Rectory Lane Cemetery, Berkhamsted

Edwin Webb

d.09/01/1923

Father of ten, woodworker like his father.

Relatives

Jane Webb — wife

• Sharon Beddall

EDWIN WEBB (1840-1923)

Edwin was born in Chesham in 1840, the third of seven children of Treacher Webb and Sophia Spurrier.

At the time of the 1851 Census, Edwin, his parents and siblings – Elizabeth (1836-1913), Benjamin (1837-1902), Emma (1841-1916), Fanny (1844-1932), Sarah (1846-1930), and Henry (1849-1937) – were living together at Townfield Yard, Chesham.  Edwin’s father was a successful turner and wood ware manufacturer of Chesham and Townfield Yard would’ve likely been his place of work.  Many of these yards incorporated small cottages for workers and their families.

Over the next decade, the family moved to Newtown, Chesham and Edwin had begun work as a wood turner, following in the footsteps of his father.

In 1863 Edwin married Jane Rogers, daughter of William Rogers and Mary Gascoine.

On the first Census as a married man, Edwin was residing in Newtown, Chesham with Jane and their children – Louisa Jane (1864), Rosa (1866), Albert (1868), Charles Edwin (1869) and Frank (1870).  Sadly, the couple lost their daughter Ellen who was born early 1867 and died later that year.

The couple went on to have three more children – Alice (1872), Thomas (1873) and James (1874).  Like their parents, all of the Webb children were born in Chesham.  However, by the time James was three years old, the family had relocated to Berkhamsted where they welcomed their tenth and final child,

Ernest (1877-1877).  Sadly, Ernest died in infancy at just a few months old.

While the reason for the move to Berkhamsted is unclear, it is possible that Edwin wanted to branch out on his own.  There were many wood ware and brush making businesses in Chesham, one of the earliest and most successful was owned by Edwin’s Uncle Robert Webb, who founded Robert Webb & Sons in 1829.  Although there is no evidence of Edwin starting his own business in Berkhamsted, he was certainly employed in the wood turning profession throughout his working life.

Bridge Street was home to the Webb family at the time of the 1881 Census and where they remained a decade later, with the exception of Edwin and Jane’s eldest daughters, Louisa and Rosa, who had married and started families of their own.  Louisa was in nearby George Street and Rosa, in Park Street.  Apart from Alice, all the children in the family home were working in 1891 – Albert was a band sawyer; Charles, a stove brush handle maker; Frank, a tailor’s apprentice; Thomas, a postman and James, a draper’s apprentice.

As more children flew the nest, Edwin and Jane moved the short distance to 9 Holliday Street.  In 1901, the family home consisted of Edwin, Jane and three of their children – Charles, Alice and Thomas.  Their son Frank had moved to Great Missenden and was working from home as a tailor on his own account but by the next Census, he had returned to the family home which was now at 6 Chapel Street, joining his parents and three siblings.

Sadly, Edwin’s wife Jane died on 26 January 1916 leaving Edwin a widower.  He never remarried and seven years later, died in Hemel Hempstead on 09 January 1923.  He and Jane are buried together here in Rectory Lane.

Jane Webb

1835 –26/01/1916

Born and worked as house servant in Chesham & Berkhamsted, married a wood turner, had 10 children .

Relatives

Edwin Webb — husband

• Sharon Beddall

JANE WEBB (NÉE ROGERS) (1835-1916)

Jane was born in Chesham on 01 December 1835, the fourth of ten children born to blacksmith father, William Rogers and mother, Mary Gascoine.

The 1841 Census sees Jane residing at Red Lion Street, Chesham with her parents and siblings – George (1828), Charles (1831), Sarah Ann (1833), Mary (1837), Thomas (1839) and Sophia (1840).

Over the next decade, the family experienced both joy and sadness with the births of Jane’s youngest siblings – Frederick (1844-1845), Edward (1846) and Rebecca (1848).  Sadly, her brother Frederick died in infancy, less than a year after his birth.  Another tragedy followed in 1848 with the death of Jane’s father and it is currently unclear whether William met his youngest daughter Rebecca.

Two years after the death of Jane’s father, her mother married James Ward at St Marylebone, Middlesex.  James was from St Pancras and it is unknown how the couple met.  By the time of the 1851 Census, Jane’s eldest brothers had left the family home and Jane was a house servant in Charteridge, just outside Chesham.  She worked in the household of Henry Lasenby, a widowed farmer of 400 acres who employed 19 labourers.  The rest of her family remained in Chesham in Red Lion Street.

The family would soon welcome the arrival of James Wright Ward who was born in Chesham in 1852, maternal half-brother of Jane and her siblings.

