Susan Prowse-Tako's September Prowse Highlights

Sue Prowse-Tako
Sep 1
11 min read

2 Sep 1898: General Sir Herbert Kitchener's 25,000 man Anglo-Egyptian army slaughtered a huge Mahdist dervish army at Omdurman, Sudan. At least 10,000 dervish warriors were killed. Kitchener lost 500 men. This ended 14 years of dervish rule after the Mahdi, Muhammad Ahmad, massacred General Gordon and his entire garrison in Khartoum in 1885. Our family link to this is through Sir Stanley C.J. Colville, R.N., grandfather of June, wife of Anthony Barrington Prowse, who was among the land forces sent to rescue General Gordon back in 1885. They arrived 2 days late to find the whole garrison had been killed by the Mahdi's forces.

(see p. 223,in my 'First Do No Harm' book).When I visited Khartoum in the mid 1960s whilst flying for BOAC, I discovered that the house where General Gordon had been killed was then a nightclub called – what else? - “General Gordon's” and was reputed to have the best belly-dancers in the Sudan!” Would Gordon have been amused – or outraged?!

2 Sep 1918: CPO George Prowse was awarded the Victoria Cross for action at Pronville on the main Arras-Cambrai road in France on this day. He was killed in action 25 days later on September 27, 1918. His remains were never found and he has no known grave. (see page 269-306 in my 'Those in Peril' book for his full story).

3 Sep 1189: Richard the Lionheart, whose birthday was on Sept. 8, 1157, was crowned King of England. Several family members accompanied Richard on the 3 ^rd Crusade to the Holy Land. William de Preaux saved his life by impersonating the King and spent a year in Saracen captivity before being ransomed. (see Aug 1191 entry).

3 Sep 1651: Charles II's army defeated at the Battle of Worcester by Oliver Cromwell's army. Many Prouses/Prowses were 'transported to the plantations in America' following the defeat of the Royalist army. Nicholas Saunders, father-in-law of Samuel Prowse of South Petherton, had been sent as a Royalist messenger to the Parliamentary forces in a failed attempt to prevent a conflict 9 years earlier after which the first battle of the civil war followed at Polden Hill. Samuel was descended from Robert Prowse of Tiverton, 6^th son of John Prous & Jone Orchard, being John's gt-gt-gt-grandson. (see page 70b in my Prowse Family History Book, 3^rd edition).

3 Sep 1939: Britain, France, New Zealand and Australia declare war on Germany after Germany's invasion of Poland on September 1. During World War II, on the western front, 26 Prowses and 8 Prouses, were killed. (You will find a listing of those killed in both world wars on pp. 335-345 in my 'Those in Peril' book).

4 Sep 1901: Charles Bertie Prowse, of the 2^nd Battalion Somerset Light Infantry, and grandfather of Thea Parsons, was mentioned in dispatches by Field Marshall Lord Roberts during the 2 ^nd Boer War (1899-1902). The battalion, which had arrived in South Africa on the 8^th December, 1899, took part in the Battles of Colenso, Skion Kop, and Vaal Kranz, all of which had horrendous British losses. Charles Bertie Prowse, of the Yeovil branch of our family, went on to a prestigious military career ending up as Brigadier General but sadly dying on the first day of the battle of the Somme during the First World War in 1916.(see pp. 193-199, 'Those in Peril').

5 Sep 2008: “Both the Northwest Passage and NE Passage clear of sea-ice for the first time in recorded history”. John Rae, of the Orkney Islands, whose sister married into the Winter family, a descendant of whom (Margaret Winter Mitchell) married Arthur Bancks Prowse (ABP), my grandfather, became the first person to discover the Northwest Passage. He graduated from medical school at Edinburgh University at age 19(!) and joined the Hudson Bay Company in Canada and logged and mapped thousands of miles of the Arctic Circle in his lifetime. He discovered the grisly tale of the fate of John Franklin's crew from the local Inuit, but was shunned and despised by the British press when he brought their story of Franklin's crew resorting to cannibalism in an attempt to survive their shipwreck, and he is the only British explorer of that era not to be knighted. (see p 241-243 in my 'First Do No Harm' book)

