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 Tony and Leila Joynson-Wreford. |
Leila married firstly; Harold Field the marriage was later dissolved. She married secondly; Captain. Wilfred (Tony) Heyman Joynson Wreford.
Tony had been married twice before, during his second marriage to Olive Fletcher (nee. Trainor) he was co-financier of a transatlantic flight, the flight was to attempt to fly from Baldonnel in Ireland to America in a FOKKER monoplane;
the “Princess Xenia”.
Tony was to be the navigator on the flight which was being flown by; Captain. Robert MacIntosh, unfortunately he was forced to stand down due to the recurrence of an old leg injury, Commandant. James Fitzmaurice took his place.
The main financier of the flight was William Bateman Leeds; the aircraft which was named after his Russian wife; Princess Xenia Georgievna.
Tony and Leila were holidaying in Switzerland with their baby daughter Xenia (b. 3rd August 1935) when Leila’s father Col. J.K. McClintock, died at home in Seskinore on the 24th October 1936. |
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Col J.K. McClintock’s funeral procession (above) from Seskinore House to the McClintock burial plot at the Seskinore Chapel of Ease. The Chapel was built by the McClintock’s for their own use and also for the workers on the estate. |
Leila inherited the family estate of Seskinore which now comprised some 363 acres. The couple made arrangements to move to Seskinore with the intention of maintaining the family home. The joy of their arrival home and settling in to the country life was tragically cut short when after only 3 weeks Leila contracted meningitis and died 4 days later on the 30th January 1937, aged 38. Leila left her husband sole beneficiary of her estate. |  |
| Distraught from her death Tony refused to have Leila buried, he wished to have her embalmed and placed in a glass coffin, which was to be kept in the house. The Bishop was asked to intervene and a dispensation was secured to allow Leila to be buried in a small garden that she had made near the house when she was a child. “as a little girl, she made a garden on this site. With her own little hands she planted flowers here, and with childish interest and delight, looked after them. That spot, made sacred by her associations with it when she was a child is now to be sanctified by her abiding presence. Here we shall leave her in hope and peace.” (Tyrone constitution 5th February 1937) )Reproduced Courtesy of The Tyrone Constitution.) |
 The Mistress's garden 1939. | Every night at 6 pm Tony would take Leila’s dog for a walk and sit at her grave for up to an hour, he never recovered from her loss. Shortly after this Tony’s health took a turn for the worse, workers on the estate believed that he “did not have long for this world”. Tony spent the next 3 years in one clinic or another with his daughter and her nurse Helen Hunter always present. |
Tony died on the 23rd March 1940 from Tuberculosis. He had been convalescing in the "Kurhaus" Davos, Switzerland. Shortly before his death he sold part of the Mullaghmore estate containing 227 acres to the Ministry of agriculture, this left Seskinore House and the demesne with land totalling 129 acres plus some property in the village. Tony’s estate was left in trust to his daughter upon attaining her majority of 21 years, her education and maintenance were all to be paid out of the trust, the trustee was appointed power to sell Seskinore house if required to raise funds for this purpose. Seskinore house along with 115 acres was sold within a year of Tony’s death with the exception of Garden of Remembrance where Leila was buried and where Tony had requested that his ashes were to be scattered a right of access was to be reserved at all reasonable times. |
The graves of Tony and Leila Joynson-Wreford.