Likely for work, Jane made the move to Berkhamsted and in 1861 she was residing in the High Street, a housemaid in the employ of solicitor, Joseph Billingsley Bullock.  Some of the Bullock family are also buried here in Rectory Lane.

Over the next two years, Jane returned to her roots in Chesham and in 1863, married Edwin Webb, son of Treacher Webb and Sophia Spurrier.  Edwin was a wood turner and also from Chesham.

On the first Census as a married woman, Jane was residing in New Town, Chesham with Edwin and their children – Louisa Jane (1864), Rosa (1866), Albert (1868), Charles Edwin (1869) and Frank (1870).  Sadly, the couple lost their daughter Ellen who was born early 1867 and died later that year.

The couple went on to have three more children – Alice (1872), Thomas (1873) and James (1874).  Like their parents, all of the Webb children were born in Chesham.  However, by the time James was three years old, the family had relocated to Berkhamsted where they welcomed their tenth and final child, Ernest (1877-1877).  Sadly, Ernest died in infancy at just a few months old.

Bridge Street was home to the Webb family at the time of the 1881 Census and where they remained a decade later, with the exception of Jane and Edwin’s eldest daughters, Louisa and Rosa, who had married and started families of their own.  Louisa was in nearby George Street and Rosa, in Park Street.  Apart from Alice, all the children in the family home were working in 1891 – Albert was a band sawyer; Charles, a stove brush handle maker; Frank, a tailor’s apprentice; Thomas, a postman and James, a draper’s apprentice.

As more children flew the nest, Jane and Edwin moved the short distance to 9 Holliday Street.  In 1901, the family home consisted of Jane, Edwin and three of their children – Charles, Alice and Thomas.  Their son Frank had moved to Great Missenden and was working from home as a tailor on his own account but by the next Census, he had returned to the family home which was now at 6 Chapel Street, joining his parents and three siblings.

Berkhamsted remained home to Jane up to her death on 26 January 1916.

Alfred Geary

1893 –19/07/1916

Private in 15th/17th Battalion West Yorkshire Regiment, fatally wounded in France, buried at St Omer

• Sharon Beddall

ALFRED GEARY (1893-1916)

Alfred was born in Berkhamsted in 1893, the fourth of eight children born to Arthur Geary and Louisa Jane Webb.  On 14 August 1895 at St Michael and All Angels Sunnyside, Alfred was baptised along with his siblings – Constance Mary Lilian, Arthur William, Gertrude Annie and Edith.  At this time, the family were residing in George Street and Alfred’s father Arthur was a Foreman Mechanic.

By the time of the 1901 Census, the family had welcomed a daughter Alice and they had moved to 22 High Street, Berkhamsted.  Alfred’s father is listed as being a Foreman at a Chemical Works.

This is very likely the company Cooper’s which had been in the town since 1852.  The company was founded by William Cooper, a veterinary surgeon, who arrived in Berkhamsted from London in the early 1840’s with the intention of setting up a practice in the town.  It is said that William arrived with nothing but a bag containing the tools of his trade.  William often encountered farm animals in a dreadful condition; suffering from the effects caused by various parasitic insects, in particular a skin disease in sheep known as ‘sheep scab’.  The treatment at the time was ineffective ointments consisting of tobacco stalk and brimstone emulsified in goose fat.  William conducted his own experiments to try to combat the condition using combinations of arsenic and sulphur and in 1852 the sheep dip known as ‘Cooper’s Dip’ was born.

By 1911, the Geary family had moved to 18 High Street and had grown further with the arrival of two more children, Thomas and Leonard, who would complete the family.  Alfred was now a General Labourer at a Paper Manufacturer.  Most likely working for John Dickinson’s in nearby Apsley.  Like Cooper’s, John Dickinson’s was a main employer in the area with a history dating back to the early 1800’s.  It was common for staff at John Dickinson’s and Cooper’s to be loyal to their employer and remain with them their entire working lives.

However, like many men, Alfred left civilian life to join the military and serve in the Great War.  He was a Private in the 15th/17th Battalion West Yorkshire Regiment (Prince of Wales’s Own); service number: 20/313.

On 19 July 1916, while in service in France, Alfred was fatally wounded.  His family back in Berkhamsted would’ve received the devastating news that their beloved son and brother would not be returning home.  The Army Register of Soldiers’ Effects states that the sum of £10-10s-0d was authorised to Alfred’s mother.  For his service, Alfred was awarded the Victory and British medals.

Alfred is buried in plot V. C. 77. at Longuenesse (St. Omer) Souvenir Cemetery, France and is commemorated here at Rectory Lane.