Evelyn Louisa Romer (née Gipps), born 1890
Whereas Evelyn's brothers died in 1914, Evelyn went on to live a long and hopefully happy
long life. In 2008 I was extremely lucky to come across six family photograph albums of the Romer family started by Malcolm and Evelyn Romer (née Gipps) who was the daughter of General, Sir
Reginald Gipps.
They covered three generations of the family starting with Colonel Frederick Charles Romer, Colonel Malcolm Romer and his son Lt Colonel Malcolm Nigel Romer and their families from around the late 1890s up until 1947.
The photos on these page are just a few taken form the pages of the albums (Credit: Robert Smith).
Note:
Lieutenant Colonel Frederick Charles Romer, 8th Battalion, East Kent Regiment. (Late of the Lancashire Fusiliers) 24th Division was
killed in action
(CWGC listing) at the Battle of Loos 26th September 1915 (Click the picture to see the medals).
1913: The engagement of Evelyn Louisa Gipps, General Gipps's daughter and Malcolm Romer was announced in The Times © on Thursday, Dec 04, 1913.
|
|
 |
|
|
Malcolm Romer in 1911 in his Scots Guards uniform |
 |
 |
|
Malcolm Romer in Boer war, Orange River, South Africa 1900 |
|
|
|
Source of cutting unknown |
 April 1914: The marriage was recorded in The Times © on Wednesday, Apr 15, 1914.
|
 |
Souvenir napkin from the marriage of Evelyn and Malcolm
May 1914: The leasehold of 2 Hans Cresen, Chelsea, London was transferred to Malcolm Romer on the 5th May 1914 after their marriage in April 1914 according to the London Gazette
For Evelyn and Malcolm's other houses look here.
Most surprisingly and disappointingly, there were no photographs of the wedding in the albums.
Evelyn in 1914 on holiday in Scotland
 |
 |
| Malcolm Romer in 1917 | Evelyn Romer in 1920 |
1962:
Colonel Malcolm Romer
died
in the 3rd quarter of 1962 in Windsor area. (assumably Lovel house)
1963: Evelyn Louisa Romer died on February 1st 1963 in Lovel Hill.
The Times ©,
Saturday, Feb 02, 1963
All Saints church in Binfield (next to Binfield lodge where Evelyn and Malclom lived during WW II.
After much effort and help form Malcolm Niger Romer's son, I managed to track down Evelyn and Malcolm's grave in a cemetery in Binfield
. Although close to the church, it's very hard to locate unless you knew
it was there. Also, in the grave are two of Evelyn's sons, George 'Gipps' Romer and Malcolm Nigel Romer.
Evelyn and Malcolm had the following children:
George Gipps Romer (Registerd Sep Qtr 1919)
Charles Victor Romer (25th August 1916)
Malcolm Nigel Romer (Registered march Qtr 1915)
Charles Victor, Malcolm Nigel, 'Bill, Evelyn and George Gipps
in Addington Manor, 1920
George, Malcolm (father), Malcolm Nigel and Charles Victor
in Castle Forbes Scotland in 1936
Lieut-Col. Malcolm Romer's OBE (1919)
George 'Gipps' Romer |
|
|
 |
| George 'Gipps' Romer in 1925 | George 'Gipps' and Charles Victor in 1931 |
A painting of 2/Lieutenant 'Gipps' Romer in his Irish Guards uniform (Credit: James
Romer)
1940: George Gipps Romer, known as 'Gipps' was involved in the evacuation in 1940. According to the history of the Irish Guards in Celtopedia:
"In May 1940, the 2nd Irish Guards deployed to the Hook of Holland to cover the evacuation of the Dutch Royal Family. The
battalion evacuated the day after the Government and Dutch Royal Family had been evacuated. They had only a short respite upon their returned to the UK for just a few days later they returned,
along with the Welsh Guards, to the continent, to Boulogne, a port in northern France, reaching the town on 22 May.
Their orders were to defend part of Boulogne during the epic evacuation of the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) from the overwhelming and inexorable advance of the Germans. The Guards stoutly
defended their area of responsibility from better equipped German forces, repulsing a number of German attacks on the 22nd, but on the morning of the 23rd, superior Germany forces attacked the
battalion and the Guards suffered very heavily in the attack. Later that day the battalion was evacuated from Boulogne, they were the last to leave, and fought valiantly while waiting to be
evacuated."
The History of the Irish Guards in the 2nd World War praises Gipps's courage in the action. He was a "First reinforcement for the Harpoon Force under the command of Colonel Haydon.
