John Waterton (962) | Rectory Lane Cemetery, Berkhamsted

Rectory Lane Cemetery, Berkhamsted

Biography:
John Waterton (962)
1834 –18/04/1917

John Waterton (962)

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JOHN WATERTON: 1834 – 1917

John was born in Frithsden, a small hamlet near Berkhamsted in 1834. He was the oldest of four children born to George Waterton, a labourer, and his wife Marion. Marion was to give birth to three more children, Sophia, born c.1836; Hannah, c.1838 and Thomas, c.1840[1].

In 1851, at the age of 18 years, John had left his family home and was one of five domestic servants employed at Castle Hill Farm by farmer Noah Newman. Newman farmed 310 acres of land and in 1851 employed 14 agricultural labourers[2]. Local historian Percy Birtchnell, writing of the low wages paid to agricultural workers at that time, noted “Noah Newton, [sic] at Newhouse Farm, Castle Hill, employed 16 labourers whose combined wages came to £11 in 1850.”[3]

As a domestic servant, John would himself have been paid little, and it was perhaps low wages that prompted him to change employment, particularly as in 1854 he married and his first son. Joseph, was born later that year. John began work on the railway. In the 1861 census return his occupation was recorded as “Railway Lab”(ourer) and in subsequent census returns he is described as a “platelayer.”  The term “platelayer” derives from the plates used to build plateways, an early form of railway and it was the job of a platelayer to inspect and maintain the railway track, usually under the charge of a foreman called a “ganger.” We know from a newspaper report of an inquest into the death of a railway worker at which John gave evidence, that John had himself become a ganger by 1879.[4] John was to spend the rest of his working life until his retirement working on the railway.

John married on 16th April 1854. His bride was Harriett Tarbox, also from Berkhamsted. Including their first child Joseph, the couple were to have seven children: Joseph, 1854 – 1919; James 1856 -1941; William 1859 -1919; Emily Ann 1861-1939; Kate 1864-1954; Elizabeth 1867-1931 and Ellen 1869-1936.

In 1861 the family lived on Berkhamsted’s High Street, but by 1871 they had moved to Park Street and they moved again by 1881 to Cross Oak Road.  

Harriett died on 29th January 1900 at the age of 69 years and the following year we find John, age 67 and still working as a platelayer. Living with him in Cross Oak Road as boarders were 48 year old Annie Boon, a widow, and her three children, Edward, Helen and Daisy. Annie, like Harriet, was a member of the Tarbox family. She had married David Boon in 1873, but David died in 1889.[5]

By 1911 John, now 77, had finally retired and was living as a boarder in Clarence Road with Annie Boon’s son Edward, his wife Edith, their one year old son and Edward’s two sisters Helen and Daisy.[6]

John died on 18 April 1917 at the age of 83 and was buried with Harriett in Rectory Lane Cemetery.


[1] 1841 census

[2] 1851 census

[3] Berkhamsted Review, October 1982. , liv

[4] Bucks Examiner 2nd August 1879.

[5] 1901 census

[6] 1911 census

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in the cemetery

JOHN WATERTON: 1834 – 1917

John was born in Frithsden, a small hamlet near Berkhamsted in 1834. He was the oldest of four children born to George Waterton, a labourer, and his wife Marion. Marion was to give birth to three more children, Sophia, born c.1836; Hannah, c.1838 and Thomas, c.1840[1].

In 1851, at the age of 18 years, John had left his family home and was one of five domestic servants employed at Castle Hill Farm by farmer Noah Newman. Newman farmed 310 acres of land and in 1851 employed 14 agricultural labourers[2]. Local historian Percy Birtchnell, writing of the low wages paid to agricultural workers at that time, noted “Noah Newton, [sic] at Newhouse Farm, Castle Hill, employed 16 labourers whose combined wages came to £11 in 1850.”[3]

As a domestic servant, John would himself have been paid little, and it was perhaps low wages that prompted him to change employment, particularly as in 1854 he married and his first son. Joseph, was born later that year. John began work on the railway. In the 1861 census return his occupation was recorded as “Railway Lab”(ourer) and in subsequent census returns he is described as a “platelayer.”  The term “platelayer” derives from the plates used to build plateways, an early form of railway and it was the job of a platelayer to inspect and maintain the railway track, usually under the charge of a foreman called a “ganger.” We know from a newspaper report of an inquest into the death of a railway worker at which John gave evidence, that John had himself become a ganger by 1879.[4] John was to spend the rest of his working life until his retirement working on the railway.

John married on 16th April 1854. His bride was Harriett Tarbox, also from Berkhamsted. Including their first child Joseph, the couple were to have seven children: Joseph, 1854 – 1919; James 1856 -1941; William 1859 -1919; Emily Ann 1861-1939; Kate 1864-1954; Elizabeth 1867-1931 and Ellen 1869-1936.

In 1861 the family lived on Berkhamsted’s High Street, but by 1871 they had moved to Park Street and they moved again by 1881 to Cross Oak Road.  

Harriett died on 29th January 1900 at the age of 69 years and the following year we find John, age 67 and still working as a platelayer. Living with him in Cross Oak Road as boarders were 48 year old Annie Boon, a widow, and her three children, Edward, Helen and Daisy. Annie, like Harriet, was a member of the Tarbox family. She had married David Boon in 1873, but David died in 1889.[5]

By 1911 John, now 77, had finally retired and was living as a boarder in Clarence Road with Annie Boon’s son Edward, his wife Edith, their one year old son and Edward’s two sisters Helen and Daisy.[6]

John died on 18 April 1917 at the age of 83 and was buried with Harriett in Rectory Lane Cemetery.


[1] 1841 census

[2] 1851 census

[3] Berkhamsted Review, October 1982. , liv

[4] Bucks Examiner 2nd August 1879.

[5] 1901 census

[6] 1911 census

Relatives