Rectory Lane Cemetery, Berkhamsted

Frederick John Lane (270)

04/10/1869 –01/05/1906

Son of Frederick and Eliza Lane; nurseryman and farmer, died at age 36 of tuberculosis

Relatives

Henry Vials Lane — brother

Quincy Edward Dennis Lane — brother

• Christopher Dolton

FREDERICK JOHN LANE; 1869 – 1906

Frederick was the oldest of eight children born to Frederick Quincey Lane and Eliza Lane. The Lane family owned a flourishing nursery business in which Frederick’s father worked. His father, as well as a being nurseryman, was also a brewer, the Lane family having become involved in the brewery business when Frederick’s grandfather, John Edward Lane, acquired the Swan Inn and brewery. Frederick’s mother Eliza, was a noted journalist and editor of the Constitutional Magazine which was first published in Berkhamsted in 1888.

Frederick was born in 1869 and baptised on 3^rd November that year.  The family lived on Berkhamsted’s High Street next to the George Public House. At the time of the census in 1891, Frederick, then 21 years of age and still living in the family home, had followed in his father’s footsteps to become nurseryman. He no doubt started out in the family business, but by 1901 he seems to have struck out on his own. He had then moved to Ashley Green Farm and is described in the census return for that year as being a nurseryman and farmer. He employed Frederick and Charlotte Gutteridge, both 57 years old and who also lived at the farm with Frederick. Frederick Gutteridge assisted with the farm work whilst Charlotte kept house.

Frederick never married and died at the young age of 36 of tuberculosis. He died at Farnham Sanatorium which had been opened in 1901 to provide treatment to sufferers of Tuberculosis.

Frederick was buried in Rectory Lane Cemetery and was joined by his younger brother Henry Vials Lane when he died in 1941 and also Henry’s wife Beatrice who died in 1972. 

Henry Vials Lane

07/09/1878 –21/04/1940

Son of Frederick and Eliza Lane; joined Indian Army and rose to rank of Lieutenant- Colonel.

Relatives

Frederick Quincy Lane — father

Eliza Quincey Lane — mother

Frederick John Lane (270) — brother

Beatrice Lane — wife

Quincy Edward Dennis Lane — brother

• Christopher Dolton

HENRY VIALS LANE; 1878 – 1940

Henry was born in Berkhamsted on the 7^th September 1868. He was the sixth of eight children born to Frederick Quincey Lane and his wife Eliza Lane. His somewhat unusual second name, “Vials”, was in memory of his great-grandmother, Ann Lane, who died in 1856 and whose maiden name was Vials.

At the time of Henry’s birth, the Lane family had been established in Berkhamsted for at least four generations. Henry Lane, Henry’s great-great-grandfather had set up a nursery in the town in 1777. That business grew and under the stewardship of Henry’s grand-father, John Edward Lane, the nursery grew and gained a well renowned reputation. John Edward Lane also took over and ran The Swan Inn and brewery and acquired a number of public houses in the town. It is apparent from the census of 1881 that Henry’s father followed in John Edward’s shoes and he too is recorded as being a nurseryman and brewer. Henry’s family in 1881 was living on Berkhamsted’s High Street next to The George public House. The George was one of the pubs that John Edward Lane had acquired. Henry’s family was sufficiently affluent to be able to employ two domestic servants, both of whom, as was usual at that time, lived in the Lane’s home with their employers.

Henry’s mother Eliza, was a noted journalist and editor of the Constitutional Magazine which was first published in Berkhamsted in 1888.

We next meet Henry in the census return of 1891. He was then 12 years old and we find him not at home with his family, but at Heath Brow School in Hemel Hempstead where he was a boarder.

Heath Brow School once occupied the site of Hillside, a private house in Heath Lane, Hemel Hempstead. The house was first used for educational purposes by Montagu Draper between 1872 and 1874 whilst he was waiting for his new school at Lockers Park to be built. It was subsequently bought by Walter Dowling who set up his own school, known as Heath Brow School.

