Rectory Lane Cemetery, Berkhamsted

Clement Harry Nelson Saville (x1)

17/10/1837 –17/12/1896

Representative of Keys & sons Timber merchants.

Relatives

Maria Louisa Saville — wife

William Rivers Keen Saville (279) — son

• Karen Evans

Plot  X1

Clement Harry Nelson Saville died 17th December 1896.

Maria Louisa his wife, died 9th September 1899.

Clement Harry Nelson Saville was born in Luton, the son of Joseph Savell/Saville/Savill, a straw hat manufacturer from Gamlingay in Cambridgeshire. Clement’s parents, Joseph Savill and Mary Pegg were married in Gamlingay on 3rd February 1827, but appear to have moved to Luton almost immediately. Despite living in Luton, the family appear to have returned regularly to Gamlingay for the baptisms of Clement and his siblings. The children in the family were:

Emma Augusta Mary baptised on 3^rd October 1829 at Gamlingay and died in 1846 at Luton

Bethia Sarah born on 17th October 1830 and baptised on 8^th May 1833 at Gamlingay

Abiel Meshelemiah Joseph, born 21^st May 1832 at Luton and baptised on 8^th May 1833 at Gamlingay

Theophilius baptised on 20^th August 1836 at Gamlingay

Anna baptised on 20^th August 1836 at Gamlingay

Clement Harry Nelson born on 5^th October 1837 and baptised on 10^th May 1843 at Gamlingay

Enoch Walter Raleigh born on 28^th November 1839

Joseph born on 3 February 1842 at Luton

Caroline Trustrum baptised 14^th February 1843 at Gamlingay

Solon born 24^th March 1846 and ded 11^th February 1849 at Luton.

During the 1800s Luton grew from a small market town to a large industrial centre. The main driving force behind this change was the hat industry. Although the impact on the town was evident the hat factories of Luton depended on the surrounding countryside for their raw material. This was straw plait, the manufacture of which played a large part in the rural economy of south Bedfordshire and north Hertfordshire.

In 1851 the Savill family were living in Stuart Street in Luton.

In 1861 Clement was lodging at Cornerhall, Hemel Hempstead, where he was working as a timber Merchant’s clerk.

On 24th September 1864 Maria Louisa went in person and applied for her own marriage licence at the London Diocese office. It stated that she was from St Pancras, and that her husband-to-be, Clement Nelson Harry Saville, was a bachelor from Hemel Hempstead. Maria Louisa Bliss and Clement Nelson Harry Saville were then married on 27^th September 1864 at St Pancras. The parish register states that Clement was a commercial traveller, and both Maria Louisa’s father, William Bliss, and Clement’s father, Joseph Saville, were described as gentlemen.

Maria Louisa appears to have been pregnant at the time of her marriage because her first daughter, Louisa Maria was born at the end of 1864 in St Pancras. A wholesale move Maria Louisa’s family to the Hertfordshire/Buckinghamshire border seems to have occurred in the 1860s. Maria Louisa’s father William died on 13^th September 1868, and in the last years of his life appears to have moved residence at least twice. His probate says that he was “formerly of Sloughland House, Chesham, but late of Great Missenden both in the country of Buckinghamshire, Gentleman”. His death was reported in the Bedfordshire Times and Independent, on 22^nd September 1868 and he was called “William Bliss, Esq.,, late of Dean House, Upper Dean, Bedfordshire”.

Evidence suggests that Clement was working, if not living, in Berkhamsted in at least 1868. In June 1870 Clement gave evidence in an Equity Case held at the County Court in Chesham. The case was between his employer, Mr Key, a timber merchant of Berkhamsted and Mr J.M Shurgar, a solicitor from Tring.

In 1871 Clement and Maria Louisa were living in Gravel Path where Clement was still working as a Timber Merchant’s Clerk. This was the last census to enumerate Clement and Maria Louisa living together. In 1881 Maria Louisa was living with her mother, Maria, unmarried sister Ann Keen Bliss, and daughter Louisa Maria, in the village of Chiddingfold in Surrey. The ladies were sufficiently well-off to employ two servants to look after them.

