Biography:
Richard Hazell
1822 –22/09/1876
Richard Hazell
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RICHARD HAZELL; 1822 – 1876
Richard was the sixth child born to William and Susannah Hazell. He was born in 1822 and was baptised in Berkhamsted on 6th October 1822. William and Susannah’s first child, James, was born in 1811 and he died in 1835; Anne was born in 1813 and died in 1817; Sarah, born in 1816 also died in 1817; William was born in 1818, followed by Joseph, born in 1820 died in 1822. Richard was born in 1822, followed by John in 1825, Susannah in 1829 and finally Henry, who was born in 1831
Richard’s father, William, was the subject of a settlement examination in 1817 which gives us some detailed information about William’s life.
The responsibility for supporting anyone who became a pauper fell on the rate payers of the parish in which the pauper was legally settled. The overseer of the poor for each parish could get rid of any paupers in his parish who had not settled there legally and were not therefore his responsibility. Settlement certificates were important in establishing a person’s place of legal settlement, and examinations were sometimes held to establish a person’s place of settlement. William was the subject of such an examination in Berkhamsted in 1817.
The settlement examination reveals that in about 1800 William was employed at the Chesham Statute fair by Edward Varney, of Newhouses, Berkhamsted, as a yearly servant for £3 a year. For the next two years he lived in various places. Then from Chesham Statute fair he went as a yearly servant, husbandman, to Robert Bainbridge of Northchurch for £5 a year. At the time of the examination, he was married to Susannah and had one child, James, aged seven.
In the 1841 census we find Richard, at the age of 20 years, living in Mill Street in Berkhamsted. He was then working as a labourer, but he didn’t remain in that occupation for long. His elder brother William had started in business as a grocer and pork butcher in the High Street and the 1851 census tells us that by that date Richard had joined him and was working as an assistant grocer in William’s shop. In fact, we know from a report published in the Bucks Herald dated 2nd February 1847 that Richard had already joined William by that date and was working alongside him in the grocery business. The article describes an attempt by an eight year old “urchin”, Charles Groves, to steal half a crown from the shop till. Richard had left the shop to go for his breakfast in an adjoining room leaving half a crown and some silver and coppers in the till. A few moments later he heard “a noise as if someone was shutting the till;” He immediately went into the shop and caught the young Groves coming from behind the counter. Richard “…laid hold of him, and said to him, you young rascal, when he moved a step or two and dropped the half crown….and he held him until the police came.”
Although something of a digression, the fate that befell the young Charles Groves reveals much about the harshness of Victorian criminal law. Charles was one of five children born to Cutler and Susan Groves. The family lived at the back of the High Street. His father was a labourer and later records tell us that Charles, young as he was and like many other children of poor families, worked as a straw plaiter.
Following his arrest, Charles appeared before Magistrates. The report in the Bucks Herald records that Charles, in tears, asked for forgiveness and promised not to do it again. He was committed for trial at the Hertford Assizes and on the 2nd March 1847, at the age of 8 was sentenced to transportation to Van Dieman’s Land (Tasmania) to serve a sentence of seven years.
Even the Victorian penal system baulked at transporting an eight year old boy. The Inspectors of Millbank prison, where prisoners were held pending transportation, decided that due to his “tender years” Charles was unfit for transportation. That, however, merely delayed his voyage. In the interim, he was held at Parkhurst prison and he was eventually transported at the age of 12, presumably no longer considered to be of “tender years”. He sailed for Van Dieman’s Land aboard the convict ship “Nile”. The ship left Portland on 16th June 1850 and docked at Hobart nearly four months later on 3rd October 1850.
Happily (if such a term can be used in such circumstances), by the time of his arrival in Hobart, Charles had served sufficient of his seven years sentence to be eligible for a “ticket of leave.” Such tickets, given to those who it was thought could be trusted and as a reward for good behaviour, permitted the holders to seek employment within a specified district, but not leave it without permission and ticket holders could be recalled if they misbehaved. Charles was given his ticket of leave on 12th October 1850, 9 days after landing. Just over four years later, on 20th January 1855 and still only 16 years old, he had completed his sentence and was given his certificate of freedom.
Returning to Richard’s story, the census of 1861 discloses that Richard and William had been joined in Berkhamsted by their cousin Hannah Dickman and her youngest son, Charles. Richard and William’s mother Susannah Hazell, was sister to Hannah’s father, Joseph Butler. Hannah had married a London based pork butcher, William Dickman. William Dickman died in 1857 leaving Hannah a widow with two young sons. William Hazell had married in 1838, but his wife, Charlotte had died in 1853. Richard never married. The 1861 census reveals that Hannah was living with the Hazell brothers as their housekeeper, a no doubt mutually beneficial arrangement. The knowledge that she must have gained from her husband of the pork butchery business was also probably of great help to the Hazell brothers.
William died in 1868 at the age of 50 and was buried in Rectory Lane Cemetery. He left his business and all his property to Richard, save for three legacies, each of £200 which he left to his other siblings, John, Henry and Susannah.
