Rectory Lane Cemetery, Berkhamsted

William Henry Heading

1877 –01/05/1878

Son of William Henry Heading and wife Susannah; died in infancy.

Relatives

William Henry Heading — father

Susannah Bird — mother

Joseph Cook — other

• Melanie Hilton

 William Henry Heading (1877-8) 

Little William Henry, named for his father and grandfather, was the only child of William Henry Heading (1847-93), a grocer, and Susannah (née Martin).

He was born in Berkhamsted in 1877, but lived only a few months, dying the following year.

His father was laid to rest with him here.

Susannah Bird

1847 –22/09/1917

Wife of William Heading; remarried on his death.

Relatives

William Henry Heading — husband

William Henry Heading — husband

William Henry Heading — son

• Melanie Hilton

Susannah Bird (Previously Heading, née Martin) (1847-1917)

Susannah was born in Oundle, Northants, in 1847 and baptised there 18 July that year. Her parents were William and  Susannah (née Almond) Martin. William was a labourer and both he and his wife were from Lincolnshire.

In 1851 the family were living at Reesby’s Yard, West Street, Oundle. Susannah had three sisters and two brothers.

In 1861, aged sixteen, she was working just around the corner as a nursemaid in the home of  Thomas Barnes, his son and their families. Thomas junior was a maltster and baker.

 She married William Henry Heading from Berkhamsted in Oundle in early 1876 and the couple settled in his home town where he had a grocery business in the High Street.

Their only child, a son named for his father and grandfather, was born in 1877 but died a few months later in 1878. Little William Henry lies here with his father.

William Henry died 4 November 1893 aged only forty six, leaving just under £1,000 to Susannah.

In 1899 she married Samuel Bird, a farmer, in Christchurch, Hampshire. In 1901 they are recorded as living at Battle Farm, Drayton, Banbury, Oxfordshire, but by 1911 they were at Park Farm, Drayton, living in a ten-roomed house with only Samuel’s unmarried  niece in the household.

According to the Victoria County History, “Park Farm itself stands just above the church and is a house of 2 stories. It seems to have been built originally on the 2-unit plan, common in this area, with kitchen and parlour on either side of a through passage, but it has been added on to at both ends. On a panel over the front door is the date 1683 and the initials C.J.G.”

Susannah died 22 September 1917 at Park Farm and is mentioned on this memorial to her son and first husband.

William Henry Heading

1842 –04/11/1893

Grocer, married to Susannah

Relatives

Susannah Bird — wife

Charlotte Caroline Heading (58) — mother

William Henry Heading Senior — father

Susannah Bird — wife

William Henry Heading — son

• Vivien Benson

“Lived respected died regretted”   This is the inscription engraved on William’s headstone in Rectory Lane Cemetery, Berkhamsted.

William Henry was the first of four children born to his father, also called William Henry (born in High Wycombe in 1822), and his mother Charlotte Caroline Sutton (born in Berkhamsted on 28th March 1820).  His christening took place on the 12th March 1848. His siblings were George Sutton Heading, Elizabeth Jane Heading and Annie Heading.  William Henry senior had various occupations, including that of barker, retailer of beer, grocer and licensed victualler. William Henry senior’s father (also called William) was a saddler.

William Henry junior grew up in Berkhamsted with grandparents either living on the same street or close by, as well as three uncles and four aunts on his father’s side.  All but one of them moved away, with one uncle, Charles, remaining in the area until he died in Northchurch during 1858.

William Henry junior is shown in all census, bar one, as living in High Street, Berkhamsted. The only different address was for 1851 when he was three years old and visiting his grandparents William and Ann in Chesham Buckinghamshire.

In 1861 William Henry senior and family were living in High Street, Berkhamsted with one servant.

His parents and sister Blanc were living at Rose Cottage, High Street, Berkhamsted. That October William Henry senior’s mother Ann died, with her location of death recorded as Northchurch, and his father William died in 1865.

In 1871 the family were living at the Queen’s Arms, High Street, Berkhamsted where William Henry senior is recorded as the Licenced Victualler.  George and William Henry junior are both recorded as bakers.

In 1876 William married Susannah Martin in St Peter’s Church, Oundle, Northamptonshire.  On the marriage license Susannah is recorded as a spinster and her father William Martin as a Groom and Coachman.  William Henry senior is recorded as a Grocer.

William’s mother Charlotte Caroline died on 28th August 1878 at 7 Shaftesbury Terrace Kensington, London.  She is buried in Rectory Lane Cemetery, Berkhamsted, in Plot 58. Charlotte left her estate of over £3,000 to her husband William.

William Henry junior and Susannah lost their only child William Henry in 1879 at eight months.

By the time of the 1881 census William Henry junior had become a Grocer and he and Susannah were living in Berkhamsted High Street with a Grocer Journeyman (William Keen, 19) and a Grocer Apprentice (Harry Dix, 15).

William Henry senior died in 1884.  He had been living in the High Street with his married daughter Annie Cooke. He is buried in Rectory Lane Cemetery plot number 58.  His estate, amounting to over £3,000 was left to his sons George Sutton (baker and publican) and William Henry junior (grocer).

By 1891 William Henry junior had progressed from being a Grocer to a Master Grocer. He and Susannah lived in the High Street with a niece Elizabeth North aged 8 and a servant Lizzie Holton aged 18. There is no mention of an Apprentice or Journeyman.

By then William Henry junior’s brother George Sutton had moved to Nottinghamshire with his family and was shown as ” living on own means”.

In 1893 William Henry junior died, leaving his estate to his widow Susannah, valued at just under £1,000. He joined his infant son in Plot 69 in Rectory Lane Cemetery. His father (William Henry Senior), mother and grandmother are buried in Plot 58.

Six years later, in 1899, Susannah married for a second time, this time to Samuel Bird in Christchurch Dorset. Samuel was a farmer and the couple lived in Shenington Oxfordshire, a village approximately six miles from Banbury – an area known for its arable crops, wheat, barley and oats.  Samuel is mentioned in City and Country Directories 1764-1946 as a farmer, by 1903 he is shown as farmer, grazier and dairyman. By 1911 Samuel and Susannah were living at Park Farm, Drayton, Banbury.

Susannah died on the 22nd September 1917 leaving her estate, valued at just over £1,700, to her husband.  She joined her first husband and only child in Plot 69 in Rectory Lane Cemetery.

Footnotes and websites

Oundle Northamptonshire and Master Grocers.  www.grocershall.co.uk   and Wikipedia.org/worshipful company of grocers.  The worshipful company of Grocers is responsible for the maintenance of Oundle School Northamptonshire. The School uses the Grocer’s crest of a camel on its school badge.

I can find no record of William Henry Heading on the Master Grocers website but this would not be unusual as it’s one of the first London livery companies.

It is maybe just a coincidence that Susannah came from Oundle.

Susannah’s 2nd husband, Samuel Bird, died at the age of 91 in 1945, while still living in Drayton, Banbury but not at the farm, having retired years earlier.

More information can be found about Drayton and Park Farm @ british-history.ac.uk/vch/icon/vo19/pp103

Main web sites used:

• www.ancestry.co.uk
• Records looked at census,birth ,marriage, deaths.
• family trees and directories including Kelly’s and Tax records.
• www.gov.uk/search-will-probate
• Probate records for main beneficiaries.
• www.findagrave.com