Rectory Lane Cemetery, Berkhamsted

Arthur Greenstreet (395)

11/02/1880 –17/12/1897

Eldest son of Rev Octavius and Annie Greenstreet; died of leukaemia aged 17 years

Relatives

Octavius Pechell Greenstreet(395) — father

Annie Greenstreet — mother

• Karen Evans

Plot 395

Arthur Pechell, eldest son of Rev’d Octavius Pechell and Annie GREENSTREET, died 17 December 1897 in his 18th year.
Octavius Pechell GREENSTREET, priest, born 9 April 1832, died 5 February 1903.
Annie GREENSTREET born 7 December 1847, died 24 August 1920

Arthur Pechell Greenstreet’s parents, Octavius Pechell Greenstreet and Annie Skelton were married by banns on 19^th April 1879. At the time he a widower was living at 2 North Street, Whitby, whilst she was a spinster living at 165 Hildas Terrace, Whitby. Arthur Pechell Greenstreet, was his parents’ eldest child and was born on 11^th February 1880 and baptised on 10^th March 1880 at St Ninian’s chapel, Whitby. The officiating minister at the baptism was the baby’s own father, Rev O.P. Greenstreet. Arthur’s birth was reported upon by the Whitby Gazette on 21^st February 1880.

By April 1881 the Greenstreet family had moved to Upton Scudamore in Wiltshire. In July of that same year Octavius was licenced by the Bishop of Salisbury to the curacy of Upton Scudamore.

Annie and Octavius had three more sons, who were all born whilst the family was living at The Grange in Upton Scudamore. As curate of the church of St Mary’s, Upton Scudamore, Octavius was the officiating minster at all his sons’ baptisms. Arthur’s brothers were:

Charles Leonard Greenstreet, born on 9^th June 1881 and baptised on 3^rd July 1881

Edward Hawkins Greenstreet baptised on 8^th July 1883

John Wilfred Greenstreet, born on 15^th June and baptised on 5^th July 1885.

 The Greenstreet family were still living in Upton Scudamore in 1885 but appear to have moved to Berkhamsted at some time in 1886, as Rev O.P. Greenstreet was no longer officiating in the parish registers of Upton Scudamore after December 1885. Once settled in his new home the Rev O.P. Greenstreet immediately took a great interest in local affairs. In December 1888 he attended a public County Council Meeting held at Berkhamsted’s Town Hall. Later that month Octavius read one of the lessons at the Christmas service at St Peter’s.

On 27^th April 1889 The Bucks Herald reported upon the re-opening of the Baptist Chapel in Northchurch as follows:

This place of worship was re-opened on Sunday after undergoing restoration.  The Rev J.F. Smythe of Berkhamstead, preached in the evening, and a collection was made in aid of the fund for defraying the expenditure. On Monday after Rev. Mr Hudson, of Boxmoor, preached, a social evening followed, and then a public meeting. Mr H. Stevens, of Tring, presided, supported by the pastor, Rev A. Bosher and the Rev O.P. Greenstreet, a clergyman of the English church, Berkhamstead. A notable feature was the singing, led by Mr. Baldwin, who with Mr James Sear, Misses Sear (2), Misses Baldwin (3), and Mr Timberlake formed an efficient choir…

The Rev. O.P. Greenstreet afterwards gave an address, saying that although a loyal member of the Church of England, he sympathised with all Christian work. He assured them that the inner principle of the Church was more liberal than they might imagine. He regretted that in this part of the country they did not find many clergymen who were prepared to work with Nonconformists on a common platform, but in the presence of the common enemies of drink and unbelief injuriously affecting the country. He thought they ought to be agreed in the common teaching of the Christian religion as the only effective remedy. One Christ died for all, and why should people who agreed in the main be so much divided. They could surely all meet at the Cross of Christ, as they would have to meet hereafter. Walking on Berkhamstead Common a day or two before he heard the larks, although he could scarcely see the above him, and so thought if they could rise higher and higher out of the mists and fog, they would be able to sing and serve together.

All the socialising was not restricted to the man of the house. In January 1889 an evening of musical entertainment was held at the Berkhamsted Town Hall with the programme including a piano duet – “Husarenritt” by Mrs O.P. Greenstreet and Mrs H. Mackay.  Later in May 1889 Oak Vale School held its annual Sports Day in the grounds of Berkhamsted Castle. During the day Mrs O.P. Greenstreet was thanked for being one of the donors of prizes.

In June 1890 a service of ordination was held at St Peter’s church with Rev O.P. Greenstreet being mentioned as one of the parish’s curates.

In 1891 the family were living at Clevedon House, Cross Oak Road, employing a cook and a housemaid. The 1890’s saw all of the Greenstreet boys leaving home to go to boarding school as well as other family events. Arthur’s great-aunt, Charlotte Skelton, who had remained a spinster, died at the age of 82 on 19^th March 1892 at Shadwell in the Skelton family’s home parish of Thorner.

Eighteen months later Arthur’s grandmother, Anna Maria Skelton, died on 1^st November 1894 at 1 Grosvenor Road, Scarborough, aged 82. Annie’s brother, Rev Charles Arthur Skelton was the executor of her will. She was buried on 3^rd November 1894 at Whitby. Three years later the grief would have been so much closer to home when Annie and Octavius’s eldest son, Arthur Pechell Greenstreet, died off acute leucocythaemia  (leukaemia) on 17th December 1897, aged just 18. With him when he died was his cousin, Sarah Isabella Browne, daughter of his aunt, Sarah Elizabeth (Greenstreet) and her husband Rev James T Browne. Arthur was buried at Rectory Lane on 20^th December 1897.

By 1901 Annie and Octavius had moved to a house called Stoneycroft in Shrublands Road. None of their sons were at home at the time of the census, but the couple still had a cook and a parlour maid looking after them. Their eldest surviving son, Charles, was living with his uncle, Rev Charles Arthur Skelton in Woking, Surrey. He did not follow his father into the church but became a chartered accountant. His brother, Edward, was closer to home, boarding at a school in Harpenden, whilst the youngest in the family, John Wilfred, was at St Chad’s College, later to be called Denstone College in Staffordshire.

The Reverend Octavius Pechell Greenstreet died on 5th February 1903 in Berkhamsted, at the age of 70, making his wife, Annie, the executor to his will.