Rectory Lane Cemetery, Berkhamsted

Henry Clark

1853 –03/11/1888

A coachman; died age 35 years

Relatives

George Redding Clark — brother

• Jane Dickson

PLOT X19 HENRY CLARK

Henry, the eldest son of Emma Clark, was born in Berkhamsted in the 2^nd Quarter of 1853. He was baptised in St Peter’s Church on 30^th May 1858 when he was five years old. In 1861 Henry, aged 8, lived in Berkhamsted High Street with his widowed 73-year-old grandmother Charlotte Clark, his mother Emma, aged 29 and his 5-year-old brother George. Charlotte and Emma were both straw plaiters, an occupation they could pursue at home; Henry and George were at school.

In the summer of 1865, Henry’s mother Emma married Samuel Chapple, a gardener. The 1871 Census records them living in Bridge Street. Henry (18) worked as a Groom and his brother George (15) as a Tailor. Their half-brother Frederick (5), the son of Emma and Samuel, was at school.

During the 1870’s, Henry moved to Acton in Cheshire where, on 29^th October 1878, he married Emily née Lusty. On their Marriage Register entry, Henry’s father is named as Mark Clark, a Sawyer. Late the following year, Henry and Emily’s eldest son Walter was born in Acton. The 1881 Census shows the family living in the Coachman’s Cottage on the Dorfold Estate, where Henry was Coachman to 73-year-old Wilbraham Spencer Tollemache J.P., D.L. of Dorfold Hall. However, it seems that Henry moved back to Berkhamsted very soon after that Census was taken, as his second son, Harry, was born in Berkhamsted in the summer of 1881 and baptised at St Peter’s on 28^th August. His daughter Florence Emily followed in the final Quarter of 1884 and was baptised at St Peter’s on 11^th January 1885.

Henry Clark of Kitsbury Road, Berkhamsted died on 3rd November 1888, aged only 35. He left a widow, 2 sons less than 10 years old and an infant daughter. He was buried on 8th November 1888, the service conducted by the Rev’d. Arthur Johnson, Rector. His headstone, which is no longer visible, bore the inscription “In loving memory of/ Henry Clark/ who died Nov 3^rd1888”.

After Henry’s death, his widow and children remained in Kitsbury Road with their extended family. The 1891 Census shows his daughter Florence Emily with her grandparents, Henry’s mother and stepfather Emma and Samuel Chapple, and his sons Walter and Harry two doors further down with Henry’s brother, their uncle George (34), a Tailor. Between those two households lived Henry’s half-brother Frederick (25), also a Tailor, and his wife Ruth (24). Henry’s widow Emily, a Qualified Nurse, was staying in Charles Street on Census night, in the household of Mr William C Norris, his wife, son and 10-day old baby daughter. Later records show Emily, by then a District Nurse, at 21 Kitsbury Road, Berkhamsted.

Henry’s brother George, who died aged 79 on 25^th February 1936, is buried in Plot 905.