Rectory Lane Cemetery, Berkhamsted

William Armetriding Frith (x323)

30/05/1827 –06/08/1900

Rector of Welby, Lincolnshire

Relatives

Mary Frith — wife

• Jane Beaty

Plot x323

William Armetriding FRITH, Priest, Rector of Welby, Lincolnshire 1867-1898
born 30^th May 1827, died on 6^th August 1900

William Armetriding FRITH was born into an ecclesiastical family in Bexley, Kent on 30^th May 1827 and baptised on 5^th June. His life started tragically because his mother Margaretta died four days after his birth, at only 33 years old. Her maiden name was Margaretta ARMETRIDING, hence William’s unusual middle name which he proudly used throughout his life.

William’s father was Edward Cokayne FRITH, who was left with a new baby son and five other children under the age of ten. Edward and Margaretta had been married at the church of Steeple Aston in Oxfordshire eleven years earlier in a service performed by the bride’s father as the Rector of the parish. Edward at this time was a chaplain to his majesty’s forces abroad and his own father was rector of a parish in Kent.

So, it was unsurprising that William was educated at Worcester College, Oxford and ordained on 15^th June 1851 at Lichfield before receiving his MA ten days later.

His ecclesiastical career started with a curacy at Handsworth, Birmingham then as the incumbent of Holy Trinity Gainsborough, Lincolnshire from 1850 to 1867. His final appointment was to the living at Welby, Lincolnshire as the Rector.

Welby’s St Bartholemew Church, in the diocese of Lincoln, dates from the 13^th century. During William’s 31 years as the Rector, the church building was much improved by a £450 rebuilding project involving improvement of the chancel and an extension to the North aisle. At the same time, in 1873 an organ was erected at a cost of £140. I think we can be sure that, as Rector, he would have been heavily involved in raising the money for these works.

The living, in the gift of the Bishop of Lincoln, had an annual value of £650 in 1885. That is the equivalent of over £1million today. The large church served a very small village and the surrounding agricultural area. In William’s time as the Rector of Welby there were 2 schools, two pubs, a butcher and a shop with a post office as well as various agricultural businesses.

In early 1855, during his time as the parish priest in Gainsborough, William married Mary SHARP in West Bromwich, Staffordshire. Mary was a Birmingham girl, 28 years old, the same age as William.

Whilst living in Gainsborough, the couple had two daughters followed by five sons. Their last child, Hugh was born at Welby. As the couple settled into Welby Rectory,  a substantial Grade II listed building, from 1867, their household grew to a considerable size. By 1871, when both William and Mary were 43, they were living with their eight children, aged between one and fifteen, a young governess and a nurse, plus a couple of housemaids and a laundry maid. One can only feel sympathy for the laundry maid.

During the last few years of William’s time in Welby he developed heart disease and grew quite unwell, eventually becoming unable to continue with his responsibilities. He and Mary moved to a house called “Belmont” in Kings Road, Berkhamsted. At the time their daughter Margaret Annie was in the area, as was their son Walter Sharp FRITH, a doctor and surgeon who lived in Rickmansworth. In their home in Berkhamsted they spent a peaceful eighteen months.

William died of a heart attack at “Belmont”, Kings Road, Berkhamsted on 6^th August 1900. He was 73 years old. His fulsome obituary in the Grantham Journal described him as a “universally loved and respected” man within the Welby community.  During the latter few years of his incumbency at Welby “his health gave way, and he was frequently urged by his friends to resign his charge. But he was unwilling to sever his connection with the flock whom he loved so well, as long as he had any strength to minister amongst them. At last, the time came when it was apparent that he could no longer fulfil his pastoral office, and with great regret he finally resigned his cure in December 1898. Although of unobtrusive character, there are few men who have been universally loved in their neighbourhood by all classes as Mr Frith. But it was in his own parish and amongst his own people that he was best known and best loved. His personal care for each soul committed to his charge; his real interest of all the details of their daily lives; his faithfulness in rebuking vice, combined with his gentleness and forbearance towards the erring; his unfailing geniality, and genuine affection, won for him the hearts of his people. His name will long be remembered amongst them with the greatest regard and love.”

William FRITH is buried in a fine grave  in plot x323. Probate was granted to his widow Mary FRITH. His estate was valued in Sept 1900 as £31,162, then revalued in Feb 1901 as £24,550. Either way this is the equivalent of over £3 million today.

In the immediate months after William died Mary spent some time in West Herrington, Co Durham where her unmarried son William Edward FRITH was the vicar of the local church, living with his unmarried sister Agnes Lily FRITH. So Mary was amongst her family.

