Rectory Lane Cemetery, Berkhamsted

Amy Sheldon

1858 –1913

A domestic servant whose husband became the licensee of The Fish public house in Berkhamsted

• Melanie Hilton

Unmarked grave Amy Sheldon (née Holt) (1858-1913)

Amy was born in 1858 in Shakerstone, a small village west of Leicester, to Henry and Sarah Holt and was baptised 6 June that year. Her father was a shoemaker. In 1871 her father was described as a cordwainer, a rather superior form of leather worker.

The family’s fortunes had taken a downward turn by April 1881. Henry Holt had died and Sarah was working as a laundress to support herself and Amy’s older sister Mary Ann, described in the harsh language of the time as an “imbecile”, which probably meant she had a severe learning disability. Amy, also living at home, had gone into service as a housemaid.

It was probably employment in domestic service that took Amy to Hull where she married widower and papermaker James Sheldon in 1887, in the Sculcotes district of Hull.

Florence Amy was born in 1888 in Sculcotes but by the time Herbert arrived in 1890 they had moved to Ipswich.

In 1891 the family lived at Alma Cottage, New Cut East, St Peter, Ipswich. The New Cut was created in the 1830s and 40s to give access to the new Wet Dock. “New Cut East is a private roadway used by ABP and other port operators. But for much of the 19th Century this area was occupied by the promenade, a unique green space in the centre of the working port, removed in the early 20th century to support port expansion.” (Ipswich Maritime Trust).

In addition to Amy and James’s two children, four of his sons and a daughter from his first marriage were also living with them.

They had moved again by the time that Minnie Holt was born in 1898 in Purfleet, Essex.

In 1901 they lived at Paper Mill Cottages, Purfleet, West Thurrock. James was still a paper maker, probably employed at the mill making straw board that became Thames Paper. As well as Amy’s three, also at home were three of her step-children and a boarder.

By 1911 they had moved to Berkhamsted and taken over The Fish, 5, Mill Street. James was the innkeeper and lodging house keeper with Amy assisting him. They had fifteen lodgers on census night.

Amy died in March 1913 at The Fish aged 55.