Robert Bunce (c.1803-1886) is the earliest ancestor of the Bunce lineage of whom we know with reasonable certainty. He is identified in all four U.K. census returns from 1851 to 1881 as having been born about 1804, based on his age, at Orchardley (Orchardleigh), Somerset, which corresponds to Orchardleigh Manor, where the baronets of Orchardleigh lived. Because Orchardleigh was an estate, his parents may have been servants there. It is very likely that Robert is to be identified with a Robert Bunce, son of William and Ann Bunce, who was baptized on June 5, 1803 at the Beckington parish church, which is located only 1.5 miles from Orchardleigh Manor. If this identification is correct, then the parish records indicate that Robert had an older sister named Sarah, who was baptized on Aug. 18, 1800 at the same church. Furthermore, it is likely that Robert and Susan's parents are the William Bunce and Anne Lacey who were married on Oct. 31, 1796 at the same Beckington parish church. However, these realationships could also be coincidences, and more evidence is needed before they can be accepted as fact.
The Robert Bunce we seek would have moved at some point before 1829 from his birthplace at Orchardley, which is on the Frome River not far from Bath, eastward to the village of Hungerford in Berkshire. Hungerford is actually located along the western border of Berkshire with adjacent Wiltshire, and it is sometimes shown as being in easternmost Wiltshire. The distance between Orchardley and Hungerford is nearly 40 miles, which in those days was a fair distance to travel, as most people lived their entire lives without ever straying more than a few short miles from the place of their birth. It is not known why Robert came to Hungerford, nor whether he came there as a child with his parents, or on his own as a young man.
Robert married his first wife Emma Allen (c.1807-1835) on Aug. 7, 1829 in Hungerford, Emma most likely being the daughter of William and Sarah Allen of Tilehurst, which is located in central Berkshire, a miles east of Hungerford. If Emma is indeed the daughter of this William and Sarah, then she was baptized on Feb. 15, 1807 in the Tilehurst parish church. She and Robert had three children, all born in Hungerford, before she died prematurely in 1835, at the age of only 28 years. She was buried on Aug. 30, 1835 at St. Lawrence Church in Hungerford, where she lies next to her daughter Sarah (1834-1855), who was buried there a little more than 20 years later. Left with three small children, Robert soon remarried, this time to Maria Bronsdon (c.1805-1877) on July 7, 1836 in Maria's home town of Kintbury, Berkshire, and she settled in with Robert at his home in Hungerford. Maria does not appear to have had any children of her own, at least that we know of, but she became stepmother to her husband's children. She predeceased Robert in 1877 in Hungerford, and was buried there on June 1, 1877 at the age of 72 years in St. Lawrence Churchyard, the same cemetery where Robert's first wife Emma was buried.
Robert appears to have always been employed in Hungerford in one job or another associated with the local food industry. He is listed in the 1841 U.K. Census for Hungerford as a grocer, and then the 1851 census shows him living there as a journeyman miller. Next, he is listed in the 1861 and 1871 census returns for Hungerford as a baker, but he evidently moved after the death of his wife Maria to Tilehurst, near Reading in central Berkshire, where we find him during the 1881 census living with his son William Robert Bunce (d. 1892). This census also lists Robert's occupation as a retired baker, and gives his status as a widow.
Robert died on May 2, 1886 in on Theale Steet, in the Tilehurst district of western Reading, Berkshire, and he was buried on May 6, 1886 at the advanced age of 82 years in the churchyard of Holy Trinity Church in the Theale district of central Reading. His death record lists him as a former baker and grocer. He and his first wife Emma had at least the three children listed below, but no children are known from his marriage with second wife Maria.
Emma J. Bunce (c.1832-1864) was probably born in or about 1832 in Hungerford, Wiltshire, as she was baptized there on Jan. 27, 1832 in the parish church. She appears with her family in Hungerford in the 1841 U.K. Census, but we find her as a visitor in another household in nearby Kintbury during the 1851 census with her occupation listed as dress maker. She married Thomas Garlick (1830-1915) of Kintbury, Berkshire in 1853 in Reading, Berkshire, and they generally resided in Kintbury where the had several children. Emma died in 1864 at the age of only 33 years, and she was buried on April 5, 1864 in the churchyard of St. Mary Kintbury. Her husband Thomas survived her by many years, marrying two more times, and he is buried near her in the same churchyard.
Sarah Allen Bunce (c.1834-1855) was probably born in or about 1834 in Hungerford, Wiltshire, as she was baptized there on July 11, 1834 in the parish church. She appears in the 1841 and 1851 UK Census records, but died when she was only 21 years old. She was buried on Oct. 12, 1855 in the graveyard of St. Lawrence Church in Hungerford, which is the same cemetery where her mother lies.
William Robert Bunce, Sr. (c.1830-1892), the son of Robert Bunce and Emma Allen, was probably born in Hungerford, Wiltshire, England, as he was baptized there on June 20, 1830 in the parish church. He shows up in the 1851 U.K. census working in Tilehurst as a 21-year old journeyman baker/servant for a master baker named Benjamin Allen (c.1800-1869), who had at least one other baker under his employ. It seems likely that this Benjamin was probably a cousin of William's mother Emma Allen. If this family relationship is correct, then the dual identification of William as both servant and baker, might imply that William had also served an apprenticeship under Benjamin Allen, and was possibly still indentured to him.
William married his first wife Sophia Ann Clift (c.1829-1867), the daughter of William Clift, in 1854 in Bradfield, Berkshire. She and William had five surviving children , and at least two who died as infants. All were born in either Tilehurst, which is a suburb on the east side of Reading, or in later years in Theale, which is a small village located just east of Tilehurst. Sophia, who had been baptized on July 21, 1829 in Shinfield, Berkshire, died at the premature age of 38 on May 7, 1867 in Theale, Berkshire (Bradfield registration district), and she was buried on May 7, 1867 in the Holy Trinity Churchyard in Theale.
William then married his second wife Elizabeth Sarah Kent (c.1836-1919) in 1868 in Wokingham, Berkshire. Elizabeth had been born about 1836 in York Town (Frimley), a suburb of Camberley in westernmost Surrey. She was also a widow, having previously been to Edwin Stone (c.1824-1865), with whom she had two children - George Edwin Stone (1864-1942) and Sarah Stone (b. c.1865) - who thus became became stepchildren of her new husband William. She and William then proceeded to have three more children of their own as well. Thus, William was father or stepfather to ten surviving children born over a period of almost twenty years.
Although William must have initially trained for a career as a baker, he is listed in the 1861 U.K.Census, when he would have been about 31-years old, as a relieving officer for the town of Tilehurst. Relieving officers were public officials who worked for the "Guardians of the Poor", which were local boards or committees that from 1835 to 1930 administered Poor Law in the United Kingdom. His duties in this capacity would have been to help administer public relief by observing the status of households hoping to receive aid from the public. However, he also appears to have served as the Town Registrar for Births, Marriages and Deaths, and also at times in later years as a vaccination officer, and inspector of nuisances. He appears to have still been the town Relieving Officer and Registrar of BM&D when he died more than 30 years later.
