Denny
Denny is a name that is often found in the Stowupland Census returns but the relationships between the different families is rarely known
Willie (William) Walter Denny M.M is named on Stowupland’s Roll of Honour but not much is known about him.
In 1911 census there is a Willie Denny age 18 who is a builders clerk living in Stowupland Road . His parents are Walter Wallace Denny a chequer (?) on railway and Sarah.
Willie’s death is recorded as 25th March 1918 but his name is listed in the War Office weekly casualty list for 14 May 1918, “Hampshire Regt. Denny 26607, L-Cpl. W. W. (Stowupland)”. He was awarded The Military Medal and his death is recorded on the Arras Memorial.
NL found notice of an auction in a 1913 newspaper for 4, Eriswell Terrace being let to W. Denny (presumably Walter) – he adds I think this is one of the terraces towards the station.
From Dec 1918 we know of 2 neighbouring Denny households because of a report Neil Langridge found in the school log book reporting the deaths of “Two children Vera Denny and Alice Denny living next door to each other died of the epidemic”.
In the 20th century Joe Denny (Saxham Street) was found dead lying in a few inches of water at the bottom of a ditch.
Thomas Denny (1887 – 1965). In 1921 at the age of 38 Thomas and his wife Hilda (nee Miller, from Stowupland) were living near Needham Market. They had a son Thomas age 1 and a baby (later named Russell. Thomas’ job is given as general dealer.
This article is of interest as it tells us that Thomas Denny served in WW1 but was disabled. At some point the family had moved to Stowupland. The photo below shows us his house 30 years later looking in extreme disrepair. There is no mention of his caravan but we do know that Tom kept a horse on the village Green, but whether, when or where he used the caravan for trips around Suffolk we do not know.
Our thanks to local resident John Hill for sharing his encounter with Tom Denny’s Horse. John’s account was printed in the February 2011 edition of Telstar but he wrote that he was recalling an incident from the mid 1960s.
In the mid 1960’s Stowupland was the scene of a murder enquiry after local resident Tom Denny was found severely injured and later died.
The police officers investigating the attack reported that due to Mrs Denny being deaf she was difficult to question and no one was able to corroborate her report that two men beat her up wanting money and jewellery. No arrests have ever been made.
Although it is difficult to see, to the left of the house is the Old gypsy caravan in which Mr Denny often slept. The house no longer stands. {SLHG OSC4}
In the 1939 survey Thomas (Snr) is described as a general worker, Hilda is a housewife. Their son Thomas was a chemical worker , his younger brother Russell was a sheet metal worker and his sister Averil (age 8) was at school. The family home is on Gipping Road between John Stannard’s and William Nunn’s family.
We can not shed any light onto this incident or this Thomas (1919-1963)
Margaret Catchpole recorded the death of May Denny in Hospital at 12:20, this may have been 31st December 1964 when May was 78. She added a note that May was a cousin of Elijah Burrows.
