21 years of age, and the family lived at a house called The Abbots in the East Devon village of Combe Raleigh, just a mile from Honiton. Arthur had been born in nearby Sidmouth, while Mary’s somewhat more exotic birthplace was somewhere in Eastern India.

Family home with village church in background.

Two views of the Bernard family home in Combe Raleigh, built c. 1790 and taken here c. 1900 when Arthur Bernard was a magistrate on the Honiton circuit. The tower of the 15th century village church can be seen in the background of the left hand picture. (from the collection of Alfred Newton)

In 1880, when Henry was 2, a sister, Ruth Capel Bernard, was born, and this small family was supported by four female servants, an indication ofa very comfortable background. The name Henry Doyly, being one of the nobles who signed Magna Carta in 1215, also suggests the family had historic connections or pretensions. As White’s Devonshire Directory of 1850 lists a Rev. William Bernard as being lord of the manor of Combe Raleigh, this may well be true.

By 1901, he had a further three siblings, all living at home in Combe Raleigh; Charles, 19, a lieutenant in the Lancashire Artillery, Muriel, 15, and Marjorie, 13, the household kept going with the help of a cook, maid, parlourmaid, housemaid and kitchenmaid. However, Henry himself, now 24, had married Elionor (sic) 4 years older than himself, and who, like his mother, had been born in India, in the North West Provinces. Also, the couple had