The 1880’s saw a series of deaths in Maria’s family. Maria Louisa’s brother, William Henry died on 5^th December 1882 at Great Missenden, aged 51, living everything to his widow, Ann Elizabeth. Then her mother died at Chiddingfold on 17^th September 1888 and her will was proved by Maria Louisa’s sister, Ann Keen Bliss on 27^th December 1888. However, all was not well within the family as reported in the Bucks Herald of 9^th November 1889. The paper reported on a case as follows:

In the Probate, Divorce and Admiralty Division on Saturday last (before Mr Justice Butt), was tried the cause, “Bliss (by Savill, her guardian, ad litem) v. Bliss”., which was a suit to obtain the revocation of letters of administration with a will annexed, issued to the defendant in December 1882.

Mr. William Henry Bliss died in December 1882, and his widow, the defendant in this suit, who lives at Great Missenden, came to the court in the same month with a will executed by her late husband on 21st June 1878, which was in these terms:-“I hereby give and bequeath to my wife, Anne Elizabeth Bliss, all that I am possessed of, and all that I inherit”. She applied for letters of administration with that will annexed; there was no opposition, and she at once obtained them.

Within the last few months Mr Savill, who is married to one of the sisters of Mr Bliss, served a citation and writ on the widow, in which her daughter, who is a minor, was named plaintiff in the suit for revocation. The ground of this proceeding was the following paper, dated August 27, 1879: – “I W.H.Bliss, do hereby revoke and cancel all former wills made by me prior to this date – William Henry Bliss. Witnesses, Ann Keen Bliss, Elizabeth Bowdry”. The defendant pleaded that the deceased was not of sound mind on the 27^th of August 1879, and that the paper writing of that date was not duly executed.

The outcome of the case was that the will was revoked, but Anne Elizabeth was able to receive her costs out of her husband’s estate. We cannot know why Clement was made guardian to his brother-in-law’s daughter; she was not living with him at the time of any census. In 1891 Lucy Bliss was living with her maternal grandmother, and when her mother died, she was one of her executors, so the dispute within the family appears to have been resolved.

Back in Chiddingfold, Maria Louisa seems to have taken her eldest daughter, Louisa Maria to live with her sister, Ann Keen Bliss on a permanent basis, to help look after her. The three ladies were living together at the time of the census in April 1891 at a house called Belle Vue in Chiddingfold. They were employing a nurse and a general domestic servant. Ann Keen Bliss died on 13^th May 1891 at Chiddingfold and was buried at the parish church on 16^th May 1891. Her will made on 1^st January 1883 was brief: This is the Last Will and Testament of me Ann Keen Bliss of Chiddingfold in the County of Surrey, spinster. I direct my just debts and funeral and testamentary expenses to be paid and after payment thereof I give all my estate property and effects whatso ever and wheresoever and whether vested or reversionary to my sister Maria Louisa Saville for her sole and separate use. And I appoint her Exectutrix of my will.

On 31^st July 1891 probate of the will was granted to Maria Louisa Saville, wife of Clement Harry Nelson Saville of Berkhamsted, the sole executrix.

The death of her sister seems to have resulted in Maria Louisa’s return to Berkhamsted. Happy family life was soon cut short as reported by The Bucks Herald dated 26^th December 1896.

“On Friday morning, Dec 18^th, the inhabitants [of Berkhamsted] were distressed by the intelligence of the sudden death of Mr Saville late on the previous evening, on his return from London, apparently in his usual good health. Mr. Saville was widely known as the representative, for a long period, of Messrs. Key and Son, timber merchants, of Berkhampstead, from whose service, however, he retired some years since.” An inquest was held at the Saville family home, No1 Montague Road, by Mr Walter Grover, coroner.

