Rectory Lane Cemetery, Berkhamsted

George Holliday

05/10/1807 –20/10/1864

Wheelwright in Berkhamsted High Street

Relatives

Mary Holliday — wife

Ethel Catherine Lusted — other

Eleanor Caroline Holliday — other

Harriett Lusted — daughter

Beatrice Lusted — other

• Karen Evans
• Melanie Hilton

Plot 138 George Holliday 

George was born 5 October 1807 in Berkhamsted, the first child of John Holliday and his wife Mary Ann (née Atkins). His father was a wheelwright and he was to have three brothers and a sister.

To quote the Berkhamsted Local History & Museum Society Facebook account: According to the 1839 tithe map for Berkhamsted, a shop in the High Street was owned by executors of Charles Gordon Esq., and wheeler John Holliday was the tenant. On the map, the line of Holliday Street was visible but it was not yet a thoroughfare such as Ravens Lane. It seems likely that when it was developed, Holliday Street was named after the wheeler. In the 1841 census John was a 55-year-old wheelwright with his wife Mary, sons George, Charles and Frederick and daughter Ann.

In 1851, at the age of 45, George was still single and living with his parents and siblings in the High Street. Like their father, George and his brother Charles were wheelwrights.

In his will John had bequeathed “unto my son George Holliday my stock in trade and the business of a wheelwright as now carried on by me”. So it is no surprise that at the time of the 1861 census George was head of the household and a wheelwright in Berkhamsted High Street. Living with him were his wife Mary, and children, George J and Harriot. This census would appear to show that not only had George taken over the family business but he was also looking after his niece, Mary, daughter of the deceased Frederick.

George’s son was baptised George James Holliday on 24th April 1853 at St Peter’s, making him the eldest of John and Mary’s grandchildren. Harriett (sic) was baptised on 16th August 1857 at St Peter’s. The records of St Peter’s show the baptism of another son, Arthur on 11th February 1855, who died the same year.

The 1862 Post Office Directory has George as a wheelwright of High Street, Berkhamsted. But his running of the business was short-lived as George died on 20th October 1864.

In 1871 Mary was a widow living in the High Street with her children George James and Harriot/Harriet, but the wheelwright business was no longer listed in the trade directories. In fact no Holliday was listed in the Trade Directory until 1882, then this listing appears:-

Holliday & Lusted, coach builders & wheel wrights, High Street

In 1877 Stephen Alexander Lusted from Lewes in Sussex married Harriet Holliday at Berkhamsted. The Holliday family ties appear to have been very close as Stephen joined his brother-in-law George in running the family business. The 1881 census shows how close the family was: George states that he was a “Master Coach Painter” while Stephen gives himself as being a “Master Wheelwright”. It must have been a great comfort to George Holliday’s widow, Mary, to see the both the business and her family flourishing. Mary probably remained with her daughter and family until her death in 1888.

Stephen and Harriet Lusted had eight children all baptised at St Peter’s as follows:

1. William Stephen on 14th May 1882
2. Frederick Henry on 13th January 1884
3. Mary Martha on 8th February 1885
4. Beatrice on 25th July 1886. Beatrice died on 21st October 1888 aged 2 ½ and was buried with her grandparents.
5. Horace on 22nd July 1888
6. Ethel Catherine on 27th July 1890. Sadly she died 14th October 1891 and was buried with her grandparents and sister.
7. Arthur Stanley on 27th December 1891
8. David Thomas on 25th March 1894

With the growing family Stephen and Harriet moved across the town to Charles Street where they were living at the time of the 1891 census. Life in Charles Street did not last long as Harriet died before youngest son was even baptised on 14th October 1893. It could be that Harriet was the bond that held the partnership of Holliday and Lusted together, and that her death with that of his two daughters was too much for Stephen as he appears to have taken his family and moved back to the Sussex village of Glynde on the outskirts of Lewes. Harriet was buried with her two infant daughters and her parents, as detailed earlier.

Stephen remained a widower living in Glynde where he is enumerated in 1901 and 1911 census. Then in 1919 the year before his death it was all-change. He married Sarah Hawes in Berkhamsted in 1919 and stayed in the town until death on 21st March 1920. He died at 9 Park Street, Berkhamsted with effects of the value of £449 12s 3d. Administration of his estate was given to his widow and wife of just one year, Sara.

Mary Holliday

1815 –09/11/1888

Wife of George Holliday, wheelwright in Berkhamsted High Street

Relatives

Ethel Catherine Lusted — other

George Holliday — husband

Eleanor Caroline Holliday — other

Harriett Lusted — daughter

Beatrice Lusted — other

• Karen Evans
• Melanie Hilton

Plot 138 Mary Holliday 

Mary was born in 1815 in Hemel Hempstead to Sarah and James Hawes and baptised 10 September. Her father was a labourer.