William died on July 15, 1892 in the Bradfield registration district of Berkshire, with his estate settled in probate. He was buried on July 12, 1892 at the age of 62 in the Holy Trinity Churchyard in Theale. Sarah died in August of 1919 in the Greenwich registration district of London, where she had been living with her daughter Ada Nunneley (1871-1952). She is buried with Ada and Ada's husband George Nunneley (1870-1958) in Brockley Cemetery in Lewisham, London.
children - BUNCE (with Sophia Clift)
Sarah Ann Bunce (1855-1941) was born on April 30, 1855 in Tilehurst, Berkshire, and baptized there on June 25, 1855 in the parish church. She never married and was still a member of her father's household during the 1891 U.K. Census. She died a spinster on Feb. 19, 1941 in Theale, Berkshire, with her estate settled in probate.
William Robert Bunce, Jr. (1857-1937) was born in 1857 in Tilehurst, Berkshire, and baptized there on April 26, 1857 in the parish church. He followed in the footsteps of his grandfather Robert Bunce (c.1803-1886), and became a grocer. We find him during the 1881 U.K. Census, when he was 24-years old, working as a grocer's shopman in the vicinity of St. Giles Church in the town of Reading, Berkshire. Then during the 1891 census he is listed as a master grocer in Burghfield, Berkshire, which means that he probably was running his own store. He married his first wife Emma Cant (1859-1887) in 1884 in Bradfield, Berkshire, and they had one son William Alfred Bunce (1885-1967). Emma died two years later, and was buried on July 20, 1887 at the age of 28 at St. Marys Church in Burghfield. William later married his second wife Ellen Elizabeth Brown (1867-1945) in 1889 in Bradfield, and there he and Ellen raised a family of several children. William died on Oct. 18, 1937 in Burghfield Common, and he is buried there in the cemetery of St. Marys Church with his first wife Emma. His second wife Ellen died in 1945 in Wokingham, Berkshire, and she is buried with William and Emma in the same churchyard. William's niece Dorothy Bunce (1894-1986) remembered that in the 1970s William and Ellen's youngest child Kathleen Bunce (1902-1989) ran a grocery store in Burghfield Common. This store was known as the "Laurels", and presumably it had been founded in the 1890s or earlier by William.
William Jr's children with Emma Cant
William Alfred Bunce (1885-1967) was born on May 25, 1885 in Burghfield, a small village not too far from Tilehurst. He married Bertha Kate Smith (1889-1989) in 1929 in Bradfield, Berkshire; and died in 1967 in Wokingham, Berkshire.
William Jr's children with Ellen Brown
Ethel Mary Bunce (1890-1971) was born on July 9 or July 13, 1890 in Burghfield, Berkshire. She is probably the Ethel M. Bunce who married Cecil Gowland Gutch (1894-1952) in 1921 in Bradfield, Berkshire, and died in 1971 in Henley, Oxfordshire. However, this needs to be confirmed. It is not known if she and Cecil had any children.
Elsie Sophia Bunce (1892-1963) and her twin borther Ernest were born on March 14, 1892 in Burghfield, Berkshire. She never married, and died on April 22, 1963 in Wokingham, Berkshire. She spent her enire life working at a family grocery store in Burghfield Commons that was known as the The Laurels.
Ernest Edward Bunce (1892-1917) was Elsie's twin brother. He enlisted in the Berkshire Yeomanry during WWI, achieved the rank of Lance Corporal, and was killed on Nov. 18, 1917 in Palestine, when it was still part of Egypt. He is buried there in the Gaza Strip in the Deir El Belah War Cemetery. His name also appears on the base of the Burghfield War Memorial Cross, which is a cenotaph at St. Marys Church in Burghfield.
Lillian May Bunce (1896-1897) was born in 1896 and died the following year.
Arthur John Bunce (1897-1961?) was born in 1897 in Burghfield, Berkshire. He appears in the 1901 and 1911 census, but we are not sure of his life after that. There is a strong possibility that he married a woman named Florence Barrell in Witney, Oxfordshire, worked there as a master butcher, and died in 1961 in Witney. However, this may also be confusion with a different man of the same name.
Hubert Bunce (1900-1978) was born on June 5, 1900 in Burghfield, Berkshire. He married Gladys Henrietta Hope (1899-1975) in 1929 in Bournemouth, Dorset, and died in 1978 in Bournemouth. He and Gladys had at least two children.
Kathleen "Kath" Emma Bunce (1902-1989) was born on Sept. 13, 1902 in Burghfield, Berkshire. Kath's cousin Dorothy Bunce (1894-1986) remembered that in the 1970s Kath, along with members of her family, ran a grocery store in Burghfield Common. This store was called the "Laurels", and it had been founded by Kath's family, probably in the 1890s or earlier. Kath was still residing at this store when she died unmarried on April 12, 1989 in Reading and Wokingham, Berkshire.
Edward "Ted" Bunce (1860-1949), was born in 1860 in Tilehurst, Berkshire, and baptized there on June 24, 1860 in the parish church. He worked various jobs as a young man, until about 1892 when his father William Robert Bunce died, and Edward took over his father's position as Relieving Officer, and Registrar of Births, Marriages and Deaths for the town of Tilehurst. Because the town chose Edward to succeed his father, we suspect that Edward probably had some experience as his father's assistant. Relieving Officers were officials who coordinated relief efforts for the poor, and Edward's father had held this job for more than 30 years. Edward probably then held the job for another 30 or more years. We do know that in 1921, when he was 61 years old, Edward is listed as both Registrar of BM&D, and as a Trustee of the "Tilehurst Poor's Land Charity", and we can probably assume that he continued to work for at least a few more years before retiring.
Edward married Fanny Elizabeth Hulett (1864-1950), the daughter of William Lord Hulett, on Oct. 4, 1893 in Stevington, a village in the borough of Bedford, Bedfordshire, which was where Fanny had been born. Edward and Fanny by 1897 were living at the Firs on Armour Road in Tilehurst, but they were probably renters. Then in 1907 Edward is listed on the Electoral Rolls as a freeholder (of property) at Highclere, Westwood Road, Tilehurst, which indicates that he and Fanny bought a home that year known as Highclere House, which was located on the next street over from their previous home on Armour Road. Their address is sometimes shown as 94 Westwood Road, and they were still living here 40 years later.
When Edward's niece Dorothy Bunce and her sister Madge took a voyage to England in 1927 from the States, they indicated on the ships manifest that Edward Bunce's house in Tilehurst was their primary destination. Dorothy remembered Edward as "Uncle Ted", and she recalled that he had the family tree traced, but we have no idea what became of this pedigree. He does not appear to have had any children, and he died on June 7, 1949 in Reading, Berkshire, where he was buried on June 10 in the cemetery at St. Michael's Church. Fanny died in Reading in 1950, and she is buried near Edward in the same churchyard.
John Bunce (1862-1863) is probably a son of William and Sophia Bunce. All that is known about him is that he died in the Bradfield registration district and was buried on Feb. 4, 1863 at the age of 1 year at Holy Trinity church in Theale, Berkshire.
Sophia Ann Clift Bunce (1863-1864) was born in 1863 in the Bradfield registration district and died there the following year. She was buried on November 25, 1864 at the age of 1 year at Holy Trinity Church in Theale, Berkshire.
