Nat Gould

Annie Horner 1846-1926

Annie Horner was born in 1846 at Herne Hill, then in Surrey now in London. She was the daughter of Edward Horner 1814-1894 and his wife née Anna Herbert 1819-1853. Her father was a wholesale pharmaceuticals merchant and company director in the City of London (1).

On 4 November 1862 she was married to Hubert Decimus Egerton 1848-1932. He was born on 3 May 1848 at Hove in Sussex, the youngest son and tenth child of the Reverend John Egerton 1796-1876 and his wife née Ellen Gould 1802-1862.

They had the following children:

Ellen Dorothy Egerton. She was born on 4 November 1877 at Bloxham in Oxfordshire. She was married to Guy Archibald Forrest on 20 April 1909 at the Church of the Annunciation in Chislehurst. She died on 13 September 1964 at Westgate-on-Sea in Kent.

Annie Cecily Egerton. She was born in 1880. In 1906 she was married to Vernon Moor Allen, a stockbroker, and died on 31 January 1951 at Chislehurst.

Barbara Egerton. She was born on 31 January 1881 at Bloxham. She was married to Guy Oldfield Allen in 1909 at Bombay, India. She died on 26 February 1974 at Witley in Surrey.

Philip John Egerton. He was born in 1882. During the First World War he was wounded in action near Ypres and died of his wounds on 17 October 1914.

Bryan Selwyn Egerton. He was born in 1885 and died in 1973.

When Philip Reginald Egerton started his school at Bloxham, her husband Hubert Decimus Egerton was installed as his bursar, an office he held from 1872 until 1896. He was a land agent and surveyor by profession. He purchased the nearby grand Park Close to be his family home. The house was previously known as Bloxham Park Farm, and had earlier been the manor house of Bloxham Beauchamp (2).

When the 1881 Census was taken the family were still living at Park Close, but by 1901 they had moved to Elmstead Court at Chislehurst in Kent, and by 1911 to St Michael's Lodge at Chislehurst.

Annie Egerton née Horner died on 25 September 1926. Probate of her Will was granted on 8 January 1927 (3).

Her widower Hubert Decimus Egerton died on 5 April 1932 at Derry Hill, Birchington in Kent, the home of his married daughter Ellen Dorothy Forrest.

(1) Edward Horner was a founder of the Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain. "The President ... thought it fitting to refer to the fact that although all his life engaged in the wholesale trade, Mr. Horner was one of those men whose sturdy common-sense and superior education marked him in the City as being really an important man — almost a great man — in connection with great public works, especially gas and water undertakings. His advice was constantly sought. For many years, he ... was Chairman of the old Phoenix Gas Company, whose gasometers were located near Blackfriars Bridge many years ago. Their deceased founder died at a patriarchal age, having had a large family. He possessed robust health all his life, and his habit of always residing in the country was fully justified by the result so far as health and longevity were concerned. At the Jubilee dinner of the Society, Mr Homer was the only representative of the founders present ... It was agreed and resolved that a letter of condolence should be sent to Mrs. Horner." The Chemist and Druggist 10 November 1894.
(2) Article on Park Close House http://www.bloxhamschool.com/article_41.php
(3) "EGERTON Annie of St. Michael's Lodge Chislehurst Common Chislehurst Kent (wife of Hubert Decimus Egerton) died 25 September 1926 Probate London 8 January to the said Hubert Decimus Egerton esquire. Effects £279 4s 2d." National Probate Calendar (Index of Wills and Administrations) 1858-1966 (1927) page 207.