Harriet Jane (Apperley) Turnbull (1817 - 1903)

Born 27 Aug 1817 in Llanbeblig, Caernarfonshire, Wales

Wife of Montagu James Turnbull — married 7 Jul 1841 in Delhi, India

Died 1 Jan 1903 at age 85 in Hove, Sussex, England

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Biography

Life events

Harriet Jane Apperley was born in Llanbeblig, Caernarvonshire, in 1817.^[1] Her father was Charles James "Nimrod" Apperley, the well-known English sportsman and sporting writer.

On the 7th July 1841, she married Montagu James Turnbull, Indian Army.^[2][3]

The couple's eldest daughter, Caroline, died at Umballa, Bengal, in 1845, aged eighteen months.^[4]

Their youngest daughter, Susan Georgiana, died at Chowringhee, Calcutta, in 1855, aged two years one month.^[5]

Harriet Jane's husband, General Turnbull, died at their home, "The Hermitage," in Southwick, Sussex, in 1894, aged seventy-four years.^[6]

Harriet Jane Turnbull, née Apperley, died at Hove, Sussex, on New Year's Day, 1903, aged eighty-five years.^[7][8][9]

Mrs Turnbull – "the Star of the Desert"

Extract from Sonepore Reminiscences (Abbott, 1896):

There have been few better lady riders in India than Mrs. Turnbull, who was a Miss Apperley, a daughter of the mighty “Nimrod.” Horace Hayes says of her:—

‘Mrs. Tur[n]bull was one of the most accomplished horse-women we have ever had in the East. Her brilliant riding stood her in good stead in the many dangers she passed through by her husband’s side and which would have crushed a less dauntless spirit. Although she was everything that was soft, winning and womanly, her heart knew no fear. During the time of the Sind Mutiny she rode along with her husband at the head of his regiment, which was disaffected, 129 marches from Umballa to Shikarpur, where the mutiny burst out. They were encamped in the month of July under canvas at Roree on the Indus, with the thermometer ranging from 127° to I30°F. daily in the shade. Strange to say, during that heat they had only one man sick in hospital, although after they reached their head-quarters at Shikarpur to Muttra, they rode over the late battlefield of Ferozeshah to reach their camp. When proceeding with the Bombay column from Sukkur en route for Mooltan, before the surrender of that fort, Sir Charles Napier stopped the regiment, at the head of which were the Colonel and his wife, to compliment her on the example she had set during her two years’ stay in Sind. Sir Charles and his staff often drank a toast after dinner to ‘The Star of the Desert’ as they used to call her. She was present with her husband at Shikarpur during the Sind Mutiny, when that wily old General, George Hunter, induced a Native Infantry Regiment to proceed to Sukkur to have their supposed grievances inquired into, and then trapped them on arrival by a wing of the 13th Light Infantry and a masked battery of European artillery. This ruse resulted in about sixty of the mutinous ringleaders being given up on threat of the regiment being annihilated. Fifty were transported for life and eight were hanged on one gallows. Seven of the latter spared all trouble to the executioner by jumping off the platform and thereby strangling themselves, while the eighth continued to call on his regiment to come to his rescue until the bolt was drawn.’

‘She took her handsome Arab Cuckoo home with her, and used to ride him regularly in the Park; we believe the old horse is still alive. Hermes went home too, but died of sunstroke in the Red Sea. Mrs. Turnbull was passionately fond of dumb animals and ‘The Hermitage’ was a regular menagerie — squirrels, dogs, birds, monkeys, were collected by her in numbers and very tenderly cared for, while the stables were always full of thoroughbreds, mostly Arabs.

