Chapter 1 – My Ancestry Another Time

Chapter 1

My Ancestry

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Robert Hannah “A lovely lady wearing a pink dress”

After the death of their father in 1852, Dad’s mother n éeé Bessie Hannah , aged 10 years and her two elder sisters were raised by their Uncle, the renowned British artist Robert Hannah RA (Royal Academy artist) and were the subject of many of his paintings.

- 2 - Chapter 1 – My Ancestry Another Time “A Remarkable Family -The Cunningham’s” - From a Newspaper Article, ‘Murray Pioneer,’ published, Feb 1928 -family photos added to the original newspaper article –

“Among Renmark’s early settlers were many scions of families with histories connected to the British Army and Navy, and with the Indian military and civil services. There were men among us who counted their relations in the regular forces in the Great War by dozens and by scores, many of them occupying high positions of command. Very few of the original representatives of these families now remain in Renmark - some are dead and others have gone elsewhere - though a number of their descendants are still here. One of the most interesting of the “historic” families at present represented in Renmark is that of Mr. Frank Cunningham , the death of whose father, Lieutenant Colonel Allan J. C. Cunningham R.E. , at the age of 86 (on 8 th Feb 1928), was reported last week. Lieut. Col Cunningham derived from a very old Scots family. One of his ancestors fought under Montrose, but …………..

Lt Col AJC Cunningham (from a painting) - 3 - Chapter 1 – My Ancestry Another Time

….. the man who gave the family distinction was the Scottish poet Allan Cunningham (father of General Sir Alexander Cunningham, grandfather of Lt Col AJC Cunningham and great- grandfather of Mr. Frank Cunningham), who was a contemporary and friend of Sir Walter Scott, Hogg and Professor Wilson and wrote a number of books, of which his “Lives of the British Painters, Sculptors and Architects” was republished in 1879 in Bohn’s Library. He was the author of “A Wet Sheet and a Flowing Sea”.

Allan Cunningham “The Poet”

Allan Cunningham's family was a remarkable one.

Three of his own sons served in with distinction under the and earned international recognition as Indian scholars and historians. Capt. Joseph Cunningham , H.E. I.C.S., whose career was ended early by cholera, was recognised as’ the one authority’ on the history of the Sikhs;

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…the second son, Major General Sir Alexander Cunningham C.S.I., K.C.I.E. (grandfather of Mr Frank Cunningham), published numerous works about India and was the pioneer scholar in this work of reconstructing the history of from its architectural remains in India.

Major General Sir Alexander Cunningham C.S.I, K.C.I.E

After his retirement from the army he was retained by Lord Canning as director of a new Archaeological Department, and was afterwards appointed by Lord Mayo to take charge of an archaeological survey of India in the interests of European scholarship.

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He spent nearly 50 years in India, wrote numerous books about the country, and his researches did much to bridge the gaps in its early history.

Star, Collar & Badge of the Knight Grand Commander awarded Major General Sir Alexander Cunningham.

The third son of “The Poet”, Peter Cunningham , entered the civil service in England, and his literary gifts were devoted to . The Dictionary of National Biography says of him that “all subsequent works on London have been more or less indebted to Cunningham's Handbook”. He also published ‘The Story of Neil Gwynn’ and ‘The Letters of Horace Walpole’. The youngest son of ‘The Poet’, Francis Cunningham , after retiring from the Indian Army also attained literary distinction as a contributor to The Saturday Review and by his editions of the Elizabethan dramatists. He was wounded in what was perhaps the last duel fought in the army.

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Lieut. Col A.J.C. Cunningham , whose death is just recorded, was the third son of General Sir Alexander Cunningham. He was for many years on the staff of the Engineering College, Roorkee, and after his retirement from the army in 1891 published many mathematical volumes.

A surviving brother (of Lt Col AJC Cunningham-), Sir A. Fredk Douglas Cunningham K.C.I.E., I.C.S. , after the Afghan campaigns of 1878 -1880, was appointed Political Officer, Khyber Pass and was on the HQ Political Staff at Cabul. He was afterwards ‘Under Secretary’ to the government.

Sir A. Frederick Douglas Cunningham K.C.I.E., I.C.S.

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On his mother's side, the late Lieut. Col. A.J.C Cunningham was descended from Etienne Boileau, who was appointed Grand Provost and Governor of the city of Paris by St. Louis 1X, in 1250 and of whom Joinville relates “that he did wonders in the said office”. His son died in the eighth Crusade in the Holy Land, and the grandson of this son was killed in Hungary fighting against the Turks. The family line is filled with the great names of “nobles”, but trouble came with the reformed faith, and one member suffered torture and execution in 1560 as Protestant. Another died in 1687 after 10 years imprisonment after the ‘Revocation of the Edict of Nantes’, and the founder of the English line accepted exile for the sake of his religion. It is of interest to note that two of his ancestors served against Marlborough in Bernardo at Oudenarde and Blenheim.”

