The Rice family of Crawley

[Nevis]

The cabinet group portrait by Belchamber & Son of Crawley (illustrated on the left) shows James and Anne Rice and three of their younger children, photographed around 1897. The bearded figure seated in the middle of the picture is James Rice (1852-1915), a carpenter's joiner. James Rice was born in Turner's Hill (Worth) in 1852. Standing at the back is Mrs Anne Hannah Rice (1850-1904), James Rice's first wife. James Rice married Anne Hannah Lamburt at Crawley Down on 22nd February 1873. On the left hand side of the picture is their daughter Lily Eliza Rice (born 1884). Lily Rice married William Ernest Cumbers in 1908 and emigrated to the United States. The daughter standing on the right is Rose Rebecca Rice (born 1886). Rose Rice married Walter Court in 1911. The couple's first child Charles Walter Michael Court was born in Crawley on 29th September 1911. Walter and Rose Court and their young son Charles emigrated to Western Australia the following year. Rose Court gave birth to a second son in Australia. Rose's eldest son Charles Walter Michael Court became active in Australian politics and served as the Premier of Western Australia from 1974 to 1982. The young boy standing between James Rice's knees is Charles Alfred James Rice (born 1892). Charles Rice, who was aged around five when this photograph was taken, married Nellie Tame in 1915 and fathered twin daughters. Charles Rice enlisted in the East Kent Regiment (The Buffs) and fought on the Western Front during the First World War. Sergeant Charles A. J. Rice died in France on 29th January 1919 at the age of 27, leaving behind a widow and two young children.