William Vincent Dumbreck was born 1st July 1893 in Liverpool and served with the Liverpool Scottish (Camerons) 1911-1917, Indian Army 1917-1923, and the Royal Air Force 1938-1946.

William and Nora 1940

William married Nora Alice Luck, eldest daughter of Alfred Gray Luck of Frant, Sussex.  They had 2 children (twins):-

Ian Robert Dumbreck born 28th January 1927 continues the family name.

Jean Christina Dumbreck born 28th January 1927 married Denis Harper and have 2 children:-
    Margaret Christina Harper born 23rd May 1956.
    Richard James Harper born 10th August 1959.

William and Nora 1959

Obituary of Mr. William Vincent Dumbreck
from the Tonbridge Free Press
who died at James House Hadlow Kent on 2nd April 1967

Local historian, Mr. William Dumbreck of James House, Hadlow, died recently at the age of 73.  He had been ill for some time.

The funeral service on Thursday of last week at Hadlow Parish Church was followed by interment at Hadlow cemetary.

Mr Dumbreck was well know in the Hadlow area and performed many services for the village. One of his recent tasks was to discover the names of fields so that now roads could be named after them.

He trained as a chartered accountant but, in 1911, enlisted in the Liverpool Scottish Regiment. He went to France in 1914, was wounded and rejoined his battalion in 1915.

Commissioned in 1917, he joined the Indian Army, retiring as a captain in 1923.

Mr. Dumbreck studied agriculture at Cirencester and then took up hop and fruit farming in Kent, making his home in Hadlow, where he married in 1924.

He joined the Royal Auxiliary Air Force in 1938 and during the Second World War commanded squadrons in London, Glasgow, Manchester and Kent.

He was later seconded to the Army and served in France, Belgium, Holland and Germany.

He returned to Hadlow and resumed farming in 1946. He was director and chairman of Kent Hop Fruit and Stock Farms Ltd.

Mr. Dumbreck was a marksman of note and represented India at Bizley until 1938. More recently he shot for Kent in inter-county matches and Scotland in national matches. He was chairman of the Kent County Rifle Association between 1951 and 1962.

He was a former member and chairman of the Upper Medway Internal Drainage Board and a member of the Kent River Board.

A lot of his time since 1945 was spent on local history, especially at Hadlow, and he was a member of the council of Kent Archaeological Societies.

He leaves a widow, a son who is a commander in the Navy and a daughter who is married and lives in Australia.