Emma Sophia Bunce (1865-1951) was born on October 11, 1865 in Theale, Berkshire (Bradfield registration district). She almost certainly is the young woman of the same name who appears in the 1881 U.K. Census as a milliners apprentice at St. Mary, Berkshire. Emma subsequently married William Henry Wing (1866-1950) in the first quarter of 1891 in the Bradfield registration district, and had a daughter named Winifred Ella Wing (1891-1983), who was born on Oct. 16, 1891 in West Ham, Essex. Winifred grew up to marry Charles John Topping (1887-1984), and they have descendants living today in England. Winifred's mother Emma died on Nov. 25, 1951 in Tonbridge, Kent, where she was probably living with or near Winnifred.
children - BUNCE (with Elizabeth Kent)
Ernest Arthur Bunce (1869-1941) was born in 1869 in Theale Realing, Berkshire (later Hertfordshire and Buckinghamshire). He appears in the 1871 UK Census in his parent's home, but afterwards he is always in a boarding school. He married Ada Ann Sadler on September 25, 1895 in Maldon, Essex, and emigrated with her and their two children on the S.S. Dominion in 1904 to Canada. They settled in Winnipeg, but moved in 1914 to the United States, crossing the border at St. Albans, Vermont, and subsequently settling in St. Paul, Minnesota. Ernest died on May 9, 1941 in Hennepin County, Minnesota; and he is buried in Fairview Cemetery in Stillwater, Minnesota. Ada Ann, who was born on July 1, 1869 in Essex England, died on April 27, 1958 in Washington County, Minnesota, and is buried in the same cemetery as her husband.
Evelyn Ada Bunce (1897-1977) was born on Oct 20, 1897 in Kingston, Surrey, England; and came with her family in 1904 to Winnipeg, Canada, and then in 1914 to Stillwater, Minnesota in the USA. She married Walter George Nelson (1889-1964), and they had two daughters - Marillyn (1921-2020) and Joyce (1926-1989). She died on Sept. 26, 1977 in Stillwater, and she is almost certainly buried there with her husband, parents and daughter Marillyn in Fairview Cemetery.
Frederick William George Bunce (1903-1961) was born on Dec. 24, 1903 in Kingston, Surrey, England; and came with his family in 1904 to Winnipeg, Canada. He then moved in 1914 to Stillwater, Montana in the United States. He married Gwendolyn M. Covell (1910-2002), and died on January 30, 1961 in Ramsey County, Minnesota. Both he and Gwendolyn are buried in the Willow River Cemetery in Hudson, Wisconsin.
Walter Ernest Bunce (1911-1999) was born on Dec. 25, 1911 in Winnipeg, Canada. He came with his family to Minnesota in 1914, and became a dentist, obtaining his U.S. citizenship on Sept. 10, 1943, possibly as a result of enlisting in the U.S. Army during World War II. He married Eleanor A. Jackson, possibly his second marriage, on Feb. 9, 1974 in Dakota County, Minnesota. He and his cousin Dorothy Bunce kept in touch over the years, and she had several pictures of him and his family when she passed away. Walter died on July 1, 1999 in Stillwater, Minnesota, where he is buried in Fairview Cemetery near his parents. His tombstone indicates that he was a WWII veteran, and that he reached the rank of Major.
Lillian Bessie Bunce (1870-1939) was born in 1870 in Tilehurst, Berkshire in the Bradfield registration district. She appears with her family in the 1871 and 1881 U.K. Census, then appears in the 1891 U.K. Census in Stroud, Gloucestershire working as an assistant. She married George Edward Wilson (1864-1939) on Dec. 11, 1895 at Devizes, Wiltshire, and died in 1939 Stroud, Gloucestershire.
Ada Bunce (1871-1952) was born on November 10, 1871 in Tilehurst, Berkshire in the Bradfield registration district. She married George Arthur Nunneley (1870-1958) on March 15, 1896 at Hatcham St. Catherine in the Lewisham borough of London, and she and and George were living at Deptford St. Paul, London during the 1901 census. She died in 1952 in Bromley, Kent, and was buried at Brockley Cemetery in Lewisham, London, where she shares a grave with her mother and husband.
stepchildren - STONE (from the first marriage of Elizabeth Kent)
George Edwin Stone (1864-1942), the son of Edwin Stone and Elizabeth Kent, was born on April 24, 1864 in Theale, Berkshire. He lost his father in 1865, and became the stepson of William Robert Bunce in 1868 when his mother remarried. He married Ada Ellen Barnes (1864-1949) in 1888 in Ashford Kent, had children with her, and at some point moved to Stonehouse, near Stroud, Gloucestershire. He died on May 16, 1942 in the Stroud registration district.
Sarah Stone (b. c.1865) the daughter of Edwin Stone and Elizabeth Kent, was born about 1865 in Theale, Berkshire. her father died around the time she was born, and she became the stepdaughter of William Robert Bunce in 1868 when her mother remarried. She is known only from the UK Census of 1871, which is an indication that she probably died as a child.
Robert Bunce (1858-1930), the son of William Robert Bunce and Sophia Ann Clift, was born on April 20, 1858 in Tilehurst, Berkshire, and baptized there on June 27, 1858 in the parish church. He worked as a drapers assistant as a young man, and it was in that capacity that he met the family of a farmer named Henry Hare in the next county. He eventually married Margaret Lucy Hare, one of Henry's daughters, on Dec. 27, 1884 in the village of Upper Gravenhurst, Bedfordshire. According to his daughter Dorothy, the marriage was arranged. Robert then tried his hand at farming in Hollesley, Suffolk, but that only lasted a few years, and he later listed his occupation as a manufacturer's agent, then auctioneer, and eventually an estate agent and financier. He also made a couple of claims in later newspaper articles that early on in his career he had helped finance some South African gold mines, but these stories may have been exaggerated a bit to impress potential investors for other financial projects that he had in mind.
A stock certificate dated Feb. 22, 1901 for the Black Hills Development & Financial Corporation. This was the initial stock offering.
Robert at some point began working with investors dealing in gold-mining properties in the Black Hills of South Dakota, and he became President and General Manager by Feb. 1901 of the Black Hills Development and Financial Corporation. This led to his making trips to the United States starting in 1904, perhaps earlier, as a representative for the company, which, though incorporated much earlier, formally organized in Nov. 1909 in South Dakota, and capitalized with a stock value of $3.5 million. The company dealt in the resale of old gold and silver mines in the Lead, Deadwod, and Rochford mining districts of the Black Hills, and it was financed by several British investors. An early business associate, probably one of these investors, introduced Robert to the Christian Science faith, and Robert in turn inspired his daughters, especially Queenie (Lena Mary), to become devout Christian Science followers.
