Rectory Lane Cemetery, Berkhamsted

Herbert Redvers Riddle

d.07/04/1966

Never married, lived with his parents and is buried with his parents after his death at 65.

Relatives

Herber Riddle — father

• Jennifer Johnson

Born 29th November 1900 Berkhamsted. Died 7th April 1966.

Herbert was the youngest son of Heber and Mary Ann Riddle. He never married, and lived with his mother until her death in 1943. He died on 7th April 1966, aged 65, and is buried with his parents in plot 744.

Bill Riddle

d.29/03/1956

Lithographer, died aged 62, buried with his parents.

Relatives

Herber Riddle — father

• Jennifer Johnson

Born 17th March 1894 Berkhamsted. Died 29th March 1956.

William George was the second child, and eldest son, of Heber and Mary Ann Riddle. He worked as a lithographer, and in 1939, lived at 40 St Paul’s Rd, N1. He died on 29th March 1956, and is buried with his parents in plot 744.

Mary Ann Riddle

d.26/10/1943

Daughter of an agricultural labourer, worked as a servant, has five children, outlives her husband

Relatives

Herber Riddle — husband

• Jennifer Johnson

Born 17th March 1864 Northchurch. Died 26th October 1943 aged 79.

Mary Ann was born in Northchurch in 1864, the second child of William Durrant (born Hawridge/Cholesbury, Bucks 1826), and Fanny Wilson (born 1839 Northchurch). William and Fanny were married in Northchurch on 12th October 1859.

In 1871, Mary Ann lives with her parents and four sisters in Ellesmere Road, Northchurch. Her father is an agricultural labourer.

By 1881, Mary Ann has left home, and is working as a servant at Ivy House Farm. Her younger sister Ellen, aged just 14, is a domestic servant in Berkhamsted. Her father dies in the summer of 1881, aged just 55.

In 1891, Fanny, now widowed, still lives in Ellesmere Road, but is lodging with William and Sarah Flint.  Daughter Emma, and grandson William live with her. Mary Ann lodges next door, with a widow called Caroline Batchelor.

She moves briefly to Hampstead, and lives at 6 Prince Arthur Buildings at the time of her marriage to Heber Riddle on 11th may 1891.

Mary Ann and Heber return to Berkhamsted, and live at 29 Victoria Road, then 19 Station Road, where they raise their five children (see biography of HEBER RIDDLE  for more detail).

In 1937 Heber dies. Mary Ann continues to live in Station Road, and the 1939 National Survey reveals that she is an “unpaid domestic servant”. The non-pc pre-war description for any “housewife”. Her youngest son, Herbert, lives with her. He works as a senior clerk.

Mary Ann died on 26th October 1943, and is buried in plot 744 with her husband Heber.

Herber Riddle

d.22/08/1937

Born in Potten End, one of 9. Gardener, machine minder, chemical manufacturer, father of five

Relatives

Mary Ann Riddle — wife

Bill Riddle — son

Herbert Redvers Riddle — son

• Jennifer Johnson

Born 1866 Potten End.  Died 22 August 1937, aged 70

Heber Riddle was the fourth child, and third son, of Isaiah Riddle and Mary Ann Foskett. Isaiah was born in Great Gaddesden in 1842, and Mary Ann in Berkhamsted in the same year. They married in Berkhamsted in 1862. The Riddle family seem very much a west Hertfordshire family. Isaiah’s father William was born in Flamstead in 1793.

Heber (a very unusual Hebrew name), was brought up in Potten End. His father worked as a bricklayer’s labourer, and his mother was a straw plaiter. They are a typically large family, with nine children in all. Heber has two older brothers, and six younger sisters, two of whom are twins.

In 1881we find the family still in Potten End, although oldest brother Alpheus has moved to Berkhamsted, where he lives with his uncle Joseph Foskett, in the High Street, and is working as an engine driver on the railway. Heber is 14, and works as a garden labourer.

By 1891 Heber has also moved from the family home, and is boarding with Susannah Daniels in the High Street. He continues to work as a gardener.
On 11th May 1891 Heber marries Mary Ann Durrant, at St John’s church in Hampstead. Why they chose to marry here is a mystery. The 1891 census was taken on the 5th of April, when they were both living with their respective families in Berkhamsted, but by the time they were married, just a month later, their marriage certificate shows them both resident at 6 Prince Arthur Buildings, Hampstead. It has not been possible to exactly identify the residents of that address in the census, but none of the candidates have any obvious connection to either the Riddle or Durrant families. There would appear to be some sort of connection to the Camden/Hampstead area, as one of Heber’s sons settles in the Canonbury area of Islington.

Heber and Mary Ann seem to have moved straight back to Berkhamsted, and their first child, Fanny, is born there in 1892.

In 1901 the family are settled at 29 Victoria Road, Berkhamsted, and have five children: Fanny 1892, William George 1894, Robert David 1896, Alfred Ewart 1898, and Herbert Redvers 1900. Heber, now 34, is working as a machine minder.

By 1911 the family has moved to 19 Station Road, and Heber is a chemical manufacturer for the sheep dipping industry, probably at the Coopers factory. The family are doing well. Fanny is a tailoress, William a lithographer, Robert a plumber, and the two youngest are at school.

Heber died on 22nd August 1937, at the age of 70, and is buried in plot 744, with his wife, sister, and two of his sons.