Rosalie Barton/Child
Gladys Rosalie Barton (always known as Rosalie) was born in 1891 at Newport in the Isle of Wight. She was the eighth surviving child (of nine) and the sixth daughter of Alfred Barton (1858-1948) and Emma Ann Quinton (1855-1931).
Figure 1: Rosalie sitting on her mother’s lap in a family group photograph in 1894
Figure 2: Rosalie with her mother in a family portrait, about 1899
Figure 3: Rosalie in the school hockey team, about 1908. She is the second from the right in the middle row
Figure 4: Rosalie at Marloe House YWCA in 1916. She is the second from the left in the second row from the front
On 21 August 1916, Rosalie married Richard Stewart Child (known as Stewart) at Brighstone in the Isle of Wight. The pair had met through family connections with the Revenue services, as Stewart was a colleague of Albert Edward Silvester, who worked for the Inland Revenue. Albert was married to Evelyn Kate Barton from the Isle of Wight, who was one of Rosalie’s sisters.
In another extraordinary twist the wedding of Stewart and Rosalie was the meeting place of Alfred Quinton Barton (Rosalie’s brother) and Amy Elizabeth Child (Stewart’s sister). Alfred and Amy married in 1920, creating another link between the two families. Helen Barton/Kegie was their first child, born in 1922.
Figure 5: The wedding in 1916. With the couple are (L-R) Con Quinton (cousin to Rosalie), Leonard Child (brother to Stewart) and Amy Child (sister to Stewart and mother of Helen Barton/Kegie).
Figure 6: The marriage announcements
Figure 7: The same wedding group in 1966 at the Golden Wedding in Devizes
Figure 8: Stewart and Rosalie in 1921
The couple’s first child Rosalie Mary (known as Mary) was born in Devizes on 9th February 1918. Mary became a medical practitioner and was also an accomplished pianist and a stroke in rowing. She died in 1974 at Devizes.
The second child was Richard Anthony (known as Anthony), who was born in Devizes on 22nd August 1922. Tragedy struck the family two years later, when the boy stumbled into a bowl of hot water in a wash-house and died the next morning from the shock.
Figure 9: Rosalie and Stewart with the children
The family lived at Brighstone, Breachfield, Devizes for many years and both Stewart and Rosalie were active members of the local community. Stewart undertook official functions, while Rosalie was very active in the Devizes Choral Society in the 1920s, performing in amateur productions. She was gifted in many ways and delighted many with her recitations at church functions and her reading of the Scriptures. She also adjudicated for many years in the Elocution Classes at the local Eisteddfod.
Figure 10: Rosalie (left) appearing in ‘The Gondoliers’ in Devizes, about 1927
Rosalie joined the British Red Cross Society in 1938 as well as the Civil Nursing Reserve, and during the war worked at Devizes Hospital. She became a Commandant for Devizes No 2 Detachment of the Red Cross and was awarded the Civil Defence long-service medal. In 1970 she attended a Royal Garden Party at Buckingham Palace for members of the British Red Cross Society.
Figure 11: Rosalie at a presentation with the Red Cross
Figure 12: Rosalie leads of parade for the Red Cross
Rosalie had a long association with the United Reform Church. She was connected with the Congregational Church for over 60 years and in her later years with St. Andrew's Church where she worshipped regularly and was a member of the Sisterhood and Methodist Guild. She lived in the Breach for over 60 years next door to the Methodist Manse and had many friends among the Methodist ministers and their wives.
When she died in 1988, the church magazine The Link said this of her:
"We shall always remember her for her wise counsel, her sense of fun and her keen interest in everything around her and those of us who knew her well are proud to have been counted among her friends."
Figure 13: Stewart and Rosalie on a visit to the Isle of Wight
Figure 14: Stewart and Rosalie in later years. After eventful and productive lives and a happy retirement, he died in 1974 and she in 1988.
Rosalie survived both her husband Stewart and her daughter Mary by a number of years, but she had much happiness with her granddaughters and their husbands and her first great granddaughters. She left the Breach in 1978 to live in a bungalow at the Ark and then at the age of 93 she went to live with her granddaughter Jane in Cardiff.