In 1841, she was a live-in domestic servant at the Rectory in Berkhamsted High Street and in March 1851 she was living with her brother Joseph, a gardener, his wife and small daughter in the High Street. She was described as a “household servant.” On 20 April that year she married George Holliday, wheelwright.

Their children were:

• George James Holliday baptised on 24th April 1853 at St Peter’s, making him the eldest of John and Mary’s grandchildren.
• Harriett (sic), baptised on 16th August 1857 at St Peter’s.
• The records of St Peter’s show the baptism of another son, Arthur on 11th February 1855, who died the same year.

At the time of the 1861 census, Mary was living with George and children, George J and Harriot in Berkhamsted High Street. This census would appear to show that not only had George taken over the family business but he was also looking after his niece, Mary, daughter of the deceased Frederick.

The 1862 Post Office Directory has George as a wheelwright of High Street, Berkhamsted. But his running of the business was short-lived as George died on 20th October 1864.

In 1871 Mary was a widow living in the High Street with her children George James and Harriot/Harriet, but the wheelwright business was no longer listed in the trade directories. In fact no Holliday was listed in the Trade Directory until 1882, then this listing appears:-

In 1877 Stephen Alexander Lusted from Lewes in Sussex married Harriet Holliday at Berkhamsted. Stephen joined his brother-in-law George in running the family business. Mary probably remained with her daughter and family until her death in 1888.

Eleanor Caroline Holliday

1888 –29/01/1889

Granddaughter of George & Mary Holliday; died in infancy

Relatives

George Holliday — other

Mary Holliday — other

• Melanie Hilton

Plot 138 Eleanor Caroline Holliday (1888-89)

Eleanor was the daughter of George James and Louisa Campian (née Peach) Holliday

She was born in Berkhamsted in 1888 and baptised at St Peter’s 27 May that year but sadly died 29 January 1889.

She is buried here with her grandparents Mary and George Holliday.

Harriett Lusted

1857 –04/12/1893

Daughter of George and Mary Holliday ; first wife of Stephen Lusted

Relatives

Stephen Lusted — husband

Mary Holliday — mother

George Holliday — father

Ethel Catherine Lusted — daughter

Beatrice Lusted — daughter

• Melanie Hilton

Plot 138 Harriet Lusted (née Holliday) (1857-1893)

Harriet was born in 1857 and baptised 16 August in St Peter’s. She was the daughter of George Holliday, wheelwright, and his wife Mary (née Hawes).

Her father died in October 1864 and her mother Harriet and her brother George, who continued as a wheelwright, lived in the High Street.

In 1877 Stephen Alexander Lusted from Glynde in Sussex married Harriet in Berkhamsted and joined his brother-in-law George Holliday in running the family business.

William was born in 1882, followed by Frederick (1884) and Mary (1885).

Beatrice was born in 1886, but sadly died aged only 2 in October 1888.

Horace was born 1889 and Ethel Caroline in 1891. Tragically Ethel died before her first birthday, the same year as Arthur Stanley was born.

Their last child, David Thomas, was born in 1893 but Harriet died on 4 December that year in Charles Street aged only 36. She is buried here with her parents and her two infant daughters.

Stephen survived her until 1920. He married again and is buried in plot 585 with his second wife.

Ethel Catherine Lusted

1891 –14/10/1891

Daughter of Stephen and Harriet Lusted, granddaughter of George and Mary Holliday

Relatives

Harriett Lusted — mother

Stephen Lusted — father

George Holliday — other

Mary Holliday — other

Beatrice Lusted — sister

• Melanie Hilton

Plot 138 Ethel Caroline Lusted (Born and died 1891)

Ethel was born in Berkhamsted in 1891 to Harriet (née Holliday) and Stephen Lusted but sadly died 14 October 1891.

Her sister Beatrice and her mother are buried here with her.

Her father  is buried with his second wife in plot 585.

Beatrice Lusted

1886 –21/10/1888

Daughter of Stephen and Harriet Lusted, granddaughter of George & Mary Holliday

Relatives

George Holliday — other

Mary Holliday — other

Harriett Lusted — mother

Stephen Lusted — father

Ethel Catherine Lusted — sister

• Melanie Hilton

Plot 138 Beatrice Lusted (1880-1888)

Beatrice was born in Berkhamsted in 1880 to Harriet (née Holliday) and Stephen Lusted.

Sadly, little Beatrice died 21 October 1888 aged 2.

Her baby sister Ethel Caroline, who was born and died in 1891, is buried here with her, as is their mother.

Their father is buried with his second wife in plot 585.