“The verdict of the jury was “Death from Natural Causes, probably failure of the action of the heart”. The foreman suggested that the coroner and the doctor should convey to Mrs Saville and the family the respectful condolences of the jury with them in their great loss. He had personally known Mr Saville for fourteen years, and some of them much longer than that. They all appreciated him as a genial, kind-hearted gentleman, who would never say an unkind word to anyone, and who would do a good turn if he could.”

Probate for Clement Harry Nelson Saville’s was awarded to his widow, Maria Louisa on 16^th February 1897 and his personal estate was valued at £862 11s 2d.

Maria Louisa survived her husband by less than three years, and appear to have left no will, although death duties were paid by her son, William Rivers Keen Saville. All four of her children remained living in the family home at 1 Montague Road. Sadly Maria Louisa never got to see her children happily married. The first to marry was her son, William Rivers keen Saville, who married Beatrice Caroline Rumsey of Forest Gate on 4^th August 1901 at St Peter’s, Berkhamsted. In the following year her eldest child, Maria Louisa Saville married Joseph Harry Allen a clerk from Kilburn on 12th August 1902 at St Peter’s in Berkhamsted and William Rivers Keen Saville was a witness to his sister’s marriage.

Maria Louisa’s home at 1 Montague Road, was renamed Montague House, and become the home of her grandchildren, William Henry (born 1902) and Barbara Beatrice Saville (born 1904).

Maria Louisa Saville

1833 –09/09/1899

Daughter of a prosperous farmer; wife of Clement Saville

Relatives

Clement Harry Nelson Saville (x1) — husband

William Rivers Keen Saville (279) — son

• Karen Evans

Plot  X1

Clement Harry Nelson Saville died 17th December 1896.

Maria Louisa his wife, died 9th September 1899.

Maria Louisa Saville was born Maria Louisa Bliss, the daughter of William Bliss, a farmer who originated from Floore in Northamptonshire, but then lived in Salford and Upper Dean, Bedfordshire. Today Salford is overshadowed by the city of Milton Keynes, but in the 19^th century it would have been in a very rural part of Bedfordshire. Maria Louisa’s parents William Bliss and Maria Keen had married, by licence, at St Mary’s Lambeth on 7^th November 1829. The register stated that William was from Upper Dean in the county of Bedfordshire, whilst Maria was from Lambeth. Their marriage made The Englishman newspaper on 15^th November 1829, with Maria being described as the “youngest daughter of Mr Stephen Keen, of Lambeth”.

Maria Louisa’s maternal family were businessmen in Lambeth of note. When her grandfather Stephen Keen, a maltster of Lambeth, died in 1830, he left his children, including Maria Louisa’s mother who received £1000, considerable monetary bequests. Maria Louisa’s grandfather’s passing was reported upon in a couple of newspapers, on 10^th September 1830, as follows:

“On Monday the 30^th ult., at his house at Lambeth, Surrey, much respected, Stephen Keen, esq., aged 73, after a long and painful illness, which he bore with Christian fortitude”.

Maria Louisa’s eldest sibling was William Henry Bliss, who was born in Upper Dean but baptised at St Mary’s, Lambeth on 18^th February 1831. The journey from Upper Dean to Lambeth would have taken a couple of days because Upper Dean is situated on the Bedfordshire border with Northamptonshire and Huntingdonshire, 13 miles north of Bedford.

Maria Louisa was baptised at St Mary’s church in Lambeth on 16^th October 1833, whilst her father gave his abode as Salford, Bedfordshire. She was followed by her sister Ann Keen Bliss, baptised at Salford on 22^nd February 1835.

In 1851 William Bliss was a farmer of Upper Dean with a farm of 200 acres. He employed 4 men and 2 boys on the farm, as well as having 3 live-in servants, giving Maria Louisa a very comfortable childhood for herself and two siblings. By 1861 the family had moved to Bedford Street in Woburn, where William now gave his occupation as Land proprietor.