Among the Colonel’s best Arabs was Hermit, a flea-bitten grey; he ran second to Rocket for the Calcutta Derby of 1860, but he ran the same horse a dead heat in the Great Welter; he won the Calcutta Stakes, two miles, beating the Australian Ellerton in 3mins. 51secs. He got beaten by two lengths in the Trades Cup in 1862 by the English mare Voltege, who ran the two miles in 3mins. 46secs. Opal was andther of the Colonel’s Arabs that was a very handsome horse. Mrs. Turnbull took him to England in 1862 and he took first prize in the Arab class at the Islington Show. Starlight, late Mangosteen, was a beautiful bay, which he won in a raffle of the old Sheik’s.^[10]

Census enumerations

1881 census (England):

• Montague J. Turnbull, head, married, age 62; Major General, H.M.’s Army; born in Bengal, India
• Harriet J., wife, married, age 60; born in unkown, Salop [Shropshire]
• Colquhoun Grant, visitor, widow, age 40, widow of Army Captain, born in South Wales
• household servants (4)
• census place: The Hermitage, Southwick, Sussex.^[11]

… and in 1891:

• Montagu Turnbull, head, married, age 71; General, Bengal Staff Corps; born in Bengal, India
• Harriett, wife, married, age 66; born in Penyarth [sic], Wales
• household servants (3)
• census place: The Hermitage, Southdown Road, Southwick, Sussex.^[12]

… and in 1901:

• Harriet J. Turnbull, head, widow, age 75, Living on own means; born in unknown, Merionethshire
• household servants (3)
• census place: 33 Hove Park Villas, Hove, Sussex.^[13]

News extracts

Golden wedding celebration (1891)

News extract from the Worthing Gazette, 15 July 1891:

SOUTHWICK.

GOLDEN WEDDING CELEBRATION.—General Montagu James Turnbull and Mrs. Turnbull, of The Hermitage, celebrated their golden wedding last week. The rooms at the house could hardly contain the numerous costly flowers and presents that kept pouring in all day, besides letters from at home and abroad and nearly a hundred telegrams from India, where General and Mrs. Turnbull were greatly loved.^[14]

Research notes

• The date of baptism has been used to approximate the date of birth.^[1]
• No trace has been found, to date, of Mr and Mrs Turnbull's second daughter, Louisa Ellen, following her baptism in Jullundur, Bengal.^[15] ~Kilpatrick-1128 (2018-09-23)