"An interesting experiment in promotion, after what is said to be English methods, is being tried here. Robert Bunce, a London banker, ... organized [in Nov. 1909] the Black Hills Development and Financial Corporation with $3,500,000 capitalization. Of this stock $1,000,000 will be used to purchase mining claims that are undeveloped; $2,000,000 will be sold at par for money to develop and equip the claims secured, and the $500,000 left will go for promotion expenses. After securing all the claims possible, the company will select five of the most promising, and spend $100,000 upon each for development. The mine showing the greatest amount of pay ore will then be equipped with a mill and put on a paying basis. A sub company will then take the property and the parent company will keep one-half its stock and sell the balance for enough to repay it for expenses incurred. This capital will now be available to develop and equip a second property, and eventually the parent company should own a half interest in a number of valuable mines and still have its money (The Engineering and Mining Journal, 1910, v. 139, p. 93.). "
"The Gold King M. Co. [as of 1911] has been incorporated, as a subsidiary of R. Bunce's Black hills Development & Financial Corporation. The capital of the Gold King in $500,000, in shares of $1 each. Of this amount the B.H.D. & F. corporation proposes to retain $251,000 shares, and to offer the rest to the public. The company will undertake the development of the GOrdelia property, near Rocheford, which is equipped with a mill. It is proposed to equip the mill with a cyanide department (Mining and Scientific Press, 1910, v. 104, p. 152)."
Robert opened an office in Lead, South Dakota, where he made alliances with several men on the local mining industry. The Financial Panic of 1907 had resulted in a recession from 1908 to 1910, during which time the value of mining properties plummeted. This allowed Robert and his associates to acquire over 40 Black Hills mines at much reduced prices. Their assets at one time included the Seabury-Calkins and Iron Hill mines in the Carbonate District (Lawrence County), the Big Hill Mine in the Bear Gulch District (Lawrence County), and the Montezuma, Lakota and Gordelia (Gold King) mines in the Rochford District (Pennington County), all having been large producers at one time, or showing promise of future production. The Iron Hill Mine in particular was noteworthy as its owners received a gold medal at the 1893 World Fair in Chicago (i.e., the World Columbian Exposition) for having the richest silver ore ever found.
The corporation employed an innovative business strategy that in 1909 and 1910 was often reported on in the news. Bunce began by hiring the eminent South African mining engineer Henry Samuel Denny (1872-1938) from about April to August of 1909 to evaluate the newly acquired mines. Bunce then made some minor investment in development and analysis, follwing which the corporate assets were reduced to five core properties. Most of the initial acquisitions were then sold off to finance further development of the remaining properties, by investing an additional $100,000 in each of the five chosen mines. The directors by 1912 settled on the Gold King Mine (formerly named the Gordelia Mine)* as the asset showing the greatest potential, and they subsequently raised $500,000 from investors to incorporate the Gold King Mining Company as a subsidiary of Black Hills Development and Financial. Robert became president of the new subsidiary company, and his son Guy is listed in 1918 as the mine superintendant. Robert appears to have remained president until 1922, when he retired at the insistance of his wife. Apparently 1922 was also the last year of any reported development at the Gold King Mine, which indicates that when Robert stepped down, any remaining company assets were probably sold or abandoned (Information Circular 7688, U.S. Bureau of Mines, April 1954, p. 107 & July 1954, p. 110).
*The Gold King Mine was located in Rochford in the SE/4 of Sec 33, T2N, R3E (44.12944, -103.69806). It was first called the Gordelia, but Robert Bunce renamed it when he took over operations. Surface digging began about 1879 or so, and one or more shallow shafts had been dug by 1887, but it was from 1899 to 1904 when most of the mining activity took place. At one point, the mine is said to have had a main shaft 800-ft deep, and inclined 60° to the east, with about 600-ft of crosscuts and drifts on three or four levels. Despite its name, the Gold King was primarily a copper mine that shipped about 800 tons of ore prior to 1902. The production came for the most part from mineralized, pre-Cambrian, pyrite-bearing graphite schists, with malachite and azurite ores on the surface, and deeper deposits of chalcopyrite. However, gold is commonly associated with copper, and the mine did ship some high-grade gold ore during its existence. There was also some silver associated with 38 tons of ore collected in 1917, presumably gduring increased copper demand due to the war effort.
A geologic map of the Black Hills anticlinorium: T = Tertiary, uK = Upper Cretaceous, J = Jurassic, T = Triassic, Pz = Paleozoic, and X = preCambrian. Placer gold was discovered here in 1874, resulting in the Black Hills Gold Rush. Subsequent exploration of the hard-rock deposits that sourced the placers led to discovery of the Homestake Mine in Deadwood Creek near Lead, South Dakota that produced 10% of the world gold supply for the next 125 years.
Robert made several trips to the Black Hills during his mining years, which would have run from 1904 to about 1922, when he retired. He often stayed in the States for several years at a time, while the rest of the family remained in London. Daughter Dorothy remembered that times were good when her father was home, as he spent freely on his family. However, the money never lasted when he was away, even though he left money with them to meet their needs, and they knew some hard times awaiting his return. He sailed back and forth across the Atlantic in this fashion several times, including once in 1909 on the ill-fated S.S. Lusitania that was sunk in 1915 by a German U-boat. His final voyage was on the S.S. Saxonia, which departed from Liverpool, England and landed on Sept. 4, 1915 in New York. He then appears to have stayed in the States until the end of World War I, as German U-boats made trans-Atlantic crossings too dangerous until the war ended.
Robert had been joined in South Dakota in 1905 by his oldest son Guy (Robert Henry). Then daughter Queeny (Lena Mary) and his second oldest son Warry (Edward Warren) came out in 1913 to join them. However, Warry soon returned to England, and only Guy and Queeny were with Robert during the war years. Warry returned in 1920, soon after the war ended, and Jack (Henry John) joined Robert, Guy and Queeny in 1921 in South Dakota. Jack used to confide that Robert was always a bit suspicious of Warry, suspecting that the primary reason for his son coming out was to report back to Mrs. Bunce on what Father Bunce was up to. The rest of Robert's family left England soon after, and came out to settle in California in the town of Pasadena, with Robert's wife Margaret and son Harold arriving in 1921, with the rest - Dorothy, Madge and Reg - coming out later.
My grandfather Jack recalled in later years that his father was not especially happy when the family moved out to California, as it meant that Robert had to retire from his mining ventures, never to return to the Black Hills. Jack also claimed that his father made two or three fortunes in the mine business, but always lost them one way or the other. The family settled in 1921 in South Pasadena, California in a small house where Robert's wife Margaret ruled her family, and her husand Robert, with a stern hand. Robert died there on Oct. 4, 1930, several years before Margaret, and he and Margaret are buried with their daughter Madge in Mountain View Cemetery in Altadena.
LEFT: A picture taken in 1909 in South Dakota that is probably either the Cochrane Mine near Rochford, or the nearby Gordelia (Gold King) Mine. The three men standing from left to right are mining engineer H.S. Denny (with arms crossed) with his 5-year old daughter Veronica, and Guy Bunce, with Guy's father Robert Bunce (smoking a cigarette). MIDDLE: Robert Bunce wearing a top hat in London. RIGHT: Robert Bunce's signature on a stock certificate dated Nov. 18, 1909 from the Black Hills Development & Financial Corporation. This certificate is from the second stock offering of the company.
children - BUNCE
Pearl Maggie Bunce (1885-1886) was born on Dec. 18, 1885 on or near her grandfather's farm near the village of Upper Gravenhurst, Bedfordshire, just before her parents moved to London. She died in early 1886 in Hendon, a suburb of London, when she she was only a few months old.
