Rectory Lane Cemetery, Berkhamsted

George Kingston

1849 –16/02/1932

A labourer and sometime resident of Red Lion yard

Relatives

Eliza Kingston (577) — wife

William Kingston (1076) — son

May Kingston — daughter

• Melanie Hilton

Plot 577 George Kingston (1849-1932)

George was born in 1849 in the Berkhamsted area. It has not proved possible to definitely identify his birth, parents or early life with any certainty.

In April 1871 he was a labourer living in Red Lion Yard and had, as a boarder, unmarried mother Eliza Rance and her two small daughters: Jane aged 3 and Alice aged 1.

George and Eliza married in Berkhamsted in 1874. In 1876 Alice and Jane were baptised and George was named as their father.

Ernest was born in 1872, followed by Elizabeth (1874), James (1876) and Annie, who was born in 1878 but died the next year. Mary Ann was born in 1879.

In 1881 the family was still living in Red Lion Yard. Alice, Ernest, Elizabeth, James, and Mary Ann were all with their parents. Jane, aged 13, was also still in Red Lion Yard, one of nine lodgers living with another labouring family. Unlike Alice, who is listed in the census as George’s daughter and with his surname, Jane was still using the name Rance.

George jnr. was born later in 1881.

In 1886 the Sanitary Inspector found that several dwellings in Red Lion Yard were overcrowded and made orders on various people, including George, “to abate the overcrowding.” This would seem to imply that George owned, or at least had some control, over one of the properties.

Red Lion Yard was not a pleasant environment – a flavour can be gained from this item, also featuring Eliza, on the BLHMS Facebook page: “Thomas and Mary Belcher, neglected-looking brother and sister, of Berkhampstead, were charged with damaging underwood, the property of Mrs. Smith-Dorrien, on two successive Sundays… Thomas and Mary had a poor upbringing in the crowded and cramped Red Lion Yard. Not good examples to their children, their mother Mary was assaulted by Eliza Kingston in 1884 in a “disgraceful affair”, with the two women pulling each other about by the hair of their heads.”

William was born 1886, followed by Ada (1887), Lily (1889), Bertie (1891), Alfred (1892), Nellie (1894) and May (1896). In all Eliza and George had 16 children of whom four had died by 1911.

 By 1901 the family had moved to 6, Canal Side. George jnr. and James were at home, both working as general labourers like their father, and William was a labeller at Cooper’s chemical works. Bertie, Nellie and May were also with their parents.

By 1911 George and Eliza had moved to 65, Shrublands Avenue. George was a labourer for a nurseryman, probably Lane’s. James, George jnr., William and Bertie were all labourers, and May, aged 14 and the only daughter left at home, was a mother’s help.

On 7 January 1914 May went missing and was eventually found drowned in the canal. She was only 17. She is buried in an unmarked grave in this cemetery.

In 1921 George and Eliza were still at 65, Shrublands Avenue. George was a nurseryman employed by Lane & Co.

By the 1930s, having to enter the workhouse infirmary no longer meant that someone was a pauper, but simply that they could not afford private medical or care home fees. Both George and Eliza were admitted to the Berkhamsted Union at 241a, High Street in their eighties and Eliza died there 18 January 1832. George survived her only four weeks, dying 16 February 1932 aged 83. They are buried here together.

Their son William (died 1943) is buried in plot 1076

Eliza Kingston (577)

1850 –18/01/1932

A straw plaiter and wife of labourer George Kingston

Relatives

George Kingston — husband

William Kingston (1076) — son

May Kingston — daughter

• Melanie Hilton

Plot 577 Eliza Kingston (née Rance) (1850-1932)

Eliza was born in Great Gaddesden to David and Emma Rance in 1850. Her father was an agricultural labourer. In 1861 the family lived in Potten End and Eliza, like her mother, was a straw plaiter, a common occupation for the women and children of labouring families.

Eliza gave birth to a daughter, Jane, in 1868 and another, Alice, in 1870. In 1871 she and the girls were recorded on the census as “lodgers” with George Kingston in Red Lion Yard in Berkhamsted.

As the girls were later baptised with George named as their father, this may well have been the truth, although in 1881 Jane was still using the surname Rance.

Eliza married George Kingston in Berkhamsted in 1874 and they settled in Red Lion Yard. Ernest was born in 1872, followed by Elizabeth (1874), James (1876) and Annie, who was born 1878 but died the next year. Mary Ann was born in 1879.

In 1881 the family was still living in Red Lion Yard with Alice, Ernest, Elizabeth, James and Mary Ann with their parents. Jane, aged 13, was also still in Red Lion Yard, one of nine lodgers living with another labouring family. George jnr. was born later in 1881.

In 1886 the Sanitary Inspector found that several dwellings in Red Lion Yard were overcrowded and made orders on various people, including George, “to abate the overcrowding.” This would seem to imply that George owned, or at least had some control, over one of the properties.

Red Lion Yard was not a pleasant environment – a flavour can be gained from this item, also featuring Eliza, on the BLHMS Facebook page: “Thomas and Mary Belcher, neglected-looking brother and sister, of Berkhampstead, were charged with damaging underwood, the property of Mrs. Smith-Dorrien, on two successive Sundays… Thomas and Mary had a poor upbringing in the crowded and cramped Red Lion Yard. Not good examples to their children, their mother Mary was assaulted by Eliza Kingston in 1884 in a “disgraceful affair”, with the two women pulling each other about by the hair of their heads.”

William was born 1886, followed by Ada (1887), Lily (1889), Bertie (1891), Alfred (1892), Nellie (1894) and May (1896). In all Eliza had 16 children of whom four had died by 1911.

 By 1901 the family had moved to 6, Canal Side. George jnr. and James were at home, both working as general labourers like their father, and William was a labeller at Cooper’s chemical works. Bertie, Nellie and May were also with their parents.

By 1911 George and Eliza had moved to 65, Shrublands Avenue. George was a labourer for a nurseryman, probably Lane’s. James, George jnr., William and Bertie were all labourers, and May, aged 14 and the only daughter left at home, was a mother’s help. May went missing from home on 7 January 1914. Tragically she was found drowned in the canal. She is buried in an unmarked grave in this cemetery.

George and Eliza were still at 65, Shrublands Avenue in 1921. George was a nurseryman employed by Lane & Co.

By the 1930s, having to enter the workhouse infirmary no longer meant that someone was a pauper, but simply that they could not afford private medical or care home fees. Both George and Eliza were admitted to the Berkhamsted Union at 241a, High Street in their eighties and Eliza died there 18 January 1932. George survived her only four weeks, dying 16 February 1932 aged 83. They are buried here together.

Their son William (died 1943) is buried in plot 1076.