Theodosia Madeleine Cecilia Townshend (5C21)
| Date of Birth: | 17 Jul 1893 |
|---|---|
| Date of Death: | 1980 |
| Generation: | 8th |
| Residence: | London |
| Father: | Thomas Loftus Uniacke Townshend [5C02] |
| Mother: | Ogilvie, Maud |
| Spouse: |
|
| Issue: |
|
| See Also: | Table VC ; Scrapbook ; Lineage ; Ancestors' Tree ; Descendents' Tree |
Notes for Theodosia Madeleine Cecilia Townshend
Theodosia was born in Co Limerick.
The April 1901 Irish Census records that Theodosia was aged seven and living with her parents at house 114 in Leeson Park, Rathmines & Rathgar East, Dublin. She is not shown in the 1911 Irish Census.
Married ca 1915. Neville Lewis (1), as he was known, was a graduate of The Slade School of Art - as was Theodosia. He was a well respected portrait painter and painted both Winston Churchill and Field Marshall Montgomery on several occasions.
Separated in 1922, Theodosia and Neville divorced in 1928 and she changed her name, and that of her daughter who remained with her, back to Townshend. The sons Thomas and David retained the surname Lewis and went to Cape Town where they were brought up by their grandparents.
For the rest of her life Theodosia continued with her work as a decorative artist in London. At weekends she would visit the antique markets at Bermondsey and Portabello Road, where she bought picture frames for her work. In the course of this she started collecting snuff boxes and by the time of her death she had an impressive and unique collection of about three hundred boxes (2).
A delightful picture by Theodosia of Fairyfiled House, Kilmallock, Co Limerick, (her father's house) is given in her "Scrapbook'.
Theodosia was living at 18 Queensbury Mews West, London SW7, when she died.
Of the children
Thomas Loftus Townshend Lewis was born on 27 May 1918 and educated at St Paul's, Jesus College, Cambridge (MB. BCH 1942) and Guy's Hospital. He was a renowned gynaecologist (FRCS. MRCS. LRCP. FRCoG) and was appointed CBE for his services to medicine. He married Alexandra Ponsonby Moore and had five sons, John, Anthony, Robert, Charles, and Richard. He died on 9 April 2004 and his obituary in the British Medical Journal gives a full account of his life and achievements.
David Neville Lewis was born in 1922 and studied architecture at the University of Leeds (ARIBA. FAIA. AICP) 1961-63. Immediately after he was appointed the Andrew Mellon Professor of Architecture at the Carnegie Mellon Institute of Technology in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. David remained there until 1968 when he moved to Yale where he taught for the next six years. Following his appointment as the Henry Hyde Visiting Professor of Architecture at the University of Nebraska in 1989 he returned to Carnegie Mellon University in 1990 and started the Urban Laboratory, which continues to this day. One of his most significant achievements was founding Urban Design Associates (UDA) in the mid sixties; this is one of the most successful and biggest urban renewal firms in the USA and David received the Athena Award (3) for his achievements. Full details of his distinguished career can be found at his website (4). By his second wife Patricia Mills, David had a daughter (An) and a son (Sam).
Catherine Maude Townshend Lewis (b. 1920 d. 2004) was educated at The Farmhouse School (5), Mayortorne Manor,Wendover, Buckinghamshire, The Sorbonne and Munich University. At the outbreak of World War II she enrolled in the First Aid Nursing Yeomanry but later transferred to British intelligence and rose to the rank of Captain. She married Heimwarth Benjamin Gustav Karl von Jestinsky on 14 October 1944, who changed his name to Jestin in 1945. He was a Lieutenant Colonel in US intelligence during the war and received an honorary MBE from George VI for his work. He later gained a PhD. degree from Yale University. They had one son Loftus Hugh Dudley Townshend Jestin, and two daughters, Jennifer Theodosia Jestin and Caroline Anne Jestin.
Loftus Hugh Dudley Townshend Jestin was born on 5 November 1945. He studied at Yale and graduated with a PhD in literature. He was, until he retired, Chairman of the Department of English at Central Connecticut State University. Loftus married first Susan Mead and had a daughter, Katya Townshend Price Jestin (b. 1969), who married Kit Rowe Roane in 2000 and had a son in 2003, Samuel Loftus Rowe Roane and had twins in 2008, Madeleine Juliet Townshend Roane and James Tennyson Wharton Roane. Loftus and Susan divorced in 1975 and he married second Charbra Adams in 1976.
Caroline Anne Jestin had a daughter (Jane Elizabeth) by her first husband, John Garett Tilton.
(1) Several other websites cover his work as an artist.
(2) When Theodosia died in 1980, the collection passed to her daughter, who lived in Connecticut. It was exhibited - 'Powder Celestial: Snuff Boxes, 1700-1880' - at the Yale Centre for British Art in June 1990.
(3) Click here for the announcement of this award and here for David's acceptance speech.
(4) Click here for David's CV, further details of his career and publications.
(5) This school was founded in 1917 by Isabel Fry (1869-1958), an educationist, social worker and reformer. It was an experimental school in which the emphasis was placed on training in farm and household duties. Isabel was the daughter of Sir Edward Fry (1827-1918) - a famous reforming Quaker.