"Colonel Haydon now determined to reorganize the whole position. Captain McCausland collected all his remaining men and at
nine o’clock withdrew No. 1 Company to the centre of Outreau village, where they defended the road down into Boulogne. At the same time, Captain Murphy withdrew his remaining platoons to cover the
area between No.. 1 and No. 2 Companies. No. 3 Company, under Captain Finlay, remained where it was, as yet untouched. Thus the line now ran from the centre of Outreau through some fields, which
gave a field of fire of some 150 yards, on to the northern exits of Outreau, and thence to the sea. Though shorter than the original line, it was still too long and too thinly held to withstand a
concentrated attack on any one point. Colonel Haydon sent Major Ross, his second-in-command, back to find some inner line of defence that could be held with only three companies, leaving one in
reserve. “At this stage,” he said, “I did not yet realize that No. 1 and 4 Companies had already been reduced to almost microscopic numbers.” Of the 107 men of No. 4 Company who landed in
Boulogne, only nineteen returned and only forty of No. 1 Company. Most of these casualties they had lost already, so the Battalion now had only two and a half rifle companies left.
A light railway runs through the middle of Boulogne, curving round behind the Battalion’s present position. At half-past ten the Companies began withdrawing to the line of this railway, from which
they could defend the west of the town and the main road from the south. The remnants of No. 1 Company held the village till the rest of the Battalion was established in the houses and gardens
along the railway. They and the Germans were within fifty yards of each other. For two hours the Company beat off every attempt to outflank or rush them. “The holding of this post by No. 1
Company,” said Colonel Haydon, “in spite of the very heavy losses it had suffered, reflects the very highest credit on Captain C. R. McCausland, 2/Lieutenant G. G. Romer and the other ranks
who held the post.”
The Battalion held the line of the railway for another two hours against constant attacks and under perpetual shell-fire. The R.A.P. had from the first been in a garage just behind the railway;
inside it the doctor, Lieutenant Grace, and Father Julian Stoner were hard at work on the steady stream of wounded. Father Julian came out to see what was happening. In the open daylight the
situation did not seem so bad as it had done in the dark garage with the sound of incessant firing and the shelling growing nearer and nearer. “I think I had expected to see corpses everywhere,
but the only person in sight was Lieutenant Patrick Davison standing behind a wall with a revolver in his hand. The noise of rifles and machine-guns soon showed that there were really hundreds of
men all around me, but our own men and the Germans were all hidden.” The Bren-gunners were using up magazines as fast as their comrades could fill them. It needed a constant stream of fire to stop
the Germans slipping across the railway and down between the houses into the town. Some of the barrels got so hot that they warped and jammed, leaving the section with only their rifles."
'Gipps' Romer's medals
(Credit: James Romer)
The star medal on the left is the 1939-45 Star, awarded to any service personnel who completed 6 months operational service overseas. Gipps would have got this as Dunkirk was made an exception for the award. The medal on the right is the War medal 1939 - 45. (Credit: Alan Clark).
1940: Malcolm and Evelyn's first son George died at the young age of 21.
The Times ©,
Monday, Aug 19, 1940
Charles 'Victor' Romer |
 |
|
|
Malcolm Nigel and Charles Victor in 1917 |
Charles Victor in 1936 |
1989:The London Gazette, 25th April 1989: Victor Romer';s wife whom he married somewhere around 1966.
2000: Charles Victor died in August 2000 in Bath aged 84 without any children
Malcolm Nigel Romer |
 |
|
| Evelyn and Malcolm Nigel in 1915 |
Malcolm Nigel, (MacDonald) and Malcolm in 1937
Malcolm Nigel Romer in Italy in 1943
1947 - Malcolm Nigel Romer's marriage to Virginia Taylor:
 The Times ©, Wednesday, Jan 29, 1947
|
|
 |
 |
| Major Malcolm Nigel Romer and Virginia in 1947 | Major Malcolm Nigel Romer in 1947 |
Malcolm Nigel and Virginia shortly after they were married
Photo credit: James Romer
Malcolm Romer on parade with Winston Churchill and Field Marshall Montgomery - late 1940s?
Photo credit: James Romer
Malcolm Nigel Romer's (Milt) MBE
Credit: James Romer
Malcolm Nigel Romer died in 1977 and was buried along side his father and his wife, Virginia was cremated after she died in 1996.
The Times ©,
Tuesday, Jun 07, 1977
The Times ©,
Monday, Jun 13, 1977
Cecilia Virginia Vivienne Romer died in November 1996 aged 80
* * *