Robert Henry Guy Bunce (1886-1980) was born on Nov. 5, 1886 in Willesden, a suburb of Middlesex County in London, and baptized there on Jan. 16, 1887 at St. John the Baptist Church in the Greenhill parish of Harrow, London. He was called Guy by his family, but it appears that some of his friends from the early days knew him as Rob. He attended classes from at least 1897 through 1901 at the Bassein Temporary School in Hammersmith and Fulham, London. This school was renamed in 1901 to the Cobbold Road School, and it is known today as the Wendell Park School. He made several trips as a young man to the United States to be with his father in Lead and Rochford, South Dakota, the first trip probably taking place in 1905 when he was 18-years old, and the last one when he sailed from England on the S.S. St. Louis, which arrived on March 10, 1910 in New York Harbor. His brother Jack remembered that Guy as a young man in South Dakota had a short temper, and a mean streak, and that Guy liked to get into fights, especially fights "with Welshmen, because they would kick when they fought", and Guy thought that was fun.
Guy in Februray 1918 was working in Rochford, South Dakota as the superintendant of the Gold King Mine that his father's mining company owned. However, he was either drafted, or enlisted into the U.S. Army as a resident alien on May 15, 1918, not long after the U.S. entry into WWI. He was subsequently placed in a program where for two months he trained as a mechanic at the Dunwoody Insitute in Minneapolis. Next, he served stateside for a few months at Camp Dodge in Iowa working on military gas engines. He mustered out on Dec. 24, 1918, and returned to South Dakota, presumably to his father's employ at the Gold King Mine. However, when Guy's father retired in 1922 from his mining ventures, Guy likely found himself unemployed, and moved soon afterward to Wyoming, where he was able to utilize his newly acquired skills as a mechanic working in the oil fields.
Guy married Gwendolyn "Gwen" Stevens (1896-1930) on Jan. 31, 1923 in Casper, Wyoming, where he was working at the time at the Salt Creek Oil Field near Casper for the Midwest Oil Company, and living in the company town of Midwest. It is possible that Guy originally met Gwen back in South Dakota, as she was born there on June 30, 1896 in the town of Lead, as the daughter of Ernest Orrin Stevens (1871-1937) and Elda Kline (1874-1945). Guy and Gwen lived for a time in Midwest, which was basically an oil "boom town", and their first son Ken was probably born either there, or in th enearby town of Casper. Gwen then returned to South Dakota for the birth of their second son William. She died there just nine days later on May 20, 1930 in the Deadwood suburb of Lead, South Dakota, due to complications from the birth. An entry in the diary of her Aunt Ora Nenzel (neé Stevens) states that Gwen died of "blood poisoning". She is buried in Mountain Lawn Cemetery in Englewood, South Dakota, probably near the grave of her son William.
Guy remained in Wyoming after Gwen's death, and continued working for Midwest Oil, until he was seriously injured on July 26, 1933 in a gas water heater explosion. He was staying at the time in a company dormitory, and the explosion took place when he was trying to light an allegedly defective pilot on the heater. His sister Dorothy, who was a trained nurse living in California, came out to Wyoming to care for Ken, staying with him until September, when both of them made a trip back to South Dakota for Guy to see his sons. Ken and Dorothy then traveled to California so that Guy could visit his mother, afterwhich he returned for awhile to South Dakota. His hands were so badly burned in the explosion accident that he was considered disabled from that time on, and unable to continue working in either the oil fields or the mines. He did win a judgement in 1934 of $21,079 against Stanolind (Amoco), the parent company of Midwest Oil, but due to appeals on technicalities, he may have never collected any money from them.
Guy was still living in Lead, South Dakota during the 1935 state census, but he and his 16-year old son Ken moved sometime before the 1940 U.S. census to Monrovia in Los Angeles, California. His youngest son Bill, remained in South Dakota with Bill's maternal grandmother Elda Stevens (1874-1945), and a spinster maternal aunt named Ila Mae Stevens (1900-1985). Guy and Ken later moved to a house on Emperor Avenue in Temple City, which is one of a cluster of cities on the northern outskirts of Los Angeles.
It was while living at the Temple City address that Guy met and married his second wife Muriel Marie Morrison (1899-1976), a widow with four grown children from her previous marriage to Walter Gregory Tryon (1895-1950). Their wedding took place on on Sept. 24, 1946 at the First Presbyterian Church in Hollywood, with Guy's son Ken, and Muriels's son Walter Jr. present as witnesses. Guy, Ken and Muriel then appear together at the same address in the 1951 city directory, but Muriel is not with them in the 1953 directory, which indicates that she and Guy probably separated about 1952 after a brief marriage. Guy sometime later moved to Pasadena, where his mother had lived prior to her death several years before.
Guy had a long life and outlived both his sons, both wives, and all but one of his siblings, only his sister Dorothy surviving him. He died on March 11, 1980 at the age of 93 in Los Angeles County, California, where he is buried in Riverside National Cemetery, which is the same veteran's cemetery where his son Ken is buried. Guy and Gwen had two sons, both of whom are listed below.
Robert Kenneth "Ken" Bunce (1924-1979) was born on Nov. 26, 1924 in the oil boom town of Midwest, which was located about 20 miles north of Casper and adjacent to the Salt Creek Oil Field where his father was employed. His first name of Robert was chosen to honor his father and grandfather, but he was known to the family as Ken. He moved with his father after his mother died to southern California, where he was enrolled in 1943 in Pasadena Junior College. But he subsequently enlisted in the U.S. Army during WWII, and served as one of Gen. George Patton's jeep drivers. Afterwards, he lived in the Los Angeles area, where he held various jobs, and never married. He died on April 14, 1979 in Los Angeles, and is buried in Riverside National Cemetery, which is the same veteran's cemetery where his father is buried.
William Ernest "Bill" Bunce (1930-1974) was born on May 11, 1930 in South Dakota, probably in the town of Lead. His mother Gwen died a few days after his birth, and he was raised mainly by his maternal grandmother Elda Stevens (1874-1945), and Aunt Ila Mae Stevens (1900-1985). However, he does appear to have lived at times during the 1930s with his Dad and older brother Ken. Nonetheless, when his Dad and Ken moved to southern California during the war years of the 1940s, Bill stayed in South Dakota with Elda and Ila. There he married Selah Omega Hovland (1943-2017) on Dec. 18, 1961 in Lead, Lawrence County, South Dakota. Bill and Selah generally lived in Lead, where Bill worked from 1946 to 1951 for the Homestake Mining Company, and then continuously in various positions from 1951 until his death, at which time he was a mill operator. His Aunt Ila was also a longtime employee of Homestake, having started there back in 1918, long before Bill was born. He and Sela had four children - Timothy Robert (b. Dec. 15, 1962), James Ernest (b. April 23, 1964), Clark William (b. May 21, 1966), and Tammy Lu (b. Oct. 8, 1968), all of whom were born in South Dakota. However, Bill and Selah separated at some point in the late 1960s or early 1970s. He died on Dec. 7, 1974 in Rapid City, where he is buried nearby in Engelwood in the Stevens family plot near his mother, his grandparents, and Aunt Ila in Mountain Lawn Cemetery.
