d.24/07/1889
Gardener at the St Peter's Rectory and at the Red House, Berkhamsted
Relatives
James Gravestock‘s family was not well off. They had come to Berkhamsted in the 1790s, and James had found work as a gardener. By the 1830s he was working as the Rectory gardener for Rev John Crofts, the Rector of St Peter’s Church who had overseen the inception of Rectory Lane Cemetery. It doe not seem too fanciful to imagine that James may have worked on the landscaping of the cemetery prior to its opening in 1842. James apparently only changed jobs once in 50 years when he became head gardener for the Robinson family at the Red House on Berkhamsted High Street. His employer was an ironmaster, probably the owner of a forge or blast furnace in the town.
James Gravestock married Rachel Rebecca, a straw plaiter and they had three daughters and a son.
According to the 1841 census, it appears that their first daughter, Rachel Harriet Gravestock (b.1834) lived with her grandmother and aunt; both women were straw plaiters, and the seven-year-old Rebecca Harriet went to work with them, presumably to help the family to increase their income. By the 1851 census, James and Rachel Rebecca were recorded as having three daughters living with them.
The eldest daughter, Rachel Harriet., went into domestic service in London, working for a railway overlooker (supervisor) and his wife in a house to the north of St Pancras station. Also resident at the house were his nephew and a lodger. The circumstances are not known, but Rachel Harriet became pregnant and had to leave her position and return to Berkhamsted. In 1856, Rachel Harriet gave birth to a son, Harry, at the age of 22. Harry’s birth certificate recorded “father unknown”, although there was some family talk of a Spanish sea captain as the father.
Having a baby out of wedlock was a scandalous event in Victorian times, but housemaids becoming pregnant was a common occurrence. Rachel Harriet’s family evidently sought to help her rather than cast her out, as happened to so many “fallen women” of the time. It was decided that James and Rachel Rebecca would bring up Harry as their own son. Harry was only a couple of years younger than their own son, and so the addition of another infant was not suspicious. Harry grew up believing that his grandparents were his parents, and that his mother was his elder sister. Harry became a successful printer, married a farmer’s daughter, Rosina Lismer, and six children. At some point, Harry was told of his true parentage, which apparently caused him great distress.
Rachel Harriet, meanwhile, returned to domestic service. By 1861 she was working as a housemaid for the Robinsons at the Red House, where her father was working. Rachel Harriet did well at the Red House, and by the 1871 census, she has risen to the postion of cook for the Harmer family in Chesham. She married a brushmaker in the town named Moulder, and they had four children.
James Gravestock died on 24 July 1889 and was buried with his wife, Rachel Rebecca, in Rectory Lane Cemetery, near to the Rectory Lane entrance gate. Rachel Harriet died in September 1905 in Amersham, aged 71. Her secret son, Harry, died in 1929 and lies buried in Rectory Lane Cemetery with Rosina at plot 886, between the central path and the Three Close Lane gate.
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St Peter’s Rectory
Personalities of the Past
Memorial Symbolism
Military graves