Rectory Lane Cemetery, Berkhamsted

Theresa Ann Callard

d.30/11/1929

Sister of corn merchant Joseph Callard, assisted him in business. Died in the Poor Law Institution

Relatives

Joseph Callard — brother

• Christopher Dolton

Theresa and Joseph Callard were a brother and sister who moved to Berkhamsted in the 1890s and remained in the town until their deaths in 1929 and 1934 respectively. Neither married. They lived together in Berkhamsted for nearly forty years and remain together in death, buried in the same grave in Rectory Lane Cemetery.

Theresa’s birth was registered in Marylebone, London in 1854, although subsequent census entries give her date of birth as 1855. She was the eldest child of five children born to James and Elizabeth Callard. Joseph was born eight years later in Hertfordshire in 1863. He was the fourth child of the family, Henry being born in 1857 and Alfred in 1860. Walter, the fifth and youngest child was born in 1868.

The 1871 census records the entire Callard family, with the exception of Theresa, living at the Manor House in Bushey. At that time the Manor House was owned by Sir Edward Walter Forestier-Walker, a serving soldier who was commander H.M. Forces Scotland. The Manor House was leased to the Taylor family who had a business in Calcutta.

In 1877 James died. The 1881 census records the family still living at the Manor House. The mother, Elizabeth, is described as an annuitant, indicating she received an independent income.  Theresa, then 26, was described as assisting at home. Joseph, 18, is recorded as a baker. As the Callards all have listed occupations they were not servants. It is likely they were caretakers of the Manor House.

By the time of the 1891 census the family had not only moved from the Manor House but had split up. Elizabeth, Theresa, now 36, and the youngest child Walter, were living at London Road, Bushey.  Alfred had moved to Penge in Surrey,  where he had married and had a one year old son (who sadly was to die two years later aged 3). Joseph, age 28, lived with Alfred and his family in Penge.

In 1892 their mother, Elizabeth, died.

Joseph moved to Berkhamsted, leasing 189 High Street from Mr A W Spicer at a rent of £40 per annum on 31st January 1893. The property was on the corner of the High Street and Cowper Road. (189 High Street is today Barclays Bank, the High Street being renumbered in the 1950s.) The property is no longer standing, having been demolished in the 1930s. On the site where it stood together with adjacent properties there is now a large building consisting of commercial premises with residential flats above, known today as Callard House.

Whether Theresa joined Joseph in Berkhamsted when he leased 189 High Street is not apparent, but the two of them are recorded as living at that address in the 1901 and 1911 census. Joseph’s occupation is “baker and corn merchant” and Theresa “assists”.

Both Joseph and Theresa remained at 189 High Street for the rest of their lives.  Percy Birtchnell, writing in the Berkhamsted Review in 1970, recalled Joseph:

“Joe Callard, for much of his life a chorister at St Peter’s, kept the shop at Cowper Road corner. I don’t know when his business closed down, but in 1929 he still advertised himself as a corn merchant and family miller, with “all kinds of dog biscuit and bird seeds kept in stock”. His windows attracted much attention, especially after business hours, when one often saw rats and mice helping themselves to the corn and biscuits. Rats were also seen running around the outbuildings in Cowper Road.” 

Theresa died at the Institution in Berkhamsted on 30th November 1929 aged 75. Her estate, valued at £1,456 6s 11d, was divided between her surviving brothers and nephews and nieces.

The Institution, or as it was officially known, the Poor Law Institution, was what had formerly been the Berkhamsted Poor Law Union Workhouse. The Union took over the parish workhouse in 1835 and continued until 1930 when responsibility for care of the poor passed to the Urban District Council. Until the 1820’s, a small house on the corner of Park Street was used to house poor families. That was demolished (and became the site of the first National School) and the workhouse moved to a row of tenements on the corner of the High Street and Kitsbury Road, known as “Ragged Row”. In 1831 Ragged Row was in turn demolished and a new Parish workhouse was built on the site following a bequest of £1,000 made by the Rev. George Nugent (the workhouse was later known as “Nugent House”).  The Institution was sold in 1937 to make way for the development of shops which still stand on the site today.

The fact that Theresa died in the Institution, does not however mean she was resident there. We know from the electoral rolls up to and including the year of her death, 1929, that she was living with Joseph at 189 High Street. Originally workhouse infirmaries were intended solely for the care of residents in the workhouse, but towards the latter part of the 19th century the standard of care provided improved and from the 1880’s admission to workhouse infirmaries was increasingly permitted to those who though poor, were not sufficiently destitute to require admission to the workhouse. Like all recipients of union relief, they first needed to have their means assessed and might be required to contribute towards their care. The workhouse medical service marked the beginning of a state funded medical service.

Joseph died five years later in Oxford House Nursing Home in Watford on 19th May 1934. His estate was worth £2,355 15s 9d and was also left to his two surviving brothers and nephews and nieces.

Joseph Callard

1863 –19/05/1934

Brother of Theresa Callard, corn merchant and singer in St Peter’s Church Choir

Relatives

Theresa Ann Callard — sister

• Christopher Dolton

Theresa and Joseph Callard were a brother and sister who moved to Berkhamsted in the 1890s and remained in the town until their deaths in 1929 and 1934 respectively. Neither married. They lived together in Berkhamsted for nearly forty years and remain together in death, buried in the same grave in Rectory Lane Cemetery.