Gladys Madge Bunce (1888-1948) was born on June 29, 1888 in Willesden Middlesex, and baptized Nov. 4, 1888 at the St. Mary Church in the Willesden parish of Brent, London. She went by her middle name of Madge. She trained as a nurse with her sister Dorothy at the Royal Berkshire Hospital, and graduated in 1922 with her nursing degree. She and Dorothy then sailed to the United States on the SS Lapland, which departed from Southampton, England and landed on June 10, 1922 in New York. Afterwards, they settled in South Pasadena, near the rest of the family, and Madge eventually moved in with her parents to help care for her father. She and her sister Dorothy became U.S. Citizens on Sept. 13, 1935 in Los Angeles County. Madge never married, and died Feb. 25, 1948 in South Pasadena. She is buried with her parents nearby in Mountain View Cemetery in Altadena.
Edward Warren "Warry" Bunce (1890-1967) was born on April 29, 1890 in Hollesley, Suffolk, and went by the name of Warry. He came to Lead, South Dakota in the United States with his sister Queenie first in 1913, but returned home. He is probably the same Edward Warren Bunce who on Nov. 26, 1914 enlisted in the Household Cavalry (King's bodyguard) at St. Paul's Churchyard, which we assume refers to St. Paul's Cathedral in the City of London. However, this still needs to be confirmed. He then came back after World War I ended, sailing on the SS New York that departed from Southampton, England, and arrived on Aug. 18, 1920 in New York. He stayed briefly with his father in South Dakota, then traveled with brother Jack to Canada, and finally settled with the rest of the Bunce family in South Pasadena, California. He married Marie Gertrude Lewis (1901-1973), who was known as Gertie, on Jan. 18, 1927 in Los Angeles, and later moved with her to Long Beach, California. He became a U.S. Citizen on Sept. 4, 1930 in Los Angeles County. Warry died on March 8, 1967 in Long Beach, and Gertie died on Feb. 26, 1973 in Long Beach also. Both are buried in Forest Lawn Memorial Park in nearby Cypress. Warry and Gertie had the two children who are listed below.
Jack Warren Bunce (1927-1975) was born on Oct. 19, 1927 in Los Angeles County California, and enlisted in the U.S. Army on Jan. 28, 1946 at Fort MacArthur in San Pedro, just a few months after the end of WWII. He married Marylou Ann Garner (b. Sept. 27, 1933) on July 30, 1961 in Santa Ana, California, and they had a son named named Kevin Scott Bunce, who was born on Nov. 20, 1965 in Orange County. Jack had a passion for pipe organs, and he built one into a cabin of his at Big Bear Lake in San Bernadino County. He was also an Eagle Scout, and was very active as an adult in the Boy Scouts of America. He was killed in an auto accident on July 9, 1975 while driving his Honda 90 motorcycle on Highway 18 up to his cabin at Big Bear Lake. Marilou married her second husband John Rolf Perris (b. 1930) on March 17, 1978 in Orange County, and later moved with him to Albany, Oregon. They subsequently moved to Washington State.
Margaret Joan Bunce (1929-2002) was born on Jan. 13, 1929 in Alhambra, California. She married Robert Hunter Alpaugh (1924-2009) and had children Bruce (1951-1996) and Martin (b. 1954). She died on March 13, 2002 in Arroyo Seco, California, where she is buried with her husband and son in the Arroyo Grande Cemetery.
Lena Mary "Queenie" Bunce (1891-1966) was born on Oct. 19, 1891 in Hollesley, Suffolk, and named after her Aunt Selina Mary, but the family called her Queenie. The most independant of the Bunce daughters, she followed her father to the States and sailed from England with her brother Wary on the SS Franconia, which departed from Liverpool and arrived on June 5, 1913 in New York. She then joined her father in Lead, South Dakota, and opened a millinery (hat) shop in nearby Deadwood. She was a Christian Scientist, as was her father, and while doing Christian Science readings in Deadwood, she met Miss Pearl H. Cook (1875-1947), a Christian Science Practitioner with whom Queenie would have an association for the next 30 years. Sometime in the 1920s, when the rest of the Bunce family settled in Pasadena, California, Queenie and Miss Cook moved to Modesto, California, where Queenie again ran a hat shop. When Miss Cook died in 1945 in San Francisco (she is buried at Acacia Memorial Park in Modesto), she left Queenie a nice inheritance, with which Queenie purchased a small house overlooking the ocean at Seacliff Beach. Queenie retired here, where she lived with her sister Dorothy for the next several years, trading the Seacliff house for a place at a nearby trailer park for the last couple of years of her life. Although she was still living at Seacliff, she died on Aug. 22, 1966 in Modesto, California. She is buried at Oakwood Memorial Park in Santa Cruz with her sister Dorothy. Like her sisters, Queenie never married, but she is said to have had a boyfriend for a time in Modesto.
William Robert Bunce III (1893-1894) was born on April 18, 1893 in Upper Gravenhurst, Bedfordshire, and baptized on Feb. 14, 1894 in Shepherd's Bush. He died sometime in early 1894 in Fulham, London, when he was only a few months old.
Dorothy Mabel "Doll" Bunce (1894-1986) was born on July 28, 1894 in Upper Gravenhurst, Bedfordshire. Although her parents called her Doll when a little girl, she wanted to be known as Dorothy as she got older. She trained as a nurse with her sister Madge at the Royal Berkshire Hospital, starting there in 1918 and graduating in 1922 with her degree. She and Madge then sailed to the United States on the SS Lapland, which arrived on June 10, 1922 in New York. Afterwards, they settled in South Pasadena with the rest of their family. Dorothy recertified in the U.S. as a nurse, and she worked in later years as a visiting nurse, caring for people in their homes. She and her sister Madge became U.S. Citizens on Sept. 13, 1935 in Los Angeles County. When Madge died in 1948, Dorothy moved to Santa Cruz, where she lived with her sister Queenie in a small house that Queenie bought at Seacliff beach overlooking the ocean. After Queenie died in 1966, Dorothy remained in the Santa Cruz area, except for a couple of years in the 1970s when she lived briefly in Canyon Country with family. She took a bad fall in Santa Cruz in later years, which left her senile for the last ten years of her life. She died on Dec. 3, 1986 in a nursing home in Soquel, California, and she is buried at Oakwood Memorial Park in Santa Cruz, next to Queenie. Like her sisters, she never married. Family was very important to Dorothy, and much of the information in this history came from interviews with her, and study of her personal papers after she died.
