Claire Courtier Stuart Brown
| Claire Courtier Stuart Brown |
| 23rd November 1907 - 10th April 2005 |
Claire Courtier Stuart Brown
Claire Courtier Stuart Brown was born on 23rd November 1907 at 0h 45m, at 9, Spring Gardens, Glasgow. The informant on 16th December at Glasgow was the child’s father, H. J. Stuart Brown.
Claire’s mother was Ada Courtier-Dutton.
From unattributed and undated newspaper cuttings in one of her albums, Claire married Squadron Leader Arthur Patrick Burdett in July 1941 but was widowed less than a year later when he was killed on 31st March 1942; his plane came down over the North Sea returning from a bombing raid over Trondheim.
Commonwealth Graves Commission
Claire’s second husband was Major Ernest Vivian Ritson. The couple were were married on 23rd April 1944 at Cookham Parish Church. Sadly, he fared no better; he was killed at Arnhem on 20th September 1944.
Commonwealth Graves Commission
Claire Ritson in later life, c. 2000
Claire Ritson, MS Stuart Brown, was entered on the Bletchley Park Roll of Honour. Claire died on 10th April 2005. Her death notice appeared in the Plymouth Herald and in the Telegraph.
Claire inherited her father’s artistic talent and a posthumous exhibition of her work at the Colours Gallery, Edinburgh, ran from 27th August 2011 until 30th September 2011.
Feature - Broughton Spurtle, 9th August 2011