Marriage and Children

On the 16^th Feb. 1918 Hugh Dowding married Clarice Maud Vancourt (1885-1920). Clarice, an actress, was the daughter of Capt. John Williams, a Major in the Indian Army. She had a daughter in 1911- Marjorie Brenda Williams (1911- 2003). Details of her first marriage to Mr. Vancourt are unknown.  Hugh and Clarice had one child – Derek Hugh Tremenheere (1919-1992). Clarice died in 1920.

Widowed with 2 young children Hugh was supported by his sister, Hilda, in the practical care of Marjorie and Derek throughout their childhood. Clarice’s early death had a profound effect on Hugh- many years later Marjorie noted “ If mother had lived, I believe he would have enjoyed the social side of life associated with his job, because she was always so full of fun and wanted to be involved.”

On the 25^th September 1951 Hugh married Muriel Whiting (1908-1993) – born Muriel Albino. Her first husband, Jack Maxwell Whiting, was a flight engineer who died in a bombing raid over Germany in 1944 – the couple had a son, David Maxwell Whiting (b 1938).

Muriel was a Vegetarian, President of the Anti-Vivisection Society, A Spiritualist and Theosophist. She founded “Beauty without Cruelty” in 1959 & in 1963 “Beauty without Cruelty Cosmetics”.

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