New Homework!!

The amazing thing about the internet is that new things come up every time you research it. 

I now discovered that Burnard & Alger was a company manufacturing artificial fertilizer, described in the Plymouthdata website. But that is not all. I found a website showing details of Teignmouth, pretty much confirming the location of pictures posted earlier in this blog. And a link showing that in Truro County Hall, there exists a catalogue of car & drivers license registrations, 1905 - 1927. So we can check on the car story.

We also know know details on the marriages of Robert Burnard's daughters, Olive & Dorothy, & the careers Lawrence & Charles embarked upon, suggesting more homework to do! 

Mystery 1 - Do Lawrence & Charles Burnard have descendants ?

In the subscribers list to the republication of Robert's book in 1986 we notice the names C.E. Burnard & J.H. Burnard living in Plymouth and Essex respectively.  If they did have children, this could be referring to them.

Mystery 2- How many children did Olive Munday (Nee Burnard) have?

We know that Olive Burnard married Major General Richard Cleveland Munday (1867-1952).

I found a reference to a WWI flying ace named Richard Burnard Munday, who became proficient at destroying enemy balloons at night. Born on January 31st of 1896, he might have been Olive's first son, born when she would have been 23. 

We know a little more about her daughter Sylvia (1904-2000), who married Vice Admiral Sir Guy Bourchier Sayer (1903-1985). Lady Sylvia Sayer republished her grandfather's book in 1986 and donated her private collection of pictures to the Dartmoor Archives.  She had twin sons, Oliver & Geoffrey. We learn from the Sayer family history website that Oliver has 3 daughters & Geoffrey has a daughter & a son, born in 1972. That is about the time Dennis was born ... 

But what about "little David" referred to in Robert Burnard's letter to Mary ? Perhaps she had three children.

Mystery 3 - Does Kitty Joll (Nee Burnard) have descendants?

We know that Kitty Burnard married Henry Joll of Plymouth on 19 July 1880. Her son, Henry Joll Junior features on many of Robert's pictures as a young boy in the 1890s. It is not inconceivable that his son could in turn have been born in 1918. This could then possibly be Professor James Bysse Joll, (1918-1994) the famous British historian who published that authoritative book "The Origins of the First World War". 

Interestingly, Prof. James Joll appears on the list of subscribers to the 1986 reprint. While not proving anything, it does suggest that there may be a connection to the Burnard family.

Mystery 4 - Does Dorothy Blanch Lake (Nee Burnard) have descendants ?

We know that Dorothy married Reverend Kenneth Alexander Lake, Rector of Stoke-in-Teignhead from the Plymouthdata website mentioned above. In fact this makes the connection to the place clear - Robert moved to this area because his daughter Dorothy lived there. 

The list of subscribers of 1986 mentions  a certain Joyce Lake living in Exeter ... so there could be a connection .