Taia de Burca Story

 

 

 

 

 

To fully understand this story, it is necessary for the reader to understand the back ground and how Taia came to visit England on her quest to show respect for a lady she only knew about from stories. It all began with the following email to me. Thereafter is Taia's own story of her enquiries and subsequent visit.

 

Dear Mr. Scott,

I have been searching for more than twenty years for any record of the death of Ellen Elisa Hardenberg around 1918 without any success until a friend found your website and to my delight, there she was! So I do hope you won't mind my contacting you.

Our family has a couple of mysteries.  My father was reared with another boy slightly older than he by Mrs Hardenberg until she died when he was placed in the Sisters of Mercy orphanage in Bodmin. The other boy was Ellen's grand-son, Frank Harry Davis who died at the Good Hope Hospital, Sutton Coldfield aged 83 in 1986. He was a retired Monsignor and had lived at 47 Prestwick Road.

Ellen Hardengerg's sister was a nun possibly at the school there, her name was Ann Lavinia Cockson (born 1839) and I was wondering if it were possible that she and Frank may also be buried in the same cemetery.

Can you tell me if it is likely that records from the orphanage would be held in Birmingham or from the school where Ellen's sister taught? Our family would really like to find out something more about our father and it seems likely that Birmingham may hold a couple of keys for us.

I had already booked to come to England (from Australia) in mid October and would love to visit to research a little further and perhaps meet somebody who may have been Frank's friend.

I apologise for burdening you with all this in one email.

Kind regards,

Taia de Burca

NSW 2758

Australia

 

In respect of this story, Dave Haynes, one of our members took it upon himself to make enquiries into the back ground of this family.

 

Taia visited this country as promised. It will suffice if I now add the letter I have received from her after her return to Australia.

 

 

A Search from Australia

  This story began almost a century ago when my father was born in London to Catherine (Marion or Mary) Bennett on 6th April, 1911. He was given the names Bernard Brandon Rupert Erc de Burca and when he was a couple of years old, he was taken by Mrs. Ellen Hardenberg to rear and educate. He was with her for some five or six years before going to the Sisters of Mercy in Bodmin. During this time she was also caring for her two grandsons, Charles and Frank Davis, following the untimely death of her daughter, Gertrude.

 

  While we have our father’s birth certificate, my two brothers and I have never been able to trace his family. This was important for us, to give us some feeling of family. Growing up in Australia, we had no contact or sense of connection with an extended family as our friends did. The search then began to establish whether or not we may have been related to Mrs. Hardenberg’s family as my father used to call her “Grandma”. I had already planned to travel to the U.K. in October this year to see what I could find, so the search was stepped up.

 

  My neighbour, Paula Clay, is able to find almost anything on the internet and soon discovered the site of the St. Joseph’s Reunion Group with the link to gravestones in St. Joseph’s Cemetery where Ellen Hardenberg was buried. This began a series of emails to Richard Scott who has been an enormous help. Richard enlisted the help of David Haynes, who then set about researching the family.

 

Journey to Birmingham

  After only a little difficulty navigating Birmingham’s traffic, I arrived at St. Joseph’s on the afternoon of Friday, 12th October, 2007 with my cousin (on our mothers’ side) Kevin and his wife Pauline to a very warm welcoming committee, which included Richard, Dave and Father Gerry.

 

  To say what Dave found was amazing would be an understatement, he may even be a greater sleuth than my neighbour, Paula! He found census records back to 1851 of   Ellen Hardenberg’s family, records of her marriage and that of her family. He took a series of photographs including the house where she had lived, her headstone very close to the entrance to St. Joseph’s Church and also that of her sister Ann Lavinia Cockson, who had been a Sister at St. Mary’s Convent and died there at the age of 86.

 

  It would seem from all of Dave’s in depth research, we could now say that we are not related to Ellen Hardenberg or the Cockson family from Cobridge in Staffordshire; however what I did find was so very much more that a blood relationship.

 

  In caring for my father during the early years of his life, this lady been very influential in his development, for giving him the values, the ethics, those important qualities, which formed the basis on which, his whole character was built. My brothers and I were in turn reared by him within a similar framework, so this lady was far more important and influential in our lives than was any blood related “grandma”!

 

  This was the realisation, which struck me so powerfully when Father Gerry led me to the grave of this lady. The overwhelming feelings I had at that moment when I stood before her resting place are almost impossible to describe and I am eternally grateful for the gentle words spoken to me at that time by Father Gerry. Thank you Father Gerry.

 

 Ellen’s Grandson.  The second part of my search was to find someone who may have known Frank during his many years in Birmingham. He was Ellen Hardenberg’s younger grandson who had taken on the role of “big brother” to my father during the years he was with them. The closeness they felt was such that when I was born, I was named after him. They spent much time together, particularly when they were living in East Harptree, Somerset, going for long walks or cycling for hours around the countryside. These were very fond memories for my father.