Theresa’s birth was registered in Marylebone, London in 1854, although subsequent census entries give her date of birth as 1855. She was the eldest child of five children born to James and Elizabeth Callard. Joseph was born eight years later in Hertfordshire in 1863. He was the fourth child of the family, Henry being born in 1857 and Alfred in 1860. Walter, the fifth and youngest child was born in 1868.

The 1871 census records the entire Callard family, with the exception of Theresa, living at the Manor House in Bushey. At that time the Manor House was owned by Sir Edward Walter Forestier-Walker, a serving soldier who was commander H.M. Forces Scotland. The Manor House was leased to the Taylor family who had a business in Calcutta.

In 1877 James died. The 1881 census records the family still living at the Manor House. The mother, Elizabeth, is described as an annuitant, indicating she received an independent income.  Theresa, then 26, was described as assisting at home. Joseph, 18, is recorded as a baker. As the Callards all have listed occupations they were not servants. It is likely they were caretakers of the Manor House.

By the time of the 1891 census the family had not only moved from the Manor House but had split up. Elizabeth, Theresa, now 36, and the youngest child Walter, were living at London Road, Bushey.  Alfred had moved to Penge in Surrey,  where he had married and had a one year old son (who sadly was to die two years later aged 3). Joseph, age 28, lived with Alfred and his family in Penge.

In 1892 their mother, Elizabeth, died.

Joseph moved to Berkhamsted, leasing 189 High Street from Mr A W Spicer at a rent of £40 per annum on 31st January 1893. The property was on the corner of the High Street and Cowper Road. (189 High Street is today Barclays Bank, the High Street being renumbered in the 1950s.) The property is no longer standing, having been demolished in the 1930s. On the site where it stood together with adjacent properties there is now a large building consisting of commercial premises with residential flats above, known today as Callard House.

Whether Theresa joined Joseph in Berkhamsted when he leased 189 High Street is not apparent, but the two of them are recorded as living at that address in the 1901 and 1911 census. Joseph’s occupation is “baker and corn merchant” and Theresa “assists”.

Both Joseph and Theresa remained at 189 High Street for the rest of their lives.  Percy Birtchnell, writing in the Berkhamsted Review in 1970, recalled Joseph:

“Joe Callard, for much of his life a chorister at St Peter’s, kept the shop at Cowper Road corner. I don’t know when his business closed down, but in 1929 he still advertised himself as a corn merchant and family miller, with “all kinds of dog biscuit and bird seeds kept in stock”. His windows attracted much attention, especially after business hours, when one often saw rats and mice helping themselves to the corn and biscuits. Rats were also seen running around the outbuildings in Cowper Road.” 

Theresa died at the Institution in Berkhamsted on 30th November 1929 aged 75. Her estate, valued at £1,456 6s 11d, was divided between her surviving brothers and nephews and nieces.

The Institution, or as it was officially known, the Poor Law Institution, was what had formerly been the Berkhamsted Poor Law Union Workhouse. The Union took over the parish workhouse in 1835 and continued until 1930 when responsibility for care of the poor passed to the Urban District Council. Until the 1820’s, a small house on the corner of Park Street was used to house poor families. That was demolished (and became the site of the first National School) and the workhouse moved to a row of tenements on the corner of the High Street and Kitsbury Road, known as “Ragged Row”. In 1831 Ragged Row was in turn demolished and a new Parish workhouse was built on the site following a bequest of £1,000 made by the Rev. George Nugent (the workhouse was later known as “Nugent House”).  The Institution was sold in 1937 to make way for the development of shops which still stand on the site today.

The fact that Theresa died in the Institution, does not however mean she was resident there. We know from the electoral rolls up to and including the year of her death, 1929, that she was living with Joseph at 189 High Street. Originally workhouse infirmaries were intended solely for the care of residents in the workhouse, but towards the latter part of the 19th century the standard of care provided improved and from the 1880’s admission to workhouse infirmaries was increasingly permitted to those who though poor, were not sufficiently destitute to require admission to the workhouse. Like all recipients of union relief, they first needed to have their means assessed and might be required to contribute towards their care. The workhouse medical service marked the beginning of a state funded medical service.

Joseph died five years later in Oxford House Nursing Home in Watford on 19th May 1934. His estate was worth £2,355 15s 9d and was also left to his two surviving brothers and nephews and nieces.

Joseph’s obituary was published in the Bucks Examiner on 25th May 1934.

“Mr Joseph Callard passes. One of Berkhamsted’s oldest tradesmen, Mr Joseph Callard, passed away at a Watford nursing home. He was 72 years of age and was a familiar figure to hundreds of people in the Berkhamsted district. From the time of his arrival in the town nearly 40 years ago he carried on a corn chandler’s business in an old fashioned shop at the corner of Cowper Road. Originally he also ran a bakery in conjunction with the business. Mr Callard was an ardent Conservative and a prominent member of the Berkhamsted Conservative Club. In his younger days he was a singer of no mean talent and was for many years a member of the choir at All Saints’, Kitsbury. In that capacity he was present at the opening of both the old iron church and the large red-brick building which succeeded it. The funeral was at Berkhamsted Parish Church on Wednesday.”