The family thicket: disentangling the Langford Raes

What I have to work with is a medley of Indian and Burmese references from FamilySearch, often with wildly assorted do-it-yourself spellings; a few records from the Indian Office and General Registry Office; and snippets of family history from some uncles and cousins on the Burma side, and from a cousin on the Calcutta side whom I encountered on the net and a few other people who are researching the family. Much of it can't be absolutely guaranteed, but I've managed to work out a family tree diagram which makes sense and fits everything I know or have been told about the Langford Raes, so pending information to the contrary this is probably how they fit together.

Origins in Ireland:

The Langford Rae family - that is, a family called Rae among whom "Langford" repeatedly appears as a first or middle name - originated in southern Ireland: there are several references to the name, all but one clearly associated with County Kerry, although it may not be possible to sort out their exact relationships, since so many of the Irish geneaology records were destroyed in The Troubles. The name Rae is usually a variant of the Scottish clan name Macrae: the Macraes, however, were themselves ultimately descended from Irish settlers in Scotland, so although one can say that the Langford Raes were Scots-Irish, one can't really disentangle the two.

Most of the Langford Raes were Catholic and their male line may have descended from Scottish Jacobite refugees of the late 17^th and early to mid 18^th centuries. On the other hand my father, Rory Langford-Rae, did a lot of geneaology research himself and he reportedly found evidence that our Rae ancestors went to Ireland with Cromwell and were rewarded with land: I did find at least one Protestant Langford Rae so it's possible they started as Protestants and became Catholic by intermarriage or conversion.

According to family memory my great great grandfather Francis Langford Rae was born in Dublin in 1822, although he was from a Kerry family. Apart from one baby boy who was born and soon after died in Dublin in 1889, all the other references I have found to Langford Raes in Ireland are in County Kerry.

I am told that my father Rory traced his Irish family back to County Waterford. This may relate to the Walsh family, the antecedents of his mother's grandmother Caroline Ellen Walsh. The Walshes were big in Waterford, whilst the Langford Raes were descended from a family in or near Castlemaine, County Kerry. However, a David and Joanna Rae had three children, Ann, David and Isabella, baptised respectively on 23^rd April 1753, 20^th February 1758 and 22^nd August 1756 in Kill St Nicholas, Waterford, and it may be that Rory had traced a connection between this family and the Raes who ended up in Kerry.

"Langford" occurs frequently as a family name among the Rae family who lived in and around Castlemaine in County Kerry, and all Raes who have "Langford" as part of their name probably derive from them. NUI Galway's Landed Estates section has this to say:

Members of the Rae family, whose estate was centred on Keel House, Castlemaine, held over 5000 acres in county Kerry in the 1870s. Francis Rae was one of the principal lessors in the parish of Kilgarrylander at the time of Griffith's Valuation while Robert Rae was the lessor of several townlands in the parish of Killorglin at the same time. In July 1853 over 1,300 acres of land near the village of Killorglin was advertised for sale in the Encumbered Estates' Court, the property of Robert and Elizabeth Anne Rae ...

Edward F. Day was leasing [a property called Knockglass, Knockglass More, Kilgobban, Tyree] to Ursula Rae at the time of Griffith’s Valuation, when it was valued at £11. Lewis refers to it as the home of Mrs. Rae in 1837. Bary states that it later passed by marriage to the McIntosh family but that the house is now ruinous.

Edward Rae was in possession of Keel House at the time of Griffith's Valuation [1848-1864]. Lewis records it as the seat of Giles Rae in 1837. Bary states this was originally a Langford House, possibly built as far back as the 1680s but with later modificiations. Wilson refers to it as the seat of Mr. Langford in 1786. It passed by marriage to the Rae family with whom it remained until the twentieth century. It was sold but later re-purchased by the family and is still extant.

Robert Rae was the owner of [a property named Altavilla at Farrantoreen, Killorglin, Killarney] at the time of Griffith's Valuation, when it was valued at £5 5s. It is named as Altavilla on the 1st edition Ordnance Survey map. In 1837 Lewis refers to Ardmoniel Cottage, the seat of R. Rae, but also to Altavilla, residence of J. Morrogh. Bary mentions that Altavilla was associated with the Morrogh family. It was later the residence of the Dodd family and is still extant.

Sir William Godfrey was leasing [a property named Ann at Annagh, Kiltallagh, Tralee] to Cornelius Murphy at the time of Griffith's Valuation when it was valued at £10 5s. Lewis records it as the residence of Rev. O'Connor, PP, in 1837. In 1814 Leet shows Annagh as the seat of Giles Rae. Bary writes that it was built by the Godfreys in the eighteenth century and was lived in by various members of that family until the early nineteenth century when it was occupied by tenants. It was tragically burnt to the ground in the late twentieth century. Sir William was leasing a second property in this townland to Willam R. Burke, valued at £8 10s.

It also has a section on the Langford family, from whom the Langford Raes in part descend, viz.:

''Irish Family Records" states that William Langford was living at Gurteengary, county Limerick in 1678. He had 5 sons and 2 daughters. His eldest daughter Susannah married in 1677 Captain John Coplen of Kilcosgriff and Shanagolden. Coplen left his estates to his brother in law James Langford who took the additional name of Coplen. In 1756 John Coplen-Langford, the eldest son of James, married Jane daughter of William Fosbery of Castletown and Currahbridge and had 9 children, including Captain Richard Coplen-Langford of Kilcosgriff and Beechwood, county Tipperary, George who married his first cousin Jane Fosbery and Edward of Stonehall. The sale of the Reverend Richard Coplen-Langford, Miltown Malbay, county Clare, estate at Shanagolden (Ballycormack) was advertised in June 1852. The sale rental includes a small lithograph of a one storey house named Fern Hill. He is recorded as holding land in the parishes of Kilmoylan and Shanagolden, barony of Shanid, at the time of Griffith's Valuation. The family were still resident in the locality in the late 20th century but are not recorded as land owners in county Limerick in the 1870s but they did own over a thousand acres in county Clare. This estate was inherited through marriage with a Creagh of Carrigerry, county Clare in 1853. In the mid 19th century the representatives of John Langford held land in the parish of Clonfert, barony of Duhallow, county Cork. A branch of this family is associated with Castleconway, close to Killorglin,county Kerry, in the eighteenth century. They were also resident at Keel House, parish of Kilgarrylander, in the late 18th and early 19th centuries.

A series of individual Raes with the name "Langford" can be identified in the record.

Domenic Langford Rae was a witness at two weddings at the Catholic parish church in Castlemaine in County Kerry, one in July 1821 and one in May 1822. Presumably he was at least twelve, to be acting as somebody's witness, and probably a lot older, so we can say he was born no later than the first half of 1809, and more likely between 1750 and 1800. [Irish Genealogy: Book N° 1; Page 42; Entry N° 3; Record_Identifier KY-RC-MA-25911; Irish Genealogy: Book N° 1; Page 45; Entry N° 3; Record_Identifier KY-RC-MA-25937]

Langford [Rae]: two children, Mary and John (see below) are recorded as being baptised at the Catholic parish church in Castlemaine in County Kerry in 1804 and 1807 with the middle- and surname Langford Rae. The father's name is just given as Langford but they must have got the "Rae" bit from somewhere and it didn't come from their mother, whose maiden name was Long, so the implication is that the father's name was actually Langford Rae and the surname is assumed in the record. O)r perhaps hi was illegitimate, so that he was officially known as Langford but he passed his putative father's name Rae to his children.

If these are his first children then he was probably born round about 1780-1788, meaning that Domenic Langford Rae (above) may well have been his brother. [Irish Genealogy: Book N° 1; Page 8; Entry N° 12; Record_Identifier KY-RC-BA-143018 and Irish Genealogy: Book N° 1; Page 41; Entry N° 13; Record_Identifier KY-RC-BA-143518] Logic suggests they are descended from the "Mr Langford" who held Keel House in 1786. For the family to have become "Langford Rae" by marriage implies that a female Langford married a male Rae, so we are probably looking at a daughter of Mr Langford marrying Somebody-Rae and having a son called Langford Rae who married Ellen Long. If Langford Rae was born in the 1780s his mother was probably born in the 1760s, so Mr Langford would already have had an adult, married or marriageable daughter when he was recorded as having his seat at Keel House in 1786.