 

  Their friendship continued throughout their lives; losing contact for periods and then re-connecting. My father planned to make a trip to the U.K. in 1985, the year he died. I contacted Frank at that time to tell him of my father’s passing, and their friendship is evident in the extract from the letter I received in reply. “I was greatly looking forward to seeing Brendan again this year. It was strange that he looked like me, that many times people asked me, when they saw his photograph on my mantle piece, whether he was my brother.” My father also had a framed photo of Frank by his bed.

 

  Frank was Monsignor Harry Frank Davis, and it was Father Gerry who was able to tell me something of the person he was. Frank was well known and respected in and around Birmingham so I won’t even attempt to describe this wonderful man. Maybe to touch on the fact that during the war he would travel to the prisoner of war camp in Colchester to help close to 80 German P.O.W.s to continue their training for the ministry. I would not be surprised if he did much of this teaching in their own language, as when they were boys, their Grandmother would have them speaking a different language each day of the week. I wonder if she ever though how useful that may be later in his life!

 

Next Day

  With Dave Haynes as our guide, the following day we saw the house where Ellen Hardenberg had died in 1923. The house was just around the corner from St. Mary’s Convent where we were privileged to be taken on a tour by Sister Barbara. This was a real honour. As well as hearing much of the history of the Sisters and the extraordinary beautiful building, we saw the grave of her sister, De Salles (Ann Lavinia) Cockson.

 

  My father had a photograph of a painting of Ellen Hardenberg and we had never known who the artist was; Sister Barbara was able to tell us that it was painted by her daughter, Frank’s mother, Frances Gertrude Davis in about 1895 at a time when she was quite a well known artist and had exhibited in England and Ireland on several occasions. (See copy below) We also saw three more of her beautiful works of art.

 

  While we were with Sister Barbara, she indicated that the archives for the orphanage in Bodmin were held at St. Mary’s. Although they may not be able to shed any light on my father’s story, there was still that possibility.

 

  So many pieces of the jigsaw have now dropped neatly into place for us.

 

(After the visit to Sr. Barbara, we were able to take Taia to new Oscott Cemetery where she was able to view the grave of Monsignor Davis. It was again a very moving experience. It is worthy of note, that both the Convent and the College at New Oscott were the work of the famous architect, Pugin, as of course was the chancel at St Joseph's. Richard)

 

  I would like to express my deepest gratitude to all of the people who made my journey to Birmingham such a deeply moving experience. Especially to Dave for all his many hours of research, to Father Gerry for being there with his kind words when they were needed, to Sister Barbara for her help and for her guided tour of St. Mary’s convent and to Richard who made it all happen.

 

 

Taia Frances de Burca

 

Bernard Brandon Rupert Erc de Burca

 

 

Ellen Hardenburg

 

 

Dave Haynes showing Taia the result of his enquiries.

 

        

 

Left to right in photograph. Richard, Taia, cousin Kevin, Dave and Father Gerry.

Standing at the Grave of Ellen Hardenburg. Taia, at her own expense, paid for the repair to be carried out.

 

 

        

 

I mailed a photograph of the repair to Taia and received the following mail from her:-

 

Richard, I am absolutely delighted in the outcome and can’t thank you enough.

I’ve sent copies of the pictures on to my brothers.

 

Those fellow certainly knew what they were doing and did a good job with it.

Ah, me thinks we do not need to know everything as long as someone knows

what needs to be known to carry out something!

 

 

 

Will you be including something in your Newsletter with the pics?  Just in case,

I’ve done a few lines from my perspective if that’s O.K. Please feel free to cut it back

if it’s too long. It’s how I feel about being able to do this for her and for Frank.

Kindest regards,

Taia

 

  “Thank you so much for your all your work in arranging for the repairs to be carried out

on the grave of Ellen Hardenberg.

 

This lady who went through so much in her life, the early loss of husband and her daughter

at the age of 34 leaving her with two grand-sons to rear; then the loss of the older boy Charles,

towards the end of WWI at the age of only 17.  The younger grand-son, Monsignor Frank Davis,

must have been a joy to her, although she did not live long enough to see him become the wonderful

man he was.

 

  Mrs. Hardenberg took in my father and reared and educated him until he went to the

Sisters of Mercy in Bodmin in 1919 and by her influence on him, was so much more of a

grandmother to my two brothers and me than was our blood related grandmothers. To have her headstone restored to the state that was originally intended is more than the physical repairs, it feels as if we have now returned to her the respect and dignity she so greatly deserves.

In being able to do this for her and for Frank, is like giving back something to them and a sense of a completion or closure for our family.

 

 

                                  Blessing of Grave Sunday 15th November 2009. Fr. Gerry Lennon.

 Richard, thank you again for making this possible.”

 

I know that the restoration of the cross had meant a great deal to Taia and I think that is

                        

evident from the lovely appreciation that she has sent. It will be my intention to pass all future newsletters to her.

 

If you look at the base you can see the imprint of where the broken upper part of the cross lay for many years. A great piece of workmanship has been carried out.