Archive for: Solicitors and local politicians

Members of the Challenor family members played important and influential roles in the development of Abingdon life from the time they arrived in the town in about 1850. Originally solicitors, Challenors became doctors, vicars, nurses. They served in the army, became officers of Abingdon Town Council, served as volunteers in the fire brigade and were elected mayors of the Town.

The first Bromley Challenor in Abingdon (1821-1888) according to family tradition was articled to Morland & Son solicitors. He qualified as a solicitor early in 1851, set up his practice in Abingdon, and over the next forty years became well-known in the town.  He was a mainstay of many local organisations and founded a firm of solicitors that exists to this day. Amongst his offices, he became Clerk to the commissioners for property, Attorney’s Clerk, Clerk to Justices of the Abingdon division for Berkshire as well as Clerk to the Trustees of Lyford Charity.

The first Bromley Challenor as Mayor in 1863-64.
(© With thanks to Abingdon County Hall Museum.)

He married Mary Anne Gregory in 1850 and they had 12 children; some of their sons followed their father into the legal profession, taking partnerships in what became the family firm.

His oldest son, 1851- 1918, was also called Bromley and also became a solicitor, taking on most of the responsibilities that his father had held when he died in 1888. This second Bromley also became the Town Clerk as well as the Area Coroner, and Clerk to the Governors of Abingdon School. He married Martha Matilda Childs and they had eight children.

Bromley Challenor junior as Town Clerk in his official wig.
He was appointed to this post on 8 March 1877.
(© With thanks to Marion Cox)

 Bromley junior was a serial volunteer, being a founder member of Abingdon’s Fire Brigade when it was formed in June 1871, becoming a sergeant in the Abingdon Company of the 4^thBerks. (Volunteer) Battalion, and was a member of the Town Rowing Club, amongst other things.  In 1898, he published a volume of selections from the borough records from its incorporation under Philip and Mary until 1897. This is still a really useful source for local historians

Bromley junior’s oldest son, also Bromley (1879-1963), married Agnes Leonora Duncan in Llandaff Cathedral in 1914  She became the first female mayor of Abingdon in 1950. They lived in Waysmeet, now demolished, sited along the Faringdon Road, and had three children.  Agnes passed on her great love of music to her children. Their son, also Bromley, trained initially in the solicitor’s firm that his great-grandfather had founded but it was not for him; he became a piano teacher and a much-loved church organist. One of Agnes’ great granddaughters, Helen Roberts, became accompanist to the much-acclaimed Treorchy Male Voice Choir, harking back to Agnes’ Welsh roots

Agnes was a founder member of the Abingdon Townswomen’s Guild and, in 1939, formed the Abingdon Women’s Voluntary Service of which she later became the centre organiser. She was co-opted onto a vacancy on the borough council in 1941 as a result of her work in the community. In May 1950, by a process of seniority, she was elected to the office of Mayor, the first woman in the history of the borough to occupy this position. Her daughter, Janet, filled the position of Mayoress, today referred to as the Mayor’s Escort. In 1951 she scored another first by becoming the first woman to be elected an Alderman.

Oscar Bernard, (1890-1942) a son of the second Bromley, had won the Military Cross in 1917 when, as a temporary captain, he led his men “most gallantly” the face of heavy fire. He served as a King’s Messenger and once had to deliver a message to the Czar of Russia. He then became Coroner and Clerk to the Abingdon Justices. He was also a member of the Abingdon Fire Brigade from 1910 and its Chief from 1933 until his death in 1942, attributed to the stress of leading the Brigade to help deal with the aftermath of bombing raids on Portsmouth and elsewhere

Harry Septimus Challenor (1863-1936), third son of the first Bromley, became a surgeon. He was a founder member of the Malthouse Surgery, and was involved with the Hospital, the workhouse and the alms houses. He was also involved in taking care of the boys at Abingdon School. Harry was elected mayor of Abingdon three times, in 1908-9, 1917-18, and 1918-19, and was a founder member of Frilford Heath Golf Club.

George Norman Bromley Challenor (1914-1999) became a solicitor and, having fought in the second world war, returned to Abingdon taking up a partnership in his uncle Bromley’s firm. On his uncle’s death, he assumed the responsibilities of coroner, clerk to the County Magistrates, superintendent registrar and clerk to the Lyford Almshouses Charity. He was already Clerk to Abingdon District Chamber of Trade. When he retired as Clerk to the Abingdon County Magistrates in December 1976, he ended the century-long family tradition of being Clerk in this post, the original family holder having been Bromley Challenor junior. In recognition for his service as coroner, in 1979 he was elected President of the Coroner’s Society of England and Wales.

The women of the family were also very active, being heavily involved with St Helen’s Church, two of Bromley junior’s daughters especially. Mercy Challenor (1882-1969) served as a Red Cross nurse at Tesdale House from 1915-1919. In 1922, together with her cousin Pernell Challenor, she founded the 2^nd Abingdon Group of the Scouts, originally known as the 2^nd North Berks Abingdon. The group met in a building in Ock Street and later moved to a hut in Sellwood Road. In the 1960s some of the land was sold to Blakes, the builders who built homes in Farm Road; part of the deal was to build a scout hut there, which is where the group still meets.

Like her sister Mercy, Gladys Grace Challenor (1889-1968) also served in the British Red Cross in Tesdale House from 1915-1919. During the Second World War she looked after elderly evacuees, and she ran a blood donor service in Abingdon for many years. She was awarded the MBE in 1966 after serving in the Red Cross for over 50 years. She had held the post of Divisional President of the Red Cross and was Divisional Treasurer at the time of her death in 1968.

Gladys Grace Challenor,
a daughter of Bromley Challenor junior,
in her Red Cross uniform in 1933
(© With thanks to Marion Cox)

By 1976, members of the Challenor family had held both the post of Clerk to the Abingdon County Magistrates and the post of Coroner for over a century and the post of superintendent registrar of marriages for ninety years. They helped to found many institutions that are still, not just going strong, but important parts of the fabric of Abingdon life.

© AAAHS and Contributors, 2025