Mary Langford Rae, baptised on 13^th September 1804 at the Catholic parish church in Castlemaine in County Kerry. Born, possibly on the same date, at "Whitegate, Keel". This is a location near Castlemaine, and Keel House at Castlemaine turns up later with reference to other Langford Raes. The father's name seems to be given just as Langford, and the mother as Ellen Long. [Irish Genealogy: Book N° 1; Page 8; Entry N° 12; Record_Identifier KY-RC-BA-143018]

John Langford Rae, baptised on 3^rd December 1807 at the Catholic parish church in Castlemaine in County Kerry. Born, possibly on the same date, at Keel. The father's name is again given just as Langford, and the mother as Ellen Long. [Irish Genealogy: Book N° 1; Page 41; Entry N° 13; Record_Identifier KY-RC-BA-143518]

John Langford Rae born 1812 died October-December quarter 1882 in Tralee, County Kerry. [FamilySearch] The birth-year has only been estimated from the stated age at death. If this is the same John Langford Rae as above then his age at death is out by four or five years - he would have turned seventy-five by early December 1882 - but ages in old records very often are out by a few years. On the other hand, they could be two separate men who were cousins.

One of these (both, if they are the same man) is probably the same John Langford Rae mentioned in the Cork Examiner April to June 1846 article Famine Frolics by Ed O'Riordan While the Irish potato-blight famine of 1845-1852 in which a million people would die was getting into full swing, the wealthy continued to enjoy themselves, and Mr John Langford Rae entered his horse Jack (handicap 11^st 11lbs) to run against Mr Daniel Mahony's mare Maria (handicap 10st 7lbs) in two mile heats at Rahoneen Strand, County Kerry (about five and a half miles from Tralee) on 30^th May 1846, for £25 a side. Since he was evidently a "society" figure that might be taken to imply that this John Langford Rae was a Protestant (even though the Langford Raes who ended up in Asia were Catholics), since it was only fifty-three years since the laws banning Irish Catholics from being educated, owning land, entering a profession or living within five miles of a corporate town had been repealed: but an article further up the same page remarks on how "young gentlemen of Ireland of opposite creeds and parties mingle thus cordially" at a cricket club, so evidently some sort of Catholic gentry was in existence by this point. [Wiki: Great Famine (Ireland)]

Despite continuing to party during the famine, John probably took good care of his tenants, for he seems to have been very popular amongst them. He is surely the John Langford Rae who appears in the following article:

London Daily News, 10^th November 1855, page 2, column 3
Headed "NAVAL AND MILITARY."
DUBLIN, Nov. 9.
THE KERRY MILITIA.—TRALEE, MONDAY.—On Saturday last, Mr John Langford Rae, of Keel, in this county, presented in this town the unprecedented number of 57 recruits, obtained for the Kerry Regiment, between the fair of Castlemaine, on Thursday, and the market day here, on Saturday. If I am correctly informed, Mr. Rae, optionally and conditionally, on getting a company, pledged himself to bring one with him ; and if the realisation of that promise be 120 men, certainly half the number in two days is a pretty fair earnest of its redemption. I understand that the men are all labourers and farmers' sons on his own property, and that of his three brothers. Many of them are the labourers employed by M. Rae himself in draining, embanking, and farming operations, who, now that Mr. Rae is bartering the ploughshare, battering mallet and pick, for the sash and sword, think it better to secure a "clean decent life" with him ; while others are the younger sons of small farmers on the property, who would never wear that "honoured badge and dear cockade," if their light hearts did not beat to follow their master. Mr. Rae also took the best initiative to stimulate a martial spirit. He was granted by the staff officer of pensioners, Captain Stokes, the use of the drums aned fifes of the corps, and made good use of them at Castlemaine fair, where he is somewhat popular. On the whole, I think that this piece of intelligence will not be unacceptable at head quarters, where the spirits of the "juniors" were running low, consequent on the late reduction order. I hope I will be shortly able to report further progress in this enterprise; and is proportionate success attends comntinued exertions, no post in her Majesty's service could be more fitfully or profitably appropriated than that of recruiting officer on a gentleman who bids fair to prove himself a "real regenerator."—Cork Reporter.

We know, then, that John had three brothers living and holding property in the same area in 1855, as well as at least one sister, Mary.

A person who may or may not have been called John Langford Rae, and who may or may not have been the same John Langford Rae, turns up in Bath, England six years later.

Bath Chronicle and Weekly Gazette, 19^th September 1861, page 8, column 1
Headed "BATH POLICE."

SATURDAY.
(Before T. Gill, Esq., Capt. Ford, and Dr. Falconer.)
John Langford Gray was charged with being drunk and improperly conducting himself in a railway carriage, on the journey from Warminster to Bath,—Detective Berry said he received the prisoner into his custody last evening upon a charge of being drunk, exposing his person, and smoking in a railway carriage. Prisoner admitted that he was drunk, but denied the second part of the charge.—The offence was proved by Thomas Heater, railway guard, Thomas Baker, and William Morton, fellow-passengers of the prisoner.—When called upon for his defence, the prisoner said he had taken a little too much liquor, and lost his self-control, for which he expressed the greatest regret.—The Bench told the prisoner that it was a very serious offence, and fined him 40s. and costs.

MONDAY.
(Before H. B. Smith, Esq., Dr. Barrett, and J. W. Bush, Esq.)
John Langford was fined 5s. and costs for being drunk and disorderly.

TUESDAY.
(Before T. Gill, Esq., Capt. Ford, Capt. Marsh, Dr. Barrett, and Dr. Falconer.)
John Langford Rae was charged by P.C. 44 with being drunk and incapable in Wood Street, about eight o'clock, on Saturday evening. The officer took the prisoner to the station, where he obtained bail, and appeared in the court on Monday morning in a state of intoxication. He was removed from the court, and brought up this morning.—Fined 5s. and costs.

It seems highly likely that John Langford Rae who appeared drunk before the court on Monday, was removed and recalled on Tuesday and was then fined five shillings and costs is the same as John Langford who appeared before the court on Monday and was fined five shillings and costs. It also seems likely that he is also the John Langford Gray who was fined forty shillings and costs on Saturday for having been drunk and disorderly on a train on Friday. If he is, he was roaring drunk on Friday, in court and fined on Saturday, drunk and incapable in the street on Saturday night and drunk in court on Monday.

As we already know, a John Langford Rae died in the October-December quarter of 1882 in Tralee, County Kerry. [FamilySearch] On 20^th April 1887 a Colonel William Rowan was discharged from his duties as receiver and a Robert J Fitzgerald appointed, in respect of part of the estate of John Langford Rae in Barony of Trughenackmy, County Kerry. [The official guide to Limerick]

Langford Rae born 1816 died March quarter 1882 in Tralee, County Kerry. [FamilySearch]

A Langford Rae of Keel House was buried on 9^th February 1882 at the Church of Ireland parish church in Kilcolman in County Kerry, aged sixty-one. [Irish Genealogy: Book N° Q; Page 1; Record_Identifier KY-CI-BU-3609] The date of death matches the entry above, but the ages don't tally: this one seems to have been born in 1820. Again, this could be the same person with a maths error, or a pair of cousins with the same name. According to Property owners County Kerry circa 1870, Langford Rae of Keel House, Castlemaine, Kerry (about six and a half miles from Tralee as the crow flies) owned 5,870 acres and Edward Rae at the same address owned 564 acres.

Langford Rae the younger was a prominent local figure who appears several times in newspaper reports.

