Dame Judi Dench - the Weymouth Connection

At the February meeting we had Roy Stockdill who spoke on “Dame Judi Dench – The Weymouth Connection”. There was a bumper audience including at least four members of the Dench family who still live in Weymouth. Roy started by reading a message from Judi who expressed her regret at not being present, but wanted to thank the members of the group who had found her great grandmother; Emily Matilda Dench’s grave in Melcombe Regis Cemetery and who had made such a good job of tiding it up.  After an article had appeared in the Echo Roy had been swamped with telephone calls. He displayed a list of 15 other names associated with the Dench family tree in Weymouth.

All of Judi’s great grandparents came from Dorset, Judi was born in York. Roy had found a marriage in Melcombe Regis on 10th July 1805 between Edward Dench born 1782/3 at Greenwich, Kent and Catherine Bartlett born Melcombe Regis 1782. All the Dench family now in Weymouth descend from this couple who had many children and appeared later in the Poor Law Records for the Borough. His research came across a bigamous marriage by Judi’s Great Grandfather George Joseph Dench. His first marriage was to Emily Matilda Fooks on 18th December 1859 at Weymouth. By 1871 they had 5 children and George was a customs officer in Weymouth. By 1878 they had another child, but he is missing at the family home on the 1881 census. Roy found him in Battersea as a visitor living with Bessie Hicks and describing himself as a widower although Emily outlived him. In November 1881 Lillian Bessie Dench was born, so obviously George was more than a visitor. In 1884 the couple had a son and in 1887 Bessie Hicks married George at Kensington, he again called himself a widower, thereby committing bigamy. Emily Matilda died in Weymouth in 1914. George had died in 1898. Roy has traced some descendents of this second marriage but is in a quandary as to whether to tell them or not.

When he informed Judi she took it in her stride.

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