| Description | Lewis or Louis John Vere (1874-1936) was born in Ryde, Isle of Wight, the son of a coal merchant and railway agent. By the age of 17 he was a footman at the Brighton residence of the widowed mother of Reginald H Copleston, Bishop of Colombo.
Jack Vere, as he was known to his family, married Jane Jones (1865-1945), born in Whittington, Shropshire, in the winter of 1899 and set up home at 110 Percy Road, Hammersmith. Their children, Percy John and Dorothy Jane, were born in 1901 and 1906 respectively.
By 1901 Jack Vere was a valet, possibly to a member of the Alington family. His postcards from Crichel House, the seat of Lord Alington, near Wimborne in Dorset, and his travels in France suggest that he was away from home for extended periods of time. In the First World War he was a stretcher bearer in the Royal Army Medical Corps.
Before her marriage Jane Vere was a lady's maid. Both children attended Westville Road and William Street Central Schools. Percy Vere joined the merchant navy and Dorothy Vere worked in the mail order department of Derry & Toms.
Lewis John Vere died at Banstead, aged 62 years, and was buried in Mortlake Cemetery on 11 November 1936. Jane Vere, aged 80 years, was buried in the same grave on 16 August 1945. Dorothy Vere continued to live at 110 Percy Road until 1964 when she moved to Shirley Road, Chiswick.
(Information from census returns, electoral registers, burial registers, indexes to civil registration registers
and neighbour of Miss D J Vere) |