On 24^th September 1864 Maria Louisa went in person and applied for her own marriage licence at the London Diocese office. It stated that she was from St Pancras, and that her husband-to-be, Clement Nelson Harry Saville, was a bachelor from Hemel Hempstead. Maria Louisa Bliss and Clement Nelson Harry Saville were then married on 27^th September 1864 at St Pancras. The parish register states that Clement was a commercial traveller, and both Maria Louisa’s father, William Bliss, and Clement’s father, Joseph Saville, were described as gentlemen.

Maria Louisa appears to have been pregnant at the time of her marriage because her first daughter, Louisa Maria was born at the end of 1864 in St Pancras. She was followed by William Rivers Keen Saville, who was born in Berkhamsted in 1867, the only boy in the family, with the third child being Laura Ada Mary Saville, born in January 1871 at Berkhamsted but baptised on 21^st July 1871 at Great Missenden. In 1874 Clement and Maria’s family was completed with the arrival of a third daughter, Rosa Harriett born in Berkhamsted.

 A wholesale move by the Bliss family to the Hertfordshire/Buckinghamshire border seems to have occurred in the 1860s. Maria Louisa’s father William died on 13^th September 1868, and in the last years of his life appears to have moved residence at least twice. His probate says that he was “formerly of Sloughland House, Chesham, but late of Great Missenden bothin the country of Buckinghamshire, Gentleman”. His death was reported in the Bedfordshire Times and Independent, on 22^nd September 1868 and he was called “William Bliss, Esq., late of Dean House, Upper Dean, Bedfordshire”.

His will was proved by the oaths of Maria Louisa’s mother and her brother, William Henry Bliss “of Great Missenden, farmer”. The following year, on 24^th August 1869, William Henry married Anne Elizabeth Franklin at Great Missenden. The couple gave Maria Louisa two nieces, Anne born in 1875 and Lucy born on 22^nd December 1880. In 1871 Maria Louisa’s mother and sister were living in Great Missenden High Street, with Maria being described as a Land and funder holder. Louisa Maria’s brother was also in Great Missenden as the landlord of the Blackhorse Public House, until he transferred the licence to one William Tulford in July 1871. These family ties were the reason that Maria Louisa’s daughter, Laura Ada Mary, was baptised at Great Missenden instead of St Peter’s, Berkhamsted.

In 1871 Clement and Maria Louisa were living in Gravel Path where Clement was still working as a Timber Merchant’s Clerk. This was the last census to enumerate Clement and Maria Louisa living together. In 1881 Maria Louisa was living with her mother, Maria, unmarried sister Ann Keen Bliss, and daughter Louisa Maria, in the village of Chiddingfold in Surrey. The ladies were sufficiently well-off to employ two servants to look after them.

The 1880’s saw a series of deaths in Maria’s family. Maria Louisa’s brother, William Henry died on 5^th December 1882 at Great Missenden, aged 51, living everything to his widow, Ann Elizabeth. Then her mother died at Chiddingfold on 17^th September 1888 and her will was proved by Maria Louisa’s sister, Ann Keen Bliss on 27^th December 1888. However, all was not well within the family as reported in the Bucks Herald of 9^th November 1889. The paper reported on a case as follows:

In the Probate, Divorce and Admiralty Division on Saturday last (before Mr Justice Butt), was tried the cause, “Bliss (by Savill, her guardian, ad litem) v. Bliss”., which was a suit to obtain the revocation of letters of administration with a will annexed, issued to the defendant in December 1882.

Mr. William Henry Bliss died in December 1882, and his widow, the defendant in this suit, who lives at Great Missenden, came to the court in the same month with a will executed by her late husband on 21st June 1878, which was in these terms:-“I hereby give and bequeath to my wife, Anne Elizabeth Bliss, all that I am possessed of, and all that I inherit”. She applied for letters of administration with that will annexed; there was no opposition, and she at once obtained them.

