Gurney Diederichs Duval (b. Battersea, 27 Nov 1897)
JennyandAdrian
Mar 27, 2018
Hello Philip.
I note that Gurney's 2nd wife in your Duval family tree is marked "private" which leads me to hope that you are a descendant. He was 64 when he married Ruby Day, but she may have been of childbearing age when they married (I know nothing about her), and it is not impossible that there was a child. Alternatively, and more probable I think, Gurney may have been step-father to Ruby's children by a previous marriage.
I can find no trace of Gurney later than an electoral registration in 1965; Ruby does not appear, which is odd. I suspect the marriage didn't last; it seems entirely probable that Gurney was a severely troubled man, what with his war service from ages 17 to 21, and the loss of 3 sisters in the Spanish Flu epidemic.
There was more than one Ruby Day living in London in the 1960s, and I have no clue which she might be. I haven't yet ordered a marriage certificate, as Gurney is just one priority among many competing for my £££. To find a descendant would answer some questions, but more exciting would be finding new and unknown cousins (whether blood cousins, or cousins by marriage). Gurney is my great-uncle. I am descended from his sister Norah Diederichs Duval.
Sincerely.
Adrian Benstead (Australia)
philipboys
Mar 27, 2018
Hello, Adrian.
It is very good to hear from you.
In great haste...
Alas, we're not related. I live near the Duval family's home (in Wandsworth, London) and became interested in them some years ago (when I chanced upon Elsie Duval's story). My interest was re-ignited recently when somebody making a radio play asked for suggestions about local suffragists. I began to look into the family in a little more detail and was amazed with what I found e.g. connections with the "Dark Lady of DNA", Rosalind Franklin, and it's also not impossible that they partly inspired EM Forster's Schlegel family in Howards End.
Do you know the PhD thesis "Suffrage, Solidarity and Strife: Political Partnerships and the Women's Movement 1880-1930", by June Marion Balshaw, University of Greenwich 1998? It includes a substantial chapter on the Duval family - particularly Elsie, but Norah is also mentioned a number of times.
Must dash! But if you want to get in touch again, please do.
All best
Philip
JennyandAdrian
Mar 28, 2018
Hello Philip.
Yes, I know Marion Balshaw's thesis. My half-sister drew it to my attention a long time ago. Somehow I knew of the suffragette connection long before she ever heard of it, but since becoming aware of it she has done quite a bit of enquiring, and has met with Marion Balshaw and some other authors with an interest in militant suffragism. The Balshaw thesis is probably the most complete account of the family that I have seen, but there is other material too. A book recently appeared in French on the subject of male suffragists, and Victor Diederichs Duval gets a chapter to himself (possibly Hugh Franklin too, I forget).
Your letter inspired me to log onto Google Maps "street-view" to look at 97 Lavender Sweep for myself (that must be the house to which you refer?), and it looks small for such a big family. It would be nice if there were a plaque.
I can imagine the Schlegels living in just such a house, and I'm intrigued by what you say about the Duvals as partial models for the Forster characters; however it is apparent that he had other models too because the differences between the families are, to my mind, more compelling than any slight similarities. The Duvals knew some interesting people; I see from the Balshaw thesis that Major Gonne (father of Maud Gonne, sometime muse of the poet W.B.Yeats) testified in Emily's favour at one of her trials.
One day, and it should be soon, I'm going to fix some erroneous Wikipedia entries about various members of the Duval family. There are several references to them as German jews; they were protestant through and through. The error comes about because Ernest Charles Augustus Diederich Duval's naturalisation was reported in the Jewish Chronicle. I don't believe the Jewish Chronicle enquired into the jewishness of every name on the lists provided to them by the Home Office, they just published the entire list.
I must dash too. I'm cooking the dinner tonight.
Cheers.
Adrian.