Gladys De Brath

1885, 30 August - Gladys De Brath was born in Simla, Bengal, (British) India.

She was baptized in Simla on 21 Sep 1885. Baptisms solemnized at Simla, Jutogh district.

• N-1-193
• Folio 55
• Page -
• Catalogue descriptions Parish register transcripts from the Presidency of Bengal
• Record set British India Office Births & Baptisms

Harold and Gladys were with their mother in England in 1889 and 1890 - Her mother gave birth to her brother Noel in England in November 1889. In December 1890 Noel died at one years old while staying with Priscilla's family in Fakenham, Norfolk (county), England.

Her mother returned to India, leaving Gladys and brother Harold in the care of her family in Fakenham:

They lived for three years (1891- end 1893?) with their Garland-Sheringham cousins (Gladys 5-8 yrs and Harold 7-10 yrs).

• "In particular Gladys shared everything, down to being dressed alike, with Olive Garland Sheringham.
• They had their first reading, writing and arithmetic lessons by Olive's Grandmother Garland in Fakenham, Norfolk." (source Olive Garland)
• The Easter holidays were spent with the De Brath grandparents, Felix and Anna De Brath. (source Olive Garland)
• Some Christmas holidays with their Newton cousins. (source Winifred Newton)
• Winifred Newton also recounted in a letter to her goddaughter Joan McSwiney (daughter of Gladys): "My mother, Aunt Pris, Gladys and I had a lovely three weeks in the Isle of Wight. I think in or just after the war (World War I)." (Would have been prior to 1913 when Gladys was married)

1901 England, Wales & Scotland Census

de Brath Gladys Birth 1886 — 1901 St Mary de Castro, Guernsey, Guernsey and Adjacent Islands, Channel Islands

1909, June 14 Her brother Harold's Marriage Certificate was signed by the Duckworth, Sub Dean of Westminster and witnessed by Gladys De Brath. (her address is listed as 24 Abercorn Place - perhaps their parents' home?)

1910 Met her future husband Cyril McSwiney when he was home on leave from India - at her father's school, Charters Towers , East Grinstead, where she was teaching. (Attached is a photo of her in 1911 with other teachers at Charters Towers.) It was love at first sight for both of them (Part 3, p.3, A Family History).

1911 Census for England & Wales

	 de Brath 	Gladys 	Birth 1886 	— 	1911 Lingfield, Godstone, Surrey, England 

She travelled out to India in 1912 heavily chaperoned - presumably to meet Cyril again.

Family records state She married Cyril McSwiney at St. Thomas Cathedral, Bombay , on November 1 1913 - just after her arrival by ship from England. However FIBIS records below state the date as October 1 1913. Gladys was 28 and Cyril was 26 years old.

(Cyril to Stanley, her father in a letter from Lansdowne, Uttaranchal, India, July 30 1913 writes "If Gladys is well enough, we wish to be married the same day as the ship arrives (in Bombay) and to push up country as soon as possible. I hope to get 3 months leave and to spend it up in the interior of these hills...")

He was preparing a bungalow for her arrival in Lansdowne ("Serene and unspoilt, Lansdowne is a hill station in the secluded reaches of Uttaranchal. Surrounded by beautiful oak, silver fir, spruce, bamboo and pine forests, it is a summer getaway for nature lovers and romantics. This hilly town was established as a British cantonment in 1887)

Her father, Stanley De Brath, drew up a "Deed of Settlement" (annual income) upon her marriage

British India Office Ecclesiastical Returns - Marriages Transcription

• Herbert Frederick Cyril McSwiney,
• Marriage date 01 Oct 1913.
• Spouse's name Gladys De Brath
• Place Bombay
• Presidency Bombay
• Groom's age 26
• Bride's age 28
• Groom's father's first name Edward Frederick Herbert
• Groom's father's last name McSwiney
• Bride's father's first name Stanley
• Bride's father's last name De Brath

Catalogue description Parish register transcripts from the Presidency of Bombay, 1709-1948, : Archive reference N-3-110 Folio number 218 Entry number 37 Record set British India Office marriages Category Birth, Marriage & Death (Parish Registers) Subcategory Marriages & divorces Collections from United Kingdom

Her favorite pastime was in sketching and painting, which she had learned as a young woman. Her exquisite watercolor paintings of Himalayan mountains and hills around Lansdowne were preserved by her daughter, Joan.

