Rectory Lane Cemetery, Berkhamsted

Mary Ann Weston

03/03/1836 –01/11/1912

A straw plaiter and bonnet sower; married Frederick Weston

Relatives

Frederick Weston (827) — husband

• Jane Dickson

Plot 827 – Mary Ann Weston (née Butterfield)

Mary Anne Butterfield was born in Berkhamsted on 3^rd March 1836, the daughter of Joseph Butterfield and Sarah née Andrew. She was baptised at St Peter’s Berkhamsted on 16^th July 1837. Her father worked as a Labourer. Her sister Charlotte Maria was born on 14^th December 1838 but died aged 3 in February 1842. Another sister, Sarah, was born on 18^th September 1840. The family has not been found in the 1841 Census; in 1851 Mary Anne’s parents and sister Sarah lived in Berkhamsted High Street. Her father was a gardener’s labourer and her mother a straw plaiter. Straw plaiting was a cottage industry, providing vital income for women and children, with the plaits going to the Luton and Dunstable hat industry. Skilled straw plaiters earned more than agricultural labourers. The chalky soils of the area produced straight but pliable wheat straw, which was especially suitable for plaiting, after being cleaned, cut into lengths and sometimes split, to allow finer and more intricate patterns to be plaited.

By 1851, 15-year-old Mary Ann was working as a bonnet sewer in Luton, lodging in Castle Street in the household of Richard and Hannah Gosbell. Eliza Butterfield, 23, also lodged there and was similarly employed, but it is unclear whether they were related. It is probable that Mary Ann and Eliza had both worked as straw plaiters as children. In the 1850s, bonnet making was a cottage industry with plait bundles taken home by the hat makers. They were wetted, to make the fibres pliable, then coiled and stitched into bonnets. In 1851, this would have been done by hand, but sewing machines were introduced during the 1850s, making it possible to increase production, and encouraging the development of the first factories. These often started in buildings attached to the rear of a home, as found in the High Town area of Luton¹. However, Mary Ann did not stay in Luton; by 1861 she was back in Berkhamsted, living in the High Street with her parents and sister Sarah. All three women were straw plaiters while Mary Ann’s father worked as a domestic gardener/ labourer.

In the 3^rd Quarter of 1869 at the age of 33 Mary Ann married 29-year-old Frederick Weston in Berkhamsted. Frederick, born in Coldharbour, Harpenden, had moved to Berkhamsted to work for Mr Joseph Willmott, a corn and cattle dealer, initially as a cow boy. He too lived in Berkhamsted High Street. Mary Ann and Frederick’s first child, Eliza Jane, was born in 1870. The 1871 Census shows them living at Cross Oak Lodge, next door to the Willmott family at Cross Oak. Joseph Willmott was recorded as a Farmer of 70 acres, employing 3 men and 1 boy. One of those men was Frederick. Mary Ann, mother of 8-month-old Eliza, was a straw plaiter – a trade which she could undertake at home. A second daughter, Louisa Rose, was born in 1875.

By 1881, they had moved to Lower Kitsbury Road. Frederick, by then aged 40, had left farming and was a grocer’s assistant. He and Mary Ann had 3 children: 10-year-old Eliza Jane and Louisa aged 6, who were at school, and Fanny, aged 1. Mary Ann’s widowed father Joseph Butterfield (79), an unemployed gardener, was with them. Frederick is recorded as a grocer’s porter in 1891, by which time they had moved again, to the High Street. By that time Mary Ann was no longer working. The 3 girls were still living at home; Eliza Jane worked as a dressmaker and Louisa as a draper’s assistant. Fanny was 11, but there is no mention of school. The 1901 Census records their address more precisely: 246 High Street, where both Mary Ann and Frederick remained until their deaths. The whole family were still there in 1901, Eliza Jane working at home as a Seamstress and both Louisa and Fanny as draper’s assistants.