Manchester Evening News, 21^st March 1871, page 2, column 5
Headed "MR. GLADSTONE AND THE KERRY FARMERS."
The following letter has been addressed by the Premier to the Farmers' Club of Kerry, in acknowledgement of the resolution of thanks for the passing of the Land Bill. It was enclosed by Mr. Herbert, M.P.:—"To Langford Rae, Esq., Chairman of the County Kerry Farmers' Club.—10, Downing-street, Whitehall. March 8th. 1871.—Sir,—I have the honour to acknowledge the resolution passed by the Kerry Farmers' Club on the subject of the Irish Land Bill, which has been obligingly placed in my hands by your representative, Mr. Herbert. I shall with great pleasure bring under the notice of my colleagues this emphatic testimony to the healing effects of a measure which from your enumeration of the benefits it has conferred appears to have touched all the principal needs of Ireland with reference to the holding and cultivation of land ; and I am bold enough to hope that, as time more and more develops the character of its working, you may see more and more reason for satisfaction with its results, both in the condition and in the sentiments of the people.—I have the honour to be, sir, your obedient servant, W. E. GLADSTONE. Will you kindly convey to the club the contents of this letter?

The First Irish Land Act of 1879 (see also Wiki entry) was intended to settle at least some of the grievances of the native working-class Irish. Local customs giving tenants security of tenure and allowing them to sell on their tenancy were enforced where these existed. The Act established that if a tenant who had paid their rent on time was nevertheless evicted they were entitled to compensation, and that when a tenancy ended, provided it had not been terminated for non-payment of rent, the landlord must reimburse the tenant for any improvements they had made to the property during the tenancy. It also allowed tenants who wished to buy their holding (assuming that the landlord agreed to this) to borrow two-thirds of the cost from the government at five percent interest, repayable over thirty-five years, although in practice few could afford to raise the remaining third.

It was also supposed to prevent "exorbitant" rent-rises, but since these were not properly defined many landlords raised their rents sharply just before a tenant was due to leave, knowing that if the tenant was unable to pay their final few months' rent they could be evicted for non-payment and the landlord wouldn't have to pay them for whatever improvements they had made to the property. If landlords simply failed to compensate for improvements, few tenants could afford to take them to court. All in all the Act turned rather sour, and despite Langford Rae's early enthusiasm for it, it very soon whipped round and bit him on the bum. Fifteen days after the article about Gladstone's enthusiastic thanks, we find the following:

Morning Post, 5^th April 1871, page 2, column 6
Headed "IRELAND."
A case was tried under the Land Act on Saturday at the Tralee sessions which attracted a great deal of interest in the county of Kerry, not only because it was the first case in that county under the Land Act, but because Mr. Langford Rae, the respondent, is president of the Kerry Farmers' Club. He was sued by Timothy O'Brien and John O'Brien, tenants of the lands of Farna, for £250, under clause 3 of the Land Act, as compensation for loss sustained by them in having been evicted out of said lands by ejectment at the last Tralee quarter sessions. They claimed four years' rent, the holding being valued at £36 15s, and the annual rent being £75. Mr. Rae served a notice of set-off for £189 8s. 6d., as follows :—One gale's rent, ending 29th September last, £37 10s.: mesne rates from 29th September to this date, £37 10s.: county cess due, £2 6s.; one half poor rate, £2 2s. 6d.; loss sustained by respondent in consequence of claimants having allowed the dwelling-houses and offices on the lands to become dilapidated, £60; loss in consequence of claimants having during several successive years, up to and including the year 1870, meadowed about eight statute acres of the lands, whereby that portion became deteriorated in value to the extent of £50. Mr. C. N. Hemphill, Q.C., after many witnesses on each side had been heard, delivered judgement. finding £150 as the amount of compensation, and deducting therefrom, for various items of set-off, £82 6s. 2d., thus giving the tenants a net amount of £67 13s. 10d.

A gale is half a year's rent. Mesne refers to someone intermediate in a chain of land-ownership, with a landlord above them and sub-tenants below them, and a cess is a tax.

Manchester Evening News, 19^th October 1878, page 2, column 3
The watchmen of Tralee a few days since arrested for drunkenness a person who has been a total abstainer for thirty years—Mr. Langford Rae, a magistrate of the county Kerry. Mr. Rae complained on Thursday to the town commissioners of the manner in which he had been treated, and it was resolved to dismiss the two watchmen who had made so extraordinary a mistake, but it was ultimately decided to caution them and fine them £1 each.

Whether this arrest truly was wrongful or not is lost in the mists of time. Langford Rae was about sixty-two at this point, assuming he is the Langford Rae born in 1816, so he had been teetotal since he was about thirty-two. Before that, clearly, he hadn't been. Maybe he became a Methodist at thirty-two - or maybe he had been a drinking man who felt he had to stop. And just maybe the watchmen were right and the court was wrong and he had, briefly, fallen off the wagon.

Liverpool Mercury, 24^th February 1880, page 7, column 9
Headed "THE STATE OF IRELAND."
THE IRISH RELIEF FUNDS.
The additional memorials for loans from the Board of Works which were made last week number 258, and the sums applied for amount to £148,000. Already nearly the whole sum which the Government have applied to Parliament to sanction for relief works is sought to be absorbed by these loans. The total now amounts to about £630,000. The largest sum applied for in the last memorials is £20,500, by Colonel King Harman, M.P., for his estates in the counties of Longford and Westmeath. The list includes the following applications:— ... Langford Rae, £2000, Kerry ; ...

As we have already seen, Langford Rae seems to have died between 1^st January and 8^th February 1882. [FamilySearch; Irish Genealogy: Book N° Q; Page 1; Record_Identifier KY-CI-BU-3609] After his death he makes one last and even more curious appearance in the news:

Manchester Evening News, 12^th October 1883, page 3, column 4
Headed "IRELAND."
SCENE AT AN INQUEST.
An extraordinary scene took place at an inquest held at Tralee, on the body of John Wilks, a private in the 104th Regiment, who died suddenly. Medical testimony had been given that death was occasioned by the rupture of a blood vessel in the stomach, and the jury brought in a verdict in accordance with this testimony.—One of the jurors (Mr. Charles Nolan, of Moyderwell), when requested to attach his signature by the coroner, said, addressing the latter : You would not ask me so well when your brother and Langford Rae, who is dead and —, killed my father.—The Coroner : I don't understand you.—Mr. Nolan : You do — well, when your brother—The Coroner : I can't allow you to use this insulting language. It is contempt of court.—Mr. Nolan : I don't care a — about you or the court.—The Coroner : I must commit you for a week. Here several jurors interposed, and endeavoured to persuade Mr. Nolan to keep quiet, but he still persisted in his observations.—The Coroner : If you apologise, Mr. Nolan, for what you have said I will remit the sentence.—Mr. Nolan : I won't apologise.—The court was then adjourned and the coroner left.—A number of policemen then proceeded to take Mr. Nolan into custody, but he declined to allow himself to be arrested until they had produced a warrant for his arrest. This, however, they said they had not got, and proceeded to handcuff him, but he still resisted. The police then called on some soldiers who happened to be present for assistance which was rendered, one of the soldiers, however, protesting against the treatment received by Mr. Nolan. In a short time the latter was locked up in the guard room. Later on in the evening the coroner signed Mr. Nolan's discharge, and, after his friends had procured bail, he was set at liberty.

According to family history, my great-great-grandfather Francis Langford Rae was born on 28^th February 1822 in Dublin but came from a Kerry family and probably lived in Kerry, before moving to India some time prior to 1857, at which time a son of his was born in Madras.

It is tempting to assume that Langford Rae, Edward Rae and Francis Langford Rae were the three brothers of John Langford Rae mentioned in the London Daily News article of 10^th November 1855, although that requires Francis to have moved out to India in the narrow time-slot between 1855 and 1857. But then we have the complication that the Langford Raes who went to India were Catholics, and several of the Langford Raes in Ireland are specified as Catholic, including some who were living in Keel, but the Langford Rae of Keel House who died in 1882 was buried at a Protestant church.