Whilst other members of the Lane family were engaged in the family nursery or brewery businesses, Henry decided to take a different route. He had joined the 2^nd (Hertfordshire) Volunteer Battalion, Bedfordshire Regiment and was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in March 1899.  The battalion, was part of the volunteer forces which supplemented the regular army and were later to grow into the Territorial Army. Military life evidently appealed to Henry and he joined the Indian army. On being granted commissions in the Indian Army officers served a probationary year on the Unattached List with a British Regiment in India. During this time they had to pass a basic examination in a vernacular language.  In May 1900 Henry joined the Royal Warwickshire Regiment stationed in Lucknow. On 10^th May 1902 having completed his probationary year  he was appointed to the 1^st Brahman Infantry.

He was promoted to Captain in June 1909 and Major in September 1915.  The 1^st Brahmans were stationed in India for most of the World War I, but were moved to Aden in February 1918. Henry left the regiment to take up command in June 1918 with the rank of acting Lieutenant- Colonel of the newly formed 2^nd Battalion, 3^rd Gaur Brahman Infantry.

The battalion’s first annual inspection took place in September 1918 and was not promising. The reporting officer wrote “…it was in a very backward and disorganized state….” Musketry wanted “much attention”, turn-out left “much to be desired”

The second inspection in 1920 was no better: “the men do not look very strong, considerable more training required.” and “Not at present fit for active duty, fit for garrison duty only.”  The senior Indian officer, was tried for misappropriating government rations. The initial draft of 1,550 Gaur Brahmans had been swollen by an influx of a further 1500 Brahmans from Oude. The two factions did not get on and disturbances broke out between them. The report notes Henry had handled the disturbances well and the Oude Brahmans had since been drafted elsewhere but the battalion was “…still backward and several officers, British and Indian, are badly reported on.”

In fairness to Henry the reports do explain that the problems largely arose because the unit “has suffered from lack of experienced British officers, Indian officers and non-commissioned officers.”  The majority of British officers were either drawn from the Indian Army reserve of officers or were Indian Army officers newly on probation. Only two of the battalion’s 21 British officers had been commissioned before the outbreak of war (of which Henry was one). 17 of them had been commissioned either in 1917 or 1918.

The report also noted that the battalion “…has been constantly split up in detachments on railway security and other duties, and the training has consequently suffered …”

In 1920 a more experienced officer was given command, but that did not save the battalion; later that year it was disbanded.

Henry retired from The Indian Army in 1921, being granted on retirement his previously acting rank of Lieutenant-Colonel.

From martial matters to marital. Henry married in July 1905. A report of the marriage published in the West Herts & Watford Observer tells us that Henry married Miss Beatrice Vane-Stow, the daughter of Major and Mrs Vane-Stow who lived in Surbiton, Surrey. The wedding was celebrated in St Raphael’s church, Kingston-on Thames. Henry was “…in England on furlough after several years’ service in India.” How Harry and Beatrice first met is not apparent, but a number of members of the Lane family were Masons, including Harry’s father and Harry himself was initiated into the Masons in Allahabad in 1904. Beatrice’s father was a prominent Mason, holding the office of Deputy Grand Sword Bearer, and the two families may have known each other through this Masonic connection. 

Henry returned to India once his leave was over, Beatrice travelling with him to take up the life of a memsahib, the wife of an officer serving in India. In 1906 Beatrice gave birth to her first child, a daughter, Doris Beatrice Lane. Doris was born on 2^nd June 1906 in Mussorie, Bengal. A second child followed, a son, John Henry Stowe Lane who was born on the 6^th November 1901 in Maharashtra.

Following Henry’s retirement in 1921, the family returned to England and settled in Berkhamsted. The Electoral Rolls reveal that in 1926 Henry and Beatrice were living at Crabbe Tree Cottage, Gossoms End; in 1928 and 1929 at Oaklyn, Cross Oaks Road and in 1930 at Grims Dyke in Potten End. The 1939 Register recorded Henry and Beatrice living at 4 Kitsbury Road.

Henry, then 71 years old, is noted as being a retired army officer, but he was still willing “to do his bit.”  He volunteered as an A.R.P (Air Raid Precaution) warden.  The duties of ARP Wardens included sounding air raid sirens in the event of a raid, guiding people to public air raid shelters, issuing gasmasks, locating temporary accommodation for those made homeless by bombing and enforcing blackout precautions. An ARP control centre was set up in the Town Hall, manned 24 hours a day. It was staffed by a controller, four operators, two map plotters and a team of messengers. Fire watch schemes were set up around the town and many trenches were dug to offer protection to any caught in the open during a bombing raid.  A substantial air raid shelter was built near Butts Meadow.

