Humphrey was the second child of Thomas Tweddle Logan with his first wife, Beatrice Maud Pattenden.
He was born in Coonoor, Tamil Nadu, India when his father, Thomas, was with the Indian Educational Services, and at that time, would have been headmaster at Bellary College, Madras.
Humphrey (1883) and his sister, Gwen (1882). When the children were born, Thomas was the Headmaster of Bellary College and, if this was taken around 1887 when they were four and five, Thomas was an Inspector of Schools in India.
The photograph was sent to me by Phil Logan - son of Humphrey and Betty.
"Coonoor with its rugged knolls, profuse vegetation, and a colour scheme which is both bright and warm, has always been described as a scenic, delightful and healthy retreat. Although the town has grown over the years, it still retains its old world charm and still breathes of the soft south, with a climate that is mellow, moist and relaxing, one which is calculated to induce a dolce far niente life even in the most jaded lionizer."
— Clean Coonoor - dolce far niente - pleasant idleness!
Three of the four children from this marriage were born in India - Dulcie, the youngest, was born in Granby Nottinghamshire, in 1889. In the mid to late 1880s the marriage of Thomas and Beatrice was showing cracks and ultimately, Thomas, thinking that Beatrice was ailing, thought it best to send her back to England with the children. He would return home to England when he could. Sadly, Beatrice's affections shifted elsewhere and they were divorced in 1899. Thomas was granted the divorce and the custody of the children who at that time were: Gwen (17), Humphrey (16), (Mary) Phylllis (13) and Dulcie (10).
In the 1901 Census, Beatrice is living with her new husband, John Potbury, at a different address in Balham to the children. Gwen (actress), Humphrey (college) and Phyllis and Dulcie are living just around the corner at 95 Bedford Hill, Balham, London and a Grace W. Logan (38), a cousin, is in charge of the family - I haven't yet been able to track down where Grace fits into the family. There is also a housemaid and a cook.
In 1900, Humphrey was attending the South-Western Polytechnic College in Manresa Road, Chelsea - just a good bike ride from home at Balham - when he won a prize in Mathematics. (Click on the link to view or Download button to save to your device.)
In 1904 Lord Cadogan (a philanthropist who donated the site of the school) handed out further prizes but "space forbids the enumeration of all their successes" so the reason for the prize remains unknown.
Link to full page article with lengthy speeches etc.
Humphrey must have done very well at college and, presumably qualified as an Engineer. As we see in 1904, he has submitted a patent for mechanical piano players (along with A. E. Mills at the same address for automatic piano players)
The second graphic indicates that the patent was accepted in 1906 by the Comptroller General. And, the third graphic, that it made it onto the American patent's list of 1909. Unfortunately, I don't know what happened with this venture but Humphrey is credited with the invention of the first pianola in the obituary for his wife, Betty, in 1976.
Humphrey's date of enlistment is not known but his Medal Roll Index card indicates that he was a Lieutenant serving with the ASC (Army Services Corps) and he likely served between 1914 and 1918.
"The officers and men of the ASC were the unsung heroes of the British Army in the Great War. Soldiers can not fight without food, equipment and ammunition. They can not move without horses or vehicles. It was the ASC’s job to provide them. In the Great War, the vast majority of the supply, maintaining a vast army on many fronts, was supplied from Britain. Using horsed and motor vehicles, railways and waterways, the ASC performed prodigious feats of logistics and were one of the great strengths of organisation by which the war was won.
At peak, the ASC numbered an incredible 10,547 officers and 315,334 men." (From the Long Long Trail)
I had completed the following entry and was not quite happy that this was our Humphrey so I did some further in-depth research (i.e. a quick google search) and found an H. T. Logan, born 1887 in Nova Scotia would be the person mentioned. He was a Lieut., Captain, Major with the Canadian Machine Gun Corps and he co-wrote the HISTORY OF THE CANADIAN MACHINE GUN CORPS, C.E.F. post WW1.
I am leaving it here as it might be of assistance further down the track to eliminate any confusion.
When dealing with old records, it is often difficult to be certain that we have the right person - particularly when records have only initials and not full names. Such is the case here with a Lieutenant H. T. Logan made an Acting Captain in March 1917 again in April 1917 - while specifically employed - and Acting Major in December 1918. These were all published in the London Gazette but the H. T. Logan was attached to the Canadian Machine Gun Corps. I tend to think this is not our Humphrey but I have included the information as it is not beyond the realm that he could be on loan to the army of another Commonwealth country. And belonging to the Machine Gun Corps, this H.T. Logan also applied for patents in relation to improvements to the machine gun and in the 1919 Alphabetical List of Patentees, H. T. is recorded as being from England. And our Humphrey being an engineer, this would likely be within his skill set.
The same caution applies as to whether the following is definitely our Humphrey - although I am reasonably comfortable that it is.
Hart House, situated in Gardenhurst (Road) in Burnham had been a large boarding-school. During World War I, the house was used as a hospital for injured soldiers. The house was later enlarged to become the Manor Hotel before the area was redeveloped for housing. Source
In 1920 Humphrey Thomas Logan, along with a Mrs Violet Waterhouse, purchased Hart House which was to become the Manor Hotel at Burnham-on-Sea, Somerset. A company was formed, Manor Hotel (Burnham-on-Sea) Co., Ltd. , and Humphrey was the Managing Director and Secretary.
"The Company was registered as a private company on 15th January, 1921, with a nominal capital of £18,000, divided into 18000 shares of £1 each, and was formed to acquire and carry on the business of hotel keepers at Burnham-on-Sea, formerly belonging to Mr. H. T. Logan and Mrs. Violet Waterhouse, and which they acquired in July, 1920."
