OLD PLYMOUTH . UK
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WHO WAS WHO IN OLD PLYMOUTH

Mrs ROWENA MARY BRUCE (formerly DEW) (1919-1999)

Mrs Rowena Mary Bruce, Chess Champion of Plymouth, seen in August 1963.
© Courtesy of Mirrorpix, The Box, Plymouth.
 

Rowena Mary Dew as the third child and only daughter of Mr Clement Warner Harvey Dew and his wife, the former Miss Mary (Jane) Rowe, who were married at Sherwell Congregational Chapel, Plymouth, on March 2nd 1910.  Mr Dew had been born on October 15th 1877 at Gamlingay, Cambridgeshire, while his wife came from Redruth, Cornwall, where she had been born on August 29th 1884.  In the census taken on Sunday April 2nd 1911 Mr Dew stated he was an electrical engineer in the Royal Dockyard at Devonport.

Soon after their marriage the first child and eldest boy arrived: Charles Edgar Dew, born December 7th 1910.  Apparently he was born at "Hill Crest", Stoke, Devonport.  On May 23rd 1913 their second child and second boy, Harvey Lennie Dew, was born at number 33 Belgrave Road, Mutley, Plymouth.  On May 15th 1919 their only daughter, Rowena Mary Dew, was born in Plymouth.

The Plymouth Chess Club was founded on October 1st 1888 but did not accept lady members until a decision was made at the Annual General Meeting on Friday October 2nd 1903 that in future ladies should be eligible for membership.  Mrs Mary Dew was one of those lady members and eventually became the Club's honorary secretary.  She apparently tried to interest her two sons in the game but failed.  However, her daughter Rowena did show an interest and so she arranged with Mr Ron Bruce of the Plymouth Chess Club for him to give her some lessons.  The rest, one might say, is history.

At the time of the census on Sunday June 19th 1921 the family were living at number 18 Cheltenham Place, off Mutley Plain, Plymouth.  Mr Dew was an acting assistant electrical engineer in the Royal Dockyard.

Miss Dew joined the Plymouth Chess Club on November 5th 1931, at the age of 12½ years.  She started being tutored by Mr Ronald Mackay Bruce (1903-1991) at the Club in 1934.  In January 1935. at the age of 15 years and on her own initiative, entered the Plymouth Girl's Chess Championship and won it.  Then in July 1937 she took part in the British Chess Federation Congress at Blackpool, Lancashire, and came away as the British Women's Chess Champion.  Her mother, who was the honorary secretary of the Plymouth Chess Club at this time, also competed.

The census taken on Friday September 29th 1939 revealed that Mr Drew was now a retired foreman of electricity supply and young Rowena Mary Dew was a shorthand typist in a local hospital.

On Saturday July 13th 1940 Miss Rowena Mary Dew married her chess tutor, 37-years-old Mr Ronald Mackay Bruce (1903-1991), manager of a credit trading business, at Sherwell Congregational Chapel, Plymouth.  Mr Bruce, captain of the Plymouth Chess Club, was the only son of Mr John and Mrs Lydia Bruce, of 126 Weston Park Road.

Mrs Bruce in London played a radio chess match on June 21st 1946 against Miss Lyudmila Rudenko (1904-1986) in Moscow, Russia, which Rowena lost.

In 1950 and again in 1951 Mrs Bruce won the British Women's Chess Championships.  Also in 1951 Mrs Rowena Mary Bruce was awarded the International Chess Federation's Woman International Master (WIM) title.  The following year she participated in the Women's Candidates Tournament in Moscow, in which she finished in 12th place out of 16.

Mr and Mrs Bruce did not have any children of their own but in 1952 adopted a young lady called Rona Mary Bruce, who showed no interest in chess whatsoever.

Mrs Bruce won the British Women's Chess Championship again in 1954 and 1955, 1959, 1960, 1962, and 1963.  In 1967 she shared the first place with Exeter-born Miss Dinah Margaret Norman.  In 1966 she won a silver medal at the 3rd Women's Chess Olympiad in Oberhausen, Germany, and in 1969 took part in the 4th Women's Chess Olympiad in Lublin, Poland.  Miss Bruce also was the principal cellist with the Plymouth Orchestral Society.

In the meantime, Rowena lost both her parents: Mr Clement Warner Harvey Dew died at 18 Cheltenham Place, Plymouth, on October 7th 1957 and was cremated at Efford Crematorium on October 10th 1957; Mrs Mary (Jane) Dew passed away in Cornwall on August 3rd 1958 and was cremated at Efford Crematorium on August 27th 1958.

Miss Rona Mary Bruce married Mr John A Marino in Plymouth in 1967.

Mr Ronald Mackay Bruce died in Plymouth in April 1991 and was cremated at Efford Crematorium on May 2nd 1991.

After suffering several smal strokes, Mrs Rowena Mary Bruce passed away in Plymouth on September 23rd 1999.  Her place of burial or cremation is not known.