Powys-Lybbe Forbears - Person Sheet
Powys-Lybbe Forbears - Person Sheet
NameMary Fidelia ’Delia’ Douglas 
[13, Her obit of ], [44, May 2002]
[13, Her obit of ], [44, May 2002]Birth6 Jun 1924
Death12 Jun 2014
GeneralFarmer and conservationist.
FatherAlexander Douglas (1888-1968)
MotherElizabeth ‘Elsie’ Sophy Cross MM (1896-1963)
Spouses
Marriage1 Sep 1949, Devon Central district [13, Delia Craig’s obit of 18th July 2014], [9, From Stephen P Marks, 27 Jul 2014]
Notes for Mary Fidelia ’Delia’ Douglas
Stephen Marks wrote on 20th July, appending an obituary in the Times:
“You might like to see this obituary of Delia Craig in The Times, an interesting subject for that paper to record in some detail, no doubt as a settler's daughter who had worked hard in support of the cause of decolonlised Kenya and conservation.
What it does not shew of course is that Delia's mother's second marriage was to my mother's uncle William Ernest Powys, another soldier settler, but she was known in our family as Elizabeth, "Elsie" being of course short for Elizabeth, evidently used in the Douglas family. Her father Alexander Douglas was evidently as enterprising as my great uncle as a pioneer in the same area of the Kenya highlands, each with their thousands of acres of land at that time hardly if at all used ~ things have changed radically of course since the years immediately after the First War.
Whether or not you want to record this somehow on or off your charts, you might like to have this anyway. We did meet Delia and her husband on visits to Will Powys and his children in Kenya.”
________________
I have found a marriage between William Ernest P and Elizabeth Douglas/Cross/Powys and ordered the marriage certificate to see what can be elicited about Delia’s parentage.
I will probably also try to find Delia’s birth record.
________________
The Times obit says she was born Mary Fidelia Douglas, so was as Stephen reports, clearly a product of her mother’s first marriage.
Her father was Alexander Douglas.
There is no entry in the British indices for her birth under that name so it was probably in Kenya.
__________________
She spent nine years, roughly 1932 to 1941, being educated in England.
In WW2 she became a nurse and spent some time in Palestine.
After marriage, she and David farmed in England, leaving for Kenya in early 1950s.
__________________
She and David had three children:
Susan, born in England by 1953,
Ian,
William.
All survive her and are involved in Kenya in ventures connected with the Lewa farm there.
________________
“You might like to see this obituary of Delia Craig in The Times, an interesting subject for that paper to record in some detail, no doubt as a settler's daughter who had worked hard in support of the cause of decolonlised Kenya and conservation.
What it does not shew of course is that Delia's mother's second marriage was to my mother's uncle William Ernest Powys, another soldier settler, but she was known in our family as Elizabeth, "Elsie" being of course short for Elizabeth, evidently used in the Douglas family. Her father Alexander Douglas was evidently as enterprising as my great uncle as a pioneer in the same area of the Kenya highlands, each with their thousands of acres of land at that time hardly if at all used ~ things have changed radically of course since the years immediately after the First War.
Whether or not you want to record this somehow on or off your charts, you might like to have this anyway. We did meet Delia and her husband on visits to Will Powys and his children in Kenya.”
________________
I have found a marriage between William Ernest P and Elizabeth Douglas/Cross/Powys and ordered the marriage certificate to see what can be elicited about Delia’s parentage.
I will probably also try to find Delia’s birth record.
________________
The Times obit says she was born Mary Fidelia Douglas, so was as Stephen reports, clearly a product of her mother’s first marriage.
Her father was Alexander Douglas.
There is no entry in the British indices for her birth under that name so it was probably in Kenya.
__________________
She spent nine years, roughly 1932 to 1941, being educated in England.
In WW2 she became a nurse and spent some time in Palestine.
After marriage, she and David farmed in England, leaving for Kenya in early 1950s.
__________________
She and David had three children:
Susan, born in England by 1953,
Ian,
William.
All survive her and are involved in Kenya in ventures connected with the Lewa farm there.
________________
Notes for David & Mary Fidelia ’Delia’ (Family)
Their marriage registration date:
Surname First name(s) Spouse District Vol Page
Marriages Dec 1949 (>99%)
Craig David N Douglas Devon Central 7a 679
Douglas Mary F Craig Devon Central 7a 679
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Surname First name(s) Spouse District Vol Page
Marriages Dec 1949 (>99%)
Craig David N Douglas Devon Central 7a 679
Douglas Mary F Craig Devon Central 7a 679
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