Henry (Harold) Charles KENT [Parents] was born 1864 in Kensington, London. He died 1898 in 20 Cromwell Grove, Hammersmith. Henry married Catherine (Kate) HUSSEY on 15 Jan 1896 in Our Lady of Victories Church, High St., Kensington.

Harold, a journalist,  was born into a literary family. His father, Charles, was an editor (his appointments included editorship of the Sun newspaper from 1845 to 1870) as well as a journalist and poet. Charles was also a good friend of Charles Dickens and a lock of Dickens's hair was passed down to Harold; it is still in the possession of the family. And Harold's mother, Ann, who was a daughter of Sun proprietor Murdo Young, was an author.

Henry is listed, aged 17, in the 1881 census. Census details for the household are:

Address: 1 Campden Grove, Kensington
Charles Kent, head, aged 57, barrister not in practice, born London [his obituary in the Times, however, gives Paramatta, NSW as his place of birth]
Ann, wife, 56? authoress, born London
Henry, son, 17, journalist, born Kensington
Edward, son, 13, scholar, born Kensington
Amelia, 12, scholar, born Kensington

According to his death certificate, Harold died of "tuberculosis of lungs 1 year and 3 months. Heart failure". He was only 34 years of age.

Catherine (Kate) HUSSEY [Parents] was born 1875 in Kensington, London. She died probably after 27 Feb 1939. Catherine married Henry (Harold) Charles KENT on 15 Jan 1896 in Our Lady of Victories Church, High St., Kensington.

Kate is listed in the 1901 and 1911 census returns for her parents' household, suggesting she probably have moved back in with them after the death of her husband. The 1911 census tells us she was working as a builder's clerk, indicating that she worked for her father.

Clifford Eric RALFS was born about 1896. He died 29 Jan 1968 in Midhurst, West Sussex. Clifford married Marjorie Mary C. KENT on 1926 in Kensington, London.

Clifford and Marjorie lived in Selsey in West Sussex. Clifford was an estate agent with offices in Selsey and in Kensington in London.

Marjorie Mary C. KENT [Parents] was born 2 Nov 1896 in Hammersmith, London. She died May 1990 in Chichester, West Sussex. Marjorie married Clifford Eric RALFS on 1926 in Kensington, London.

Marjorie was a domestic science teacher. At the time of her death, at the age of 93, she was living at 4 Grove Road, Selsey, West Sussex.

Thomas (Tom) P. RYAN [Parents] was born about 22 Jul 1894 in Garryhill, Co. Carlow and was christened 22 Jul 1894 in Bagenalstown, Co. Carlow. He died early 1940s in Dublin. Thomas married Eileen COLLINS on 28 Sep 1927 in Church of the Most Holy Redeemer, Bray, Co. Wicklow.

Sponsors at Tom's baptism were James Nolan and Pauline Kearney.

Eileen COLLINS died in probably Dublin. She married Thomas (Tom) P. RYAN on 28 Sep 1927 in Church of the Most Holy Redeemer, Bray, Co. Wicklow.

Eileen was from Lucan, Co. Dublin.

William John MURPHY [Parents] was born 1846 in probably Knocklonogad, Garryhill, Co. Carlow. He died 1932 in probably Clonmel, Co. Tipperary. William married Mary CHEASTY on 1896.

William lived in Clonmel, Co. Tipperary, where he was manager, and possibly editor, of the Clonmel Nationalist newspaper.

William had been studying for a degree in horticulture when he lost a hand in an agricultural accident. Unable to continue his studies, he turned to journalism. He was arrested some time later for writing inflammatory nationalist articles (possibly in his own newspaper, the Clonmel Nationalist), which in turn apparently led to an attack of some kind on the Irish parliament by the Irish Parliamentary Party. Unfortunately we haven't managed to come across any further details of the incident. Any information in this regard, or anything further on William's involvement in nationalist affairs, would be much appreciated. If you can help, please contact Helen@HelensFamilyTrees.com.

We have been told that William was influential in getting the statue of  'The '98 Man', commemorating those nationalists involved in the 1798 Rebellion, erected in Clonmel. The statue, in front of the town hall, was unveiled in 1904.

Mary CHEASTY [Parents] was born about 1867 in Co. Waterford. She died before 4 Mar 1937 in probably Clonmel, Co. Tipperary. Mary married William John MURPHY on 1896.

According to the 1911 census, Mary and William had been married 14 years and had five children born alive, all of whom were alive at the time of the census.

William J. MURPHY was born about 1789 in possibly Co. Wexford. He died 12 Jul 1849 in probably Knocklonogad, Co. Carlow and was buried in Drumphea Churchyard, Garryhill, Co. Carlow. William married Mary MURPHY in Knocklonogad, Garryhill, Co. Carlow.

