Bennett's of Ballinacurra Descriptive List (Ref. B609)

B609/

B609/9/C/3 Photograph of a Shrewsbury School rowing four, including Jack Bennett (back row, right).

B609/9/C/4 Bill issued to John W Bennett by W Watson & Sons, London, for a pair of binoculars purchased by him. Dated 12 April 1915.

B609/9/C/5 Gwendoline Bennett’s photograph album, 1934-[38]. The album begins with photos of Orchard’s End, Gwendoline Bennett’s house near Reading in England, and of Gwen with family and friends holidaying or touring through various parts of England. There are also photos from ‘Our Irish Trip’, August- September 1936, including some of Charleston. Also present are photos from trips to Niagara Falls, Hawaii, and New Zealand. Loose photos [11 items] in the album have been gathered together in the back.

B609/9/C/6 Copy of ‘Drill on French Grammar’ by Victor Spiers, London, 1901. Inscribed ‘G Bennett’. Probably Gwendoline Bennett, daughter of John H Bennett.

B609/9/C/7 Copy of ‘Elements of Acoustics, Light, and Heat’ by William Lees, Collins’ Science Series. [Possibly the property of John H Bennett, or of one of his children, Jack or Gwendoline.]

B609/9/D

Esther Bennett (formerly McNeill, nee Duffey), 1939-57

Esther Bennett (formerly McNeill, nee Duffey). A small number of letters and photographs of Esther Bennett, second wife of John H Bennett and mother of Dorothy West, nee McNeill, are present. Esther, or Essie, McNeill, a widow, married John H Bennett in 1918. She and her daughter Dorothy McNeill lived with him at Charleston and both became involved in the operations of the company JHB. Both became directors of the company, with Dorothy McNeill succeeding John H Bennett as managing director. Esther Bennett continued to serve as a director and on the management committee of the company, as well as being a substantial shareholder, until her death in 1958. There is much reference to her in the diaries of John H Bennett and Dorothy West, and in letters from AGS, some of which are directed to her. [See also B609/4/C/1 and B609/9/A/61, regarding the death of John H Bennett and the transfer of ownership of the company and estate.]

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