The above from an article in Murray Pioneer, Feb 1928

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Dad’s father (Lt Col Allan Joseph Champneys Cunningham), brother (Col. Allan Hannay Cunningham), uncle (Sir A Frederick Douglas Cunningham), grandfather (Maj.General Sir Alexander Cunningham), the General’s brothers (Lt Col Francis Cunningham and Capt Joseph Davey Cunningham) all served with British forces in India.

Sir Walter Scott a friend of Allan Cunningham ‘The Poet’ - was instrumental in getting young Alexander his post in the British Army.

Dad’s brother Col Allan Hannay Cunningham also served in India at different periods from 1890 to 1920 and served in the Gallipoli Expedition, Mediterranean Expeditionary Force, as Divisional Engineer Commander 1 st Australian Division at Anzac Cove, 1915 (somewhat ironically as a British Officer).

Col AH Cunningham (Dad’s brother) served at Gallipoli

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My father’s mother, Bessie (n éeé Hannah) was born in 1842 of Scottish descent. At the age of four years her mother died and at age ten in 1852, her father also died. She and her two elder sisters Janet and Gertrude were then raised by their Uncle, the renowned British artist Robert Hannah RA (Royal Academy artist). He and his wife Emma did not have children of their own.

Dad’s father, Lt. Col. Allan Joseph Champneys Cunningham of the Royal (Bengal) Engineers married Bessie Hannah at Christ Church, Kensington, England on August 24 th 1870. See painting of Allan on page 3. He was posted to Roorkee, 120 miles North of New Delhi, Northern India. There were two sons and a daughter of whom my father Frank (Francis Alexander) was one. Dad’s Mother, Bessie Cunningham (née Hannah, died when he was 4 weeks old, 1876)

Frank, the youngest of the three children, was born at Roorkee on 28 th March 1876. His elder brother Allan Hannay Cunningham and elder sister Mary Emmaline Cunningham were also born here. Dad’s mother Bessie died when Dad was just four weeks old and sister Mary Emmaline died the following year in 1877 at the age of 4 years. Bessie was buried at the Roorkee cemetery, N.W.P.India with a tombstone and erect cross and Mary Emmaline was buried nearby, marked with a tombstone with a cross carved in relief on it.

After his mother’s death Frank was nurtured by Indian ‘awah’s or wet nurses and then was cared for on his return to England by his mother’s elder sister, Aunt Janet Sarah Everett (née Hannah).

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A painting of Dad’s mother, Bessie Hannah, by her artist Uncle Robert Hannah. Bessie was raised by Robert Hannah from the age of 10 after the death of her own parents. The painting was a wedding gift at her marriage to Allan JC Cunningham.

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Initially the care of young Frank was fought over by Bessie’s sisters, Janet Everett and younger sister Gertrude Murray Thompson and this caused a great rift for a while. Letters of the period indicate that they came to an amicable agreement in the end though.

A daughter born to Frederic and Janet Everett was Frances Emma Everett known as F.E.E from her intials and from whom my name was derived.

Following Bessie’s death in 1876, Dad’s father Allan, remarried Lauretta Frances Bartrum in 1883 and Dad’s half sister Alicie Cunningham was born (our ‘Aunt Alicie’) .

Francis Emma Everett (F.E.E) & Dad

Bessie’s other sister Gertrude Murray- Thompson (née Hannah) and her daughters Katherine and Rosie were also a large part of Dad’s life as a young boy growing up in England. Dad was quite fond of Katherine or ‘Kathy’ as he called her and she became my second Godmother (Frances Emma Everett the other).

Gertrude Murray Thompson, with daughter Rosie, Dad (aged 3) & his brother Allan (aged 9) in 1879

Gertrude, Katherine and Rosie came out to visit us in Renmark in 1921 when I was seven. Gertrude and Rosie died within a month of each other in 1929. - 12 - Chapter 1 – My Ancestry Another Time

Dad was sent to boarding school for some years at Haileybury Military College for the children of British military personnel. Many years later when my husband Ian and I were in England, we were fortunate to visit Haileybury, set in beautifully lawned grounds and wonderful old buildings. His young life was spent mostly away from his father, with relatives, the Everett family, in England and at boarding school- Haileybury- a military school for British Army officers’ children. We met a master there, who showed us the dormitory that Dad had slept in and his little black iron bed. Haileybury Military College

During the Second World War, Alicie Cunningham and Katherine Murray- Thompson, served as ‘land army girls’ together and eventually lived as spinsters in adjoining houses in the English village of Flaunden near Hemel Hempstead, Herts, until they died, Alicie in 1966 and Katherine in 1972.

Katherine or ‘Cousin Katherine’ as we knew her (Dad’s cousin) and Aunt Alicie (his half sister), were English family to us and with whom we corresponded regularly.

My sister Betty Brocksopp (née Cunningham) and her family, who moved to England in the late 1950’s also lived at Flaunden nearby Alicie and Katherine and all were related to the Hannah and Cunningham clans.

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Robert Hannah ‘The Honeymoon’

Robert Hannah RA, the British Royal Academy artist and his wife Emma in the drawing room of their home.

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see fold out enlargement,appendix - 16 -