Aeneas Francon Williams, FRSGS (17 February 1886 – 9 December 1971) was a MinisterSee page 754 of Fasti Ecclesiae Scoticanae 1928, Overseas Presbyteries for his biography of the Church of Scotland, a missionary, chaplain, writer, and poet. Williams was a missionary in the Eastern Himalayas and China and writer of many published works.
Family
Aeneas Francon Williams was born at 15 Leonard Street, Liscard, Wirral, Cheshire, the second son of four to John Francon Williams FRGS, and Barbara Balmain Dougall. Aeneas had three brothers, John Balmain, David Dougal Williams FRSA and George Stanley, and a sister, Margaret Mary Ann Williams. Aeneas was baptized at St. Peter's Church, Liverpool, on 20 July 1886.http://www.ancestry.com – Liverpool F.C., Lancashire, England, Baptisms 1813–1906 – Aeneas Francon Williams, son of John and Barbara Williams, St. Peter's Church, Liverpool F.C., 20 July 1886. During Aeneas's formative years, he was educated privately. From 1900 to 1906, Aeneas attended the Technical Institute and Student Teacher Centre in Walthamstow, and from 1906 to 1908, he attended the University of Edinburgh and Moray House Training College. In 1932 Aeneas returned to Edinburgh, where he studied at the University of Edinburgh New College for a further two years.Overseas Presbyteries, Church of Scotland, page 754–Aeneas Francon Williams: Quote from Williams’ biography in the book: ‘Educated privately, and at Technical Institute and Student Teacher Centre, Walthamstow 1900-1906, University of Edinburgh and Moray House Training College 1906-1908 and New College 1932-1933.’
Aeneas's father, John Francon Williams, born in 1854 in the village of Llanllechid in Caernarvonshire, North Wales, was a published writer, newspaper editor, geographer, inventor, historian and cartographer.John Francon Williams World Catalogue:http://www.worldcat.org/search?q=John+Francon+Williams&qt=results_pageJohn Francon Williams, (inventions) reference BT 51/4/5500, registered design No 5500, 1884 April 21, and, registered design reference BT 51/4/5499, 1884 April 21, The National Archives, KewA Class-Book of Modern Geography by J. Francon Williams- British Library images of the book: https://www.flickr.com/photos/britishlibrary/11289251615/in/photolist-icAnce-hUKTqn-hUTWda-hUGQky-hUNJEx/ Aeneas's mother, Barbara, was born in Perthshire, Scotland. By 1901, the Williams family was living at Queens Grove Road in the affluent area of Chingford, Essex, where, on the 1901 England and Wales Census, Aeneas aged 15, is recorded as being an artist and painter.1901 England and Wales Census – Aeneas Francon Williams – aged 15 – artist, painter: Census
Missionary work
Kalimpong
At the age of twenty-four, Aeneas Williams attended the 1910 World Missionary Conference hosted at the Assembly Hall in Edinburgh from 14 to 23 June. The conference is a marker for the beginning of the modern Protestant Christian ecumenical movement. The Church of Scotland missionary John Anderson Graham appeared at the conference both as a guest speaker and as a member of the audience. He was also there to encourage donations to aid his mission St Andrew's Colonial Home in Kalimpong, West Bengal. The Protestant Christian Missionary community slogan drove the conference's spirit: 'The Evangelization of the World in this Generation.' Whether Aeneas attended one meeting, or several is undocumented, but during the event he got his calling to become a missionary. Later that same year, Aeneas arrived in India and was stationed in Kalimpong at St Andrew's Colonial Home (later renamed Dr. Graham's Homes) – an orphanage/school – where he was the assistant schoolmaster and taught mathematics,Seven-page document dated 4 April 1968 handwritten by Aeneas for his grandson Iain Cameron outlining the Williams ancestry page 1 GeographyAeneas teaching a Geography Class: at St Andrew's HomesAeneas teaching a Geography Class (Pic II): at St Andrew's Homes and Science.Dr. Graham's Kalimpong Homes – National Library of Scotland Blog with original photographs from Kalimpong during the early 1900s: http://blog.nls.uk/dr-grahams-kalimpong-homes/Marriage Certificate for Aeneas Francon Williams and Clara Anne Rendall, 2 December 1914: Findmypast.co.uk–Williams rank of profession is registered as ‘Assistant School Master.’ As the school expanded, Williams took on the role of Bursar. His official residence was Wolseley House in the grounds of the school.Correspondence from Aeneas Francon Williams addressed from Wolseley House is stored in the Dr. Graham Kalimpong Archive held at the National Library of Scotland, Edinburgh The house was named after Sir Capel Charles Wolseley, 9th Baronet, who was the secretary of the fund-raising delegation London Committee–a committee formed to solicit funds for Indian missions. The committee funded the building of St. George's Homes in Pulney Hills, Kodaikanal, founded by Rev. John Breeden in 1914, which was based upon St Andrew's Colonial Homes, hence the connection. Breeden and Wolseley visited St. Andrew's Colonial Homes to draw up plans for St. George's Homes.Hindu Times, 1 March 2010. Retrieved 10 June 2012. St. George's Homes, which opened its doors in May 1914 after planning and fund-raising efforts that John Breeden had started in 1910, is now called the Laidlaw Memorial School and Junior College: Persistence Pays Aeneas quickly settled into his life at St. Andrew's as a missionary and took on several other roles, including financial adviser to Dr. John Anderson Graham, and as a fundraiser for the children's home.St Andrew's Colonial Home – School and Mission houses (pictures) (c. 1922) from An Indian Pilgrimage – Travel Notes of a Visit to the Indian Fields of the Church of Scotland by The Very Rev. J.N. Ogilvie, public. William Blackwood & Sons (Edinburgh)1922, p. 134: Travel Notes Kalimpong was the centre of missionary activity in the region, with Darjeeling steadfastly remaining the political powerhouse. In Darjeeling, missionaries played a supporting role to the official political figures and aristocracy that governed the region. In Kalimpong that reversed, missionaries reigned supreme.Their Footprints Remain: Biomedical Beginnings Across the Indo-Tibetan Frontier by Alex McKay, publ. Amsterdam University Press 2007, , chapter 1: Missionary Medicine and the Rise of Kalimpong: p. 69
