 had the misfortune of being the first warship to be sunk by a guided missile.

   The following was published about George Oakley Scorer in the Directory of British Architects, 1834-1914, edited by Antonia Brodie, British Architectural Library, Royal Institute of British Architects:

SCORER, GEORGE OAKLEY. 1872-1957.
Date of Death: 22 September, 1957.
Address: Abercorn Lodge, Upper Hamilton Terrace, London, England (1894)
28 Newman Street, Oxford Street, London (1896,1900)
22 Surrey Street, Strand, London (1903, 1910, 1914)
21 Warwick Gardens, Kensington, London (1912, 1914)
EDUCATION & TRAINING:
Educated at Harrow School. South Kensington Art Schools 1891-92. Articled to Ralph Selden Wornum (1847-1910), 1892, and remained as assistant 1895. AA classes. Passed qualifying exam 1894. Travelled in Belgium, Holland and France.
PROFESSIONAL QUALIFICATIONS: ARIBA 11 March 1895; proposed by R S Wornum, A Graham, B Ingelow; FRIBA 3 March 1913; proposed by F R Farrow, H Cheston & J C Perkins.
PROFESSIONAL & PRACTICE INFORMATION: Commenced independent practice 1898. Inspector of Works , Imperial War Graves Commission 1918-1919. Taught at Epsom School of Art.
OBITUARIES:  Builder, Vol 193, 27 September 1957, page 544
RIBA Journal, Vol 65, 1958, page 179.
References: General sources: Avery obit; graves.
Royal Academy Exhibitors 1905-1970
Who's Who In Architecture 1914
Articles: Builder, V 179, 1950, p 65-67.
RIBA Nomination Papers: A V 13 p 36
F V 22 p 1497


EDGAR SELOT SCORER: was the last of four sons born to Alfred Scorer and Fanny Fortnum Oakley. His middle name was in recognition of the Selot family who had been partners in Fortnum and Mason with John Oakley, Fanny's father, and who were tied to the Scorer family through the marriage of Amy Selot Lock's daughter, Amy Lock, to George Oakley Scorer, Fanny's son.

Edgar was born in London in 1877. He married Catherine Dora Atkinson in London on July 7, 1904, and I can find three children born to the couple- Stephen Alfred Scorer b 1905; Basil b 1911 and Fanny Susanne born 1912.

 Above: Marriage entry of Edgar Selot Scorer and Catherine Dora Scorer.

Above: 1911 census for the family of Edgar Selot Scorer.

In April 1915, Edgar Scorer joined the 28th London Battalion (Artist's Rifles), a part of England's Territorial Forces, to "do his part" for his King and Country, despite not being in the best physical shape prior to his enlistment.
  The British Army Pension Records for WWI contain excellent information about individual soldiers, and Edgar Scorer's record was no exception:

  Edgar Selot Scorer did not survive long after WWI..he died on November 8, 1925. His wife Catherine Dora Scorer died on January 4, 1950.

  Of their three children, the following is known:

1. STEPHEN ALFRED SCORER: born May 23, 1905, London. Stephen studied medicine, and married Agnes May Kidd in Yorkshire in 1931. I have located three children who were born to Stephen and Agnes- Michael J.S Scorer born 1933, Watford; Susan P Scorer born 1935, Watford; and Christopher Scorer born 1936, Watford.

  Dr Stephen Scorer lived and practiced in Watford for many years. When he died in 1971, the following heartfelt obituary was published in the British Medical Journal of April 3, 1971, as a mark of esteem to a much-loved doctor and friend:

" OBITUARY. S.A SCORER,  M.B,; B.S; F.R.C.O.G.
Dr S A Scorer, consultant obstetrician and gynaecologist to Watford General Hospital, died on 27th January at the age of 65.
  Stephen Alfred Scorer was educated at Bedford School and Guy's Hospital, qualifying with the Conjoint diploma in 1928 and graduating in 1932. He took up general practice at Watford in 1931, and from his early days developed an interest and skill in obstetrics and gynaecology.
   When the Watford Maternity Home opened in 1935 he became its first medical officer and continued to serve the hospital as S.H.M.O, and later consultant, until he retired. By this time the old hospital in King street had been replaced by a new unit, in the planning of which he had played a large part. His work in Watford was interrupted by the War, when he served as a gynaecological specialist in the R.A.F.
   On his return to civilian life, obstetrics and gynaecology began to take increasingly more of his time. He was admitted M.R.C.O.G in 1950, and elected F.R.C.O.G in 1969.In 1970 he retired from his hospital, but in spite of a severe illness shortly before his retirement he returned courageously to work, looking after his older patients.
   Stephen Scorer was one of the best known and best loved doctors in Watford. He was a very experienced and skilled obstetrician and had personally delivered thousands of babies during his long career in general and consultant practice. With his wide experience of domiciliary obstetrics he was always ready to help his colleagues with their problems, however hard-pressed he might be. As a general practitioner he was equally conscientious and hard working, giving generously of his time and knowledge and experience to hundreds of families, to many of whom he was not only their family doctor but also their friend. He was unfailingly courteous in his dealings with colleagues and patients, and his juniors learnt from him not only their craft but the equally important and less tangible art of professional relationships.
  He had a beautiful garden, of which he was justly proud, and was an enthusiastic golfer, though his rounds were too often interrupted by calls. A most entertaining companion, he had a very large circle of friends, and he was a most generous host with an appreciation and knowledge of good food and wine. All who were fortunate enough to have known him will miss him sadly. He is survived by a wife and a son, who is also a doctor.   -S.S
   P.H.N writes: It is difficult to express in a few words the gratitude and affection that  a family feels for its doctor who has been its pilot through the narrow channels and troubled waters for over twenty years.
   Dr Scorer had, among other attributes, the gift of guidance, the ingredients of which were wisdom, complete sincerity, friendliness, and a wonderful sense of humour, and these enabled him to cope with any situation likely to come the way of a family doctor. He had an unusual ability to assess the essential facts, to weigh them up very rapidly and to come to a conclusion which was invariably right. We had a great respect and affection for his skill and friendship."

   Dr Stephen Scorer's wife, Agnes May, died at Watford in 1986.

2. BASIL SCORER: born 10th August, 1910, in London, the second child and son of Edgar and Catherine Scorer. Basil was a bookseller. He died on July 2, 1951, in Westminster, aged 40.

   3. FANNY SUZANNE SCORER: the third child and only daughter of Edgar Selot Scorer and Catherine Atkinson. She was born in London on July 25, 1912. Fanny married Francis Arnold Montague in Hampstead in 1939. Fanny died in 1992 in Oxfordshire, and her husband died in 1991.



   Fanny Fortnum Oakley Scorer and her husband Alfred Scorer were buried in Kensal Green (also called Kensal Rise) Cemetery. Alfred died first on October 14, 1904, and left a substantial fortune. Fanny died on April 9, 1915. Both left detailed and very generous wills, which I will reproduce in a separate blog entry.

 

Above: The Scorer Family grave at Kensal Rise, London. Theses photos were taken by Peter Scorer and very kindly shared with me. Peter is descended from Paul Geoffrey Scorer, the son of George Oakley Scorer and Amy Lock. Paul married Natasha Frank (b. 1912 Moscow, Russia, d. 2000 London) and her brother Aloysha married Paul Scorer's sister Betty Scorer.