Rectory Lane Cemetery, Berkhamsted

Charles Waterton

1831 –06/03/1915

During his long life worked as a charcoal burner, bricklayer, publican and gardener

Relatives

Emma Waterton (815) — wife

• Christopher Dolton

CHARLES WATERTON: 1831 – 1915

Charles was born in 1831 in Frithsden. Charles was the first of nine children[1] born to William and Eliza Waterton. Charles’ mother and several of his sisters were straw plaiters. Straw-plaiting was a profitable cottage industry in the Berkhamsted region in Victorian times, supplying plaited straw to the hat makers of Luton and Dunstable. It was work predominantly undertaken by women and children. In 1851 45% of women working in Berkhamsted were engaged in plaiting straw and in the more rural areas, as one might expect, the percentage was higher; in Frithsden, it was 89%.

The work was well paid and a woman working at home could earn more than a labourer.   “…it was a profitable occupation and in the first half of the 19^th century many women and children earned more than men who laboured in the fields. A good hand at Berkhamsted could earn about 15s a week-then a handsome wage-…Farmers complained that straw plaiting “did mischief, making the poor saucy, rendering the women adverse to husbandry and causing a dearth of indoor servants and field labourers.” (Birtchnell, A Short History of Berkhamsted.)  Nash commented that without the income to be earned from straw plaiting, “it is hard to say what would have been the condition of the labouring class had not their incomes been supplemented by this means.”

Charles’ father was a charcoal maker and in 1851, Charles was himself also a charcoal maker, no doubt working alongside his father[2] using wood available from nearby Frithsden Copse. The work was highly skilled and involved stacking the wood to be turned into charcoal into a mound around a firing shaft made of brushwood, the whole pile then being covered with earth to prevent air getting to the fire. The firing shaft was then ignited.  The charcoal burn could take up to five days and had to be constantly monitored to ensure that the pile neither went out nor went up in flames.

On 12^th September 1851 Charles married. His bride was 18 years old Emma Waterton. Emma had been born in Berkhamsted, but at the time the 1851 census was taken she was living on Berkhamsted common, not far from Frithsden where Charles lived. By 1861 Charles and Emma had moved to Potten End and Charles was then working as a bricklayer. Emma had by that date given birth to four children. The oldest, Frank, was born in 1854, followed by Jane in 1856. In 1859 Emma gave birth to a third child, Marcus, but he died shortly after birth. Anne was born in 1860, followed by Cornelius, 1863, Sidney, 1866, and Leonora, 1868.

By 1871 Charkes had changed employment again and was working as a labourer in a nursery. A further ten years saw the family having moved to Bourne End where Charles had been become the licensee of The Anchor public House, although the census return for that year tells us he was also working as a gardener. In 1891 Emma and Charles, together with their youngest daughter, Leonora, and a grand-daughter, five years old Kate Waterton, had moved to Berkhamsted’s High Street where Emma kept a shop. Charles was then to infirm to work; he is described as a “gardener (unabled).

Emma died on 19^th April 1900 at the age of 60. Charles moved to Western Road, Tring, where he boarded in the home of Sarah Brittain,[3] but he subsequently moved back to Berkhamsted as his address at the date of his death on 6^th March 1915 was 14 Park Street, Berkhamsted. Charles was buried alongside Emma.

Emma Waterton (815)

1833 –19/04/1900

Wife of Charles Waterton

Relatives

Charles Waterton — husband

• Christopher Dolton

EMMA WATERTON: 1833 – 1900

Emma was born on 25^th May 1833 and baptised at St Peter’s church, Berkhamsted on 7^th July that year. Her parents were Francis and Ann Thorn. Emma’s father died in 1839. Although it has not been possible to find a record of the marriage, Emma’s mother Ann seems to have remarried after Francis’ death. Her second husband was James Potton a bricklayer. In the census return of 1841 we find eight years old Emma living in Berkhamsted. The head of the household is identified as James Potton and Ann’s surname is also given as Potton. Unfortunately, the 1841 census does not provide information about marital status, although that of 1851 does and on that census return, Ann and James are both described as married. 

The 1851 census also reveals that Ann, Emma and James were living on Berkhamsted Common in the home of Ann’s mother Hannah Ward. Hannah, then aged 74 had been a lace maker but had retired by 1851. James continued to work as a bricklayer and both Emma and her mother were straw plaiters.

Later that year, on 12^th September, Emma married Charles Waterton in St Peter’s Church. Charles, from Frithsden, near to where Emma was living in 1851, worked with his father making charcoal, but by 1861 he and Emma had moved to Potten End and Charles was then working as a bricklayer. Emma had by that date given birth to four children. The oldest, Frank, was born in 1854, followed by Jane in 1856. In 1859 Emma gave birth to a third child, Marcus, but he died shortly after birth. Anne was born in 1860, followed by Cornelius, 1863, Sidney, 1866, and Leonora, 1868.

By 1871 Charkes had changed employment again and was working as a labourer in a nursery. A further ten years saw the family having moved to Bourne End where Charles had been become the licensee of The Anchor public House, although the census return for that year tells us he was also working as a gardener. In 1891 Emma and Charles, together with their youngest daughter, Leonora, and a grand-daughter, five years old Kate Waterton, had moved to Berkhamsted’s High Street where Emma kept a shop. 60 years old Charles evidently was then to infirm to work; he is described as a “gardener (unabled).”

Emma died on 19^th April 1900 at the age of 60.