d.15/03/1908
Sawyer like his father, and then Cemetery Keeper, father of four, widowed and remarried.
Relatives
Research:
George Pearce – died 1908, aged 68 years
George Pearce was born in 1840 in Berkhamsted, the third child of William Pearce and his wife Etty (nee Loader). He had two older brothers – James (born in 1835) and Joseph (born in 1838). At the time of the 1841 Census George (aged 1) was living in High Street, Berkhamsted with his parents and older brothers. His father William (born in Chesham, Bucks.) was a sawyer by trade, which was a hard physical job mostly involving sawing tree trunks into planks, for use in building work. Sawyers normally worked either in a Saw Mill or over a Saw Pit, which consisted of a large hole in the ground which enabled a two man saw to be used.
By 1851 the family, still in the High Street, consisted of William (aged 40) – Etty (aged 39) – James (15), a sawyer like his father – Joseph (13) – George (11) and younger sisters Anne (9) and Sarah (6). The younger four children were all attending the local school.
At the time of the 1861 Census, George (now aged 21 and working as a sawyer himself) was living in Bridge Street, Berkhamsted, with his older brother James . James was, by that time, married to his wife Sarah and was the father of two small boys – Walter (aged 2) and Fred, born that year.
In the latter half of 1862 George married Ann Chidwick of Chalfont St. Peter at Berkhamsted Parish Church (the Banns were called in August of that year).
By the 1871 Census we find George and Ann (now both aged 31) living in Highfield Road, Berkhamsted with their four young children – William (8), Edith (6), Richard (5) and Etty (3) – William and Etty were obviously named for George’s parents!
By the 1881 Census the couple (both now 41) are living in Back Lane with their family. George is still working as a sawyer, but his eldest son William (18) is working as a Cooper (a barrel maker). Edith is 16 and a dressmaker and young Richard (known to his family as Dick) is 15 and a Boat Builder (though probably still an apprentice). Younger daughter Etty is 13 and doing her bit towards the family’s finances by working as a Brush Maker.
The 1891 Census finds George and Ann – now both 51 – living at Court House, Back Lane, Berkhamsted with just daughter Etty, now 23. Etty doesn’t have a job or profession listed, but as her mother Ann had sadly died by the end of the year, we can only speculate that she was perhaps nursing her sick mother?
George re-married in the summer of 1892 at Amersham to a lady called Fanny Edwards and in 1894 they had a son, named George after his father. At the time of the 1901 Census George and Fanny were living with young George (aged 7) – Fanny is 46. George is now 61 and lists his Occupation as a ‘Cemetery Keeper’ He doesn’t state which Cemetery, but it would be quite appropriate if it was Rectory Lane?
He passed away in 1908 and Probate of his Estate was granted to his wife Fanny of 25 High Street, Berkhamsted. He is buried in Rectory Lane, with his first wife Ann.
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