David Bruce Huxley and Anne Remsen Schenck
David Bruce Huxley (1915-1992) was our great grandfather. He was born to Leonard Huxley and Rosalind Bruce in London, 21 years after his half-brother Aldous Huxley was born. David loved his older half-siblings, but his much later birth meant some social separation from them. He was naturally closer to his younger brother Andrew, the Nobel Prize winner.
David was educated at Christ Church at Oxford University, but any plans for using his degree were put on hold due to the outbreak of World War II. Fortunately, he thrived in his military service. He began as a Second Lieutenant in the Royal Tank Regiment and went to North Africa, where he fought Rommel in the desert. According to his son, David “got blown to hell” and was sent to a hospital in Cairo, where he contracted dysentery.
At the end of his convalescence he was reassigned to Iraq for 3-4 years, where he put together a small defense force. He loved doing the spying, according to his son, but knew they’d fall apart if the Germans arrived. He played desert polo and hunted for foxes in his down time, and established a house of leisure for the troops. David left the Army as a Major.
After his return from the war, David gained posts in Bermuda as the solicitor general, attorney general and acting chief justice of the Supreme Court – for almost two decades. He made Bermuda attractive to US investors. He compiled and revised the “Private and Public Acts of the Legislature of Bermuda 1620-1953,” a seven-volume work. The 1953 West Indies and Caribbean Yearbook lists David as the Attorney General.
David married Anne Remsen Schenck (1918-1993) in the Spring of 1939 in Chelsea. Anne participated in the World War II effort as an ambulance driver in London, frequently witnessing Nazi air raids, and even being injured during one. She also contributed her services as a logistical organizer. Family legend also contends that she was a member of the OSS, befriending and spying on Nazi officers in the early years of the war.
Anne was the daughter of Frederic Schenck (1886-1919) and Marie Civilise Alexandre (1891-1967). Marie Civilise Alexandre was the granddaughter of the Civil War General Alexander Stewart Webb (1835-1911) through her mother Helen Lispenard Webb (1859-1929). Therefore, General Alexander Webb is our third great-grandfather through Anne. Our Webb family history sketch offers details.
David and Anne had the following children:
- Angela (Huxley) Darwin. Angela married George Pember Darwin in 1964. The marriage of a Huxley to a Darwin – a natural selection – attracted some media attention.
- Frederica Huxley of London
- Virginia Huxley of Columbia, Missouri
- Elizabeth Huxley of St. Louis, Missouri
- Michael Huxley of Albany, New York; married Carole Corcoran.
David took a position as a vice president and legal adviser to Arnold Bernhard and Company and the Value Line Fund in New York from 1957 to 1976. The marriage ended in divorce in 1961.
David then married Ouida Branch Wagner (1918-1998) in 1964. They retired to England in the late 1970s, where David took on the duties of warden of his local church. He loved the “bells and smells” of the church, according to his son.
David Bruce Huxley and Anne Remsen Schenck
David Bruce Huxley, Q.C. (1915-1992) and Anne Remsen Schenck (1918-1993) were our great grandparents. David was born to Leonard Huxley and Rosalind Bruce in London, 21 years after his half-brother Aldous Huxley was born. David loved his older half-siblings, but his much later birth meant some social separation from them. He was naturally closer to his younger brother Andrew, the Nobel Prize winner.
David was educated at Christ Church College at Oxford, and was proud of being the youngest Queen’s Counsel at the time. He also said he was the only QC to have spent a night in jail (for pinching a policeman’s helmet) He was at the Inns of Court when war broke out, then he joined the Court Regiment and thrived in his military service. He began as a Second Lieutenant in the Royal Tank Regiment and went to North Africa, where he fought Rommel in the desert. According to his son, David “got blown to hell”, developed vascular dysentery, and was sent to a hospital in Cairo.
At the end of his convalescence he was reassigned to Iraq for 3-4 years, where he put together a small defense force. He loved doing the spying, according to his son, but knew they’d fall apart if the Germans arrived. He played desert polo and hunted for foxes in his down time, and established a house of leisure for the troops. David left the Army as a Major.
After his return from the war, David gained appointed posts in Bermuda as the solicitor general, attorney general and acting chief justice of the Supreme Court – for a total of almost two decades. He made Bermuda attractive to US investors. He compiled and revised the “Private and Public Acts of the Legislature of Bermuda 1620-1953,” a seven-volume work. The 1953 West Indies and Caribbean Yearbook lists David as the Attorney General.
David married Anne Remsen Schenck (1918-1993) in the Spring of 1939 in Chelsea. Anne was the daughter of Frederic Schenck (1886-1919) and Marie Civilise Alexandre (1891-1967).
Anne also took part in the war effort, possibly serving in the OSS in the early war according to family history, and then as a London ambulance driver and social aid organizer. She wrote her mother frequently during the war, describing constant Nazi air raids and the damage it inflicted on the community. She recounted being thrown by an explosion and injuring her nose. But she took most of it in stride, commenting in one letter that “war becomes me.”
David and Anne had the following children:
- Angela (Huxley) Darwin, 1940. Angela married George Pember Darwin in 1964. The marriage of a Huxley to a Darwin – a natural selection – attracted some media attention.
- Frederica Huxley, 1947 of London
- Virginia Huxley, 1952 of Columbia, Missouri
- Elizabeth Huxley, 1957? of St. Louis, Missouri
- Michael Huxley 1941of Albany, New York; married Carole Corcoran.
Under pressure from his wife to move to New York, David took a position as a vice president and legal adviser to Arnold Bernhard and Company and the Value Line Fund in New York from 1957 to 1976.
After his divorce from Anne, he married Ouida Branch Wagner (1918-1998) in 1964. They retired to England in the late 1970s, where David took on the duties of warden of his local church. He loved the “bells and smells” of the church, according to his son.
David died of heart failure on 6 September 1992 at their home in Wansford, England, according to a New York Times obituary.
David died of heart failure on 6 September 1992 at their home in Wansford, England, according to a New York Times obituary.