6 Sep 1866: “Three British Tea Clippers reached London today after 16,000 mile (25,750 Km) race from China”. The Prowse Clipper Ship Empire, consisting of two companies – Prowse, Barclay & Co., and Joshua Prowse & Co., flourished in Liverpool between the 1840s and late 1870s. The founder of this empire was William Prowse, a Master Mariner, born in Paignton, Devon, in 1780, coming to Liverpool shortly after 1800 and marrying a local girl, Jane Birchall. William and his son, Joshua, owned and operated 33 ships, all named after family members. They played a prominent part in the Merseyside maritime activity for approximately half a century but refused to go into steam which contributed to the end of their shipping empire. Descendants of this family include Joan Davies (wife of Rev. Alex Davies) whose gt-gt-grandfather was the William Prowse the Elder who founded the Clipper Ship Empire, and also William Archer Prowse of Bromley, Kent, descended from William Prowse the Younger. (see pp. 157-168, my Prowse Family History Book, 3^rd edition).

IRM Note 7 Jul 2025: Edward Prowse, son of Joshua and grandson of William, the founder of the 'Liverpool Shipping Line', begat the 'Beaumaris Line'. Along with his brother-in-law John Harry Willmott, they settle at Beaumaris, Ontario, Canada and were in large part responsible for the development of the Muskoka cottage and resort area north of Toronto.

7 Sep 1901: Birth of my father, Arthur Skardon 'Keith' Prowse, M.D., Ch. B., who studied medicine at Bristol University, graduating in 1924. He was a very fine athlete, playing tennis, athletics and rugby football for Bristol University as well as for the county of Gloucestershire XV from 1923-1925, and gaining 4 English Trial Caps playing for England in International Rugby matches in 1924. Joining the Burmah Oil Company in 1926 as their Chief Medical Officer, serving in both Burma and Assam, NE India, which became an important center of military activity during WWII and where he treated all British Army and Royal Air Force troops as well as refugees escaping out of Burma from the Japanese advance. (see pp. 175-198 in my 'First Do No Harm' book)

9 Sep 1087: William the Conqueror dies. Eudo de Preaux, whom we thought was a direct ancestor of today's Prowses, was William's seneschal, and later Governor of Colchester. Turns out that Eudo was only gifted the Castle at Preaux as a reward for his services to William and was only very distantly related to our family through his marriage to Richard FitzGilbert de Clare's daughter, Rohaise.. (see p. 36 in my 'Those in Peril' book).

9 Sep 1956: Elvis Presley's first appearance in the Ed Sullivan Show singing 'Love Me Tender'! Four years later, Elvis had a short-lived affair with Juliet Prowse during the filming of “G.I. Blues”. (see the August 16, 1977 entry in last month's Highlights). In 2003, an intrepid member of my daughter's wedding party convinced the band at her wedding reception in Florence, Italy, to accompany his rendition of 'Love Me Tender', which was greeted with wild applause by guests and employees of the Westin Excelsior hotel!

10 Sep 1519: Death of William Orchard, uncle of Lawrence Prowse, whose mother was Jone Orchard, married to John Prous. Lawrence got into trouble for enclosing Hangman's Hill which bordered his land in West Challacombe, Devon, that he had inherited from William Orchard. Lawrence also infuriated the village folk by charging them for the use of the path to the beach! Not a popular guy! (see p. 72 Prowse F.H. Book, 3^rd edition)

12 Sep 1834: Birth of Judge Daniel Woodley Prowse (1855-1914), Judge of the Central District Court of Newfoundland, appointed 1869, and author of 'A History of Newfoundland'. His grandfather was Samuel, 'the famous privateer' whose brother, Tom was press-ganged at age 19 into the Royal Navy, served at the Battle of Trafalgar on HMS Ajax and died a year later in a terrible hurricane off Bermuda while in charge of a large convoy of merchantmen. It was Samuel who first settled in Newfoundland. (see p. 198 in my Prowse Family History book, 3^rd edition).

