Mrs Lucien Ennar Raven-Hill, 31, (1901-1971) or Marguerite, was the daughter-in-law of Punch cartoonist Leonard Raven-Hill and daughter-in-law by marriage of fellow table guest Marion Jean Lyon, by this time also a Mrs L. Raven-Hill, as the wife of Leonard. Born and bred in India, Marguerite had moved to London with her husband in 1925 / 1927. Most probably therefore she was invited through this family connection, and perhaps also to take her out a bit, noting she had lost her 8 year old daughter the previous October.

Seated Beside…

Perhaps the two youngest on the table might have sat together, the 31 year old Marguerite alongside the 31 year old Laura Wallis Mills the actress. On the other side of Marguerite perhaps might have been the other mother on the table, Ethel, Mrs Warner-Allen, 52 (of whom we know very little at the moment).

What’s On Her Mind?

Mourning customs were generally relaxing in the 1930s, compared to the pre-war and Victorian strictures, but it is probable that in recent months Marguerite had not been gallivanting about town a great deal. But now hopefully a lively conversation about the theatre etc. was now acceptable and perhaps she found out what Ethel was up to, married to a journalist and wine enthusiast – we don’t know much about Ethel as yet. We can hope that Marguerite enjoyed the evening.

Marguerite’s Story So Far

Marguerite Marie Antoinette Ingram-Cotton was born on 4^th May 1901, in Bangalore, the daughter of Henriette Elizabeth Gaudart (1875 – 1918) and George John Ingram Cotton (1874 – 1953). [2] George Cotton, himself born in Amabawella, Nuwara Eliya, Ceylon, was a dental surgeon in the British Army in India, treating amongst his various Bangalore patients Winston Churchill, Rudyard Kipling and Baden Powell. Her mother Henriette, daughter of the Irish Elizabeth Donaghue and Frenchman Francois Gaudart, was born in Karikal, India (south of Pondicherry).

Marguerite married Lucien Ennar Raven-Hill, a Captain in the Indian Army, on 15^th November 1921 in Bangalore, but they moved to London in 1925. They had four children: their daughter Yvonne Philomena, born in India in 1924 before they left, died in Headington, Oxford, aged 8, in October 1932, the year before the dinner.

Shipping registers (of the Morvada) show that in October 1927 they lived at 18 Pinner Park Avenue, Headstone Lane, Harrow.[4] [5] [6 The Morvada on which they sailed in 1927 , launched in 1914, was broken up in October 1933. Lucien has various London addresses in 1924 and 1928. In my first draft I wondered did he come home in 1925 and the family later or did they travel twice with son John born in between? Either way, I’m not sure I’d have wanted to have spent too long on the high seas on the Morvada.  Marguerite’s granddaughter has now given me the inside story which I didn’t expect: “They travelled twice to India because Marguerite refused to give birth to John in England because she said that English doctors were incompetent as one of them had dropped her daughter Yvonne at birth because he was drunk. Yvonne then went on to develop cystic fibrosis of which she died. John was born in May 1928 so one assumes that she went back to Bangalore in good time for the delivery, then they returned to England once she had recovered.”

What Marguerite Did Next

Thanks to family contributions to TheDinnerPuzzle we now know that Marguerite owned and ran a wool and haberdashery shop in Kew Gardens, near the station.[7] In 1936 she and Lucien were living at 13 Elsham Road, Kensington as well as their Harrow address (also residing there was one Mabel Agnes La Marechale Lawrence… great name, I wonder who she was).

Their youngest child June Patricia Anne, born in Hendon district in 1929, is now living in Toronto, Canada, as is her son Ian. Marguerite’s husband Lucien moved to Canada after she died, being resident there in 1972. Their two sons Lucien Ingram ‘Tod’ Raven-Hill (1922-2013) and John Howard Colello Raven-Hill (1927-2007) and their sister June Patricia Anne all have numerous descendants today.[8] Their eldest son, Lucien married Doris Aileen Barker, in Kew, Surrey in 1947. Lucien (also the eldest grandson of Leonard Raven-Hill) served in the Royal Marines during the Second World War, on coastal gun emplacements; HMS Kent on the Arctic Convoys; and then on Landing Craft (Guns) in the Sicily, Italy, and Normandy D-Day landings. Marguerite died on 7^th March 1971 in Richmond-upon-Thames.[9]

The records seem to be undecided between Lucien or Lucian.  I have adopted Lucien as on a baptismal record.

BACK TO TABLE 5

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[1] and [3] From her wedding day picture, kindly supplied by her grandson Ian McCabe, sent to The Dinner Puzzle on Christmas Eve 2019.  Thank you Ian!

[2] Geneanet online family tree accessed 3.2.2018.

[4] Register of the Morvada, a twin screw passenger steamer, British and India Steam Navigation Company, sailing from Calcutta to London – Marguerite and her three children boarded in Madras.

[5] Image of the Morvada

[6] The Morvada

[7] With many thanks to Marguerite’s eldest grandson Paul Ingram Raven-Hill (also the great-grandson of Leonard Raven-Hill).

[7] Data from online Geneanet Tree, accessed 3.2.2018

[8] Obituary of Lucien Ingram Raven-Hill, son of Mrs Lucien (Ennar) Raven-Hill.