Individual Details
David Maxwell Blair
( - )
There is a reference to: Name: BLAIR, David Maxwell
Registration district: [?] Bristol
County: Gloucestershire
Year of registration: 1980
Quarter of registration: Jul-Aug-Sep
Date of Birth:16 May 1958
Volume no: 22
Page no: 0688
Now convinced that this is a differnt David.
8th Feb 2025
Dear Andrew,
Thanks for your email. I'm afraid I can't give you any documentary evidence about David Blair, but I am absolutely certain that your man is not Briony's ex-husband. You have correctly identified that they were married in 1979 in the registration district of Bracknell, though the actual venue was St. John's Church in Crowthorne. We didn't attend the wedding, as we were living in Delhi at the time, and Briony and David were renting our house in Crowthorne. There is a story (possibly totally apocraphal) that David rode a horse from our house to the Church for the event.
When we returned from Delhi in 1980, David and Briony had moved to Ealing to be nearer to Heathrow - she was working for British Airways. In 1981, David was one of our children's Godfathers. The marriage broke up some time around 1983, but we continued to keep in touch with David until the early 90's. I can recall having dinner with him and his French partner; we left for Ghana in 1994 (for four years), and he and his partner were about to head back to Australia. Sadly we lost touch, and I don't know of his status or whereabouts.
What intrigues me about your information is that everything else you have documented about Briony's family seems to be so accuate - as if you have it from the horse's mouth, so-to-say. You even have that she is now happily married to Sam Milburn; that wedding is relatively recent (2017), and I did't think would be on any of the genealogical database sites?
I will get in touch with Briony to alert her to your web-site. I'm sure she will be intrigued, and perhaps may contact you directly. I think her brother, David is the keeper of their family history records. My only suggestion about documentary evidence is if you have access to Australian BMDs? As I mentioned before, I'm fairly certain David is from an old Melbourne family. I met his father (possibly Max) once, and he had the aura of a very self-assured and well-established 'old-school' Australian. I believe David was an old boy of the Melbourne Public School (not that I know anything about schools in Victoria).
This all started when I was doing a web-search for James Templer, the balloonist. A friend of mine who lives in Walditch, Bridport, is giving a local community talk about the Bridport balloon accident, in which James was involved. For local interest he wanted to link James Templer with Ian Templer (Briony's Dad), who was living at the Hyde Care Home in Walditch until his recent death.
Phil Fouracre
Registration district: [?] Bristol
County: Gloucestershire
Year of registration: 1980
Quarter of registration: Jul-Aug-Sep
Date of Birth:16 May 1958
Volume no: 22
Page no: 0688
Now convinced that this is a differnt David.
8th Feb 2025
Dear Andrew,
Thanks for your email. I'm afraid I can't give you any documentary evidence about David Blair, but I am absolutely certain that your man is not Briony's ex-husband. You have correctly identified that they were married in 1979 in the registration district of Bracknell, though the actual venue was St. John's Church in Crowthorne. We didn't attend the wedding, as we were living in Delhi at the time, and Briony and David were renting our house in Crowthorne. There is a story (possibly totally apocraphal) that David rode a horse from our house to the Church for the event.
When we returned from Delhi in 1980, David and Briony had moved to Ealing to be nearer to Heathrow - she was working for British Airways. In 1981, David was one of our children's Godfathers. The marriage broke up some time around 1983, but we continued to keep in touch with David until the early 90's. I can recall having dinner with him and his French partner; we left for Ghana in 1994 (for four years), and he and his partner were about to head back to Australia. Sadly we lost touch, and I don't know of his status or whereabouts.
What intrigues me about your information is that everything else you have documented about Briony's family seems to be so accuate - as if you have it from the horse's mouth, so-to-say. You even have that she is now happily married to Sam Milburn; that wedding is relatively recent (2017), and I did't think would be on any of the genealogical database sites?
I will get in touch with Briony to alert her to your web-site. I'm sure she will be intrigued, and perhaps may contact you directly. I think her brother, David is the keeper of their family history records. My only suggestion about documentary evidence is if you have access to Australian BMDs? As I mentioned before, I'm fairly certain David is from an old Melbourne family. I met his father (possibly Max) once, and he had the aura of a very self-assured and well-established 'old-school' Australian. I believe David was an old boy of the Melbourne Public School (not that I know anything about schools in Victoria).
This all started when I was doing a web-search for James Templer, the balloonist. A friend of mine who lives in Walditch, Bridport, is giving a local community talk about the Bridport balloon accident, in which James was involved. For local interest he wanted to link James Templer with Ian Templer (Briony's Dad), who was living at the Hyde Care Home in Walditch until his recent death.
Phil Fouracre
Families
| Spouse | Briony Elizabeth Templer |