Leonard TYLER [1899-????]

I believe the person you have in your archives listed as Les Tyler is in fact my great uncle Leonard Sidney Tyler, born in Leicestershire UK.

He left England for Hong Kong in August 1922 to become a police officer.

He spent many years there and received a long service medal on the 4th August 1940.

There is a picture of the 1935 Police Training school group photo and I believe  1G is Len Tyler (2nd Instructor). I have been trying to confirm that he was interned at the Stanley Camp from '41 to '45 but with no success so far.

B 13.3.1899 East Ham ?,enlisted in 1922 as A 98,Commended by the Captain Supt of Police in 1925 for his work in a serious crime case,promoted to Sub Inspector 1935,awarded Colonial Police Long Service Medal 4.8.1940 (18 yrs),believed to be uncle of L/Sgt Peter Donohue who was killed in the Jeanette explosion on 12.12.1941,Interned in Stanley,repatriated on the Highland Monarch in Oct 1945,returned after leave,retired as Assistant Superintendent having been awarded  2 Governor's and 2 Commissioner's commendations during his service.

Thanks for the extra information. I have updated his name, but note you each have a different date & place of birth recorded. Please can I ask your sources, in case that helps identify which is more likely.

Regards, David

My DOB from HKP Blue Book (Staff List), East Ham pob (?) but on one of his trips back to UK he cites an East Ham address as his leave locus.

My great uncle Len was born in Loughborough, Leicestershire in the September quarter of 1900.

His daughter Patricia born in December 1928 is still alive and lives in Kettering.

His wife could not stand the conditions in Hong Kong and came back to the UK in 1928.

He stayed in East Ham on his return to the UK in 1932 and 1952 as he and his wife were divorced. 

I have been compiling my family tree and believe after his retirement he went to live in Australia in Dora Creek, Morisset, NSW.

I have been doing more research on my Great Uncle Len Tyler and I believe he was from East Ham as one of your other contributors thought. He was born in 1899, his mother being a Jane Elizabeth Rolfe and father Stephen James Tyler. He retired to Dora Creek in NSW Australia, I haven't yet discovered where he died as the family were estranged, but he was on the electoral roll in Dora Creek in 1963 when he was 64. His name was Leonard Tyler (no Sydney)

Thanks for the update. I'll change his DoB from 1900 to match 1314's earlier message.

Regards, David

My grandfather was Leonard Tyler.

I am one of Patricia's 2 daughters.

My mother still lives in Kettering, Northamptonshire.

I also live in northamptonshire with my husband.

We have 3 children and 3 grand children.

My mother was in communication with her father in Australia before his death.

I think some of your details are inaccurate.

Hello KNC,

Thanks for writing. If you can let us have any corrections they'll be very welcome.

Regards, David

My mother, Patricia, has the marriage certificate of Leonard Tyler to Maggie Collins dated September 23rd 1927.

My mother was born a year later on 9th September 1928.

On the marriage certificate my grandfather's father is named as Stephen James Tyler (Chief Engineer).

My grandfather had a nephew Donald Tyler of East Ham, a niece Marjory Harris of East Ham and a

grand nephew Stephen Tyler also of London.

My mother would be grateful if anyone has further pictures of him.

Knc

I've updated the given name from Leonard Sidney to Leonard to match KNC's spelling.

I've also put a request for photos in this week's newsletter. So far we just have one photo:

1935 Police Training School group photo, by Admin

Regards, David

In a later from Leonard Tyler to his daughter Patricia dated 10th October 1980, he

explains that following a stroke he was a patient at a government run nursing

home.  The address at the head of the letter is Bonnells Bay 2264 N.S.W.

I am aware Leonard Tyler resided at Dora Creek NSW as a border with the Taper family on their property located on Old Maitland Road. He passed away in 1987 in Booragul NSW,  a small suburb not to far removed from Dora Creek and Bonnells Bay - all located within the Lake Macquarie shire. 

I am aware this is an incredibly old thread,  however I have been searching for living relatives of Leonard for many years and found this record.

My name is Naomi and I am lead to believe that I am his Granddaughter. My mother was born of Besse Taper,  the daughter of the family he was boarding with. She was born at Hillcrest hospital and adopted at 3 days of age under an agreement with the hospital in 1959. Besse was an unwed woman aged 36 at the time of my mother's birth. We are aware Leonard would have been sixty years old at the time having conceived a child with a 36 year old woman.  As incredulous as this sounds,  we believe this to be true. My mother was fortunate enough to meet Besse in the early 1990's after receiving information from the Attorney General stating that she was in fact her biological mother. Besse agreed to meet with my mother and informed her of her biological father's name. 

I was raised in Merewether Newcastle NSW and have been trying to trace evidence of Leonard's existence. I finally found information here that leads me to believe I am on the right path as it corresponds with details that had been verbally relayed. There is no paper trail to prove this. Due to stigma of unwed mother's back in that era, it was not uncommon for statuary documents to lack detail due to the fact that babies born out of wedlock were considered a taboo subject and frowned upon by the wider community.

I know this is an unusual request, but could any relative being either KNC,  Diane or David please contact me. I have no ill will,  I am not seeking any remuneration, I am solely seeking recognition of the fact that Leonard was my mother's biological father and my grandfather. I am happy to provide evidence of DNA to verify the family lineage if required.

Again, I am aware this is an extremely unusual circumstance. Please let me reiterate that I have no misgivings and bear no ill intentions. I am happy to provide photos of my mother,  myself, my sister and my children as proof that we may be linked. 

I thank all of you who read this and hope that this is taken in a serious context. My biological history has been a mystery for what is now three generations and any light that may be cast to assist in verifying what we have been lead to believe would be sincerely appreciated.

I am KNC the younger daughter of Patricia, Leonard Tyler's daughter born in wedlock to Maggie in 1928.

Although her parents were estranged, my mother was in communication with her father throughout her adult life.

She is now 92 years of age, living independently in the comunity in Northamptonshire.

I also live in Northamptonshire with my husband and have 3 children.

My sister lives in Shropshire and has one child.

We note the result of your investigations, the content of which we were not aware of until you brought them to our attention.  Unfortunately, therefore, we are unable to corroborate your findings.

We wish you well in your search.

UK Birth Records

There is no record of a Leonard Tyler born in 1900 in Leicestershire

However there is a record of the birth of Leonard Tyler  in Leicestershire  in Quarter 4 1889 mother's maiden name Stafford

He was baptised 1 December 1889 at St Luke's Leicester. Parents John Arthur Tyler a painter and Annie Cleaver

In 1889 East Ham was in Essex (now in Greater London) and there are no records of a birth of Leonard Tyler in East Ham.

Thre was a birth of Leonard Willliam H Tyler in Orsett Essex 1889

UK Birth Index

Leonard Tyler birth registered Quarter 2 1899 West Ham Essex. Mother's maiden name Rolfe

The West Ham registration district 1837 - 1965  included births in 

• Sub-districts : Canning Town, Forest Gate, Leyton, North East Ham, North Leyton, Plaistow, Silvertown, South East Ham, South Leyton, Stratford, Walthamstow, Walthamstow East, Walthamstow West, Wanstead, West Ham, West Ham Central, West Ham North East, West Ham North West, West Ham South, Woodford.