But by the 1911 census Mary was back in Berkhamsted living as the head of the household at Belmont in Kings Road – a 14-room house. With her were her unmarried daughter Margaret Annie FRITH aged 55 plus three maids and a cook.

Mary died at “Belmont”, Kings Road on 19^th December 1920. Probate was granted to her daughter Margaret Annie and to Walter Sharp FRITH MD, her Rickmansworth son.

Mary Frith

17/12/1827 –19/12/1920

Wife of William Armetriding Frith, Rector of Welby

Relatives

William Armetriding Frith (x323) — husband

• Jane Beaty

Plot x323

Mary FRITH
born 17^th December 1827, died 19^th December 1920

Mary SHARP was born on 17^th December 1827 in Birmingham and baptised on
6th September 1830, together with her older sister Margaret and her younger sister Anne, at what was then St Philip’s Church in the centre of Birmingham. As Birmingham grew, and became a city in 1889, St Philip’s Church became Birmingham Cathedral. Mary’s parents were William, a wealthy merchant in the brass founding industry, and Margaret.

William and Margaret lived with their three daughters on Hunton Hill in Birmingham where William joined forces with Joseph STOCK to create the company of brass founders called Stock and Sharp. The brass trade founded in Birmingham in the 18^th century was a significant local industry by this time and Mary will have benefitted from the wealth and political influence enjoyed by her father. Over the years Stock and Sharp branched out into making both decorative and useful glass and lead items.

But by the time Mary was 23 in 1851, her mother Margaret had died, the company had been dissolved, and William had moved with his two daughters to a large house called The Larches on Stratford Road. They lived there with two of William’s brothers where the three men seem to have become owners of local properties. It was a prosperous household employing four servants.

During this time Mary met the young curate of St Michael’s Church, Handsworth, a nearby suburb of Birmingham. His name was William Armetriding FRITH, and he was the same age as her. The couple stayed in touch after 1854 when he was promoted to the priesthood in Gainsborough, Lincolnshire. And in  early 1855 the couple married in Birmingham, after which Mary moved away from her father to a new life as a vicar’s wife.

Whilst living in Gainsborough, the couple started their extensive family. Two daughters were born first – Margaret in 1855 and Agnes a couple of years later. They were followed by five sons – William, Herbert, Arthur, Cyril and Walter, born in 1867. Mary’s life must have been a busy one, although she did have help with the children, but she also had a standing in society as the wife of a busy vicar.

Later that year William received his last promotion to the position of the Rector of Welby. Their last child, Hugh was born there in 1870 when Mary was 42. As the couple settled into Welby Rectory,  a substantial, now Grade II listed building, their household was of a considerable size. By 1871, when both William and Mary were 43, they were living with their eight children, aged between one and fifteen, a young governess and a nurse, plus a couple of housemaids and a laundry maid. One can only feel sympathy for the laundry maid.

Mary and William lived at Welby for 30 years and were exceedingly well loved and respected by their community. Their children all left Welby in due course as they embarked on their various careers. Their eldest daughter Margaret went to Art College, two of their six sons became clergymen, and the other four were a Brigadier General in the Army, a mechanical engineer, a lawyer, and a surgeon. The daughters never married, the engineer emigrated to Canada and the lawyer to Australia. Mary and William had a few grandchildren although none of the family lived near to them.

During the last few years of William’s time in Welby he developed heart disease and grew quite unwell, eventually becoming unable to continue with his responsibilities. He and Mary moved to a house called “Belmont” in Kings Road, Berkhamsted. At the time their artist daughter Margaret Annie was in the London area, and their son Walter Sharp FRITH, a doctor and surgeon, lived in Rickmansworth.

Sadly, their peaceful retirement only lasted eighteen months. William died of a heart attack at “Belmont”, Kings Road, Berkhamsted on 6^th August 1900. He was 73 years old.

In the immediate months after William died, Mary spent some time in West Herrington, County Durham where her unmarried son William Edward FRITH was the vicar of the local church, living with his sister Agnes Lily FRITH. So Mary was amongst her family.

But by the 1911 census Mary was back in Berkhamsted living as the head of the household at “Belmont” in Kings Road – a 14-room house. Living with her were her unmarried daughter Margaret Annie FRITH aged 55 plus three maids and a cook. Mary had inherited a large number of Great Western Railway shares from William, worth over £30,000 at the time so I think we can assume that her nine years in Berkhamsted were reasonably comfortable.

Mary died at “Belmont”, Kings Road on 19^th December 1920, a couple of days after her
93^rd birthday. Probate was granted to her daughter Margaret Annie and to Walter Sharp FRITH MD, her Rickmansworth son.