My father, Rory Langford-Rae, did his own geneaological research and he (a devout if unorthodox Catholic) reckoned that his MacRae ancestors had fought for Cromwell and had been rewarded with land in Ireland, which would make them Protestants. The presence of this Church of Ireland Langford Rae may be either the proof of Rory's theory, or the reason for it. Perhaps they indeed began as a Protestant family and then some members of the family took Catholic wives and raised Catholic children. If so it suggests both genuine conviction and a certain reckless nobility, given the immense legal burdens and restrictions which had been placed on Catholics in Ireland until only a few years previously, and the long way the Catholic community would have to go to recover an equal social and economic status.

Or, of course, they could always have been a Catholic family, and it could be Protestant Langford Rae who was the convert.

The records show glimpses of other, younger family members who were probably the children of one or more of the Raes of Keel House.

William Langford Rae born 1845 died December quarter 1910 in Killarney, County Kerry. [FamilySearch] According to Property owners County Kerry circa 1870, William L Rae of Ardmoneel, Killorglin, Kerry, who may or may not have been William Langford Rae, owned 835 acres: Killorglin and Killarney are about ten miles apart.

He turns up twice in the newspapers. The first mention is slight but intriguing. The Liverpool Mercury, 18^th August 1875, page 1, column 2, carried a notice to the effect that "MR. WILLIAM LANGFORD RAE, late of Seymour-street, London, is earnestly requested to communicate with the advertiser.—Address L. J. S., Temperance Hotel, 11, Cases-street."

Less happily, under the heading "TOPICS OF THE DAY." The Citizen (Gloucester) of 14^th January 1887, page 3, column 2, carried a section on news from Ireland, referred to as "the Sister Isle", which begins with a long and strongly disapproving article about an incident at Glenbeigh in County Kerry when starving tenants, unable to pay their rent, were evicted in mid winter and their houses burned by agents of a firm of London money-lenders who had taken over from their absentee landlord. This is followed by:

The following little incident is an eloquent sign of the times. A sad case of destitution arising out of the present land agitation was brought to light at Wednesday's meeting of the Killarney Board of Guardians when Mr. WILLIAM LANGFORD RAE, a landlord, sought admission to the workhouse. He is a land proprietor in Killarney, but his land is valueless to him, as he got no money out of it. The annual rental of the property after giving a reduction was £350. He could not dig, to beg he was ashamed, and so the applicant was admitted, the relieving officer stating that he would starve in the streets if kept out.

Since William didn't die until 1910 we know that he survived this crisis. According to NUI Galway's Landed Estates section , "In 1906 terms had been arranged by the Congested Districts Board for the purchase of over 600 acres of the estate of W.L. Rae in county Kerry. In 1909 the Board reported that this land had been purchased." It is likely, therefore, that he didn't spend the final twenty-three years of his life destitute or in the workhouse, and that at least during the last few years of his life he had a little money again.

Langford Rae: The London Gazette of 21^st January 1873, page 272, under the headings "MILITIA" and "7th Royal Lancashire, records that "The services if Lieutenant Langford Rae are dispensed with. Dated 22nd Janaury, 1872". This is surely too young to be Langford Rae the magistrate and Chairman of the County Kerry Farmers' Club, who would have been in his mid to late fifties in 1873, especially since we know he was living in Kerry in 1871 and in 1878, with no suggestion he had moved to Lancashire and back in the interim. This must be a son or nephew, probably born in the 1840s or 1850s.

Despite being in the Lancashire Militia this Langford Rae clearly was Irish, for we find the following:

Morning Post, 1^st August 1873, page 2, column 3
Headed "HOUSE OF COMMONS."
THE REMOVAL OF A LIEUTENANT OF MILITIA.
THE O'DONOGHUE asked the Secretary for War if he had any objection to place upon the table of the house the whole of the papers connected with the removal of Lieutenant Langford Rae from the 7th Lancashire Militia.
Mr. CARDWELL said the case was one in which the Commander-in-Chief had, with his approval, removed the officer in question. It would not be right to lay upon the table the reports of the commanding and inspecting officers.

Daniel O'Donaghue, The O'Donoghue of the Glens (Ó Donnchadha na nGleann), was a well-known Irish politician who was at this time MP for Tralee, strongly indicating that this Langford Rae was another of the Castlemaine Raes. The O'Donoghue of the Glens was and is Prince of Glenflesk, hereditary chieftain of a sept of the Kerry Eóganacht (the descendants of the Irish nobility of the so-called Dark Ages), with a verifiably ancient pedigree confirmed by Éire's Chief Herald.

That an important Irish chieftain was interested enough in his case to raise it in Parliament, and that Parliament wished to keep some aspects of it private, may mean that the offence for which Langford Rae's services were "dispensed with" was a political one. Or The O'Donoghue might just have been a very conscientious constituency MP.

Guy Langford Rae born and died March quarter 1889 in Rathdown, south-east Dublin. [FamilySearch; FamilySearch]

First generation in the East: Francis Langford Rae & Mary Christina Swords

Francis Langford Rae, 28^th February 1822 to 31^st January 1866, was a police officer who was born in Dublin, according to family history, and later moved to County Kerry. This suggests that he was probably related in some way to the child Guy Langford Rae who would die in Dublin in 1889, and that there were two distinct yet closely related groups of Langford Raes, one in Dublin and one in Kerry. At some point prior to late June 1857 he married Mary Christina Swords, born 1839, and settled in India - not neccessarily in that order.

By June 1857 the couple were in Madras: depending on when they moved they may have been refugees from the Great Irish Famine of 1845-1852. I do not know how they fitted in with the Kerry Langford Raes above, although clearly they did. They had at least four children - possibly many more, but these are the four I know about and am reasonably sure are theirs:

Langford Rae born 30^th May 1857 the son of Frances Rae and Mary, christened 28^th June 1857 in Madras. [FamilySearch]. Almost certainly the same as Langford Rae, born 1858, died 29^th January 1904, buried the same day in Bangalore: approximate birth-years are calculated by subtracting the subject's age from their year of death, and since Langford Rae died before his birthday that year, that would indeed result in his calculated birth-year being given as 1858 rather than 1857. [FamilySearch] Married a wife called Ellen. Probably really called Langford Francis Rae, although Langford Rae was his usually style: there are several children (see below) listed as born to a couple called Langford Rae and Ellen Rae, and one born to Langferd Francis Rae and Ellen Rae.

Frank (or Francis?) Rae, born in 1862 and died 30^th June 1909, buried in Calcutta on 2^nd July. [FamilySearch] Probably the same Francis Rae who later married an Esther and had a son called Langford Francis Denis Rae [FamilySearch], and the Frank St Albans Rae who (according to the baptism records of the Catholic church in Shwebo) married an Esther and had a daughter Amelia Irene Rae.

Denis (or Denys) Wilmot Rae, born 1865 the son of Francis Langford Rae, married twice, his second wife being Ma Kyin (later Daw Kyin, Ma being an honorific for a young woman and Daw for an older one, like Miss and Madam), born 1880 the daughter of Lo Sit Pyun (father). Denis Wilmot and Ma Kyin married on 4^th January 1903 in Bhamo, said to be in Bengal, India but actually in Burma/Myanmar. [FamilySearch]

At least one girl - name not known, but family history records that Denis Wilmot had at least one sister.

There's a certain amount of guesswork involved here. I am making an assumption that Frances Rae who was married to Mary and had a son Langford Rae in 1857; the unnamed grandfather of Langford Francis Denis Rae who had a son Francis Rae in 1862; and Francis Langford Rae who had a son Denis Wilmot Rae in 1866 were all the same person. But clearly all these sons were the sons of somebody connected to the Langford Rae family.