Within the last few months Mr Savill, who is married to one of the sisters of Mr Bliss, served a citation and writ on the widow, in which her daughter, who is a minor, was named plaintiff in the suit for revocation. The ground of this proceeding was the following paper, dated August 27, 1879: – “I W.H.Bliss, do hereby revoke and cancel all former wills made by me prior to this date – William Henry Bliss. Witnesses, Ann Keen Bliss, Elizabeth Bowdry”. The defendant pleaded that the deceased was not of sound mind on the 27^th of August 1879, and that the paper writing of that date was not duly executed.

The outcome of the case was that the will was revoked, but Anne Elizabeth was able to receive her costs out of her husband’s estate. We cannot know why Clement Saville was made guardian to his brother-in-law’s daughter; she was not living with him at the time of any census. In 1891 Lucy Bliss was living with her maternal grandmother, and when her mother died, she was one of her executors, so the dispute within the family appears to have been resolved.

Back in Chiddingfold, Maria Louisa seems to have taken her eldest daughter, Louisa Maria to live with her sister, Ann Keen Bliss on a permanent basis, to help look after her. The three ladies were living together at the time of the census in April 1891 at a house called Belle Vue in Chiddingfold. They were employing a nurse and a general domestic servant. Ann Keen Bliss died on 13^th May 1891 at Chiddingfold and was buried at the parish church on 16^th May 1891. Her will made on 1^st January 1883 was brief: This is the Last Will and Testament of me Ann Keen Bliss of Chiddingfold in the County of Surrey, spinster. I direct my just debts and funeral and testamentary expenses to be paid and after payment thereof I give all my estate property and effects whatso ever and wheresoever and whether vested or reversionary to my sister Maria Louisa Saville for her sole and separate use. And I appoint her Exectutrix of my will.

On 31^st July 1891 probate of the will was granted to Maria Louisa Saville, wife of Clement Harry Nelson Saville of Berkhamsted, the sole executrix.

The death of her sister seems to have resulted in Maria Louisa’s return to Berkhamsted. Happy family life was soon cut short as reported by The Bucks Herald dated 26^th December 1896.

“On Friday morning, Dec 18^th, the inhabitants [of Berkhamsted] were distressed by the intelligence of the sudden death of Mr Saville late on the previous evening, on his return from London, apparently in his usual good health. Mr. Saville was widely known as the representative, for a long period, of Messrs. Key and Son, timber merchants, of Berkhampstead, from whose service, however, he retired some years since.” An inquest was held at the Saville family home, No1 Montague Road, by Mr Walter Grover, coroner.

“The verdict of the jury was “Death from Natural Causes, probably failure of the action of the heart”. The foreman suggested that the coroner and the doctor should convey to Mrs Saville and the family the respectful condolences of the jury with them in their great loss. He had personally known Mr Saville for fourteen years, and some of them much longer than that. They all appreciated him as a genial, kind-hearted gentleman, who would never say an unkind word to anyone, and who would do a good turn if he could.”

Probate for Clement Harry Nelson Saville’s was awarded to his widow, Maria Louisa on 16^th February 1897 and his personal estate was valued at £862 11s 2d.

Maria Louisa survived her husband by less than three years, and appear to have left no will, although death duties were paid by her son, William Rivers Keen Saville. All four of her children remained living in the family home at 1 Montague Road. Sadly Maria Louisa never got to see her children happily married. The first to marry was her son, William Rivers keen Saville, who married Beatrice Caroline Rumsey of Forest Gate on 4^th August 1901 at St Peter’s, Berkhamsted. In the following year her eldest child, Maria Louisa Saville married Joseph Harry Allen a clerk from Kilburn on 12th August 1902 at St Peter’s in Berkhamsted. Her brother William Rivers Keen Saville was a witness.

Maria Louisa’s home at 1 Montague Road, was renamed Montague House, and become the home of her grandchildren, William Henry (born 1902) and Barbara Beatrice Saville (born 1904).