Maureen Margaret Townshend (654)
| Date of Birth: | 20 Sep 1907 |
|---|---|
| Date of Death: | 4 Jul 1970 |
| Generation: | 8th |
| Residence: | Ashampstead, Berks |
| Father: | Reverend Horace Crawford Townsend MC [643] |
| Mother: | Young, Mary Edith |
| Spouse: |
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| Issue: | None |
| See Also: | Table VI ; Scrapbook ; Lineage ; Ancestors' Tree ; Descendents' Tree |
Notes for Maureen Margaret Townsend
Maureen was born in Dunminning, Co Antrim.
The April 1911 Irish Census records Maureen as aged 3 living in Dunminning, Antrim with her parents, a relative named Catherine Kirkpatrick and a dometsic. The house, owned by Catherine Kirkpatrick, consisted of sixteen rooms, a stable, a coach house and a further eight outbuildings.
Married 4 September 1946. Ernest Beet was the son of Reverend William Ernest Beet, a Weslyan Methodist Minister.
Maureen was educated at Alexandra College, Dublin. She trained as a nurse at St Thomas' Hospital, London and qualified as a State Registered Nurse. She was employed as a matron at Christ's Hospital, Horsham, Steyning Grammar School and later at Pangbourne Nautical College.
Maureen and Ernest bought South Cottage, Quick's Green, Ashampstead, Berks in 1950 and she was still living there when she died.
Ernest was born in Oldham in 1904. He was educated at Oldham Hulme Grammar School and University College Reading (BSc 1925). In 1927 he took up a teaching position at Epworth College (1) in Rhyl where he remained for ten years. Following this Ernest moved to Pangbourne and stayed there until his retirement. It was here that he met Maureen and during the Second World War they shared responsibility for shepherding the boys to safety when the air raid sirens went off.
From the age of eleven Ernest was fascinated by astronomy and throughout his life he actively promoted the teaching of the subject and wrote several books. He was elected Fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society in 1930 and was President of the British Astronomical Association 1962 - 64. When Ernest retired in 1969 he was appointed astronomical correspondent to The Times, a position he held until 1988. He died in Reading in 1997.
(1) Methodist secondary school for boys.