Rectory Lane Cemetery, Berkhamsted

Ada Jane Harrowell

d.15/11/1960

Mother of three, widowed by WW1, buried with her daughter who died at 22.

Relatives

Frank G. Harrowell — son

• Jane Beaty

Ada Jane Harrowell was the wife of Frank Harrowell, part of the large Harrowell family of builders. She was born on 11th June 1883 in Gillingham, Kent and married Frank in about 1906. Frank was one of the eleven children of William and Lizzie Harrowell (see Plot no 757) but he seems to be the only one, apart from his brother Harvey who became a solicitor in Watford, who moved away from Berkhamsted when he was young. The strange thing is that, for some reason, Frank used the surname Lewis.

At the 1911 census, when both Frank and Ada were 27 years old, they were living as Mr and Mrs Lewis in Oaklands Road, Hanwell, Middlesex. Frank is described as a “traveller to a builders merchant” and the census records that they had been married for 5 years. Living with them were their two oldest children Joyce Irene (qv) and Arthur Gordon. Two months after the census Ada gave birth to another son, called Frank after his father.

Frank used the surname Lewis on the census and on his entry to the military at the start of World War I although they clearly also knew his name as Harrowell because both names appear on papers relating to his death. The 1916 Army register of Soldiers effects refers to Frank Harrowell (alias Frank Lewis) and records a payment of £8 to his widow Ada of Clarence Cottage, Berkhamsted. The record also mentions a fourth child called Iris Aileen Lewis Harrowell so there was clearly considerable ambivalence about names.

The Berkhamsted war memorial records that Frank Harrowell served as a Lance Corporal in the 55th Machine Gun Corps and was killed in action at Loos, France on 5th May 1918.

From then onwards Ada used the surname Harrowell and became part of the wider Harrowell family living and working in Berkhamsted. Between 1924 and 1929 Ada lived at 12 Clarence Road with her daughter Joyce Irene, her unmarried brother-in-law George and her father-in-law William. By this time William was into his eighties and his wife had died so we can surmise that Ada and Joyce were caring for the two men. William died in 1932 and by 1939 Ada had moved to 27 Charles Street with her sons, Arthur and Frank, both of whom remained single and her daughter Iris Aileen. Arthur was a carpenter and Frank a decorator so they were carrying on in the Harrowell building tradition and may well have been working for the family firm. Iris was pursuing the relatively new career of shorthand typist.
Ada died on 15th November 1960, aged 79 and is buried with her daughter.

Joyce Irene Harrowell

d.27/02/1930

Part of the large Harrowell family. Father died in WW1. She died at 22 and is buried with her mother

Relatives

Frank G. Harrowell — brother

• Jane Beaty

Joyce Irene Harrowell was born Joyce Irene Lewis in Hanwell, Middlesex in 1907. Her parents were Frank and Ada Lewis. Frank had been born and brought up in Berkhamsted and his birth name was Harrowell.

At the 1911 census, when both Frank and Ada were 27 years old they were living as Mr and Mrs Lewis in Oaklands Road, Hanwell, Middlesex. Frank is described as a “traveller to a builders merchant” and the census records that they had been married for five years. Joyce Irene was their oldest child and she was there with her brother Arthur Gordon. Two months after the census Ada gave birth to another son, called Frank after his father.

Between 1926 and 1929 Joyce lived at 12 Clarence Road with her mother Ada, her unmarried Uncle George and her grandfather William. By this time both Joyce and Ada had adopted the surname of Harrowell.

But in early 1930 she died, aged only 22. She left behind her widowed mother, two brothers and a sister. She is buried alongside her mother Ada.