Powys-Lybbe Forbears - Person Sheet
Powys-Lybbe Forbears - Person Sheet
Birth15 Jun 1913, Kensington district, London
Death8 Jul 2004, The Manse, Plain Road, Smeeth, Ashford, Kent
GeneralOnly child.
MotherAlice Isabella Pollock (1876-1953)
Notes for Rowan Mary Williams
Introductory remarks:

Rowan Mary is an elusive person.  The only public records I have found her in, so far, are her death index and her probate index.  The only record during her life has been on the electoral rolls in 2000 in Ashford, Kent.

No record has been found for her birth or her marriage, neither in the British Isles or, for whatever they are worth, FindMypast’s ‘World’ records; Ancestry has nothing.  I can find nothing more on Ancestry.

Her death index from the online GRO site says she was born in 1913.  The record from FindMyPast, taken from, I believe, the printed GRO index sheets, includes a precise birth date of 15th June 1913.

But I can find a birth for an Elizabeth Mary Williams:

Name:                         Mother's Maiden Surname:
WILLIAMS, ELIZABETH MARY      POLLOCK  
GRO Reference: 1913  S Quarter in KENSINGTON  Volume 01A  Page 153

This birth registration in Q3 of 1913 is perfectly reasonable as for an actual birth in mid-June of that year.  The registration could have been as little as six weeks after the birth.

My current interpretation is that she or her parents changed her first forename from Elizabeth to Rowan.  There are two checks that we can make on this, first in the 1921 census and second in the 1939 Register.

She was not with her parents in 1921 or 1939 but in 1921 her father did enter that he had one 8-year old child.  This would correspond with the above birth index.

In 1921 it is harder to identify her record as she was clearly not at home.  There are no Rowan Mary Williams entries in that census but there is one Elizabeth M and lots of Elizabeths.  My conclusion from this is that she was definitely alive and recorded in 1921 by that brief mention in her parents census and that she was fairly certainly still using her birth name of Elizabeth.

In 1939 there is a Rowan M Williams working as a Secretary in Leighton Buzzard and born on 5 June 1913.  Just to show the perils of reading transcriptions, in fact the date of her birth handwritten on the original form is 15 June 13.  So this was her, with her revised forename.

In 1940 when her father wrote his surviving will, she was not married.  In 1953 when her father wrote his first codicil after the death of his wife, her mother, she was already married.  So she married Patrick Low sometime between 1940 and 1953.  But no marriages can be found from 1930 to 1950 between a Rowan Williams and a man surnamed just Low in all the ‘World’ records that FindMyPast holds.  Nothing found either on Ancestry, FamilySearch or FreeBMD; Ancestry had a total of 35 marriages between a Williams and a Low, no forenames but none were theirs.

She and her husband were definitely living in Kenya after the war.  If she married there during the war and if her children were all born there, that would explain why their records cannot be found as Kenya has yet to find any reason to collect and publish whatever records they might have.
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Her death index:

Name:                Year of Birth:  
LOW, ROWAN MARY      1913  
GRO Reference:  DOR  Q3/2004 in KENT  (5641E)  Reg KDE3  Entry Number 104
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She left a will: see her Will Notes.
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Did she have any children?  Search from 1939 to 1963, when she would have been 50, for any Low births with a mother’s maiden name of Williams:

There are 3 such births:

Last name  First name(s)  Year Of Birth  Year  Location
Low        Susan A        1953           1953  Bristol, Gloucestershire
Low        Christine J    1958           1958  Bristol, Gloucestershire
Low        Kevin P        1960           1960  Newcastle upon Tyne, Northumberland

The two Bristol births I would imagine to be of the one family.  And there had been a marriage in 1951 between an Albert F Low and a Pamela M F Williams.  They sound to be much more likely to be the parents of these births.

Fo the Newcastle birth there was a marriage in 1957 between Peter D F Low and Gillian M Williams in Newcastle.  They sound to be much more likely to be the parents of this birth.

I conclude that she and Patrick did not have any children but am ordering her will to see if any further information is there.  See her will notes for a fuller examination of this.
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Not found in 1921 census or 1939 Register.
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In 1947 a Mr P W Low, a district officer aged 37 - so born in 1910, was on a boat to Mombasa, Kenya, apparently a 77 day voyage.  He was married.  With him were:
  
  Name            Age
  Mrs R M Low     34
  Miss J E Low     3
  Mstr J N P Low   2

And their last address in the United Kingdom was: 47 Inverness Terrace, Bayswater, London W2.

It looks like I got it wrong: they did have some children; I wonder if they were born in Kenya?  
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In 1951 they were again on a boat to Mombasa this time the names were in full:

Name                       Age   Sex  Eng Address                        Occupation  Destination
Low, Patrick Walter        41    M    Wesysyke, Wicklands Ave, Saltdean  Admin off   Kenya
Low, Rowan Mary            38    F      do                               Housewife   Kenya
Low, James Evelyn           7    M      do                                 -         Kenya
Low, John Nicholas Patrick  5    M      do                                 -         Kenya
Low, George Cyprian         2    M      do                                 -         Kenya

I wonder what happened to their daughter?  She could have been left behind in some English boarding school.  She would have been about 8, so not impossible.  Or she could have died.

A more likely explanation is that the seven year old passenger was their daughter, Janet Evelyn Low.

The last two were only discovered later as they were on the following sheet.
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In the light of these children with their birth years, it looks like Rowan and Patrick got together around 1942-3.  At that time, from his school Register, he was marching round the Empire doing all sorts of different jobs.  How could they have met?  Perhaps they were both posted to the same place around 1942?

It would be good to find out, only possible if their children are still living.  The wills of Rowan and Patrick might make this possible.  Later: both wills list the above three children as theirs.

I may have to modify a few speculations on their marriage above.  I have!
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Will notes for Rowan Mary Williams
Her probate inded:

2005
                                                       Probate  Document  Registry
Last name  First name  Date of death  Date of probate  number   type      office
LOW        ROWAN MARY  8 July 2004    7 January 2005   1711125  PROBATE   Brighton

This has been ordered on 17 March 2022.
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In her probate she was stated to be of The Manse Plain Road, Smeeth, Ashford Kent.  and the following were nher executors:

1. John Nicholas Patrick Low of 29 Turners Croft Heslington York
2. Janet Evelyn Bettesworth of 70 Fernlea Road London
3. Robert Henry Vernon Moorhead of 2 Stade Street Hythe Kent

Her estate was £778,271.
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In her will she was explicit that the first executor was her son, the second was her daughter and the third her solicitor.  Her will was signed on 29th August 1996.  She listed these family members:

4. Her grandson Oliver Campbell Bettesworth
5. Her granddaughter Anna Low
6. Her daughter in law Ilona Low, aka SULIKOVA, wife of her son John Nicholas patrick Low,
7. Her son George Cyprian Low
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Last Modified 22 Apr 2022Created 14 May 2022 by Tim Powys-Lybbe
Re-created by Tim Powys-Lybbe on 14 May 20220