#2353, Robert (Bobbie) Neale FONNEREAU

Baptised at St Margaret's, Ipswich, Suffolk on 29 04 1895. He was educated at Lancing College, West Sussex and then went on to the Royal Military College at Sandhurst to train as an officer for the British Army.

Doris Marie Jopp apparently tricked Robert into the marriage by pretending she was pregnant. However, they had no children and were divorced on 07 05 1923.

In 1926, Robert Neale was living in Paignton in Devon and on 9th April of that year he had a daughter Musetta Anne, by Ellaline More whom he never married. Later the same year, he met Annie Lilly Harrison who was the daughter of William Harrison, a wine merchant's assistant and his wife Annie. Robert and Annie were married in Tangier in 1928 as Lilly had found herself to be pregnant whilst they were on a long tour of Europe. In Casablanca, Annie became seriously ill and suffered a miscarriage.

From 1939-1947, the Fonnereau family lived in Amersham. In 1947, Robert took an extended holiday to Eire and it became apparent that he intended to stay there indefinitely, mainly because of the tax advantages of assuming Irish Nationality. Following his death, his body was taken back to England and he was buried in the family vault in Tuddenham Churchyard.

Extracts from "A History of the Fonnereau Family, Huguenots from La Rochelle" by Stephen Hoole (2002)