Reverend Horace Thomas Edward (Hoddy) Townsend (346)
| Date of Birth: | 10 Nov 1851 |
|---|---|
| Date of Death: | 1911 |
| Generation: | 7th |
| Residence: | Dublin and several places in the UK |
| Father: | Reverend Horatio Thomas Townsend [334] |
| Mother: | Somerville, Agnes |
| Spouse: |
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| Issue: | |
| See Also: | Table III ; Scrapbook ; Lineage ; Ancestors' Tree ; Descendents' Tree |
Notes for Reverend Horace Thomas Edward Townsend (Hoddy) (1)
Entry in the diary of Agnes Townsend [334] - 'Nov 10 1851 THE Townsend born'.
Married 1st at St Peter's, Dublin, 21 December 1874 (2), Elizabeth Oldburn the daughter of Henry Oldburn of Mount Prospect, Cranmore, Co Galway (3). According to the marriage certificate Horace was living at 27 Huddington Road, Dublin at the time. Married 2nd, 11 May 1888 (4), Mrs Eliza Jane Hart (5) who already had a son Richard Neville Hart.
Horace lived the first nine years of his life with his aunt Mary Townsend (6) who, aged 61, then married Mr Becker in 1861. In 1860, Horace returned to his family in Skibbereen and entered Trinity College, Dublin in 1870. The TCD Graduation List Volume II records that he qualified BA in Spring 1874. John Hume Townsend [635] was an undergraduate at Trinity at the same time, whilst John's brother, Horace Webb Townsend [634], Richard Hungerford Townsend [5A02] and William Chambers Townsend [6B11] were graduate students and Rev Richard Townsend [337] was Professor of Natural Philosophy at the university.
Ordained on 21 December 1874, Horace’s working life was devoted to teaching, in addition to preaching and his clerical duties. His son, Neville, was born in Limerick in 1876 but it is not known what he was doing there.
In August 1882 he left Ireland to take up an appointment as Headmaster at Easingwold Grammar School in Yorkshire but gave this up in December 1884 when he moved to Malvern College, Brockley, London. He left the school in 1886 but remained in southern England for the remainder of his career and during the last five years of his life he held a number of temporary teaching posts in Devon. The London Gazette of 1 March 1907 records "Townshend, Horace Thomas Edward (the Reverend) Woodside House, Sutton, Surrey. Clerk in Holy Orders." Some time after 1900 Horace taught at Hale School, Mill Hill, London.
Horace was a most dedicated teacher and preacher and was meticulous in keeping a diary and record of everything that he did. In addition to his teaching, his clerical work was varied and widespread. Whilst he was living in London he was chaplain to various institutions including the local workhouse, local infirmary and Finchley cemetery. He frequently stood-in at churches to cover holidays and emergencies and this involved considerable travelling. In addition to using trains Horace took to cycling and this became a passion with him. He kept this up in his latter years, despite suffering from angina. In order to fill three preaching engagements in Devon on the same he cycled 60 miles and the strain of this led to his death.
Over a period of 27 years (1884-1911) Horace lived in 30 different houses.
None of the children are shown in Burke's Irish Family Records, 'An Officer of the Long Parliament' or by Judge John FitzHenry Townsend [250] but their dates of birth are corroborated by extracts from Agnes Townsend's [334] diary and by his grandson John Somerville Townsend [381]. All the children less Enid and Horace Aubrey Somerville were by Eliza.
(1) Most of the material for these notes is drawn from private family papers.
(2) Entry in the diary of Agnes Townsend [334] - 'Dec 21 1874 Hoddy was married'.
(3) Elizabeth was born in 1853. She died on 24 December 1887: Entry in the diary of Agnes Townsend [334] - 'December 24 1887 Lizzie - Horace's wife died'.
(4) Entry in the diary of Agnes Townsend [334] - 'May 11th 1888 Horace married again'.
(5) Eliza Jane's son Richard, but known as Neville, went up to Cambridge University in 1897. He died in Bournemouth in 1922. Eliza herself, in later years went to live in the south of France because of her asthma. She was involved in a road accident in 1931 and died in 1936.
(6) Horace's father assumed the appointment of Vicar of Abbeystrewry on 2 August 1850 and it is strange that Horace should have lived the first nine years of his life away from his parents. It is difficult to pinpoint Aunt Mary Townsend; only Mary Townsend [228], who had Skirtagh connections through her grandmother Mary Townsend [308], and Anna Mary Townsend [423] fit into the parameters. Edward Mansel Townsend [630] visited Anna Mary in 1883 and it appears from what he wrote that she was a spinster. This just leaves Mary whose family came from Shepperton which is very close to Abbeystrewry. Is it Becker or Becher? Either way there is no record of Mary marrying.