Sylvia Ida MOURILYAN (née PARKES) (1893-1970)

Sylvia Ida Mourilyan (née Parkes) was the wife of Charles Archibald Mourilyan who was the nephew of Eugénie Sladden (née Mourilyan).

Sylvia Parkes was born at Hertford in 1893, the eldest of three daughters of Septimus Alexander and Ida Mary Parkes.  The family seemed to move around quite a bit as her younger sisters were born at Surbiton, Surrey, and, by 1901, they were living at Hove, Sussex.  In January 1903, when she was not quite ten years old, Sylvia’s father, a mechanical engineer, died where they were then living, 19 York Villas, Brighton.  By Sylvia attended a boarding school in Weybridge, Surrey.

On 22nd April 1914, Sylvia married Charles Archibald Mourilyan at St James, Emsworth, Hampshire.  After a reception at Emsworth Town Hall, the couple left for their honeymoon in Paris, Switzerland and Italy.  They had three sons:  Darrell Courtney Frederick (1915-1984), Alec James (1916-1940) and Harold Denys (1918-1940).

At the age of only 27 and with three young children, Sylvia was widowed when Archie ended his life on 27th October 1920.  He had been much troubled by his nerves during the First World War.

Sylvia raised her family at Thames Ditton in Surrey.  Further tragedy was to hit the family when her two younger sons were killed within months of each other in the Second World War.  Sylvia died in the Wirral district on 16th September 1970.