Family history is clear that Denis Wilmot's mother was indeed called Mary, making it virtually certain that Langford Rae and Denis Wilmot Rae were brothers. The inclusion of Francis Rae as a middle brother is more conjectural, but their dates of birth - 1857, 1862, 1865 - suggest the smooth growth of a family of brothers, and if they weren't brothers, if they were the scions of two different sets of parents, there ought to be more of them - especially as the Langford Raes all seem to have been Catholics, and thus probably had large families.

Also, Francis Rae's son Langford Francis Denis Rae became a tea-planter in Assam, and my father Rory Langford-Rae, who was Denis Wilmot Rae's grandson, went out to Assam to work in the tea trade. This tends to reinforce the idea that they were related (first cousins once removed, if I'm right about how they all connect).

Second generation: the children of Francis Langford Rae & Mary Christina Swords

Langford (Francis) Rae (son of Francis Langford Rae, born 30^th May 1857) became a businessman and Managing Director of the Arbuthnot banking group (as reported in a newspaper clipping about the death of his son Frank). Arbuthnot's was a very famous bank in India at the time.

Langford (Francis) Rae of India married Ellen and went on to have the following children I know about:

Ellen Constantia Rae born 8^th January 1884 the daughter of Langford Rae and Ellen, christened 2^nd February 1884 in Rangoon. [FamilySearch] Presumably the same as Helen Constance Rae, born 1884 the daughter of Langford Rae, married Claude Hampton Chubb born 1878 the son of Charles John Chubb, on 15^th January 1904 in Madras. [FamilySearch]

Langford Frank Allan Rae born 13^th August 1885 the son of Langford Rae and Ellen, christened 19^th December 1885 in Calcutta. [FamilySearch] He appears to be the same person as Frank Langford Rae, born 1885, later the Chief Inspector of Police in Calcutta. Family history says that Frank Langford Rae's father was a Langford Rae, possibly one with a middle name, and FamilySearch says the same although it has wrongly transcribed his surname as Roe. He married Beatrice Eileen Constance Campbell, born 1890 the daughter of Charles Gascoyne Campbell, on 30^th March 1910 in Calcutta. [FamilySearch] We know this really is Frank Langford Rae, not Roe, because Beatrice Eileen Constance Campbell definitely married into the Langford Raes. A newspaper cutting about the marriage (see below) also states that Frank Langford Rae's father Langford Rae was dead by the time of his marriage in 1910, which fits with the death of Langford (Francis) Rae in Bangalore in 1904. Frank Langford Rae himself died aged fifty-nine, on the 13^th of November 1944 at the PG HOspital, Calcutta, "after a long and painful illness, patiently borne" according to a newspaper notice of his death.

We know that the Frank Langford Roe listed on FamilySearch">Family Search is really Frank Langford Rae, because he married Beatrice Campbell in Calcutta and we know from family history that Frank Langford Rae married Beatrice Campbell. His father's name is given as Langford Roe, which should clearly be Langford Rae. He was said to be twenty-five when he married in March 1910, so he was born in 1884 or 1885. Family history records that his father was called Langford Something Rae and his daughter was Mavis Something Rae, known as Queenie.

FamilySearch also says that a Frank Langford Allen Rae had a daughter Mavis Laura Rae who lived in Calcutta. For this not to be the same man as Frank Langford Rae the father of Queenie, there would have had to be two men in Calcutta at the same time, one called Frank Langford Rae and one called Frank Langford Allen Rae and both with a daughter called Mavis: not impossible but very unlikely. We can say with a high degree of confidence that Frank Langford Rae and Frank Langford Allen Rae are the same man, and therefore that Frank Langford Allen Rae was the son of Langford Rae.

FamilySearch records that a Langford Frank Allan Rae was born in Calcutta on 13^th August 1885 the son of Langford Rae and Ellen. That actually makes him a few months too young to be the Frank Langford Rae who was twenty-five in March 1910, if that was accurate. However, both were sons of Langford Rae in Calcutta, and although not impossible it seems unlikely that he would have had two sons born very close together, the first called Frank Langford Allen Rae and the second Langford Frank Allen Rae. It seems much more likely that they are the same man and that the age given at his marriage was out by a few months.

The only thing against this Frank Langford Rae being the son of the same Langford (Francis) Rae who was the son of Francis Langford Rae, is that a transcript of a newspaper notice of his marriage gives his father as "Langford Rae (of County Kerry)". Langford (Francis) Rae was christened in Madras - but he was a month old and might possibly have been born in Kerry, and he certainly came from a Kerry family. Frank Langford Rae cannot be the son of the Langford Rae who lived in Kerry and was born in 1816 (and who was probably but not definitely the Langford Rae who owned land in Kerry in the 1870s), for that Langford Rae died in 1882, too soon to have conceived a son born in 1885. Furthermore a newspaper cutting relating to the death of Frank the father of Queenie refers to him as Frank Langford Allen Rae of County Kerry, although he was certainly not born in Kerry. So I think we can safely say that Frank Langford Rae is indeed the boy christened Langford Frank Allen Rae, and he just rearranged the order of his names a bit.

Esther Minnie Rae born 11^th December 1886 the daughter of Langford Rae and Ellen, christened 10^th July 1887 in Rangoon. [FamilySearch]

Debora Charlotte Rae, born 7^th February 1892 to Langferd Francis Rae and Ellen, christened 7^th May 1892 in Burma. [FamilySearch]. Presumably the same as Deborah Charlotte Chubb, divorcée, born 1892 the daughter of Langford Rae, married John Finlay, born 1894 the son of John Finlay, on 14^th November 1928 in Lahore. [FamilySearch]

Rita Kathleen Rae, daughter of Langford Rae, married Noel Peter Nelson, a widower, son of Hans Nelson, on 7^th February 1915 in Bombay: year of birth not given. [FamilySearch] She was later widowed and re-married to Geoffrey Donald Fraser, the son of Harry Lacey Fraser, in Bombay on 11^th June 1921. [FamilySearch] A Rita K Fraser, date of birth around 1894, died in the first quarter of 1950, death being registered at Hammersmith, London.

Langford (Francis) Rae died 29^th January 1904 and was buried the same day in Bangalore. [FamilySearch]

Francis or Frank St Albans Rae (son of Francis Langford Rae born 1862), listed in the records of the Catholic church in Shwebo as "Accountant R.M.C." and as resident in Kyapin, married Esther and had the following children:

Amelia Irene Rae, son of Frank St. Albans Rae and Esther, born 12^th January 1892, christened 28^th April 1892 in Shwebo. [Baptismal records of the Catholic church in Shwebo]

Langford Francis Denis Rae, son of Francis Rae and Esther, born 29^th May 1895, christened 22^nd October 1895 in Rangoon. [FamilySearch]

Kyapin is supposed to be near Kyauktan which is just south of Rangoon/Yangon, four hundred miles from Shwebo, so it is probable that the place-name listed in the baptismal register at Shwebo church is an error for Kyatpyin, a small town about five miles west of Mogok and fifty miles north-east of Shwebo.

Frank died on 30^th June 1909 and was buried in Calcutta on 2^nd July. [FamilySearch]

Denis Wilmot Rae (son of Francis Langford Rae born 1865) was a senior police officer and an anthropologist, based in the Kachin Hills. He joined the police force in 1884 and became both a District Superintendent and a senior administrator, very well respected by the people of the Kachin Hills. Detailed information on Denis and his second wife Ma Kyin can be found on his own page.

According to family history Denis married first to a Chinese wife whose name is not recalled, by whom he had a daughter:

Beatrice Eunice Rae, born in 1893 or late 1892, who married Erie (possibly a mis-transciption for Eric?) Alfred Henry, born 1889 the son of Thomas Henry, on 24^th September 1913 at Mague Myingyan (then described as being in Bengal, India but actually in what is now Burma/Myanmar). [FamilySearch] She went to live in Brixton, London.