Family lore has it that our Murphy family originated in Co. Wexford, their presence in Co. Carlow resulting from William's flight from Wexford during the 1798 Rebellion, in which he lost two brothers. William himself was wounded but escaped capture by fleeing across the Blackstairs Mountains into Carlow. Apparently he was taken in by a local farmer and nursed back to heath. He subsequently married the farmer's sister. According to one source the farmer's family was Protestant and William's wife was older than him.

However dates provided by family sources do not tie in with this story. William was supposedly born about 1789 which would have made him too young to fight in the rebellion, and Mary, we're told, was born about 1790 which means she was not an older woman. Further checking, e.g., consulting church records, would need to be carried out in this regard.   

Murphy is the anglicised version of two Irish surnames, 'Ó Murchadha' (in modern Irish 'Ó Murchú') and 'Mac Murchadha', both derived from the popular early Irish personal name Murchadh, meaning "sea-warrior". Mac Murchadha ("son of Murchadh") is exclusive to Ulster where they were originally based in present-day Co. Tyrone but were driven out and settled in Co. Armagh where the Ulster Murphys are now most numerous. The Murphy name is also common in counties Fermanagh and Monaghan. Elsewhere in Ireland, the Ó Murchadha (descendant of Murchadh) name arose separately in at least three distinct areas, in Cork, Roscommon and Wexford. The most prominent of these were the Wexford Uí Murchadha. These took their surname from Murchadh or Murrough, grandfather of Dermot MacMurrough, King of Leinster. Their territory lay in the barony of Ballaghkeen in Co. Wexford, their main seats being Morriscastle ("Ó Murchu's Castle"), Toberlamina, Oulart and Oularteigh. In the late sixteenth century, however, their chief, Donal Mor O'Morchoe (as the name was then anglicised) was overthrown, and all of his territory, with the exception of land in Oularteigh, was confiscated. Most of his followers were scattered and settled in the surrounding counties, in Kilkenny and Carlow particularly.

Note that in some older references to Knocklonogad, its parish is given as Sliguff rather than Garryhill. Also note that that I've seen Knocklonogad spelled as Knocklonegad and Knocklonagad.

Mary MURPHY was born about 1790 in possibly Knocklonogad, Garryhill, Co. Carlow. She died 2 Jul 1868 in probably Knocklonogad, Co. Carlow and was buried in Drumphea Churchyard, Garryhill, Co. Carlow. Mary married William J. MURPHY in Knocklonogad, Garryhill, Co. Carlow.

It's possible Mary's family came from the townland of Knocklonogad in Garryhill, Co. Carlow. It's not known if she and William had more children besides John below.

We have heard of another Mary Murphy who may have been from Knocklonogad and who married a Patrick Gallagher. Their children were born in either Knocklonogad and Drumphea and were baptised in Myshall parish church (unfortunately we don't have any dates). This Mary, whose father's name may have been James, had a number of siblings, some of whom emigrated to the United States. Could this Mary have been connected to our Mary above?

Note that Knocklonogad seems to be also spelled as Knocklonegad and Knocklonagad.

Louis Napoléon LE ROUX was born 1890 in Pleudaniel, Brittany, France. He died 5 Aug 1944 in London and was buried 10 Aug 1944 in Surbiton, Surrey. Louis married Marion Delia MURPHY on 1936 in Dublin.

Apparently it was Louis himself who added Napoléon to his first name, and it appears that neither his wife nor the Le Roux family were ever quite sure why he did this.

Louis was a journalist, author and fervent supporter of the Breton separatist movement. He worked as either a bookkeeper or private secretary to Breton nationalist and writer Taldir Jaffrennou and wrote for a number of Breton separatist publications, including the bilingual (French/Breton) newspaper Ar Bobl of which he was also a sub-editor. In 1911 he co-founded, with Camille Le Mercier d'Erm, the Breton Nationalist Party.

It's said Louis fled France for Switzerland in 1913 to avoid conscription into the French army and that attempts were made to extradite him back to France. However, letters written to a friend, Paul Buchet, whom Louis first met around 1910 when both were doing compulsory military service in Saint-Malo, suggest that this was not the case. The letters, sent from Paris during 1913 and in early 1914, clearly show Louis’ intention to move to England in the near future. There's no mention of conscription or Switzerland, rather there are several references to the English lessons he was taking during 1913 in preparation for the move. He finally decided on 28 January 1914 to move to London the following week, following the end of a love affair with a woman who he felt had treated him badly. Lodgings in London were organised (in the home of a Mrs Goode of 10 Burnley Road, Stockwell) and there's no reason to indicate he didn't make the journey. It is of course possible Louis was conscripted once war broke out, and fled to Switzerland at that point, or maybe attempts were made to extradite him back to France from England.   

Regarding Louis' whereabouts during the war, it's thought he visited Ireland for the first time in 1914, and we know that he served in the British Army from June 1916 until September 1917 when he was discharged on medical grounds. It's also known he visited Ireland in 1919 when he spoke at a conference in Dublin hosted by the Irish Literary Society. In 1922 he was still living in London, working as private secretary to the British Labour politician (later prime minister) Ramsay MacDonald, whose papers he was translating into French.