The 1871 census reveals that Richard, 48 years old, was then head of the household. His occupation is noted as “Grocer and provisions merchant.” His household was sizeable. His cousin, Hannah Dickman was still living with him as housekeeper (her son Charles was to die in 1872 and was buried with William Hazell.) Also at the property was William Fordom, a corn merchant; John Earle, a “shopman/clerk”; three apprentices, George Bailey, James Cook and James Clarke; Elijah Quarrington, a poulterer and finally 14 year old Mary Gristwood a domestic servant.
Following his brother William’s death, Richard took William Fordom on as his partner in the business. William Fordom managed the Berkhamsted shop, although the partnership did not last long as William Fordom died in December 1871 at the age of 32 years. He too is buried in Rectory Lane Cemetery.
The Bucks Herald reported in 1870 that Richard, as William Hazell’s executor, sued the The London and North Western Railway company alleging the company’s negligence had damaged fifteen cheddar cheeses worth £8. 16s. William Fordom presented the case, but the claim ultimately failed, the judge deciding that there was no evidence that the railway company had been negligent.
As well as the shop in Berkhamsted, a branch was opened in Tring. Hogs had been exhibited in William Hazell’s day at the annual Christmas food fair, a tradition which Richard and William Fordom continued. If anything, as an article published in the Bucks Herald in 1869 reveals, the hogs were bigger and even more impressive than in William’s day:
“CHRISTMAS FARE.- Some excellent cheer for Christmas is being exhibited in the town…the most noteworthy show and the finest ever seen in Berkhampstead is that at Mr Hazell’s establishment. Mr Hazell and Mr Fardom [sic] have about fifty very superior fat hogs hung up for show, including a very superior one fattened by Lord Chesham, another immense animal weighing 75 stone, when alive upwards of 98 stone, from Lord Rokeby’s farm near Watford…It would hardly be possible to see a finer collection of pork…”
And in 1870 the same paper reported another theft from the shop:
STEALING A PIG’S HEAD.- On Monday at the Herts Quarter Sessions, Joseph Pooley, of Northchurch, was sentenced to seven years’ penal servitude for stealing a pig’s head from the shop of Mr Hazell…”
At least Joseph Pooley avoided transportation which had ended in 1853.
Like his brother William, Richard was also involved in the town gas company and was a director of the company.
Richard died in Berkhamsted on 22nd September 1876. He, like William, died at a relatively young age. The cause of his death was a softening of the brain and heart disease. He was 54 years old and he joined William and Charles Dickman in the same grave in Rectory Lane Cemetery. Given he had started out as a labourer, Richard had done well for himself. His estate was worth under £6,000 and he left it all to his cousin Hannah Dickman.
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RICHARD HAZELL; 1822 – 1876
Richard was the sixth child born to William and Susannah Hazell. He was born in 1822 and was baptised in Berkhamsted on 6th October 1822. William and Susannah’s first child, James, was born in 1811 and he died in 1835; Anne was born in 1813 and died in 1817; Sarah, born in 1816 also died in 1817; William was born in 1818, followed by Joseph, born in 1820 died in 1822. Richard was born in 1822, followed by John in 1825, Susannah in 1829 and finally Henry, who was born in 1831
Richard’s father, William, was the subject of a settlement examination in 1817 which gives us some detailed information about William’s life.
The responsibility for supporting anyone who became a pauper fell on the rate payers of the parish in which the pauper was legally settled. The overseer of the poor for each parish could get rid of any paupers in his parish who had not settled there legally and were not therefore his responsibility. Settlement certificates were important in establishing a person’s place of legal settlement, and examinations were sometimes held to establish a person’s place of settlement. William was the subject of such an examination in Berkhamsted in 1817.
The settlement examination reveals that in about 1800 William was employed at the Chesham Statute fair by Edward Varney, of Newhouses, Berkhamsted, as a yearly servant for £3 a year. For the next two years he lived in various places. Then from Chesham Statute fair he went as a yearly servant, husbandman, to Robert Bainbridge of Northchurch for £5 a year. At the time of the examination, he was married to Susannah and had one child, James, aged seven.
In the 1841 census we find Richard, at the age of 20 years, living in Mill Street in Berkhamsted. He was then working as a labourer, but he didn’t remain in that occupation for long. His elder brother William had started in business as a grocer and pork butcher in the High Street and the 1851 census tells us that by that date Richard had joined him and was working as an assistant grocer in William’s shop. In fact, we know from a report published in the Bucks Herald dated 2nd February 1847 that Richard had already joined William by that date and was working alongside him in the grocery business. The article describes an attempt by an eight year old “urchin”, Charles Groves, to steal half a crown from the shop till. Richard had left the shop to go for his breakfast in an adjoining room leaving half a crown and some silver and coppers in the till. A few moments later he heard “a noise as if someone was shutting the till;” He immediately went into the shop and caught the young Groves coming from behind the counter. Richard “…laid hold of him, and said to him, you young rascal, when he moved a step or two and dropped the half crown….and he held him until the police came.”
Although something of a digression, the fate that befell the young Charles Groves reveals much about the harshness of Victorian criminal law. Charles was one of five children born to Cutler and Susan Groves. The family lived at the back of the High Street. His father was a labourer and later records tell us that Charles, young as he was and like many other children of poor families, worked as a straw plaiter.
