'Evelyn Hudleston (nee Fox)'

Evelyn Hudleston (nee Fox)

Evelyn Margaret Hudleston (nee Fox) (1882 - 1954)

The following is written by my sister, Audrey Paterson (nee Hyde).

Lady Emma Molyneaux (Evelyn's grandmother)
Evelyn, Joan's mother, was a bit of an enigma to we children but I will attempt to piece together what I know. She was never spoken of within the family and after she divorced Francis (Frank) Hudleston, the Hudleston family never had anything to do with her again but Joan loyally kept in touch with her mother until we were born.

Evelyn was known as being rather deceitful and always told everyone she was born at Castle Dillon near Armagh, in Ireland. I am sure that is not so, but to start her story I will go back to her grandmother Lady Molyneaux who did live at Castle Dillon and write from Lady Molyneaux's era therefore giving a background to Evelyn.

Lady Emma Molyneaux, nee Green, married Sir George King Adlercron Molyneaux the sixth Baronet of Castle Dillon on July 6th 1837. He was born 17th Oct 1813 and died 25th January 1848.They had two daughters and a son named Capel. Capel inherited the family honours and estates on the death of his father, but I believe the barony is now extinct.

Lady Emma was allowed to keep her title 'Lady' when she remarried Dr William Edward Fox on the 13th July 1849 at All Souls Langham Place? Doctor William Fox was the son of Edward Long Fox, of Brislington House, Bristol, the founder of the famous asylum. I do not know if they had other children but they did have a daughter called Isobel, Evelyn's mother. Lady Emma died in Clifton Bristol 11th November 1874 in her 61st year and Dr Fox died the following year in 1875.

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Colonel Richard Aufrere Baker (Evelyn's father)
There was little left in the kitty for Isobel when her parents died so she took a position as Governess to the children of Colonel Richard Aufrere Baker and his wife Louise Milner, nee Birch, who was born in Calcutta 20th November 1833. The Colonel was born in the Free City of Hamburg on 7th September 1830 the son of Richard Aufrere Baker and his wife Frances. Richard was the Chaplain to the English Community in Hamburg.

The Colonel (Evelyn's father) had a classical and mathematical education, in England, and then was nominated into the Addiscombe Military Seminary and passed out at Addiscombe on the 9th December 1850. He was posted to Madras and had an uneventful career in the Madras Artillery in India. He married Louise at St Andrews in Calcutta. She was the daughter of Lieutenant General Sir Richard J.H.Birch and his wife Elizabeth. Three children were born to the Colonel and Louise in India; Grace Emily born 13th December 1859; Florence Lydia born 29th January 1861 and George Robert Aufrere born 11th May 1862.

The family went back to England 1865/66 and another daughter Alice Louise Grisewood was born on the 21st October 1867. (In later years Alice's daughter Ivy, was to marry Maxim Litvinov the future Soviet Foreign Commissar in 1916. Alice was also our Mother Joan's godmother.)

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Isobel Fox (Evelyn's mother) and the Colonel
Louise died in the mid 1870's and Isobel Fox became the Colonels mistress. No one has ever been able to understand why they never married. I have heard that they had seven illegitimate children but I can only account for three. Two sons named Leslie and Bertram, and a daughter Evelyn. The children took their mothers surname hence they all had the surname Fox, however Evelyn sometimes liked to call her self Ker- Fox but the only Ker Fox I can find is one of Isobel's cousins and it is used as a Christian name.

I will leave her name as Evelyn Margaret Fox because that is the title she used when she married, and on this certificate she is 20 years old. I have endeavored to find her birth certificate in both Ireland and England but have had no luck. Colonel Baker died 16th June 1902. I do not know when Isobel died.

On the 5 Sept. 2023, Sarah Kimbell sent me the following update: She was christened Evelyn Margaret (Fox) at Oxford St. Thomas on 13th Nov 1896. The only parent listed is her mother, Isabel Fox, and her date of birth is given as 12 May 1882. Her place of birth is given as Exmouth, Devon.

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'Frank' Hudleston (Evelyn's husband)
Little is known about Evelyn until she married our grandfather, Francis Josiah Hudleston. Frank, as everyone called him, had his eyes on Evelyn's half sister Alice, but Alice was not interested so Frank, on the rebound, chose Evelyn to be his bride but he was to deeply regret his decision later.