Louis returned to Ireland in 1930 to visit the grave of United Irishmen leader Wolfe Tone (in Bodenstown Cemetery in Co. Kildare). He was still living in London in 1932 and it's thought he moved to Ireland around 1933, lodging for a number of years in the Dublin home of Kathleen Clarke, widow of Tom Clarke, one of the leaders of the 1916 Rising. He found work, through republican contacts, with the Irish Hospitals' Trust (founded to provide funds, by means of a sweepstake system, for hospitals in Ireland). His job, in the Trust's Foreign Department, apparently involved the clandestine distribution of sweepstake tickets, through a republican network, in the United States where such lotteries were illegal at the time.

It's likely Louis met Irish-born Marion Murphy, whom he would marry in 1936, soon after settling in Ireland (or perhaps beforehand, in England) because in 1932 or 1933 he was accompanied by a young Irishwoman on a 'Tro Breizh' pilgrimage in Brittany (that follows a route linking the seven Breton towns associated with Brittany's seven founding saints).

Due to economic cutbacks at the outbreak of World War II, Louis lost his job at the Irish Hospitals' Trust and, in 1939 or 1940, he and Marion reluctantly left Ireland to live in London. There he worked as an assistant to future Conservative prime minister Harold Macmillan. In 1944, however, Louis died following a German bombing raid. There are conflicting accounts of the exact circumstances of his death. According to one family source, Louis suffered a heart attack following a German attack. Another family member has told me he died from head injuries received when a building collapsed during a German raid, while Presse d'Armor journalist Dimitri Rouchon-Borie, in his 2008 article, 'Qui était donc Louis Napoléon Le Roux ?', tells us that Louis was in hospital in London suffering from a severe bout of flu and was killed when a V2 bomb was dropped on the building. And according to Louis' obituary in the Irish Press, he died "after a short illness". What is certain is that Louis died in the Middlesex Hospital in London.

Louis' best-known work was a biography of Irish nationalist Padraic Pearse, 'L'Irlande Militante : La vie de Patrice Pearse', published in France in 1932 and translated into English shortly afterwards. It's thought that publication of this book may have been a factor in Louis being granted Irish citizenship in 1932. Other published works included several articles for the republican newpaper An Phoblacht in the early 1930s, and the publication in 1936 of 'Tom Clarke and the Irish Freedom Movement'. Louis also compiled a biography of the Limerick Fenian John Daly (an uncle of Kathleen, Tom Clarke’s widow), which remains unpublished.

In 2008 the Irish government purchased Louis' private papers from Marion's family. These documents are historically significant in that they provide fresh material relating to Irish republicanism in the early part of the 20th century. Now in the National Library in Dublin, the papers include correspondence with several leading republicans, including a number of survivors of the 1916 Rising. Many of these correspondents had provided Louis with information for his articles and biographies, but because of the risks to their security, Louis was at the time unable to reveal his sources in his published works; such secrecy is no longer necessary.

Many thanks go to Bob Boles and Didier Longuèvre for much of the above information. Further details on Louis' life and involvement in nationalist affairs may be found in Éamon Ó Ciosáin's article entitled 'La Bretagne et l'Irlande pendant l'entre-deux guerres (Première partie)', published (in French) in the Spring 1988 edition of the Breton historical journal Dalc'homp Soñj.

Marion Delia MURPHY [Parents] was born 1898 in Clonmel, Co. Tipperary. She died 11 May 1983 in Thurles, Co. Tipperary and was buried in St. Patrick's Cemetery, Clonmel, Co. Tipperary. Marion married Louis Napoléon LE ROUX on 1936 in Dublin.

After leaving school Marion went to London to work, living initially in the Kensington/Brook Green area. She later returned to in Ireland where she and her French-born husband, Louis, lived during the 1930s before returning to London around 1939. It's thought Marion may have moved back to Ireland after Louis' death in 1944. She and Louis had no children.

It's not known how Marion and Louis met. Apparently Marion knew Louis' sisters (perhaps through school, as Marion received part of her education in France) and perhaps it was they who introduced them. Another possibility is that they met through Kathleen Clarke, who was Louis' Dublin landlady and a friend of Marion's, but we don't know if the friendship between Marion and Kathleen came about before or after Marion and Louis met. There has also been speculation that they may have met through contact between Louis and Marion's father in connection with political matters.

Marion died at a nursing home in Thurles.

Percy RUSSELL was born about 1900. He died date unknown. Percy married Margaret (Pearlie) MURPHY.

Pearlie and Percy lived in Bray, Co. Wicklow. Their house, which overlooked Bray Head and the coastline, was designed by Stephen Hussey, the husband of Pearlie's first cousin Mary Ryan.

Margaret (Pearlie) MURPHY [Parents] was born 1902 in Clonmel, Co. Tipperary. She died about 2004 in Bray, Co. Wicklow. Margaret married Percy RUSSELL.

Pearlie died at the age of 102.