Hugh Woolner
(1866–1925)

Biographical

Woolner graduated from Cambridge in 1888 and joined the London Stock Exchange in 1892. He established a brokerage firm, Woolner & Co., in 1895, but a series of misfortunes followed, including the death of his first wife in 1906 and the bankruptcy of his company the following year. He was known for his shady financial dealings, and a 1917 court case involving a will he drafted for an elderly woman and her estate did little to improve his reputation. Woolner went to live in America but returned to England in 1912 for his mother's funeral. He boarded the RMS Titanic on his return, and, having survived that, remarried later that year. He inherited a house in Hungary, where he and his wife often stayed, as well as their house in Manhattan.

Place of first marriage: Scarborough, Yorkshire
Place of death: Budapest

Son of Thomas Woolner and Alice Waugh, he was married firstly in 1892 to Mary Simpson (†1906), with issue:
• Christopher (see)
• Juliet, *1895, †1973 Richmond upon Thames; married 1921 to Eric Roberts Greer
• Cynthia Mary, *1896, †1978 Macclesfield, Cheshire; married 1928 to Ronald Fletcher (†1950), with issue
• Katherine Amy, *1898, †1981 Kent; married firstly in 1923 to John Stapleton, with issue, and secondly in 1956 to Ingram Ionides (†1984)
• Rosalind Frances, *1900, 1978 Kent; she was married in 1920 to Lawrence Irving, with issue
• Christina, *1906, †1994 Salisbury; she was married to Donald Erskine in 1927, with issue. Her surname was changed to Baxendale after her adoption by Mr and Mrs Lloyd Baxendale of Newbury, Berkshire.

Woolner was married secondly to Mary Ionides (her second marriage; †1945) in 1912, with issue:
• Alexander Hugh, *1914, †1993 Devon; he was married to Diana Firth (†1999) in 1939, and had issue:
           • Freda
           • Alexandra
           • Thomas
           • Peter