d.05/01/1891
Son of master coachbuilder John Pethybridge, took over the family business
Relatives
Edward Pethybridge was a son of John and Sarah Pethybridge. John and Sarah had nine children in total, all baptised at St Peter’s, Great Berkhamsted. However, as can be seen from their gravestone, not all their children survived:
- Sarah Cook born 21st May 1838 and baptised 1st June 1838
- Ann Elizabeth born 13th May 1840 and baptised 14th June 1840
- Jane baptised 3rd July 1842
- John baptised 1st September 1844, died 12th April 1848
- Harriet baptised 6th December 1846
- Edward born 28th February 1849 and baptised 10th June 1849
- Arthur John baptised 17th October 1851
- Alfred baptised 25th January 1854, died 27th July 1854
- George baptised 15th June 1856
It appears that Sarah died after giving birth to George in 1856, and he remarried in 1858, to Mary Friend. They had two more children, Alice (1859) and Thomas Philip (1861).
Edward’s father was a master coachbuilder on Berkhamsted High Street. His business, estbalished c.1839, manufactured cariiages for the horse-drawn carriage market. By 1871 the business employed eight men. As the eldest son, Edward learned his father’s trade.
On 21st July 1875 Edward married Catherine Hollinshead of Northchurch, daughter of William Hollinshead, by banns that were read at both St Mary’s and St Peter’s on 4th, 11th and 18th July. As the son of a well-to-do tradesman in Berkhamsted, Edward obviously had his eye on finding a wife from a family with money of their own. In 1861 Catherine’s father had a 190-acre farm on Norcot Hill, and employed six men and three boys.
Edward and Catherine had their first child, a daughter called Alice Mary, baptised at St Mary’s on 21st October 1877. In 1881 Edward, Catherine and Alice Mary were still living in Northchurch. Not only was the family expanding, but so was the business. The Bucks Herald reported on 29th July 1876 that “Plans of two shops in the High-Street, by Mr Pethybridge, were ordered to be reported on at the next”.
Edward was the only one of John’s children to stay in Berkhamsted; the others married and moved away.
Edward’s father John Pethybridge died on 29th July 1887, probably at the premises where he had spent all his adult life, in Berkhamsted High Street. He was buried in Rectory Lane Cemetery on 2nd August 1887 and Edward took over the family business. The probate indicates that Edward’s younger brother, Arthur John, also followed in the family business of coachbuilding.
John’s death started the dispersal of the Pethybridge sons away from Berkhamsted. His widow went to Leicestershire with two of his sons, Arthur and Thomas, and his son George married and settled in Skipton, Yorkshire, giving as his occupation a “Tobacco Manufacturer’s Traveller”. The Trade Directories show that it was indeed Edward who took over the coach-making business in Berkhamsted.
The 1890s were not a good time for the family. Edward, having run the family business for just 10 years, died on 5th January 1891 and was buried on 9th January 1891. Just three years later his eldest daughter Alice died and was buried on 10th January 1894, probably in the Rectory Lane Cemetery.
By the time of the 1901 census the name Pethybridge had completely disappeared from Berkhamsted and west Hertfordshire.