Rectory Lane Cemetery, Berkhamsted

George Chilton

1847 –05/04/1929

Grocer, married to Emma Harris (d.1896) then Matilda Sear

Relatives

Emma Chilton(224) — wife

Matilda Chilton (421) — wife

William Chilton (388) — brother

• Vivien Benson

George was born in 1847 in Chesham, Buckinghamshire to John, a builder and Mary, a pawnbroker.

He had four brothers (William, Henry, John and Charles) and two sisters (Caroline and Elizabeth).

By 1851 the family were living on Berkhamsted High Street.   Ten years later George was living with his brother Henry on Berkhamsted High Street – they were both recorded as grocers.  However, by the time of the 1871 census George was a shopman in Chertsey, Surrey.

He moved back to Berkhamsted and was christened at the age of 32 in Berkhamsted on 1st May 1879, a few months before his marriage to Emma.

On the 1st May 1879 at the age of 32 George was christened in Berkhamsted. This was a few months before his marriage to Emma. Three years later they were living in Bridge House, Chapel Street with Florence Isabel, their daughter, who was 10 months old and Elizabeth Harris, Emma’s aunt. George’s occupation is given as a grocer.

By 1891 George and Emma had moved to Elm Grove, Berkhamsted with their daughters Florence aged 10, Alice Maud Mary aged 8, Katherine Louise aged 6 and son Charles Edward aged 4.  George is recorded as a grocer and Emma as a grocer’s wife.

Emma died on 4th May 1895 at the age of 50, leaving George and four children.

In 1900 George became a churchwarden, a position he held for 19 years, serving alongside Edwin James Pearson (plot 375) and John King (plot 297). By 1901 George was living with three of his children, Florence, Katherine and Charles, at 4 Chapel Street, Berkhamsted. George is listed as a retired grocer.

On 9th July 1903 George married Matilda Sear.

By 1911 George and Matilda were living with two of George’s children, Florence and Katherine, George’s sister Caroline plus one domestic servant at Lyncroft, North Road, Berkhamsted. George is recorded as living on private means.

Matilda died on 20th December 1916. George continued to live in the area (latterly at Uffington, North Road, Berkhamsted) until his death on 5th April 1929.  He was 82 years old. Probate for George’s will was granted on 5th April 1929 to James Matthews builder, Alice Maud Mary Chilton and Katherine Louise Chilton (daughters, both spinsters). His other daughter, Florence had married local builder James Matthews.  The estate amounted to just over £21,000.

He was buried in Rectory Lane Cemetery with his first wife, Emma.

Emma Chilton(224)

1850 –04/05/1895

First wife of George Chilton

Relatives

George Chilton — husband

• Vivien Benson

Emma was born on 1st December 1844 in Berkhamsted to Joseph and Mary Harris.  Joseph was a builder and carpenter.  Her parents already had one son (Charles Edward) and two daughters (Sarah Ann and Elizabeth). They lived in Berkhamsted High Street.

By the time of the 1851 census Emma was living with her father, mother and brother Charles (then aged 20 and also a carpenter).  At that time, her father Joseph employed 14 men.  Her sisters were not at home.

Ten years later in 1861 Emma was still living with her father, mother and sister Sarah Ann in the High Street. By now Joseph employed six men in his building and carpentry business. Emma was finally christened on 3rd March 1861, when she was 17.    In 1866 Mary, Emma’s mother, died.

By 1871 Emma and her father had been joined by Elizabeth Harris, Emma’s aunt, aged 68, and his granddaughter Madeleine Defraine, aged six.

In 1878 Joseph, Emma’s father, died.  In his will probate was granted to his Executors Thomas Tompkins, a butcher of Berkhamsted and William Chilton, pawnbroker of Berkhamsted. His estate was worth £1,500.  William Chilton was Emma’s soon-to-be brother-in-law as she married George Chilton the following year, in 1879.

In 1881 George and Emma were living in Chapel Street, Berkhamsted with Florence Isabel, their daughter, who was 10 months old and Elizabeth Harris, Emma’s aunt. George’s occupation is given as a grocer.

By 1891 George and Emma had moved to Elm Grove, Berkhamsted with their daughters Florence aged 10, Alice Maud Mary aged 8, Katherine Louise aged 6 and son Charles Edward aged 4.  George is recorded as a grocer and Emma as a grocer’s wife.

Emma died on 4th May 1895 at the age of 50, leaving behind her husband and four children.