Following his arrest, Charles appeared before Magistrates. The report in the Bucks Herald records that Charles, in tears, asked for forgiveness and promised not to do it again. He was committed for trial at the Hertford Assizes and on the 2nd March 1847, at the age of 8 was sentenced to transportation to Van Dieman’s Land (Tasmania) to serve a sentence of seven years.
Even the Victorian penal system baulked at transporting an eight year old boy. The Inspectors of Millbank prison, where prisoners were held pending transportation, decided that due to his “tender years” Charles was unfit for transportation. That, however, merely delayed his voyage. In the interim, he was held at Parkhurst prison and he was eventually transported at the age of 12, presumably no longer considered to be of “tender years”. He sailed for Van Dieman’s Land aboard the convict ship “Nile”. The ship left Portland on 16th June 1850 and docked at Hobart nearly four months later on 3rd October 1850.
Happily (if such a term can be used in such circumstances), by the time of his arrival in Hobart, Charles had served sufficient of his seven years sentence to be eligible for a “ticket of leave.” Such tickets, given to those who it was thought could be trusted and as a reward for good behaviour, permitted the holders to seek employment within a specified district, but not leave it without permission and ticket holders could be recalled if they misbehaved. Charles was given his ticket of leave on 12th October 1850, 9 days after landing. Just over four years later, on 20th January 1855 and still only 16 years old, he had completed his sentence and was given his certificate of freedom.
Returning to Richard’s story, the census of 1861 discloses that Richard and William had been joined in Berkhamsted by their cousin Hannah Dickman and her youngest son, Charles. Richard and William’s mother Susannah Hazell, was sister to Hannah’s father, Joseph Butler. Hannah had married a London based pork butcher, William Dickman. William Dickman died in 1857 leaving Hannah a widow with two young sons. William Hazell had married in 1838, but his wife, Charlotte had died in 1853. Richard never married. The 1861 census reveals that Hannah was living with the Hazell brothers as their housekeeper, a no doubt mutually beneficial arrangement. The knowledge that she must have gained from her husband of the pork butchery business was also probably of great help to the Hazell brothers.
William died in 1868 at the age of 50 and was buried in Rectory Lane Cemetery. He left his business and all his property to Richard, save for three legacies, each of £200 which he left to his other siblings, John, Henry and Susannah.
The 1871 census reveals that Richard, 48 years old, was then head of the household. His occupation is noted as “Grocer and provisions merchant.” His household was sizeable. His cousin, Hannah Dickman was still living with him as housekeeper (her son Charles was to die in 1872 and was buried with William Hazell.) Also at the property was William Fordom, a corn merchant; John Earle, a “shopman/clerk”; three apprentices, George Bailey, James Cook and James Clarke; Elijah Quarrington, a poulterer and finally 14 year old Mary Gristwood a domestic servant.
Following his brother William’s death, Richard took William Fordom on as his partner in the business. William Fordom managed the Berkhamsted shop, although the partnership did not last long as William Fordom died in December 1871 at the age of 32 years. He too is buried in Rectory Lane Cemetery.
The Bucks Herald reported in 1870 that Richard, as William Hazell’s executor, sued the The London and North Western Railway company alleging the company’s negligence had damaged fifteen cheddar cheeses worth £8. 16s. William Fordom presented the case, but the claim ultimately failed, the judge deciding that there was no evidence that the railway company had been negligent.
As well as the shop in Berkhamsted, a branch was opened in Tring. Hogs had been exhibited in William Hazell’s day at the annual Christmas food fair, a tradition which Richard and William Fordom continued. If anything, as an article published in the Bucks Herald in 1869 reveals, the hogs were bigger and even more impressive than in William’s day:
“CHRISTMAS FARE.- Some excellent cheer for Christmas is being exhibited in the town…the most noteworthy show and the finest ever seen in Berkhampstead is that at Mr Hazell’s establishment. Mr Hazell and Mr Fardom [sic] have about fifty very superior fat hogs hung up for show, including a very superior one fattened by Lord Chesham, another immense animal weighing 75 stone, when alive upwards of 98 stone, from Lord Rokeby’s farm near Watford…It would hardly be possible to see a finer collection of pork…”
And in 1870 the same paper reported another theft from the shop:
STEALING A PIG’S HEAD.- On Monday at the Herts Quarter Sessions, Joseph Pooley, of Northchurch, was sentenced to seven years’ penal servitude for stealing a pig’s head from the shop of Mr Hazell…”
At least Joseph Pooley avoided transportation which had ended in 1853.
Like his brother William, Richard was also involved in the town gas company and was a director of the company.
Richard died in Berkhamsted on 22nd September 1876. He, like William, died at a relatively young age. The cause of his death was a softening of the brain and heart disease. He was 54 years old and he joined William and Charles Dickman in the same grave in Rectory Lane Cemetery. Given he had started out as a labourer, Richard had done well for himself. His estate was worth under £6,000 and he left it all to his cousin Hannah Dickman.
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