Rectory Lane Cemetery, Berkhamsted

Hariatt Pearce

Widowed at 27 with two children, worked as a strawplaiter.

Hariatt  (Harriet) Pearce – died 1882, aged 68 years

Harriet Pearce was born Harriet Loader in 1814 in Berkhamsted.  She was the daughter of William Loader, a labourer, and his wife Ann.  She had three older siblings – Fanny (born in 1803, Hetty (born in 1811) and William (born in 1810).

Her older sister Hetty (also known as Etty) married William Pearce in 1835 and was the mother of James, Joseph, George and Emma Pearce who are buried in Rectory Lane Cemetery. By a strange coincidence Harriet also became Mrs. Pearce when she married a Daniel Pearce on 10th. September 1835 at Chesham, Buckinghamshire.

By the time of the 1841 Census however, Daniel had died, leaving Harriet a widow at 27 years old with two small children – David aged 4 and John aged just 4 months.  They were living with her father William, aged 70 and now a widower, his daughter (her sister) Fanny and Fanny’s husband James Bedford in the High Street, Berkhamsted. Her other sister Etty (Hetty) was living two doors away with her husband William Pearce and their three boys.

The 1851 Census tells us that Fanny was now also a widow, and she and Harriet (now 37) were still living in the High Street with their father William, who is now 80! Harriet’s two boys are with them – David is now 14 and John 10.  Both the sisters are working as Straw Plaiters, which involves plaiting straw stalks to make hats and baskets etc. this work was usually done at home as outwork.

Their father William passed away in September 1858 at the grand old age of 87! We can only speculate on the changes he’d seen in his long lifetime. The year that he was born – 1771 – George III was the King of England and America was still a British colony!

The 1861 Census finds Harriet (47) still in the High Street, but she is now living with her son David (aged 24), his wife Jane (26) and their one-year old son Frederick.  Harriet is still working as a Straw Plaiter and her son John (David’s brother) is with them aged 20 and an apprentice.

By 1871, Harriet is living on her own in the High Street, aged 57 and still working as a Straw Plaiter.

At the time of the 1881 Census Harriet is living at the Alms Houses in the High Street. She passed away the following year, aged 68,  and is buried in Rectory Lane Cemetery along with members of her sister Etty’s family.