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1} Wales: Select Births and Baptisms, 1541–1907. Harriet Jane Apperley, baptised 27th August 1817; daughter of Charles James Apperley and Elizabeth (his wife). Microfilm copy held by the Family History Library, Salt Lake City, Utah, USA (FHL film nos. 104560, 104562, 104563); index online at ancestry.ca (accessed by Alison Kilpatrick by subscription, 2018-09-19).
2. ↑ Morning Post, 8 October 1841 (pg 3). Marriage notice: “At Delhi, on the 7th of July, at St. James’s Church, Mountain [sic] James Turnbull, Esq., 7th Light Cavalry, second son of M.H. Turnbull, Esq., late of the Bengal Service, to Harriet Jane, youngest daughter of C.J. Apperley, Esq., Shropshire.” Digital image online at The British Newspaper Archive, britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk (accessed by subscription, and transcribed by Alison Kilpatrick, 2018-09-18).
3. ↑ The Oriental Sporting Magazine. Vol. VIII, No. 85 (15 January 1875). “Colonel Montagu James Turnbull.” (pp 1-4.) Transcribed by Alison Kilpatrick, 2018-09-19.
4. ↑ British India Office. Ecclesiastical Returns. Burial of Caroline Turnbull, age 18 mos., 31st March 1845, at Umballa by S.J. Whiting, Chaplain. Digital image online at findmypast.co.uk (accessed by Alison Kilpatrick by subscription, 2018-09-19).
5. ↑ British India Office. Ecclesiastical Returns. Burials at the General Episcopal Cemetery or Burial Ground Chowringhee Calcutta A.D. 1855.” Susan Georgiana Turnbull, died 11th January 1855, aged 2 years and 1 month, daughter of Captain Turnbull; buried 11th January 1855 by H.S. Fisher, Senior Presidency Chaplain. Digital image online at findmypast.co.uk (accessed by Alison Kilpatrick by subscription, 2018-09-19).
6. ↑ Morning Post, 23 May 1894 (pg 1). Death notice: “TURNBULL.—On the 19th inst., at The Hermitage, Southwick, Sussex, General Montagu James Turnbull, of the Bengal Staff Corps, in his seventy-fifth year.” Digital image online at The British Newspaper Archive, britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk (accessed by subscription, and transcribed by Alison Kilpatrick, 2018-09-17).
7. ↑ London Daily News, 5 January 1930 (pg 1). Death notice: “TURNBULL.—On New Year’s Day, 1903, at her residence, Rayleigh, No. 33, Hove Park-villas, Hove, Sussex, Harriet Jane, widow of General Montagu James Turnbull, Bengall Staff Corps, and youngest daughter of the late Charles James Apperly (‘Nimrod’), aged 78.” Digital image online at The British Newspaper Archive, britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk (accessed by subscription, and transcribed by Alison Kilpatrick, 2018-09-17).
8. ↑ National Probate Calendar, England and Wales. “TURNBULL, Harriet Jane, of “Rayleigh,” 33 Hove Park-villas, Sussex, widow, died 1 January 1903; Probate: London, 10 January [1903] to sir Charles Gervaise Boxall, K.C.B.” (ref. 1903, pg 367.) Digital image online at ancestry.ca (accessed by Alison Kilpatrick 2018-09-19, by subscription).
9. ↑ Index of civil registrations of deaths, England. Harriett Jane Turnbull, aged 78 years, 1st quarter ending 31st March 1903, Steyning RD (Sussex), vol. 2b, pg 173. Index and digital image online at FreeBMD, www.freebmd.org.uk (accessed by Alison Kilpatrick, 2018-09-19).
10. ↑ Abbott, Harry. Sonepore Reminiscences. Years 1840-96. Notes re General Montagu James Turnbull and his wife, formerly Miss Harriet Jane Apperley (pp 243-50.) Calcutta: The “Star” Press, 1896.
11. ↑ England 1881 Census. Montague J. Turnbull, age 62, with wife, Harriet J. (60), in Southwick, Sussex. Original record: Census Returns of England and Wales, 1881 (Kew, Surrey: The National Archives); PRO ref. RG 11, registration district: Steyning, enumeration district no. 36, piece 1102, folio 55, pg. 7. Digital image online at findmypast.co.uk (accessed by Alison Kilpatrick by subscription, 2018-09-19).
12. ↑ England 1891 Census. Montagu Turnbull, age 71, with wife, Harriet (66), in Southwick, Sussex. Original records: Census Returns of England & Wales, 1891 (Kew, Surrey: The National Archives of the UK, 1891); sub-registration district: Shoreham, enumeration district no. 41, civil parish of Southwick; PRO ref. RG12, piece 823, folio 110. Digital image online at ancestry.ca (accessed by Alison Kilpatrick by subscription, 2018-09-19).
13. ↑ England 1901 Census. Harriett J. Turnbull, age 76, in Hove, Sussex. Original record: Census Returns of England and Wales, 1901 (Kew, Surrey: The National Archives); PRO ref. RG 13, registration district: Steyning, municipal ward: Stanford, enumeration district no. 26, piece 938, folio 159, pg. 6, household schedule no. 188. Digital image online at findmypast.co.uk (accessed by Alison Kilpatrick by subscription, 2018-09-19).
14. ↑ Worthing Gazette, 15 July 1891 (pg 6). “Southwick. Golden Wedding Celebration.” General and Mrs. Turnbull, of The Hermitage. Digital image online at The British Newspaper Archive, britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk (accessed by subscription, and transcribed by Alison Kilpatrick, 2018-09-17).
15. ↑ British India Office. Ecclesiastical Returns. “Baptisms solemnized at Jullundur.” Louisa Ellen Turnbull, born 4th September 1848; daughter of Montagu James Turnbull, Interpreter and Quartermaster, 7th Bengal Light Cavalry, and Harriet Jane (his wife), of Jullundur; baptised 7th November 1848 by H.B. Burney, Asst. Chaplain. Digital image online at findmypast.co.uk (accessed by Alison Kilpatrick by subscription, 2018-09-17).