Rectory Lane Cemetery, Berkhamsted

David Gurney (887a)

c.1870 –1927

A foreman at Keys timber yard and second husband of Agnes Gurney

Relatives

Agnes Gurney (887a) — wife

• Liz Railton

DAVID GURNEY

 David was born in Willesden, Middlesex in around 1870 and died in 1944 aged 74. There is little trace of him until he turns up in the 1891 Census as a boarder in the home of Agnes Riddle, who is a young widow living with her four young children in Gravel Path Berkhamsted. He is described as working as a foreman at Keys Timber Yard. Future Census data suggests this was his occupation for the rest of his working life.David married his landlady, Agnes Riddle, in 1896. He became stepfather to her four children and the couple went on to have three further children, two sons and a daughter. In 1901 the couple were still living in the Gravel Path house but by 1911 they have moved to 47 Castle Street and were still there in 2021 with all three of their adult children. All of them were in very local employment. The eldest, Ada was a tailoress in the mantle factory. Archibald was a motor driver at the same timber business as his father and the youngest , Robert, was an Apprentice Assistant at the Court Theatre. This was the year before Agnes died aged 59.

David remarried 5 years later in 1927. His new bride was Clara Andrews. Her date of birth is not entirely clear, but her baptism was recorded as being 15 December 1867 in the parish of Berkhamstead and the marriage banns describe her as a spinster of Potten End.

There is little trace of the couple after this as the the records of the 1931 census were destroyed in a fire.  However, at the time of the 1939 Register, David and Clara are living at a different address in Castle Street, Number 29. David is described as “incapacitated” and Clara is doing “unpaid domestic duties”, presumably caring for David.There is no one else listed in the household and David died five years later. He is buried with his first wife, Agnes, in the Rectory Lane Cemetery.

 Liz Railton

3 November 2025

Agnes Gurney (887a)

1863 –31/07/1922

Married one of her lodgers following the death of her first husband in a cart accident

Relatives

David Gurney (887a) — husband

• Liz Railton

AGNES GURNEY

Agnes Gurney, nee Rance, was born in 1863 in Potten End and died on 31 July 1922. Her first appearance in official records was when she married William Riddle in 1883. The young couple had four children, two sons and two daughters over the next six years.

Sadly, William died very young in a cart accident in 1890 when he and Agnes were aged 26. The 1891 Census records Agnes as a widow “living on her own means” in Gravel Path Berkhamsted with all four young children in the household plus two “boarders”, William Crocket and David Gurney. Both lodgers were employed at Keys Timber Yard which was situated nearby at the end of Castle Street.

In 1896 Agnes Riddle married her lodger David Gurney and by 1901 they had a daughter and a son who joined the four children from Agnes’s first marriage in Gravel Path. David is described as a foreman at the timber yard and William Crocket is still a boarder in their home along with another boarder. By 1911 another son had been born, and the family had moved to 47 Castle Street.

In the 1921 Census the family are still in Castle Street. All three of Agnes and David’s children are living in the house and in local employment.  David remains a foreman at the timber yard and has been joined there by his eldest son who is a driver. The couple’s daughter is a tailoress at the mantle factory and the youngest son works at the Court theatre. They are all working close to home.

Agnes died the following year aged 59 and is buried in the Rectory Lane cemetery. David remarried and lived on for another 22 years.

Liz Railton

3 November 2025