With the onset of the Blitz in June 1940 enemy aircraft often flew over the town and bombs were dropped, but most were the result of German bombers unloading bombs before flying for home. Most bombs fell on open ground, but Sunnyside railway bridge was destroyed by a bomb and a house in Shootersway was badly damaged. Henry did not however, witness those incidents; he had died on 21^st April 1940 before the Blitz began in earnest.

Beatrice Lane

18/05/1885 –12/07/1972

Wife of Henry Vials Lane

Relatives

Henry Vials Lane — husband

• Christopher Dolton

BEATRICE VANE LANE; 1885 – 1972

Beatrice was born in Greenwich on 18^th May 1885. Her parents were Harry Vane Stow and Daisy Stow. Beatrice had two older sisters, Edith, born in 1879 and Nora, born in 1882.

The family surname appears in early documents as Stow,  for example, in the 1891 Beatrice is recorded as “Beatrice V” and her name at birth was registered as “Stow, Beatrice Vane”. In later documents, however,  such as the 1901 census, “Vane” is used as part of the surname, becoming “Vane-Stow”, perhaps an indication that the family was moving up the social hierarchy (or at least aspired to).

Beatrice’s father, Henry, was involved in the printing industry, but not as a printer. The 1891census recorded Henry’s as secretary to the Printing & Allied Trades Guild. He was also a member of the Rifle Volunteers and was awarded the Volunteer officers Decoration for long service. During World War I he was appointed as secretary to the “Newspapers for the Fleet” committee with the rank of major. He was also a prominent member of the Masons, setting up a number of lodges and holding the office of Deputy Grand Sword Bearer. He was awarded an O.B.E.

At the age of eight, Beatrice became a pupil at James Allen’s Girls School in Dulwich. The school, still in existence today, is the oldest independent school for girls in London, having been established in 1619.

Beatrice married shortly after her twentieth birthday in July 1905. She married Henry Vials Lane. Henry was a serving officer in the Indian Army, the marriage taking place when was in England on furlough. Henry was originally from Berkhamsted. It is not apparent how Beatrice and Henry met. It may have been through Masonic connections. Like Beatrice’s father, a number of members of the Lane family, including Henry himself, were masons.

The marriage took place at St Raphael’s church Kingston-on-Thames. The West Herts & Watford Observer published a report of the wedding on 22^nd July 1905.

“The pretty, childlike bride, who was given way by her father, was attired in white crepe de chine, elaborately trimmed with wreaths of white roses interlaced with white satin true lovers’ knots and innumerable edgings of blonde lace. The tulle veil reached to the end of the train and was surmounted by a wreath of orange blossom. She also wore a pearl and diamond pendant, the gift of the bridegroom, and carried a shower bouquet of white roses and malmaison carnations.”

The reception was held at the Vane-Stow family home and the newly-weds went to the English Lakes for their honeymoon.  

Following the wedding and honeymoon, Beatrice accompanied Henry to India. Beatrice and Henry were to remain in India until Henry’s retirement in 1921. Their two children were both born in India. The first child, Doris Beatrice Lane, was born in Mussorie, Bengal in 1906, to be followed by a son, John Henry Stow Lane, born in Satara, Maharashtra in 1910.

Upon Henry’s retirement, the family returned to England, settling in Henry’s home town of Berkhamsted. We learn from the electoral rolls that in 1926 Beatrice and henry were living at Crab Tree Cottage in Gossom’s End; in 1928 and 1929 they were Oaklyn in Cross Oak Road. In 1930 they were living in Potten End, but time the 1939 Register was complied, they were living at 4 Kitsbury Road.

Henry died in 1940. Beatrice lived for a further 34 years, dying on 12^th July 1972 at the age of 87 years. At some point after Henry’s death, Beatrice moved away from Berkhamsted. When she died she was living in south west London. She was however reunited on death with her husband Henry, being buried in the same grave as him in Rectory Lane Cemetery.