Elisabeth Dalyell BECHER (née STEWART) (1878-1963)

Elisabeth Dalyell Becher, née Stewart (1878-1963) was the wife of Brigadier-General Becher who was in charge of Southern Command Depot, Sutton Coldfield, where Mela Brown Constable worked for a time from 1917-1918.  She and her husband are mentioned in several of Mela’s letters.

Elisabeth Stewart was born on 5th August 1878 at Inverkeithing, Fifeshire, the youngest of four children of James Raphael Stewart and his wife Annette Louisa (née Cheape).  Elisabeth grew up at 10 Salisbury Road, Edinburgh.  Her father died in 1894 when she was 16.

Elisabeth married widower Major-General Andrew Cracroft Becher on 13th April 1907 at the Church of St John the Evangelist, Edinburgh; he was 20 years her senior.  Elisabeth and Andrew had three sons:  Arthur Ford (c1909-1936), James Stewart (1910-1941) and Michael Douglas Sullivan (1914).  Elisabeth also became step-mother to Andrew’s son and two daughters from his first marriage.

Early in 1917 the family moved to Sutton Coldfield when Andrew Becher was appointed to Southern Command Depot.  Elisabeth, as wife of the Brigadier General, also became involved in the life of the camp, particularly the welfare of the women working there.

After the war, the Bechers moved to Northam Lodge, Northam, Devon.  Andrew Becher died in Devon in 1929.  Elisabeth survived him by nearly 34 years, dying in London on 24th March 1963, aged 84.  Two of her sons pre-deceased her.