Alice Baker They were married on the 7th January 1903 at the Parish Church of Marylebone London. For three years they happily carried on with married life; she attending parties etc while he beavered away in the Library, but to her horror she realised she was pregnant in 1906. Frank was delighted because he loved children but Evelyn didn't like children and never ever wanted to be a mother! Joan, our mother, was born on the 18th January 1907. Evelyn carried on with her gay life and Joan, was looked after, most of the time, by Frank's sister Winifred or her aunt Alice Baker.

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Joan Hyde (nee Hudleston - Evelyn's daughter)
In 1910 when Joan was three, Evelyn teamed up with Emily Pankhurst and her suffragettes and that was to be the end of the marriage. Evelyn began to realise she was a lesbian when she fell madly in love with one of her fellow suffragettes. When she confronted Frank with this he was devastated and promptly went for a divorce. They were divorced in 1912.

She was never mentioned again within the Hudleston family but she did have 'access' to Joan. Evelyn was to have many girlfriends but the two who stuck by her were Bertha.R. and Esmee. B. Between the two of them they made up for Evelyn's indifference to her daughter and were excellent surrogate Mums. They hid Joan from Evelyn's wrath and 'misdeeds' when Joan stayed with them. They did such a good job that Joan had no idea Evelyn was an alcoholic until in her late teens. Bertha and Esmee were to remain good friends with Joan right up until Esmee died circa 1940's and Bertha died in the late 70's. In the mid 30s Bertha married Esmee's widowed brother and had a happy married life.

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Evelyn and the Suffragettes
Evelyn had a few short spells in jail, for chaining herself to fences etc in the cause of the suffragette movement, but in 1913 she was sent to Holloway for a spell of three months, at the time the suffragettes decided to starve themselves while in jail. Evelyn endured the forcing of rubber pipes down her throat to enable the male doctors to feed her, and she and other 'sisters', suffered many more indignities that are well documented.

Her crime was and I quote; Evelyn had disturbed the Peace with a crash by hurling a large stone through one of the plate-glass windows of Swan and Edgar's shop in Piccadilly Circus. She was a small wiry woman, with muscular arms, and with an unerring aim she also managed to demolish what she considered a hideous pink vase in the centre of the window display and felt a glow of satisfaction especially, when a male voice in the crowd behind her, exclaimed, "Good Shot By Jove!"

However the police and the courts took a dim view of it and she was jailed. She was released from prison on the 10th April 1913 in a very sickly state but she did recover and the next thing I know, about her, is that she joined up into the new Women's Army that was formed in 1917 and then transferred to the Women's Air force in 1918. I believe she reached the rank of Sergeant however I have yet to do research into this part of her life.

In the 1920's Bertha, Esmee and Evelyn moved to 296 Banbury Road in Summertown, Oxford. Joan was nearby at the Oxford Girls High but she stayed there as a boarder and occasionally went to visit her mother. Bertha left to marry Esmee's brother thereby only leaving Esmee. Esmee stayed, with Evelyn, until she died in the 40s. We think Evelyn stayed on her own until she passed on.

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Evelyn's Demise
In 1933 Joan brought her husband to be, our father Graham, to meet Evelyn. It was an utter disaster. She was drunk and accused Graham of stealing her umbrella! This was the last time Joan would ever see her mother because she went off to a life in Australia, with Graham, and then on to New Zealand, never to come back while Evelyn was still alive.

When David and I were born, a large bunch of flowers were delivered to Graham and Joan. It had an enclosed note saying 'Congratulations from Grandmother'. Joan assumed it came from Evelyn and wrote a lovely long thank-you letter to her.

Later she found out it was Graham's mother who had sent the flowers. Evelyn never answered the letter and never got in contact with Joan again. Evelyn died of paraldehyde and barbiturate poisoning on the 19th August 1954 at 23 Thorncliffe Road Oxford. There was an inquest and it was left with an 'Open Verdict'.

If there is anyone with any information on any of the people mentioned in this article please could they contact me at: ampatersonica@gmail.com

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