Harold Bunce (1895-1948) was born on Sept. 6, 1895 in the Chiswick parish of Hounslow, London. He enlisted on March 15, 1915, during WWI, in the in the Royal Army Medical Corp of the British Army, and was discharged May 9, 1919, after having served in France. He returned home to his family in Britain and two years later came to the United States with his mother on the SS America, which departed from Southampton, England, and arrived on Sept. 22, 1921 in New York. After settling with the rest of the Bunce family in South Pasadena, California, he worked as a projectionist in the movie industry, and later helped his brothers Jack and Reg to get jobs in the movie industry as well. He was chief of projection at MGM at one time, but lost that job during a strike, and later worked for 20th Century Fox. He married Marie Dora Turner (1904-1984) on Aug. 8, 1930 in Los Angeles, California, and a little more than a month later became a U.S. Citizen on Sept. 12, 1930 in Los Angeles County. They generally lived in the Hollywood-Pasadena area, and Harold died on Aug. 22, 1948 in North Hollywood, while his daughter Carol was still a teenager. His wife Marie survived him by many years and died on Jan. 24, 1984 in Los Angeles County. Both are buried in Holy Cross Cemetery in Culver City. Harold and Marie had the one daughter who follows.
Carol Marie Bunce was born on Aug. 21, 1931 in Los Angeles County, California, and married William Scott Phy (1928-2001) on Feb. 28, 1953 in Las Vegas. She and William raised a family of at least two children - Linda Joyce Phy (b. Aug. 12, 1954) and Scott Thomas Phy (b. Nov. 3, 1955), both born in Los Angeles.
Reginald "Reg" Bunce (1903-1973) was born on Aug. 9, 1903 in Acton, Middlesex, which today is part of Greater London, and baptized at the same time as his brother Jack on May 18, 1905 at St. Mary Church in the Acton parish of Ealing. The family called him Reg, of which Redge is the americanized form. He attended Reading University in London, but when his brother Jack turned down an offer to study forestry in South Africa, Reg took the offer instead and went in Jack's place. The South Africa opportunity most likely had been arranged by Reg's Aunt Selina Harrison (neé Hare), who lived in Johannesburg. While in South Africa he lived among the Zulus for a time, and even learned their language. Next he traveled to Australia, before leaving for the United States on the SS Sonoma, which departed from Sydney, Australia and put in on Dec. 18, 1923 at San Francisco, California. He then settled in Pasadena, California, which was the same town where his parents and the rest of his family were living.
Reg's brother Harold was already working in the movie studios, and he helped Reg get a job there as a projectionist. This was back in the days of silent pictures, and Reg worked in the studios for the next 40 years, eventually becoming chief of projection at Universal Studios. He also worked in movie special effects making screen backgrounds against which scenes were filmed. He married Virginia Kathryn Plaugher (1908-1976), known as Kate, on Nov. 28, 1929 in Pasadena. Kate was a third-generation Californian who had been born on Sept. 30, 1908 in Williams in Colusa County in northern California, and moved to southern California, where she met Reg. They raised their family in the Pasadena-Hollywood area, and retired to the coast at Cardiff-by-the-Sea in San Diego County. Reg died on Nov. 13, 1973 in San Diego, afterwhich Kate moved north to Canyon Country, near Santa Clarita, to be near her children's families. She died on April 28, 1976 in Canyon Country, and is interred with Reg in an unmarked vault at Forest Lawn Cemetery in Hollywood Hills. Reg and Kate had the two children who follow.
Robert Frank Bunce (1931-2013) was born on April 9, 1931 in Pasadena, California, and raised in nearby North Hollywood. He married Dolores Maria Valdez (b. Sept. 23, 1931) on July 14, 1950 in Las Vegas, Nev., and then remarried her a few days later on July 29, 1950 in a California church. He served in the military overseas as a Navy Hospital Corpsman in Korea, and upon returning to the States went to work for Walt Disney Studios, remaining there until his retirement 35 years later. Many of these years he lived with his family in Canyon Country, California, but moved upon his retirement to Yachats, Oregon, where on Sept. 24, 2013 he passed away. His ashes were scattered and there is no stone memorial to him.
Thomas Robert Bunce was born on July 13, 1951 in Los Angeles County, California, and married Victoria Denise Calleia (b. Dec. 3, 1956) on July 29, 1978 in Los Angeles County. They have a duaghter Samantha Victoria Bunce (b. April 26, 1994).
Catherine Lorraine Bunce was born on April 2, 1956 in Los Angeles County, California, and married Richard Lee Kichler (1954-2011) on June 21, 1980 in the same county. They divorced in 1983 or 1984. She has one son Ryan Joshua Kichler (b. May 15, 1983).
Beth Ann Bunce was born on Dec. 28, 1957 in Los Angeles County, California, and married Richard Harold Frame (1953-2002). They have two sons Robert Harold Thomas Frame (b. Nov. 15, 1993) and Ian Frame.
David Reginald Bunce was born on Aug. 21, 1961 in Los Angeles County, California. He married his first wife Heide Marie Meyer (b. 1963) on Aug, 1, 1981 in Los Angeles County. He and Heidi subsequently divorced, and he married his second wife Greer Lisa Puccio (b. 1961) on Aug. 19, 1989 in Las Vegas, Nevada, believing the divorce to be finalized. However, such was not the case, so he and Greer in November of 1989 married a second time. They are now divorced. He next married Lisa Robinson on Sept. 8, 2012 in Trinidad, Colorado, where David works as a certified farrier (one who shoes horses). David has two daughters, both born in Los Angeles County, California - Kira Nicole Bunce (b. July 31, 1983) with 1st wife Heidi, and Alexis Rae Bunce (b. March 28, 1990) with 2nd wife Greer.
Barbara Jeanne Bunce was born on Dec, 21, 1932 in Pasadena, California at the same hospital where her aunts Dorothy and Madge Bunce were nurses. She was baptized (Episcopal) and grew up in the San Fernando Valley, but attended college at Washington State, where she met her husband Thomas Graham (1928-2007). She worked as an accountant and did financial audits. Barbara and Thomas had the two children who follow.
Timothy Thomas Graham was born on Jan. 21, 1960 in Los Angeles County, California. He married Lyn Gould in 1983 (now divorced), and Sandy Jones in 2000. His children are Brinton Thomas (b. 1984), Christopher John (b. 1986), and Connie Rae (b. 1988). He works in movie lighting.
Robert Bruce Graham was born on Feb. 13, 1962 in Los Angeles County, California. He married Lynn Dvorak in 1990 and has two sons - Devon Robert (b. 1995) and Bryce Kevin (b. 1997).
Henry John "Jack" Bunce (1898-1959), the son of Robert Bunce, and Margaret Lucy Hare, was born June 10, 1898 in the Shepherd's Bush parish of Hammersmith, London, and baptized May 18, 1905, at the same time as his younger brother Reg, at St. Mary Church in the Acton parish of Ealing, London. He was known as Jack. He joined the British Army during WWI and after serving in France and Russia as an ambulance driver in the Royal Army Medical Corp, he was offered an opportunity to go to South Africa to study foresty, but opted not to go and gave his place to Reg, who went instead. The South Africa opportunity most likely had been arranged by Jack's Aunt Selina Harrison (neé Hare), who lived in Johannesburg. Jack then sailed to the United States from Southampton, England on the SS Aquitania and landed on Nov. 20, 1920 in New York Harbor.
