Dorothy Iris ORCHARD (née WOOD) (1880-1946)

Dorothy Iris Orchard (1880-1946), née Wood, was the wife of Donald Stuart Orchard whose mother and sisters had lived in Badsey for a time from 1905 and had become friendly with the Sladdens.

Dorothy was born at Southsea on 8th April 1880, the only surviving child of Henry Emilius Wood, a Captain in the Royal Navy, and his wife, Mary (née Welfitt).  She grew up at 3 Ormsby Road, Southsea.

In 1915 at Southsea, Dorothy married Captain Donald Stuart Orchard of the Gurkha Rifles.  A letter of 24th June 1917 from Mela Brown Constable to her fiancé, Cyril Sladden, who was in Mesopotamia, indicates that she thought that both Donald and his brother, Albert, were also in Mesopotamia, guarding some oil wells.

After the war was over, a son, Anthony Welfitt, was born at Southsea in 1923.  Anthony died in India during the Second World War in 1944. 

At the time of the 1939 register, Dorothy was living at Lansdowne, Holwell Road, Brixham, Devon.

Dorothy died at Brixham on 17th January 1946.  In the Index of wills and administrations, she was described as “… of Northcliffe Hotel, Brixham (wife of Donald Stuart Orchard)”.