After 8 months of marriage, they traveled back to England in ship convoy in August 1914 at the outbreak of World War I (both in different vessels) for Port Said where they had a brief reunion, then for Malta where the convoy broke up - Gladys to England and Cyril and his Gurkha fighting troops for Marseilles, and on to Bethune, France.

Gladys took on a position of VAD at Hospital in Brighton during First World War, where her father Stanley was Chief Administrator. Cyril McSwiney was taken there to recover for 10 weeks from a severe wound to the right of his chest (on 29 Oct 1914 at first Battle of Ypres, Lieutenant with 2/3rd Gurkhas with Indian Corps) he was subsequently awarded the Military Cross for his actions.

"In the first world war the Brighton Dome as well as the Pavilion was used to house injured Indian (Corps) soldiers. It was thought that they would feel more at home in the Indian surroundings." (source: Wikipedia) Under 'Media' section, see the delightful postcard sent to Gladys dated 1 April 1915 of an official photograph of this scene (postcard by photographer A.H. Fry of Brighton, issued by the Corporation of Brighton with the assistance of the Military Authorities).

Two months later, upon his recovery, Cyril departed England to rejoin his command in Mesopotamia, first by ship through the Mediterranean. In 1917 (Jan 1st) Cyril's troopship was torpedoed and luckily he was one of the survivors, being rescued by the HMS Rifleman (story as follows):

• (Wikipedia: Following the outbreak of World War I in August 1914 the Ivernia was hired by the British government as a troop transport and was placed under the command of Captain Turner (made famous for being the captain of RMS Lusitania at the time of her sinking).
• At 10:12am on 1 January 1917 the Ivernia was torpedoed by the German submarine UB-47 58 miles south-east of Cape Matapan in Greece.
• Within one hour the ship sank. HMS Rifleman rescued a number, and armed trawlers towed the bulk, who had taken to lifeboats, to Suda Bay in Crete. Over 120 lives were lost from the sinking. )

1920 28 September, Vol 47, Pioneer Mail and Indian Weekly News: reported a son was born at Weybridge, Surrey, UK. In fact he was born on 20 September, while Cyril was still in India. Gladys was staying with her parents.

Cyril and Gladys lived in India during the mid-1920s to mid-1930s - sending their children to be educated in England. Like many colonial women Gladys was torn between wishing to be with her husband and with her children.

Gladys McSwiney (aged 40) left Bombay with her children John (Pat), aged 6, and Joan, aged 4, and arrived in Plymouth or London on 18 April 1927. Ship Name: Mandala, Shipping Line: British & Indian Steam Navigation Company Official Number: 137806 (Source Citation: Ancestry.com Incoming Passenger Lists. Class: BT26; Piece: 845; Item: 162)

Both Pat and Joan were then left with friends - the Tuite-Daltons - at Weston-super-Mare, and then at a series of boarding schools in England - with intermittent visits by their parents from India.

1931 Gladys, Cyril, Joan and Pat - summer holidays in rented house near shores of Lough Swilly in Donegal (part of Ireland Cyril's branch of the McSwiney's had come from). Gladys spent her time sketching and painting in watercolors.

1934 On a visit back to England from India to be with her children, Gladys went to Champneys Health Farm* in Tring, Hertfordshire, England and followed the Hay Diet. She lost much weight and became debilitated. She contracted pneumonia (penicillin was not available until the 1940s) on Christmas Day at her parents home in Kew, but was unable to recover due to her debilitation.

She died on February 8 1935 at her parents home at 30 High Park Gardens, Kew, London. Husband Cyril took a flying boat to England from India to be with her but arrived too late. Her son was very ill at the same time with appendicitis, so it was decided not to tell him or his sister Joan, how ill she was before she died.

The Obituary in The Times | February 11, 1935 read: "GLADYS MCSWINEY, on February 8 1935, Gladys McSwiney, wife of Lt.-Col. McSwiney. 2nd Goorkhas. Funeral Golders Green 11 a.m. to-morrow (Tuesday)."

Probate - administered by her father, Stanley De Brath, left 668 British pounds sterling to her husband.

------------------------------------------- Champneys Tring, Hertfordshire "opened as a health farm spa in 1925 by the celebrated naturopath Stanley Lief, who pioneered the concept of holistic wellbeing" (Source: http://www.champneys.com/Tring)