Jack's father and older brother Guy had been working in the gold fields of Lead, North Dakota for several years, and Jack joined them there shortly after he entered the States. His father at the time was overseeing the rdvelopment of the Gold King Mine, which had been worked by various operators since its eHowever, Guy had a quick temper, and he and Jack did not get along, so Jack with another brother Wary traveled to Lake Louise in Alberta, Canada, where they worked for a short time in the old Lake Louise Lodge, which has since burned down and been replaced by a fancy hotel. There Jack met Sidney Dolores Percy, an English woman and painter, who had been born in London like himself. After a brief courtship, they were married on Oct. 3, 1923 at St. Andrews Church on Richards and Georgia Streets in Vancouver, British Columbia. Sidney and Jack settled in Pasadena, California, near Jack's parents and siblings, who by now had all left England. He worked various odd jobs, including as a laborer on an ostrich farm, and then in the Hollywood movie studios where he helped add voice overs and sound effects to silent films, some of which had originally been filmed with foreign language actors.
Jack moved about 1936 with his youngest daughter Jacqueline to Oakhurst, in the Sierra foothills, where they lived on the highway that led to Bass Lake reseroivr. Here he generally worked as a bookeeper, first as the manager of Beery's Fishcamp Lodge near the entrance to Yosemite National Park. Then when a 1942 fire burned the Fishcamp lodge to the ground, Jack became the the general manager for the Madera County Fair. His wife Sidney, who had contracted polio, was in nursing homes in the Los Angeles area during most of this time with their oldest daughter Rosamond, who due to a birth defect could not walk and was confined to a wheelchair. Although the polio initially confined Sidney to a wheelchair as well, she slowly recovered over a ten-year period, and after regaining the use of her legs was able to reunite with Jack in Madera. Shortly afterwards, with daughter Jacqueline now married, they moved to Santa Cruz, on the California coast, where from about 1947 to 1950 Jack and Sidney ran a motel on the edge of the city at Escalona Drive and Old Highway 1. They then moved around 1950 to a house on Holway drive in the middle of town, where Jack sold business forms. However, a heart attack forced him to retire, and finding it hard to make ends meet, he and Sidney moved in with daughter Jacqueline and her family in 1959 to Saratoga, California. He died from kidney failure on Oct. 8, 1959 at the Saratoga house, and is buried in Los Gatos Memorial Park near wife Sidney and daughter Rosamond.
children - BUNCE
Hazel Maude Bunce (b. 1924) was born Sept. 29, 1924 in Alhambra, California, and only lived for a day.
Rosamond Maude Bunce, (1925-1970) was born Oct. 29, 1925 at the Alhambra Maternity Hospital on Sierra Vista Avenue in Alhambra, California, and baptized on April 25, 1926 at the Holy Trinity Epicopal Church in Alhambra. She suffered from spinal bifida, and was confined to a wheelchair most of her life. She never married and died on April 18, 1970 in a nursing home in Santa Clara, California. Rosamond is buried near her parents in Oakwood Memorial Park in Los Gatos.
Jacqueline Vere "Jackie" Bunce (1927-1991) who follows:
Jacqueline Vere "Jackie" Bunce (1927-1991), the daughter of Henry John Bunce and Sidney Dolores Percy, was born on Nov. 28, 1927 at the Alhambra Hopsital on south Garfield Street in in Alhambra, California, and baptized on April 28, 1928 at the Granada Community Church in Alhambra. She was named after her father, and known as Jackie. She moved about 1936 with her father to Oakhurst, California, where she grew up in a very rural setting in the southern Sierra gold country. She lived during the school year in town, probably Madera, with her teacher Mrs. Cheney, and spent the summers with her Dad at the Beery's Fishcamp Lodge where he was the Lodge manager. Her mother, who had polio during this time, and her sister stayed in nursing homes in southern California, both confined to wheelchairs. Jackie attended Madera Junior High, and then Madera High School, where she graduated valedictorian. After getting a B.S. in Health Stastistics from the University of California at Berkeley, she worked as a health statistitian for the San Jose City Health Department.
It was while working for the city that Jackie met James F. Clark (1924-1999), who worked in the city drafting department. They were married after a short engagement on Jan. 12, 1952 at the old Episcopal Church on depot hill in downtown Capitola, California. Though the church still exists, but in another location, the original chapel where our parents married, has been converted to a residence. Jackie and Jim lived until 1959 in Campbell, California, then until 1969 they lived in Saratoga, and until 1977 in Soquel. They then spent one year in Waterloo, Illinois, before moving in 1978 to Salem, Oregon. Jackie died unexpectedly on Aug. 4, 1991 in Salem after suffering from a stroke that was a complication of lung cancer. She is buried in the City View Cemetery in Salem with husband Jim, who died from an aneurysm on July 7, 1999 at the trailer home where he lived in Soquel, California.
children - CLARK
Michael Sidney Clark was on born Aug. 5, 1953 in San Jose, California, and married Janet Louise Carty (b. 1956) on Aug. 31, 1980 in Fairfield, California. They have two children - Jennifer and William.
Dianna Louise Clark (1955-1998) was on born Oct. 6, 1955 in San Jose, California, and married Michael Joseph Kobel (b. 1955) on April 22, 1979 in Capitola, California at the same church where Diana's mother was married. Diana died on April 17, 1998 in Salem, Oregon. Her ashes were scattered at a beach in Santa Cruz, but there is a plaque in her honor at Sprague High School in Salem, Oregon, where she was a history teacher. She has three children - Christina, Robert and Sean.
Linda Christine Clark was born on April 20, 1958 in San Jose, California, and married Mark Alton Rossi (b. 1958) on June 28, 1980 in Santa Cruz, California. They have three children - Gary, Brian and Amanda.
Philip James Clark was born on Jan. 12, 1962 in San Jose, California, and married Pamela Ann Walsh (b. 1959) on May 28, 1988 in Arvada, Colorado. Pam had previously been married to Michael Speas. Phil and Pam are now divorced. Phil has two step sons - Mike and Chris Speas, and a son Ian with his ex-wife Pam. He married his second wife Carla Eileen Palmer (b. 1961) on Nov. 24, 2018 in Makaha on the island of Oahu in Hawaii.
Pamela Marie Clark was born on Sept. 5, 1969 in San Jose, California, and married Bruce Meister (b. 1966) on July 21, 1996 in Carmel, California. They have two children - Benjamin and Skylar.
REFERENCES:
The documentation for many of the dates and places listed in this history are found in the Ancestry.com online databases (subscription required).
Berkshire Burial Index on Forebears.com's Berkshire Genealogical Records (Formatted by FindMyPast.com using the database of the Berkshire Family History Society).
Grave and burial locations where known are listed with tombstone photos (when available) on
Interviews with Dorothy Bunce and Rosamund Bunce in the 1970s, and various Family Papers. Also correspondance with Barbara Graham, Beth Frame, and other family members.
UK Census Records, 1841-1911 and Parish Baptism, Marriage and Burial Records, which are online databases available on Ancestry.com, Familysearch.org, and FindMyPast (a British site), as well as the British Birth, Marriage and Death Indexes (BMD).
by Mike Clark & Family
This history is an evolving document.
Despite our best intentions it probably contains mistakes.
Please let us know if you spot any by sending an email to Mike Clark
Genealogy of the Bunce Family 