He married again to a Shan woman variously named in the records as Ma Kyin, May Kym or Machin. The couple (my great-grandfather and great-grandmother) had the following children:

Robert R Rae, son of Denys Wilmot Rae and Ma Kyin, born 2^nd February 1900 and christened on 4^th January 1903 at Bhamo. [FamilySearch]

Virginia Rae, daughter of Denys Wilmot Rae and Ma Kyin, born 3^rd March 1902 and christened on 4^th January 1903 at Bhamo. [FamilySearch] Probably the same as Jeannie Monica Rae, born 1902, daughter of Dennis Wilmot Rae, married David Sassoon Soloman (born 1897) the son of Sassoon Ezekial Soloman, on 29^th January 1923 in Rangoon. [FamilySearch]

Bertram Langford Denis Rae (my grandfather), son of Denis Rae and Machin, born 28^th September 1903, christened 14^th February 1909 in Maymyo (again, then described as being in Bengal, India but actually in what is now Burma/Myanmar). [FamilySearch] Known to be the same as Bertram Longford Rae, born 1903 the son of Denis Rae, who married Ethel Maud Shirran, born 10^th January 1904 the daughter of George Shirran, in Mandalay on 23^rd December 1924 (and previously in Edinburgh on 31^st May 1923). [FamilySearch; GROS Statutory Marriages 1923 685/04 0464] After his divorce from Ethel Maud he married again on 8^th July 1941 to Herta Helene Josephine Margarethe Schmidt, born 17^th July 1913.

Harry Paul Rae, son of Denis Rae and Machin, born 2^nd December 1905, christened 14^th February 1909 in Maymyo, India. [FamilySearch]

Denis Wilmot Rae, birth date not known for certain but circa 1908. He was at the Government High School in Maymyo with a boy called Sam Newland (who would later be his commanding officer). Sam was at the school from 1914/15 to 1920/21 and Denis started at the school some time after Sam and probably not later than 1917. Sam, who was the same age as Robert, remembered Denis as being about half his own age when Denis started at secondary school at some point between 1915 and 1917, so he was probably born between 1907 and 1909.

Denis Wilmot Rae the elder died of cancer in 1921, but his widow Ma Kyin survived him by at least thirty years.

Third generation: the children of Langford (Francis) Rae and Ellen

[N.B. some information on dates of birth etc. for the Calcutta Raes comes from a family tree for Barry George Sullivan on Rootsweb, although as at time of writing this the person who drew up the tree has got their Raes a bit mixed up and has confused fathers and sons in at least two places.]

Ellen Constantia Rae (daughter of Langford F Rae, granddaughter of Francis Langford Rae, born 8^th June 1884), a.k.a. Helen Constance Rae, married Claude Hampton Chubb born 1878 the son of Charles John Chubb, on 15^th January 1904 in Madras. [FamilySearch]. No other information.

Frank Langford Rae (son of Langford F Rae, grandson of Francis Langford Rae, born 13^th August 1885), a.k.a. Langford Frank Allen Rae or Frank Langford Allen Rae, known in the family as Papa Rae, became a Captain in the army and an Inspector of Police in Calcutta, but he evidently wasn't considered a Class One Officer as his name does not appear in the Combined Civil List for India. He was known in the family to be strongly psychic, and had suffered traumatically as a prisoner of war of the Turks during World War One.

He married twenty-year-old Beatrice Eileen Constance Campbell, a relative of the Dukes of Argyll born 18^th March 1890. A transcript of a notice from the "Births, Marriages and Deaths" colum of The Statesman and Friend of India of 3^rd April 1910 states: "RAE-CAMPBELL- At the old Mission Church, Calcutta, on Wednesday, 30^th March, 1910, by the Rev. F.B.Hadow, Frank Langford, son of the late Langford Rae (of County Kerry) to Beatrice Eileen Constance, daughter of Charles Gascoyne Campbell, late Asst. Suptd. (Bengal Police) and grand-daughter of the late Captain Archibald Charles Campbell, 1^st Light Cavalry (Dunstaffenage, Argylleshire). (English and Bombay papers please copy). No cards." Beatrice was connected in some way with Kiernander, the Swedish missionary who built the Old Mission Church.

Anne BurgessGeograph

Beatrice's family had connections with Dunstaffnage Castle at Dunbeg in Argyll & Bute. Built in the 13^th century on a high point overlooking the sea, to replace a 7^th century fortress at the same site, and originally belonging to the MacDougalls, the castle has been a Clan Campbell property since the 15^th century. Flora Macdonald was held there in 1746, and there is a hereditary office of Captain of Dunstaffnage which Beatrice's family seem to have held.

An elder son Langford Charles Rae, born in 1910, who married Alma Beryl [surname not known but believed to have been from Burma] and had a son Frank Langford Charles Rae (known as Dinky), born in Calcutta on 12^th February 1937 and baptised at St Theresa's RC church in Calcutta on 3^rd April 1937, and a daughter born in the early 1940s and probably called Patricia Rae. Either then or later he was a dealer in posh cars, and at the time of his son's birth he was a partner in a firm called Frank Rae & Co.
He had something of a reputation as a ladies' man. During the war (in which he is believed to have served in North Africa) he split from Alma and he came home from the war in uniform, in a Rolls Royce, accompanied by a young Polish girl called Diana, very glamorous with long blond hair but remembered in the family as a nice person and good with children. Langford doesn't seem to have married Diana: some time later he married the daughter of a British Raj family, and had a son and a daughter by her.
Langford and his new wife and children later moved to Melbourne, Australia, his son Frank (Dinky) by Alma having already moved there some time earler. Langford's brother Havelock's family had moved to Australia in 1948, the year India became independent, but Langford didn't follow until some time afterwards. Dinky married in Calcutta and had two children and one grandchild, and at least one of Langford's children by the second wife has also married and had children in Australia. Dinky's sister Patricia went to England and she and her children live near London.

A son Frank Ronald Campbell Rae, born 1913, who married Gertrude Ann Penny, known as "Toots", born 1911 the daughter of Charles Friend Penny, on 4^th August 1933 in Calcutta, at which point he was described as an engineer. [FamilySearch; British Library India Office Records N/1/551 f.197] Gertrude's nephew Kelvin Garrett-Meade, the son of her younger sister, is the source of some of the family photographs used here. Frank was later divorced from Gertrude and married again in Darjeeling on 24^th October 1944 to Muriel Maud Smart, at which point he was Garage Superintendent at Government House, Calcutta [British Library India Office Records N/1/625 f.157].
Frank later became the personal driver first for Lord Richard Casey, who was the Governor of Bengal from January 1944 to February 1946, and then for Lord Louis Mountbatten, who was the last Viceroy of the British Indian Empire in 1947, and the first Governor-General of independent India 1947-48. Frank and Muriel lived in a very grand apartment at Government House, and had a daughter, Jennifer Rae, who was born in the mid 1940s. Despite his rather gangsterish pose in some of these photographs, he is remembered as a kind and loving man, a wonderful brother and a godfather to his neice Heather.

Frank eventually died from typhoid fever.

Just one girl Mavis Laura Rae, born 4^th August 1914 the daughter of Frank Langford Allen Rae and nicknamed "Queenie", who married Victor Edward James Rainford Hannah, born 24^th May 1909 the son of Walter Richardson Hannah, on 14^th March 1935 in Calcutta. [FamilySearch] The couple had a son, Clive Hannah, and a daughter Rosalie who was probably born in 1944 and who married a Sullivan.
Victor died in Bromley, South London, in 1971. Queenie outlived him by many years and died in Anerley, Bromley on 1^st August 1984: I was living only about a mile away from her at the time, but didn't know it. As at 2011 Clive has died but Rosalie is alive, has children of her own and is herself researching the history of the Campbell/Dunstaffnage side of the family.

Another son Ernest Percival Havelock Rae married Merlyn Mabel Glewis, a Senior Ward Sister at the Presidency General Hospital Calcutta, on 3^rd December 1938. The couple had a daughter Jean (now Jean Liddelow), born in the Eden Hospital, Calcutta in September 1939, and a son, Hugh Ernest Rae, born in 1946 in Calcutta. In 1948 the family moved to Australia. Jean is a geneaology researcher herself and is the source of most of the family history I have for the Calcutta Raes: you can read Jean's interesting account of her life as a child at Government House, Calcutta in the early to mid 1940s. She married ?? Liddelow and had a son Paul born in the 1960s.

