Stuart, Miss Florence, Southlands, Exeter Road, Exmouth
Florence Adelaide Stuart (1861-1948) was born in Bombay; her father was General Sir Charles Shepherd Stewart GCB of the Bombay Infantry.[1] Although she was born in India, Florence grew up in Exmouth at Southlands, Withycombe, a large property with fourteen rooms and extensive grounds. Her parents were well-recognised figures in the town and her father was a magistrate, churchwarden, member of the School Board and chairman of the Exmouth Dispensary.
When Sir Charles died in 1879, his daughter Florence was also an identifiable member of the community. She was a regular attender at the seasons of subscription dances at the Imperial Hotel[2] and at the fancy dress balls at Bystock.[3] She attended the meetings of the South Devon Archery Society, was a frequent champion at the Exmouth tennis tournaments and performed in amateur dramatic productions – on one occasion alongside Winifred Monck Mason (aka Winifred Mayo) who was to become a suffragette activist.[4]
Florence was one of the committee of four of the Exmouth Women’s Suffrage Society which was formed in 1904 on non-party lines.[5] However, there are no newspaper reports of her participation in the women’s suffrage movement after that. Over the years she did show some interest in political issues in Exmouth; back in 1887 she attended a Unionist meeting to express confidence in Sir John Kennaway MP and in the early 1900s she attended meetings of the Tariff Reform League and by 1910 she was a member of the executive council of the Exmouth Habitation of the Primrose League.[6]
After her mother’s death in 1911 she continued to live at Southlands with her brother, but at some point she moved to 9 Louisa Terrace in Exmouth where she died on 6 July 1948.[7]
Entry created by April Marjoram, June 2018
[1] Dictionary of Indian Biography.
[2] Exmouth Journals 1879-1887.
[3] Western Times 1886-1891.
[4] ExJ, 29 Dec 1894.
[5] ExJ, 8 Oct 1904.
[6] DEG, 2 Jan 1904; 23 Apr 1910.
[7] Probate Register.