The 1911 Census revealed that Mary Ann had 4 children, one of whom had not survived. A daughter, also named Mary Ann, had been born in summer 1872 but lived for less than a year. 70-year-old Frederick was still working as a grocer’s porter in 1911 and, of their three daughters, only Fanny was left at home with her parents; both Eliza Jane and Louisa had married.

On 1^st November the following year, 76-year-old Mary Ann died. She was buried in Rectory Lane on 7^th November 1912.

Reference:

1.       History on your Head – Hats of Straw https://historyonyourhead.com/hats-of-straw/

Frederick Weston (827)

03/06/1840 –02/04/1914

A domestic servant and later a grocer's assistant; husband of Mary Ann weston

Relatives

Mary Ann Weston — wife

• Jane Dickson

Plot 827 – Frederick Weston

Frederick’s Baptism record shows that he was born on 3^rd June 1840 in Harpenden and baptised there on 12^th July that year. His parents were Joshua and Eliza, both of whom were recorded as aged 20 (so between 18 and 22) in the 1841 Census. At that time they lived at Coldharbour, Harpenden and his father was a Labourer. By 1851, Frederick had five siblings: Sophia (b. 1842), Emma (b. 1843), Louisa (b. 1846 but d. 1856), Thomas (b. 1848) and Mary Ann (b.1850). His parents, who continued to live at Coldharbour, had a further six children: Clara (b. 1852), Harriet (b. 1854), Sarah Anne (b. 1856), Jane (b. 1858), Rose (b.1861) and William (b.1863). It cannot have been easy for a Labourer to feed so many. However, by 1861, both Frederick and his brother Thomas had moved to Berkhamsted High Street where they were servants in the household of Joseph Willmott, Corn and Cattle Dealer and his wife Sarah. 20-year-old Frederick was a carter and 18-year-old Thomas a cow boy.

In the 3^rd Quarter of 1869, Frederick married Mary Ann Butterfield in Berkhamsted. Their first child, Eliza Jane, was born a year later. The 1871 Census shows them living at Cross Oak Lodge, next door to the Willmott family at Cross Oak. Joseph Willmott was recorded as a Farmer of 70 acres, employing 3 men and 1 boy. One of those men was Frederick. Mary Ann, mother of 8-month-old Eliza, was a straw plaiter. Straw plaiting was a cottage industry, providing vital income for women and children, with the plaits going to the Luton and Dunstable hat industry and skilled straw plaiters earning more than agricultural labourers. The chalky soils of the area produced straight but pliable wheat straw which was especially suitable for plaiting, after being cleaned, cut into lengths and sometimes split, to allow finer and more intricate patterns to be plaited.

A second daughter, Louisa Rose, was born in 1875 and, by 1881, the family had moved to Lower Kitsbury Road. Frederick, by then aged 40, had left farming and was a grocer’s assistant. He and Mary Ann had 3 children: 10-year-old Eliza Jane and Louisa aged 6, who were at school, and Fanny, aged 1. Mary Ann’s widowed father Joseph Butterfield (79), an unemployed gardener, was with them. Frederick is recorded as a grocer’s porter in 1891, by which time they had moved again, to the High Street. The 3 girls were still living at home; Eliza Jane worked as a dressmaker and Louisa as a draper’s assistant. Fanny was 11, but there is no mention of school. The 1901 Census records their address more precisely: 246 High Street. The whole family were still there, Eliza Jane working at home as a Seamstress and both Louisa and Fanny as draper’s assistants.

70-year-old Frederick was still working as a grocer’s porter in 1911. That census shows that Mary Ann had 4 children, though one did not survive. A daughter, Mary Ann, born in summer 1872, lived for less than a year. By 1911 only Fanny was left at home with her parents; both Eliza and Louisa had married.

Frederick’s wife Mary Ann of 246 High Street, Berkhamsted died aged 76 on 1^st November 1912 and was buried in Rectory Lane Cemetery on 7^th November. Frederick continued to live at that address until his death aged 73 on 2^nd April 1914. On 8^th April that year he was buried in Plot 827 with Mary Ann.