 Sheila Boteler with Xenia and her nurse Helen Hunter in the background. |
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Letters sent by Tony Joynson-Wreford to the gardener at Seskinore; Andy McHugh mention Sheila Boteler six months before Tony's death. Andy kept the letters and they are now with his grandson; Iggy McGovern, they help to build a picture of Tony's life over a 2 year period from Jan 1938 until his death on the 23rd March 1940. Iggy’s Aunt; Cecilia McHugh (Andy's daughter) lived in Seskinore until her death in December 2006, as a young girl she had been employed by Captain. Wreford. During her visit in September 2005 Xenia met Cecilia who remembered Captain. Wreford as “a lovely man, a kinder man you could not wish to meet". |
Xenia remembers being visited a couple of times at school by Aunt Dosie; her Grandmother's sister, unfortunately she does not recall what was said on these visits, she was mortified because she was called out of class to meet this person that she didn't know, she thought she "looked like Queen Mary, with a stern face, dressed in black", another time a letter arrived for her at school; it said that she should be with her family and told her to say that she was unhappy living with Sheila. Xenia gave the letter to Sheila; there were no more visits or letters. Shortly after when she was aged 10, Xenia’s nurse, Helen Hunter was relieved of her duties when Xenia was sent to Beaufront boarding school, this was followed by 3 finishing schools; Paris, Switzerland and London. |
Before long, they fell in love. Sheila completely disapproved of the relationship, she had other plans for Xenia. |  Xenia on her 21st Birthday. |
 On the boat to India, 1958. | The marriage was a happy one and 3 children followed David, Sharon and Michael. After 8 years in India Glyn felt that a new challenge was required. The family uprooted and travelled to the Pioneer Mill near Ayr, North Queensland, Australia. where Glynn was to be the manager with a house on the mill property. In 1982 Glyn died from a massive heart attack leaving a shattered family to get on with it in their adoptive home. Finding herself widowed and homeless aged 48 Xenia found herself running a coffee shop, then a travel agency before working for the State Senator until her retirement. Xenia decided that sitting at home was not for her, she decided to go to University and study Japanese and French culture. Xenia also hoped to find a friend from her school days that she had lost contact with when she left England for India, she signed up to Friends Reunited and hoped that Juliet would find her. |
Double click the above screen to enlarge film footage of
"Princess Xenia" arriving at Baldonnel.
Captain. R.H. Macintosh he had a very well documented flight career but David had been unable to find any record of Capt. Joynson-Wreford's flight career before or after this event.
David posted a request on the internet looking for information on Captain Joynson-Wreford, this was answered by Patrick (Pat) Joynson-Wreford; Tony's son from his marriage to Olive Fletcher nee Trainor.
Pat typed his fathers name into the search box on google, he had done this many times before, however this time he had a positive result.
Pat was looking for information on his father; his mother had refused to talk about him and now at the age of 76 Pat had decided that he wanted to know something about the man that had been his father.
 Olive with her daughters Patricia and Barbara Fletcher. |
she met Tony on a trip to London, they started an affair which ultimately ended their respective marriages. |
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| A copy of Tony’s will was ordered from the Public Records office of Northern Ireland (PRONI) . This arrived in July 2004, there had been no intimations of a child having been born to Tony and Leila so it came as a surprise to learn that Pat had a sister; Xenia, Tony’s will set up a trust for her education and maintenance. Where was she, where do you start to look for your sister, searches on the internet failed to give any clue where she might be. A further reference was found which told us that a baby boy had been born to Glyn and Xenia Lewis nee. Joynson-Wreford in India. A new search was made of Xenia's married name, a Xenia Lewis was registered on Friends Reunited, and her maiden name was included on the profile it also said that she had lived in India and now lived in Australia. | |||||||
|  A Publicity shot from theatre in South Africa. |
Pat sent an email to Xenia through Friends Reunited profile explaining that they had the same father and hoping to hear from her. Two weeks went by with no reply, a second email was sent. It was quickly answered; Xenia had thought that somebody was playing a joke on her; she had told people about her search to find old school friends and thought that one of them had sent it as a joke. Xenia was now aged 69 and having spent most of her life believing that she was adopted, although she kept her own name, it did not seem possible that she could have a 76 year old brother. Had he known about her? Why was he only contacting her now? They corresponded by email exchanging photos and information, coincidentally they had both been in Australia for a short time in 1968, Xenia arrived with her husband and family, Pat had been there for 4 years working on the stage and radio under his stage name of Pat Trevor . Pat had lived and worked on stage in South Africa, Zambia and Rhodesia before moving to Television where he presented the news, this led to his move to Scotland to work at Scottish Television where he worked until his retirement. |