A son Rochford Gascoyne Rae, known as "Bunny", born 4^th April 1918, married to Cynthia, moved to Carlisle with her and died in 1998. He had a daughter Heather, who lived in East Croydon before moving to Michigan and married Somebody-Alexander (not necessarily in that order) and in turn has at least two daughters the eldest of whom is Joanne Alexander, also now married.

Another son Lancelot William Patrick Rae, known as Patrick, born circa 1920 and according to the India Office Records he married Shirley Irene Mary Rylands at St Thomas's RC church in Calcutta on 18^th February 1940. His wife's sister Vilma married Lancelot's brother Keith. At the time of his marriage he was a mechanic with Air France, but his niece Jean recalls him as having subsequently ended up in the Calcutta police. He had at least two sons, one of whom was called Michael Rae (Micky). Another son started a firm called Langford Rae Real Estate in London, which was the progenitor of the modern firms Langford Rae O'Neill and Langford Rae Van Bergen.

A son Allen or Allan Hamilton Rae, date of birth not known but probably fits into the long gap between Lancelot in 1920 and Keith in 1930, married to Teresa and with a daughter Evelyn. He became a Commercial Artist in London.

There may also have been a son Denis Rae who died very young.

A youngest son Keith Fergus Rae, born 6^th February 1930 in Calcutta, baptised 1^st August 1930. He married Vilma Reynolds, the sister of the Shirley Irene Mary Reynolds who was married to Keith's elder brother Lancelot.

In later life Frank Langford Rae separated from his wife (possibly she was worn out by too many pregnancies!) and he went to live with his children, spending time with Frank Ronald Campbell Rae and with Rochford Gasgoyne Rae.

Esther Minnie Rae (daughter of Langford F Rae, granddaughter of Francis Langford Rae, born 11^th December 1886) - no information about her later life. It's possible she either died young, or never married.

Debora or Deborah Charlotte Rae (daughter of Langford F Rae, granddaughter of Francis Langford Rae, born 7^th February 1892) married twice. I have no information about her first marriage except that by 1928 her surname was Chubb and she was a divorcee. She married again to John Finlay, born 1894 the son of John Finlay, on 14^th November 1928 in Lahore. [FamilySearch] It may or may not be coincidence that her elder sister Ellen or Helen married a Chubb in 1904: perhaps two sisters married two brothers.

Rita Kathleen Rae (daughter of Langford F Rae, granddaughter of Francis Langford Rae, date and year of birth unknown) married Noel Peter Nelson, a widower, son of Hans Nelson, on 7^th February 1915 in Bombay. [FamilySearch] She was later widowed and re-married to Geoffrey Donald Fraser, the son of Harry Lacey Fraser, in Bombay on 11^th June 1921. [FamilySearch]

Third generation: the children of Francis Rae and Esther

Langford Francis Denis Rae (son of Francis Rae, grandson of Francis Langford Rae, born 29^th May 1895) married Anne Maud Elizabeth Kirkpatrick, known as Betty. This is according to my mother's research at India House, where she also found evidence that he was born in Rangoon and was a tea-planter. The London Gazette of 18^th March 1919 records retroactively that on 18^th September 1918 Langford Frank Dennis Rae was admitted to the Indian Army Reserve of Officers as a 2^nd Lieutenant in the Infantry. The couple had at least one child:

A daughter Phoebe Denise Olive Louise Rae, born 9^th September 1930 in Cachaw (probably Cachor or Cachar province in Assam, since that was where her father was in 1947).

This must be the Langford Frank Denis Rae who died in Worthing, June quarter 1970, with a date of birth given as 29^th May 1896 [GRO June quarter 1970, Worthing 5h 2085]. My mother investigated him in the 1980s and found that he had died on 21^st March 1970, and his address at death was 45 Hillside Avenue, Worthing, Sussex. His will was made on 10^th March 1947 at Cachor province Assam (which fits with his being a tea-planter), signed in Calcutta and executed in Brighton, and his executors were Ian Morriss & David Gomme. His entire fortune of £13,266 was left to his wife Betty Rae and daughter Phoebe Rae.

Third generation: the children of Denis Wilmot Rae...

... by his first wife

Beatrice Eunice Rae (daughter of Denis Wilmot Rae, granddaughter of Francis Langford Rae, born circa 1893) married Eric (?) Alfred Henry, born 1889 the son of Thomas Henry, on 24^th September 1913 at Mague Myingyan in Burma/Myanmar. [FamilySearch] This is probably the same Eric Alfred Henry whose birth is recorded in Surrey in the September quarter of 1889, and who was baptised on 19^th October 1889 at Hampton Hill, St James, England the son of Thomas Alfred Henry and Donna Maria Henry [Register of Births, Deaths and Marriages for England and Wales: births in September quarter 1889, Surrey Vol. ?? Page ???] (the mother is listed in a family tree on ancestry.co.uk as Donna Maria Tibbits). Bea later lived in council flats in Brixton, London, where her half-nephew Francis met her several times and recalls her as "a real darling of a woman". The couple had two children:

A son, Peter Henry.

A daughter, name not known, who went on to marry somebody about whom there is conflicting family information. One source says he was a senior official in Edinburgh, maybe the Lord Provost, but another source says he was called Ferguson and there's no Lord Provost of Edinburgh called Ferguson, although there was a Lord Provost of Aberdeen in the 1970s called Farquharson-Smith. Another says that the daughter visited her mother Bea only rarely, in a chauffeur-driven Rolls Royce, and that she was married to a "Chief Justice in Scotland". We don't actually have Chief Justices in Scotland so this would probably be either a Lord President of the Court of Session or a Lord Chief Justice Clerk.

... by his second wife, Ma Kyin

All of the sons of Denis Wilmot and Ma Kyin boarded at the Government High School for Europeans in Maymyo, one of the top five high schools in Burma, where they were friends with a half-Chin boy named Samuel Newland whose father, Surgeon Major Arthur GE Newland, was both a medical man and a linguist who studied the Chin language. Sam and the Rae boys shared a common interest in hunting (unfortunately): other friends included Jack Girsham, Peter Bennie, George Fuller, Oscar Piggott, Arthur "Bill" Parry and Fred Lawson. Sam recalls them thus:

In my box-room I had about six boys, including R.R.Rae (Bobbie) who was the first to befriend me and show me the "ropes" in the school. We became fast friends as we discovered we had lead the same sort of out-back life and were mad on shooting. He managed to get another boy to change beds with me so that our beds were side by side and many were the stories we exchanged in bed after lights-out at 9 pm. Bobbie was about my age but one standard ahead of me. He had two other brothers in the school, Harry and Bertie and later a third brother, Denis, joined the school. After Bobbie joined up in 1917 and was sent to India for training, I took Bertie under my wing as he was keen on shooting too and we became life long friends afterwards. Harry was a lady killer and I never had much use for him. Denis was about half my age and I can hardly remember him in school ...

According to Vivian Rodrigues the Government High School in Maymyo taught to a very high standard, with compulsory subjects including two units of maths, one of science, one of either Latin or Greek plus sport and debate, among others. Students took the Cambridge Certificate and went on to universities in Britain or India, or into government service. It was not exclusively for Europeans and nor was it strictly a High School as we now understand it. Students could be as young as five or well into their twenties and were graded according to educational level rather than age, especially as some children had been living in the backwoods where they had had little prior access to education. Its academic year coincided with the calendar year, from January to December, rather than running from September to August as it does at British schools.

