Friends of the Somme - Mid Ulster Branch  
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Date Information
01/02/2020 By 1911 she was living in York and was a nurse at York County Hospital.
01/02/2020 Eleanor Ida Sinclair Collen was the daughter of Thomas John Walker Browne and Sara Henderson Sinclair. Thomas Browne and Sara Sinclair were married on 24th April 1878 in the district of Newry & Mourne.
01/02/2020 Sara formerly lived at Thomas Street, Dungannon, and was his first cousin. They had five children.
01/02/2020 The 1901 census lists Ida as age 21, living with the family at house 5 in Whitepoint Road, Queenstown Urban, County Cork. Her father was employed as a Medical Inspector for the Irish Fever Board.
01/02/2020 The CWGC record Eleanor Ida Sinclair Collen as being from 20 Bethia Road. She is recorded as the daughter of Thomas John and Sara Henderson Brown, of Thomas Street, Dungannon, Co. Tyrone, Northern Ireland. She was the widow of William Collen. She died at 20 Bethia Road, Bournemouth.
01/02/2020 In late 1920 she married William Collen in Rathsdown. He was a graduate of Trinity College, Dublin, and became the County Surveyor for Dublin, 1891-1924. A biography of him says: “A man of intelligence and energy, Collen was a pioneer and advocate of steam-rolling for roads and procured and maintained a steam-roller at his own expense until he had converted the county council to his views. He was responsible for the improvement of many roads in the county, especially in the southern portion”.
01/02/2020 She later became the widow of William Collen when he died in 1932.
01/02/2020 The Luftwaffe carried out a bombing raid on 23rd May 1943 against the town of Bournemouth in Dorset, England. The air attack destroyed 22 buildings and damaged over 3,000 in central Bournemouth. Some 131 people were killed and hundreds were injured.
01/02/2020 Civilian Eleanor Ida Sinclair Collen was killed at 20 Bethia Road, Bournemouth on 23rd May 1943. She was 64 years old.
01/02/2020 Eleanor Ida Sinclair Collen was buried on 29th May in Bournemouth East Cemetery. She was buried in the East Cemetery with the grave reference T4-172.
01/02/2020 Eleanor’s father, Thomas J W Browne, died in the same incident.
01/02/2020 Known family: Thomas John Browne, Sara Henderson Browne, Eleanor Ida Sinclair Browne (born 11 February 1879), Ethel Browne (born 11 February 1879), Lilian Browne (born 8th August 1881), William Browne (born 30th March 1883), Thomas Browne (born 21st April 1884), Eleanor was born on 11 February 1879 in Dungannon.
30/12/2015 Eleanor Ida Sinclair Collen was the daughter of Thomas John Browne and his first wife, Sara Henderson Sinclair, formerly of Thomas Street, Dungannon, Co. Tyrone, Northern Ireland.
30/12/2015 Eleanor Ida Sinclair Collen died at 20 Bethia Road, Bournemouth on 23 May 1943; in the same incident as killed her father. Eleanor was aged 64.
30/12/2015 In September 1920 she married William Collen (1862-1932) in Rathsdown. He was a graduate of Trinity College, Dublin, and became the County Surveyor for Dublin, 1891-1924. A biography of him says: “A man of intelligence and energy, Collen was a pioneer and advocate of steam-rolling for roads and procured and maintained a steam-roller at his own expense until he had converted the county council to his views. He was responsible for the improvement of many roads in the county, especially in the southern portion”.
30/12/2015 By 1911 she was living in York and was a nurse at York County Hospital.
30/12/2015 Eleanor was born on 11 February 1879 in Dungannon.
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