Sifting through the old newspapers, there are only a few mentions of the Manor Hotel.
On the 18th February 1921, a licence for the premises was applied for. (I have no idea about the monopoly value and monopoly value people.)
On the 7th June 1922, Humphrey and Violet Waterhouse were sued and they countersued and won, in relation to contractors claiming they were unpaid and the countersue was in relation to poorly executed and unfinished work to Hart House - in its conversion to the Manor Hotel.
On the 19th July 1922, a meeting of creditors was reported on that was held in the offices of the Official Receiver after an order for winding-up of the Company had been issued on the 9th of June. The mortgagees had already disposed of the property and for a sum that may not have covered the debts.
Mr. Logan, the managing director and secretary, attributed the failure of the company to the heavy expenses of formation of the company, high rate of interest on mortgages and debentures, insufficient capital for the purpose of developing the business, a bad season in 1921 on account of the railway strike, and heavy expenses of running the business.
On the 20th October,1934, Humphrey had his bags packed and set out from Liverpool aboard the M.V. Georgic arriving in New York on the 29th of October. (M.V. - motor vessel as opposed to S.S. - steam ship.)
The reason for the trip is unknown but it was possibly a holiday and/or business trip and, perhaps, catching up with family. Two of his sisters, Gwen and her new husband, and Phyllis and her new husband were making their way up the entertainment ladder in Los Angeles as authors and actresses and as an English speaking coach to the stars.
One entry records that he was intending staying at the Sherman Hotel in Chicago, Illinois. His next of kin is Mrs. B. Logan at the same address of Fairview Bungalow, Shepperton on Thames.
He returned aboard the same ship arriving at Southampton on 23rd June, 1935.
There is very little to be gleaned from the available records in relation to Betty. I believe her maiden name to be 'Andrew' but other than that I have no further information as to where she was born, where they married and when. There are very few clues even in her obituary reproduced below.
Betty recorded her birth date on the 1939 England and Wales Register as being the 29th of March (?) 1899 and she and Humphrey are living at The Bungalow recorded as D.E. Lane which I believe to be Docket Eddy Lane, Shepperton on Thames. Humphrey's occupation looks like "Works Manager Caravan & W Factory".
I believe that Humphrey and Betty had two children - Phillip, who moved to South Africa and a girl who passed away fairly early in life from diabetes. Not even sure where I got that information from. So the two blacked out entries are most likely the children as when the register was released, it was audited so that the details of people who you would expect to be alive according to their birth date were kept private.
There really isn't too much information in the available records as to the family of Humphrey and Betty. There are a few Electoral Registers and Telephone Books for Humphrey and Betty and one furphy of a H. T. Logan living with a Florence.
Otherwise, some of the addresses are:
The following is another great photo from Patrick McCormack (grandson of Dulcie Logan) with the caption: "Little West Hill, Pound Road, Lyme Regis - Humphrey Logan mending pond in garden of Little West Hill, c. 1965"
Humphrey passed away late in 1971 at Lyme Regis. Betty passed away in 1976 and the obituary provided by Patrick McCormack follows.
Undated newspaper article uploaded by
Patrick McCormack to Ancestry. Original
source not known.
The funeral service for Mrs. Betty Logan of Little West Hill, Pound Road, Lyme Regis, who died aged 77, took place on Tuesday at the Exeter and Devon Crematorium and was conducted by Rev. K. Rowcroft.
Mrs. Logan joined the Royal Flying Corps. during the 1914/18 war at the age of 18, by pretending she was 21 in order to join her brother then serving in France. While serving at Uxbridge she was carrying a bucket of coal when she received an offer of help from two passing Naval officers, one of who it transpired, was the late Prince Albert.
Later on she was the clerk who signed on, as a Corporal, the man who was subsequently Lawrence of Arabia.
She was the widow of Mr. Humphrey T. Logan, an engineer and the inventor of the first Pianola. He died in 1971.
Legion Member
Mrs. Logan was an Air Raid Warden during the 1939/45 War. She moved to Fishpond, Dorset and after the war to Lyme Regis. At one time she was secretary to the women's section Royal British Legion at Lyme Regis and a member of the local branch Royal British Legion. She is survived by her son Phillip, now in South Africa.
Mourners present were Miss M. F. Eyre, Mrs. M. Apanawiecz, Miss E. Flatt, Mrs. R. Bragg, Hon. Mrs. W. J. Eyre, Miss E. Eyre, Mr. L. F. Turner.
Floral tributes were sent by the following: With love from Phillip; Fondest remembrance, Dulcie, Michael and Pip; With deepest sympathy, from Carol Ackland; To Betty, in loving memory from Paul and May; To a very loyal friend, M. F. Eyre; In deepest sympathy from Ruby Bragg, Lyme Regis, Betty, Noel and Jiki; With deepest sympathy from the members of the Lyme Regis branch of the Royal British Legion.
The Royal British Legion has been supporting Service men and women, ex-serving personnel and their families since 1921.
The British Legion was formed on 15 May 1921, bringing together four national organisations of ex-Servicemen that had established themselves after the First World War:
The National Association of Discharged Sailors and Soldiers
The British National Federation of Discharged and Demobilized Sailors and Soldiers
The Comrades of The Great War
The Officers' Association
The amalgamation of these diverse bodies can be attributed largely to two men: Field Marshal Earl Haig and Tom Lister of The Federation of Discharged and Demobilized Sailors and Soldiers. Lord Haig served as the President of The Royal British Legion until his death.
