d.07/11/1874
Master bootmaker from old Berkhamsted family and bellringer at St Peter's church.
Relatives
Research:
Plot 175 George Loader
George Loader was born on 16th June 1807 and baptised at St Peter’s Berkhamsted on 12th July that year. He was the fifth of the nine children of William Loader, a Labourer, and Ann née Pocock. His siblings were: James, born in 1795, Rebecca, 1797, Mary, 1798, Fanny, 1803, Eliza, 1809, Hetty, 1811, Kitty, 1812 and Harriet, born in 1814. They too were baptised at St Peter’s Church. His family was well-established in Berkhamsted, where he lived all his life.
On 29th August 1830, George married Sarah Tomlin in Berkhamsted. She was the daughter of John Tomlin and Sarah née Weston, also of Berkhamsted.
George and Sarah had four children. Their only daughter, Sarah, was born on 22nd Sept 1831 and baptised at St Peter’s Berkhamsted on 16th October that year. Their eldest son, George, was born on 28th June 1839 and baptised at St Peter’s Berkhamsted on 21st July 1839.
The 1841 Census shows the family living in Castle Street, Berkhamsted. George, 33, was working as a Cordwainer, in other words a boot and shoe maker. At the time, that trade was distinct from a Cobbler, who was a boot and shoe repairer. His wife Sarah’s age is given as 35; it was customary in the 1841 Census to round adult ages to the nearest 5 years and she was actually 37. Their daughter Sarah was by then aged 9 and George Junior was one year old.
George and Sarah’s second son, John, was born on 7th July 1842 and baptised at St Peter’s on 31st Jul 1842. Their youngest son, William, was born on 30th June 1846 and baptised at St Peter’s on 26th July. However, he died aged 4 on 6th January 1851 and is commemorated on his parents’ grave. His age is recorded as 5 on the headstone, though he was actually in his fifth year.
The 1851 Census records George, aged 43, as a Journeyman Shoemaker. The family continued to live in Castle Street. Their daughter Sarah, aged 19, worked as a dressmaker while George Junior, 11 and John, 8 were both at school. The Census was taken on 30th March 1851, so their son William had died almost three months earlier.
By 7th April 1861 George, still of Castle Street, Berkhamsted, was a 53 year old Widower. His wife Sarah had died on 13th January that year and was buried in Rectory Lane Cemetery. Her age was recorded as 53, though she was in fact 57. George was by then employing 3 men (including his 21 year old son George Junior) and 1 boy. His three surviving children were all unmarried and living at home. Sarah, 28, was a Dress Maker and John, 18, a Carpenter’s Apprentice.
On Tuesday 6th February 1866, George married again. His second wife was Miss Sarah Margrave, Mistress of the Bourne School in Berkhamsted. The marriage took place at St Peter’s Church, conducted by Rev, J Hutchinson, Rector. Sarah was born on 13th November 1806 and baptised at St Peter’s Berkhamsted on 12th April 1807, the daughter of Mark Margrave, a shoe maker and Sarah née Green. She lived with her parents in the High Street, Berkhamsted. After her father’s death on 9th November 1850, she continued to live with her mother, also known as Sally, in Berkhamsted High Street until Sally’s death on 15th September 1854. The 1871 Census shows George, 63, Cordwainer and Sarah, 64, Schoolmistress, living at “Bournes Girls School” in Berkhamsted High Street. Bourne’s Charity School had been founded in 1737 by London merchant Thomas Bourne, for the education of 20 boys and 10 girls. In 1854 it was extended, largely through a donation from General John Finch of Berkhamsted Place. In 1875, the children transferred to the National School in the Court House and in 1888, the building became the first home of Berkhamsted School for Girls. Located at 222 Berkhamsted High Street, it is now the Per Tutti Italian Restaurant. The coats of arms still clearly visible above the door are those of Berkhamsted, Thomas Bourne and John Finch. Sarah Loader née Margrave would have had the benefit of being Schoolmistress there when the building was newly renovated. By 1873 she had retired.
George and Sarah were married for 8½ years before George died, aged 67, on 7th November 1874, at his residence in Castle Street, to which it is likely George and Sarah returned after Sarah retired. George was buried with his first wife, Sarah née Tomlin and their young son William. The inscription on his headstone in Rectory Lane includes the text “Bellringer at the parish church for 50 years.”
The “Bucks Herald” of 14th November 1874 included an obituary which made clear his stalwart support for the Parish Church, St Peter’s: “Mr Loader… was ill only a week. He belonged to an old Berkhampstead family and was highly respected; for fifty years he had been one of the ringers at the parish church and for a long time had the care and direction of the bells, and probably no one was a more regular attendant at public worship. On Sunday evening the Rector based his sermon on the text recorded in Phil. 1, 21 verse, ‘for me to live is Christ and to die is gain,’ and the rev gentleman bore affectionate testimony to the consistent and devoted life of his attached parishioner, with whom he had been associated in various Christian work. The performance of the ‘Dead March’ by Mr Macrone, the organist, formed an appropriate termination of the service.”
After George’s death, Sarah continued to live in Castle Street, where, in 1881, she is recorded as a 74 year old widow, retired from work. She died, aged 83 on 26th December 1889 and is buried with her parents Mark and Sarah Margrave in Plot 176 of this cemetery.
All George’s children remained in Berkhamsted and are buried in Rectory Lane Cemetery.
His daughter Sarah married John Gash, a Carpenter of Great Gaddesden, in 1862. John died on 4th January 1904 and Sarah on 16th January 1922. They are buried in Plot 398.
His son George Junior became a Master Bootmaker and well-known public figure in Berkhamsted. In 1867 he married Isabella Bamford, daughter of Thomas Bamford, Lord Brownlow’s Park Keeper at Ashridge. George died on 23rd April 1908 and Isabella on 28th May 1922. They are buried in Plot 403.
George’s son John worked as a Shoemaker by 1871 and is believed not to have married. He died aged only 38 on 11th July 1880 and is buried in Plot 16.
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