Molly Bentley nee Ayres (St. Michael's Catholic Church Ipoh Cemetery)

It was a beautiful marble stone among the tombs in the St. Michael's Catholic Church Ipoh Cemetery. The  words are etched deeply in to the marble stone and fortunately one can read it still;

In Loving Memory 

Of 

Molly Bentley 

(nee Ayres)

Who Fell Asleep in Christ

at 5pm 

on 

30-12-1936

Age - 26 Years 2 Months.

In a world of pain and care, 

Lord, thou wouldst no longer leave her

To thy meadows bright and fair

Lovingly thou dost receive her

Clothed in robes of spotless white

Now she dwells with thee in light

Molly Bentley nee Ayres

I was also fortunate to able to find a bit more details about Madam Molly Bentley nee Ayres. From further research, i found out her maiden name is Molly Kathryn Ayres. She passed away a year after her marriage and from illness after giving birth. Molly Kathryn Ayres was born on 30 October 1910 at Pondok Tanjong, Perak. Her parents were Frederick William Ayres and Catherine Maud Ayres. In a recent correspondence with Edward Tan (grandson of Molly Bentley nee Ayres), i am fortunate to be also see how she look like. 

Molly Kathryn Ayres / Molly Bentley nee Ayres
(photo courtesy of Edward Tan)

 

Marriage 

From the papers in 16 December 1935 - At the Church of St. John the Divine, Ipoh  - the marriage of Mr. C.O.H. Bentley (Clifford Oscar Hugh Bentley) of the Electrical Department, Tanjong Malim and Miss Molly Kathryn Ayres was solemnised by Rev. F.M. Oliver. The bride wore a charming dress of white silk and was given away her brother, Mr. P. Ayres (Patrick Ayres). Miss MacDougal was the matron of honour while Mr. Dudley Clay performed the duties of the bestman. Mrs. K. Murray was at the organ. The wedding was solemnised by Rev. F.M. Oliver. There was a large gathering at the ceremony and at the conclusion of which Mrs. Ayres, the brides mother, held a well-attended reception at the Celestial Hotel, Ipoh. (Laxamana Road). 

The name Celestial Hotel may not be familiar to many, but if i mentioned Perak Emporium, many older folks will remember this building including me. Built in 1933 for Lam Look Ing, it first housed the Celestial Hotel and Cabaret. Lam Look Ing was a Cantonese tin miner. He went on to own many properties as well. The architect for the building was said to be B.M Iversen (Berthel Michael Iversen (1906–76) )

Celestial Hotel

What is also interesting for me is that Mr. C.O.H Bentley and Molly Kathryn Ayres got married in an Anglican Church, but she is buried in a Roman Catholic Cemetery. 

Death 

The death took place on Wednesday of Mrs. Bentley, wife of Mr. Bentley of the Kinta Electric Distribution Co. Ltd. Mrs. Bentley had been ill since her accouchement (the time after giving birth to her baby girl who i found our later is the mother of Edward Tan). Mrs. Bentley was a resident for a number of years in Ipoh, where her mother was a nurse attached to the Ipoh Hospital. She was teaching at the Convent prior to her marriage about a year ago. 

Family 

Husband: Clifford Oscar Hugh Bentley / C.O.H. Bentley

Clifford Oscar Hugh Bentley was born in or around 1910. He passed away in Western Australia in 1977, and the death certificate lists his place of birth as Malaysia.

Parents:  Frederick William Ayres (F.W. Ayres) and Catherine Maud Ayres

Catherine Maud Ayres was baptised Katharine Maud Fitzpatrick, in October 1878 at C.M. Chapel, Bimlepatam, Black Town, in what was then the Madras Presidency in India.  She married a Mr. William Rodger Williams in 1901, and with him had a daughter Rebecca Ann Jane Williams in 1904, in India. 

William Rodger Williams passed away a few years later, and Catherine Maud Williams then traveled to Malaya (circa 1908/9), and worked at the Ipoh General Hospital. Her brother Frederick William Fitzpatrick was a prison warder at the Taiping prison (then referred to as a Convict Establishment), and so did a Frederick William Ayres. [information from the Federal Establishments list of 1914 for the Federal Malay States, from the Public Record Office in London.]. Probably through the connection as work colleagues of her brother, Catherine Maud Williams got acquainted to F.W. Ayres. 

F.W. Ayres and Catherine Maud Ayres would have married sometime around 1909. Molly Kathryn Ayres was born on 30 October 1910. F.W. and C.M. Ayres had a second child, Patrick Ayres and a third child, a girl, whose name was with the initials of as E.M. Ayres.  

F.W. Ayres subsequently contracted consumption (tuberculosis) in 1914/5. Doctors advised he go to a more temperate climate, so he and his wife traveled to London where he was from. They stayed with one of his sisters, but F.W. Ayres did not survive long and passed away in London in August 1915. 

Catherine Maud Ayres returned to Malaya where she and F.W. Ayres had left their children in the care of relatives. She passed away in 1943 in Singapore.   

[Possible story lead]

Because of the clue that Molly Bentley nee Ayres that mention that her mother was a nurse at Ipoh Hospital, i found a article that mentions a Eurasian Lady was hurt due to a car collision with a rikisha and she sustained a fracture of the arm. The accident took place near Hugh Low Street Bridge onwards the direction of New Town. The collision occurred whilst the car was overtaking the rikisha smashing the right wheel of the rikisha but fortunately the puller escaped injury. K. Viapury driver of hire cark Pk. H. 7135 was charged before Mr. C. W. A. Sennett, First Magistrate, Ipoh for causing hurt to Mrs. Ayres, late of the Ipoh Hospital nursing staff. (He was later acquitted on 3 December 1934). 

[14 October 2025] Correspondence with Edward Tan (grandson of Molly Bentley nee Ayres) allowed me to add more insights including her photo and details about his great grandparents as well. I am thankful to him for this additions. 

Epitaph 

IN A WORLD OF PAIN AND CARE.

LORD, THU WOULDST NO LONGER LEAVE HER 

TO THY MEADOWS BRIGHT AND FAIR

LOVINGLY THOU DOST RECEIVE HER, 

CLOTHED IN ROBES OF SPOTLESS WHITE

NOW SHE DWELLS WITH THEE IN LIGHT. 

References

Eurasian Lady Hurt. (1934, October 19). Pinang Gazette and Straits Chronicle, page 10

Acquitted. (1934, December 3). Pinang Gazette and Straits Chronicle, page 13
Ipoh Wedding. Bentley-Ayres. (1935, December 17). The Straits Times, page 13

Retail Sales. (1937, January 7). The Singapore Free Press, page 11

Untitled. (1950, April 13). The Straits Times, page 16 

Email correspondence with Edward Tan. 13, 14 October 2025