The Joynson-Wreford siblings decided to meet, Pat flew to Brisbane where he was met on Boxing day 2004 by his niece Sharon, her husband Ron and their children; Christopher and Nicola. It was an emotional meeting. Pat flew to Townsville the following day to meet his Sister! Their meeting was captured by the local press who had been following the story. They came face to face in front of the camera in a relaxed and easy snap. Over the next few weeks their time was spent together sightseeing and meeting Xenia’s friends. It became obvious to friends and family that not only did they share the same father but they also shared a number of traits, good and bad! |  Courtesy of the Townsville Bulletin. |
 Col. J.K. McClintock and the Seskinore Harriers in the Main Street of Seskinore, c.1930. |
An email to the Public Records Office of Northern Ireland (PRONI) was sent enquiring if they held any archive material relating to the Seskinore estate and the McClintock’s. The reply confirmed that there were a number of files deposited in the archives relating to the family and the estate. A two day visit to PRONI proved to be inadequate due to the volume of material, the time quickly disappeared and it became evident that subsequent visits would be necessary. The records were fascinating; they ranged from a family scrapbook with photos and news clippings which brought Xenia’s family alive. There were several boxes full of Land registry deeds, this showed the extent of the McClintock estate up until the time of Xenia's Grandfather, Col. J.K. McClintock. A visit to the Land Registry was required to search the names of the people that we knew had owned the land at Seskinore; namely Xenia’s Grandfather, Mother, Father and the trustee named in her Father’s will. The staff at PRONI and The Land Registry proved to be extremely helpful and there assistance has been greatly appreciated. Many thanks to the Deputy Keeper of the Records, Public Record Office of Northern Ireland who has kindly granted permission allowing cuttings from albums D/1385/3 and D/1711/2 held at PRONI, to be reproduced on this site. |
 The courtyard at Seskinore (September 2005). | The search at the Land Registry revealed that a deed had been registered in 1952 appointing new trustees; it listed a schedule of the real estate held in trust under the terms of Tony’s will. A further search of the names of the new trustees was required to show what deeds; if any, had been registered by them, this search showed that the trustees had sold property but even allowing for this there were residual properties still remaining of the Seskinore estate. A phone call to the company where the former trustees had worked turned up a file containing the trust documents and deeds. This enabled the residual land to be identified and registered. |
In September 2005 Xenia Lewis returned to Seskinore with a small entourage of family and friends:- The entrance gates to the Estate are topped with statues of the McClintock Lion, the drive continues up an avenue of trees. Several members of the community were waiting to welcome us at the entrance to the courtyard where Xenia had played as a child. Xenia heard stories about her family; one of the men recalled the time her grandfather took her to see the horses in the stables; another recollection was the King’s Coronation, when she went with her father in his Jaguar SS to enjoy the celebrations, the boys in the village were more impressed with Captain. Wreford’s car which had a Union flag on the side. The Seskinore community group hosted a night to welcome Xenia and her family to the village. It was held in the McClintock primary school; built by Xenia's grandfather in 1900. There was singing by the school children, Xenia was presented with a photograph of Seskinore house framed in wood which came from a floorboard of the house, later in the night an opportunity was provided for everybody to chat over a cup of tea and cake. |
 Pat and Xenia at the graveside Garden of remembrance. Seskinore (September 2005). | In 1941 Seskinore House and surrounding land was sold to the Ministry of Agriculture. In 1952 they demolished the house, retaining most of the courtyard buildings. A newspaper article “The end of a house that nobody wanted” states; "no other use could be found for the house". The turning circle for the carriages is visible and helps to place the exact spot of where the house once sat; you can picture the horse drawn carriages pulling up under the Port-Cochere and the guests being welcomed for social events being held in the house. The walled garden is still there looking sad and neglected no longer fulfilling the purpose intended for it, it once produced fruit and vegetable to feed the occupants of the house. In front of the walled garden we took a path into the forest where a short distance away the outline of the Garden of remembrance could be seen, as we approached silence descended on Xenia, Pat and myself, we walked up the stone steps into a peaceful and tranquil setting. There in front of us lay moss covered stones, topped with the headstones of Tony and Leila Joynson-Wreford. |
| Xenia's latest visit to Seskinore in June 2008 was captured by Sarah Travers, a news presenter with BBC Northern Ireland, Sarah included Xenia's story as part of her Family Focus. |  At The Public Record Office of Northern Ireland (June 2008). |
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