13 Sep 1907: The passenger ship, RMS Lusitania arrives in New York at the end of her maiden voyage. Eight years later, Steward Thomas Edward Upton Prowse, age 26, died on the 7 May, 1915, when the Lusitania was torpedoed by a German U-boat off the coast of Ireland and sank claiming 1,195 lives of the 1,998 on board. (see p. 389/390 in my 'Those in Peril' book).

15 Sep 1859: Death of Isambard Kingdom Brunel, “probably the greatest British engineer”. Two members of our family who were known to work for Brunel were Edward Prowse (1824-1862), engineer and architect, and 5^th son of James Prowse & Mary Anne Philpott, who emigrated to Australia in 1849; and Albert Philpott Prowse ((1817-1893), 2^nd son of James & Mary Anne Philpott Prowse, who was the Chief Accountant for the South Devon Railway. He worked with Brunel on the Plymouth to Launceston line of the South Devon & East Cornwall Railway. Where the line crossed the lane to the entrance of Albert's home, Yennadon House in Dousland, it was named “Prowse Crossing”. Incidentally, in 1888, Albert drove the Revd. Sabine Baring-Gould (of 'Onward Christian Soldiers' fame) around Devon and Cornwall in his pony and trap when B-G was collecting folk songs. Albert's son, Albert Samuel Whitchurch Prowse, emigrated to Canada in 1909 and started the Vancouver, British Columbia branch of the family. (see pp. 453-464, 'First Do No Harm').

15 Sep 1940: During the Battle of Britain of World War II, the “tide turned as the RAF inflicted heavy losses upon the Luftwaffe”. Pilot Officer Harry Arthur Robin 'Keith ' Prowse (1921-2010) took part in this historic battle flying both Hurricanes and Spitfires in 266 Squadron and 603 Squadron. He survived the battle but was shot down in July 1941 and after destroying his Spitfire, was captured and spent the remainder of the war in Stalag Luft III POW camp (scene of 'The Great Escape'). (see my book “Those in Peril, pp. 313-330)

17 Sep 1939: HMS Courageous, aircraft carrier, attacked and sunk by a German U-boat off the coast of Ireland, with the loss of 518 dead, including Leading Stoker Frederick John Charles Prowse, R.N., born 1883, who was “missing, presumed dead”. (see p. 392/393 in my 'Those in Peril' book)

18 Sep 1923: Marriage of Montague Prowse (1891-1954) to Martha Peabody in Canton, Massachusetts, USA, inheriting Prowse Farm as a wedding gift. (p. 338 'First Do No Harm' book, and also the 18 August Highlights entry)

24 Sep 1526: At 1PM:Death of John Prous (1436-1526), son and heir of Richard & Margaret Norton Prous of Waye Barton. John died at the astonishing age for that time of 90. He married Jone Orchard of West Challacombe Farm in Coombe Martin, Devon, and had 11 children., including 8 sons, who are probably responsible for most of today's Prowses/Prouses! (see p. 59, 'Prowse F. H. Book, 3^rd edition)

25 Sep 1936: Birth of Juliet Prowse (died Sept 14, 1996) in Bombay, India, daughter of Reginald Morley Prowse (1906-1940) of Newton Abbot, Devon, and Phyllis Thelma Donne. (pp. 393-402,'First Do No Harm', and the 16 August Highlights entry).

27 Sep 1918: Death of CPO George Prowse, VC, DCM, age 32, in France (see 2 Sept. entry & 29 August Highlights entry).

28 Sep 1066: Norman invaders land in England, leading to the Battle of Hastings and the Conquest of England by William the Conqueror. A 'Sire de Preaux', believed to be Jean de Preaux, uncle of Heudeberge de Preaux, who married into the Cailly family, was there and is listed on the Battle Abbey Roll!