On 2 December 1914, Aeneas and Clara Anne Rendall were married at Macfarlane Memorial Church in Kalimpong by Rev. Evan Mackenzie.The Times of India, 22 December 1914, page 5 – marriage announcement – Williams-RendallAeneas and Clara’s marriage photo, 2 December 1914, Kalimpong, India Dr. John Anderson Graham officiated as best man and a witness at the ceremony.Marriage Certificate for Aeneas Francon Williams and Clara Anne Rendall, 2 December 1914: Findmypast.co.uk Clara (a true Orcadian)Clara Anne Rendall family tree (retrieved 9 July 2018) North Isles Family History:https://www.bayanne.info/Shetland/familychart.php?familyID=F286607&tree=ID1A photograph of Clara's Uncle William Kent (her mothers brother) can be seen on the Orkney Image Library (retrieved 9 July 2018):http://photos.orkneycommunities.co.uk/picture/number22637.asp was born on 24 July 1887 in KirkwallClara Anne Rendall Born 24 July 1887, Kirkwall (retrieved 9 July 2018) North Isles Family History:https://www.bayanne.info/Shetland/getperson.php?personID=I390218&tree=ID1 on the Orkney Islands and was also a Church of Scotland missionary and taught French at St. Andrew's Colonial school.An excerpt from Chapter 3 of, Race, Tea and Colonial Resettlement: Imperial Families, Interrupted, by Jane McCabe, ISBN 9781474299503, Bloomsbury Academic, shows a photograph taken in 1916 of John Anderson Graham, with staff and pupils, in Kalimpong, in which (5th on the left) on the front row of seated adults is Aeneas Francon Williams. He is sitting in front of John Anderson Graham. Williams is wearing his white French tropical hat. On the same front row (2nd on the left) is Clara Williams wearing a black hat. Her baby bump is not yet apparent. Photo of Clara and Aeneas, 1916 Clara's uncle, William Kent (her mother's brother), married Euphemia Janet Rosina Ogilvy Euphemia Ogilvy marriage details of the Clan Ogilvy,Clan Ogilvy family ancestryOgilvy ancestry pages 135- 138Ogilvy family tree showing Euphemia Ogilvy and William Kent a descendant of Robert the Bruce King of Scots.
Aeneas was a keen sportsman and footballer and played outside forward (left-wing) in the Grahams' home football team.National Library of Scotland, Inventory Acc. 6039, Kalimpong Papers, Dr. J.A. Graham D.D.C.I.E. Archive-Box 6: Diaries 1912–20, 1922–23 – Dr. Graham's 1915 diary mentions Williams playing in the Graham's homes football team in outside forward (left wing) position On 7 October 1916, Clara gave birth to twins, Alfred Francon and Beatrice Clara. Rev. John Anderson Graham baptized Alfred and Beatrice in Kalimpong on 19 November 1916.Copy of the original Baptism Certificate for Alfred Francon and Beatrice Clara Williams, 19 November 1916: Findmypast.co.uk Aeneas and his growing family remained at St Andrew's Colonial Home until 1924.Clara Williams (photo) feeding her pet deer in her garden at Wolseley House, Kalimpong, India, circa early-1920s Williams’ first book, A Pronouncement of the Public Conscience, was published in 1921. At the beginning of January 1921, Aeneas, his wife, and their two young offspring (aged 4) sailed from Calcutta on board the (Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Company Line) SS SoudanIncoming Passenger List: SS Soudan, port of arrival London, 18 January 1921: passengers A. Francon Williams (schoolmaster), Clara A Williams, Alfred F. and Beatrice C. en route to the UK. The family arrived in the Port of London on 18 January from where they travelled up to Scotland. It was the first time the two young children Alfred and Beatrice, had visited Britain. During the trip, Aeneas undertook a short fundraising tour in aid of St Andrew's Colonial Home in Kalimpong, during which he gave lantern shows with spoken commentary. His shows were performed on variety bills and in Church Halls. The photographic slides were projected upon a large screen and depicted life at St Andrew's Colonial Home, views of the Eastern Himalayas, and his experience as a missionary in India. One of Williams’ presentations was given at a variety concert at Elie in Fife held on 23 September at which Major-General Sir George Kenneth Scott-Moncrieff introduced the acts.Dundee Courier, 24 September 1921, p.3 – Variety Concert at Elie (review) – A variety concert gave a successful entertainment in the Parish Church Hall Elie in aid of the St Andrew's Colonial Home, Kalimpong. Williams shared the bill with various vocal and instrumental performers, as well as a young dancer.
Aeneas Francon Williams was elected a Fellow of The Royal Scottish Geographical Society (FRSGS) in 1921.The Royal Scottish Geographical Society, Diploma of Fellowship (FRSGS) register, 1921, Dr. A. Francon Williams, British Bhutan (retrieved 10 October 2017):The Scottish Geographical Magazine, Vol. XXXVIII, 1922, publ. T & A Constable Ltd., page 68-69 – Report of Council (37th Session) 1920–21, Fellows and Honorary Members: ‘The Diploma of Fellowship was granted during the session to A. Francon Williams, British Bhutan.’ : report
1922 British Mount Everest Expedition