Rectory Lane Cemetery, Berkhamsted

Susanna Halsey

27/07/1843 –28/03/1922

Wife of Thomas Halsey, publican of The Boot pub on Castle street

Relatives

Susannah Baldwin — mother

Thomas Halsey — husband

• Karen Evans

Susanna Baldwin was born in Berkhamsted on 22nd July 1842, the daughter of Charles and Susanna (nee Timson) Baldwin.

In early 1870 Susanna married Thomas Halsey in the registration district of Camberwell. We cannot know for sure what made Thomas and Susanna marry in South London.

What can be implied from the available records is that it was Susanna’s roots in Berkhamsted that caused Thomas to spend his married life in the town, before finally being buried in the Rectory Lane Cemetery in 1919.

Within a year of their marriage Thomas and Susanna had their first child, Alice Kate, baptised at St Peter’s Church on 18th December 1870. In 1871 Thomas and Susanna were living in Berkhamsted High Street, with their infant daughter.  Their neighbours were John and Mary Timson, a couple in their 80s, so most probably Susanna’s maternal grand-parents.

Throughout the 1870s Thomas and Susannah’s family grew. Their children, all baptised at St Peter’s, were as follows:

• Florence Lucy, baptised 13th October 1872
• Harry Sidney, baptised 10th May 1874
• Gertrude Mary, baptised 14 September 1879. She married Frederick James Iverson on 9th June 1908 at St Peter’s (spot another link to South London).
• Frank Stanley, baptised 10th October 1880

Between 1871 and 1881 Susannah and Thomas moved from the High Street, around the corner into Castle Street. Their family thrived, with no deaths in infancy being recorded. Thomas was the publican of The Boot in Castle Street from at least 1885 to sometime after the 1891 census.

By 1897 they had left Castle Street and were living at 33 Charles Street, but a year later they were back in Castle Street, whilst owning a property at Charles Street – Kitsbury. In 1901 the census has Thomas and Susannah living at 34 Charles Street with their two unmarried children, Harry and Gertrude.

The Electoral register of 1905 has no mention of Castle Street, putting Thomas firmly in his own freehold house at 34 Charles Street, which is where he remained until the end of his life in 1919.

In all Thomas and Susannah had, for the time, very successful lives. From humble beginnings, both were the children of labouring gardeners, Thomas had worked had and become able to sustain both his wife and children, independently. Susanna had had five children, all of whom grew into adulthood and were still living in 1911. Thomas and Susannah lived to see all their children married, the last being Frank who married Mildred Fanny Wood at St Peter’s on 2nd September 1919.

Thomas’s estate was administered by his widow Susannah on 3rd November 1919 and valued at £832 18s 11d. Susannah appears to have died without a will in 1922, so probate was granted as per Thomas’s will of 1919. Their son Harry administered her effects which were now valued at £1,030.

It seems fitting that the story of Thomas and Susannah Halsey should be signed off by Thomas himself.

Thomas Halsey

03/04/1848 –21/09/1919

Publican of The Boot pub in Castle Street

Relatives

Susanna Halsey — wife

• Karen Evans

If you have ancestors in the Dacorum area of Hertfordshire the chances are that you will have a whole bunch of Halseys somewhere in your family tree. From the gentry at Gaddesden Hall to labourers in the fields, they were members of all levels of society.

Thomas Halsey was born into one of the humbler of the Halsey families. He was the son of John Halsey and Elizabeth (nee Sharp). His father, John, was a labouring gardener from Bovingdon, while his mother Elizabeth came from Winkwell.  Winkwell is part of Bourne End, was then a hamlet split three ways between the parishes of St Mary Northchurch, Bovingdon and Hemel Hempstead. In 1851, John and Elizabeth with four children, including three-year-old Thomas, were living at Little Westbrook.

In 1861 the family can be found living in Little Hay Cottages in the parish of Bovingdon. In fact John and Elizabeth seemed to live in every section of the hamlet of Bourne End for in 1841 they were living in Winkwell, in 1871 it was Northchurch, in 1881 it was Bourne End Lane and in 1891 they were back in the Northchurch side.

In early 1870 Thomas married Susanna Baldwin in the registration district of Camberwell. We cannot know for sure what made Thomas and Susanna marry in South London, because Susanna was a local girl, born in Berkhamsted on 22nd July 1842, the daughter of Charles and Susanna (nee Timson) Baldwin.

What can be implied from the available records is that it was Susanna’s roots in the town that caused Thomas to spend his married life in Berkhamsted, before finally being buried in the Rectory Lane Cemetery in 1919.

Within a year of their marriage Thomas and Susanna had their first child, Alice Kate, baptised at St Peter’s Church on 18th December 1870. Despite the fact that both his father John and his father-in-law Charles Baldwin were gardeners, Thomas became a tailor.

In 1871 Thomas and Susanna were living in Berkhamsted High Street, with their infant daughter.  Their neighbours were John and Mary Timson, a couple in their 80s, so most probably Susanna’s maternal grand-parents.

Throughout the 1870s Thomas and Susannah’s family grew. Their children, all baptised at St Peter’s, were as follows:

• Florence Lucy, baptised 13th October 1872
• Harry Sidney, baptised 10th May 1874
• Gertrude Mary, baptised 14 September 1879. She married Frederick James Iverson on 9th June 1908 at St Peter’s (spot another link to South London).
• Frank Stanley, baptised 10th October 1880

Between 1871 and 1881 Thomas moved from the High Street, around the corner into Castle Street. His family thrived, with no deaths in infancy being recorded and Thomas diversified from being merely an employed tailor in 1871 to being a self-employed Tailor and Publican in 1891. At this point the 1885 Electoral Roll for Berkhamsted gives us some essential information.

Thomas was therefore the publican of The Boot in Castle Street from at least 1885 to sometime after the 1891 census.

By 1897 Thomas had left Castle Street and was living at 33 Charles Street, but a year later he was back in Castle Street, whilst owning a property at Charles Street – Kitsbury.

In 1901 the census has Thomas and Susannah living at 34 Charles Street with their two unmarried children, Harry and Gertrude. The census tells us that he was self employed (living on his “own account”) and working at home.

The Electoral register of 1905 has no mention of Castle Street, putting Thomas firmly in his own freehold house at 34 Charles Street, which is where he remained until the end of his life in 1919.

In all Thomas and Susannah had, for the time, very successful lives. From humble beginnings, both were the children of labouring gardeners, Thomas had worked had and become able to sustain both his wife and children, independently. Susanna had had five children, all of whom grew into adulthood and were still living in 1911. Thomas and Susannah lived to see all their children married, the last being Frank who married Mildred Fanny Wood at St Peter’s on 2nd September 1919.

Thomas’s estate was administered by his widow Susannah on 3rd November 1919 and valued at £832 18s 11d. Susannah appears to have died without a will in 1922, so probate was granted as per Thomas’s will of 1919. Their son Harry administered her effects which were now valued at £1,030.

It seems fitting that the story of Thomas and Susannah Halsey should be signed off by Thomas himself.