28 Sep 1928: Scottish medical researcher, Alexander Fleming, discovered penicillin, the first effective antibiotic. Cedric Barrington Prowse (1903-1988) was among the first military physicians in the British Army to use Penicillin during the Invasion of Italy in WWII. (see p.211-214 in my “First Do No Harm” book)

29 Sep 1758: Birth of Horatio Nelson, British Naval Commander, whom at least four members of our family served under at the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805, including William Prowse of HMS Sirius, Thomas Prowse of HMS Ajax, Henry Prowse, age 35 of Thorverton and Richard Prowse, age 22 of London, both of HMS Africa.

30 Sep 1813: Birth of John Rae in Orkney (see 5^th September entry and also pp 241-243 in 'my First Do No Harm' book).

AND ALSO REMEMBERING - THE PROWSE/PROUSE WAR DEAD:

Private A. Prowse: 1^st Bn. Devonshire Regiment – died September 5, 1918 and is buried in the St. Sever Cemetery Extension in Rouen.

Private Arthur Prowse: 1^st Bn. Duke of Cornwall's Light Infantry – died September 3, 1916, age 20 and is buried in the Thiepval Memorial, Somme, France. Son of George Edwin & Mary Anne Prowse of Gilly Gwennap, Redruth, Cornwall.

Able Seaman Arthur Rowland Prowse: HMS Pathfinder. Killed in action against German U-boat U-21 off the Firth of Forth, Scotland on 5 September, 1914, age 19. Son of William & Lilian Prowse of Hove, Sussex. Chatham Naval Memorial, England.

Private C.G. Prowse: 75^th Bn. Canadian Infantry (Central Ontario Regiment). Died 30 September 1918, age 20. Buried in the Haynecourt British Cemetery, Nord, France. Son of S.J. Prowse of London, Ontario.

CPO George Prowse, VC., DCM: Drake Bn., R.N. Division. Died 27 September, 1918, age 32. Son of John & Harriett Prowse and husband of Sarah Prowse (nee Lewis) of Swansea. Vis-En-Artois Memorial, Pas-de-Calais, France.

Rifleman John Richard Prowse: 10^th Bn. Rifle Brigade. Died 23 September, 1917, age 29. Son of Mr. & Mrs I.R. Prowse of Peckham, London. Tyne Cot Memorial. West Vlaanderen, Belgium.

Private Leslie Philip Prowse: 88^th Coy. Machine Gun Corps (Infantry). Died 26 September, 1917, age 19. Son of Robert Henry & Louisa Hilda Prowse of West Bridgford, Notts. Tyne Cot Memorial, West Vlaanderen, Belgium.

Private Frederick Prouse: 1^st/4^th Bn. London Regiment (Royal Fusiliers) – died 9 September 1916, age 18. Son of Mrs. Florence Prouse of Harlesden, London. Thiepval Memorial, Somme, France.

Lance Corporal John Prouse: 1^st Bn. South Wales Borderers. Died 19 September, 1914. La Ferte-Sous-Jouarre Memorial, Seine-Et-Marne, France.

Private W. G. Prowse: 23^rd Coy. Royal Army Service Corps transf. to Labour Corps. Died 18 September, 1919, age 51. Son of George Henry & Mary Ann Prowse of Torquay. Husband of Emma Prowse.

Leading Stoker Frederick John Charles Prowse: HMS Courageous (see Highlights entry for 17 Sept.). Died 17 September, 1939, age 56. Son of George & Lillian Mary Prowse of Plymouth. Husband of Gladys May Diamond Prowse. Plymouth Naval Memorial, Devon.

Stoker Louis Henry Prowse: HMCS Raccoon, Royal Canadian Navy Volunteer Reserve. Died September 7, 1942, age 19. Son of George Thomas & Catherine Emma Prowse of Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island. Halifax Memorial, Nova Scotia, Canada.