We know from Sam's memoirs that Bertie was in Burma in summer 1918, that Bertie left Maymyo High School after passing his 7^th standard exams and also that the boat from Burma to Britain took a month. It is likely, therefore, that Bertie sat his 7^th standard in December 1918 and started at school in Britain in September 1919, just before he turned sixteen. Sam, three years older than Bertie, took his 7^th standard in 1917 so Bertie was two years ahead of Sam and one year ahead of Robert as regards the relationship between his academic year and his age. Sam considered himself to be well behind the normal age for schooling for city-raised children, so Bertie may also have been slightly behind, and Bobby definitely was.

Robert "Bobby" R Rae (son of Denis Wilmot Rae, grandson of Francis Langford Rae, born 2^nd February 1900) is covered in more detail on his own page. He was brave, reckless and sometimes aggressive and as such I suspect possibly a drunk: he volunteered for war at sixteen by lying about his age and made sergeant while still probably too young to even be there, but probably never saw action until the 1940s; he became a magistrate who was sacked after beating up a recalcitrant witness and killing a local man (albeit the latter was by accident and in justifiable self-defence); earned his living as a big game hunter and a slaughterer of tigers for money; was convicted of murder, judged temporarily insane due to malaria and confined to an asylum for seven years after killing, in undoubted self-defence, a friend whom he had cuckolded and who was trying to beat his brains out with an elephant bone at the time; was accused - almost certainly falsely - of rape; was reputed to have escaped from the asylum ahead of the advancing Japanese; fled the Japanese army the length of Burma and was so traumatised that he developed full-blown PTSD; became a respected captain of the Kachin levies; and was seconded to the U.S. special ops force called O.S.S. 101 where he taught jungle survival skills to the forerunners of the C.I.A., and became a decorated war hero.

David Solomon, who took the family name Rae.

In later life acording to family memory Jenny became variously an actress, an alcoholic and a nun at a convent in Finchley. Sam says that Jenny and her brother Harry both became "variety entertainers" in Paris: it is possible therefore that she got stuck in Occupied France during the war and that her later drink problem was the result of some traumatic wartime experience.

Roderick "Rory" Denis Edward Langford-Rae, 28^th January 1927 - 25^th March 1965. Rory, a senior civil servant in the East and later a professional administrator and negotiator in the tea industry, did not marry but he had an affair with Kathleen Veronica Jordan (born 27^th December 1926) and produced an illegitimate daughter, me, Claire Margaret Jordan born in London (South Kensington) on 8^th March 1959. He is covered in detail in his own section.

After his divorce from Ethel Maud in 1940, Bertram married again to an Austrian glove-maker named Herta Helene Josephine Margarethe Schmidt, born 17^th July 1913, by whom he had five sons (plus one stillborn boy who was half of a pair of twins with Francis):

Peter Bertram Rae, born 5^th July 1942 in Darjeeling, a businessman and charity-manager resident in London.

Richard Wilmot Rae, born 28^th October 1944 in Darjeeling, lived in Austria with his father for a while and became first a banker in London, then a financial journalist and then a chef, and is now resident in Wales. His wife Georgina Griffin, born 2^nd July 1947 in Essex, is a banker and accountant. The couple have two children. Their son Roger Rae, a systems accountant born 21^st October 1974 in Wanstead, Essex, is married to Jane Williams (born 16^th March 1969), lives in Cheddington, Buckinghamshire, has children of his own and is the source of much of my family information. Their daughter Gaby Rae, Roger's sister, is a journalist born 29^th July 1970 in Leytonstone, London, married Ralf Pinkner and now lives in Cologne.

Francis Charles Rae, born 5^th October 1946 in Insein, a carpenter now resident in Daylesford, Australia. He married Kris Staddon, born 20^th July 1950, and by her he had three children: Jade Rae, 11^th December 1979; Nicola Rae, 5^th July 1982 and Emerson Rae, 3^rd October 1986. He then divorced Kris and had a relationship (not a marriage afaik) with Elisabeth Denk, born in Wels, Austria, by whom he had a son Fabian Rae. All four children were born in Australia. Wels is the nearest major town to where Francis's parents ended up living from 1950 onwards, and Francis himself had lived there as a boy.

Timothey Ernest Rae, born 14^th May 1949 in Kalaw, now a procurement officer for IBM, living in Vienna. He married Anja Härkönen born 11^th August 1950 and the couple had two children, both born in Vienna: Tanja Rae, a radiographer born 28^th August 1975; and Robin Rae, a Sociologist born 3^rd April 1979. Tanja married Wolfgang Neurberger and has two children.

Michael Bernard Rae, born 22^nd December 1950 in Thalheim bei Wels, is now a jewellery retailer, married to Isabelle Scheiber born 29^th September 1949, no children, resident in Austria.

After the collapse of his career with the Burmese police Bertram moved to Thalheim bei Wels, Austria, close to Herta's family in Wels, and became a salesman for a building-materials firm. He died of a blood-clot on 18^th March 1972. He is covered in much more detail on his own page.

Patrick Dennis Joseph Rae, born 25^th 1931 in Beckenham (according to US naturalization records) in th3e London Borough of Bromley, who moved to Olympia, Washington in the USA, became a US citizen o 3^rd November 1976 and was killed in a plane crash in the U.S. in July 1982, but was survived by two children, one of whom seems (from a tree posted on ancestry.co.uk) to be called Lynn, born 13^th October 1971 in Iowa.

Denis Wilmot Rae (son of Denis Wilmot Rae, grandson of Francis Langford Rae, born circa 1908) is covered in more detail on his own page. He worked for the Forestry department and then during World War Two he became Sam Newland's second in command in the Z-Force Johnnies, the creme de la creme of secret reconnaissance units, as a result of which he was both mentioned in despatches and awarded the Military Cross.

He stayed on in Myanmar after it became independant, married Daw Khin Kyaing and had six children:

Susan Rae, an accountant born in Rangoon in 1948 who remembers her grandmother Ma Kyin well. She married George Tin Win and had two children Chaw Su (Eve) Win, born in 1973, and Zaw Htut (Leo) Win. Chaw Su (Eve) Win in turn married Banyar Tin Oo by whom she has two daughters, born in 2009 and 2012. George Tin Win and his son Leo both died in 1999. Susan, Eve and Banyar Tin Oo run a family laundry and real estate services business.

Timothy Rae, an engineer born in Prome in Central Burma in 1950, who married Khin Than Oo and had two daughters Khin Thet Htar Maw and Khin Nway Nway Maw, and a son Thwin Htoo Zin. The family has a textile and cosmetics shop.

Christopher Rae, born in Rangoon in 1952 and nicknamed U Ni, married Tin Tin Wint and has a daughter Wint Wai Wai Han (Honey) and a son Sat Wint Paing (Nino).

Mary Rae, a shopkeeper and part-time teacher born in Rangoon in 1954 and died in 1997, married to John Thwin Aye Maung, a university lecturer on Russian who died in 2000, and had a daughter Aye Mya Phoo born circa 1988, also known as Binkey Maung, a programmer who now lives in Sydney.

David Rae, born in Rangoon in 1956 and married to Mi Mi, who died in 2006. The family remained in Rangoon and had a son Kaung Myat Han, born in 1990, and a younger son Chan Myae Kyaw, born in 1993 and married to Htoo.

Denis Rae, officially called Maung Maung Rae in Burmese but nicknamed Maung Nge. Married Thandar and had a son Htoo Lu Rae, also known as Bingo. Denis/Maung Maung Rae died circa 2006.

Denis Wilmot Rae the younger, the father of Susan, Timothy, Christopher, Mary, David and Denis, died in 1999 and his wife Daw Khin Kyaing died in 2007.

An infant named Mary Rae is recorded as having died of malaria in Maymyo on 22^nd April 1916 and was buried the next day. I do not know whether this child was one of the Langford Raes or not, but her being in Maymyo suggests she might well have been. She isn't a child of Beatrice, who was already married and whose children would have had the surname Henry, and it's to be hoped she wasn't a daughter of Jenny, who was fourteen at the time. It's possible she was a last, lost daughter of Ma Kyin (who would have been thirty-six) and Denis Wilmot Rae the elder.