Introduction
Albert Burt was a bootmaker in the High Street at Hardington for a brief period in the late 1880s. After losing his first wife to tuberculosis, he moved to Lichfield, where he found business success and remarried.
Childhood at Hardington
Born in 1864 at Hardington, Albert was the son of Lazarus and Elizabeth Burt. His father was a labourer who later became the landlord of the Butcher’s Arms, Yeovil.
Life at Yetminster
By April 1881, Albert was working as a shoemaker at Yetminster, where he lodged with Charles Jesty, a railway plate layer.
Return to Hardington
By August 1885, Albert had returned to Hardington, where he advertised a bicycle for sale.[1]
On 14 September 1885, at Yetminster, Albert married Frances Jeffery, the youngest daughter of Henry and Elizabeth Jeffery. Henry was a butcher, and his wife was the village schoolmistress.
Albert and Frances established their home at Hardington, where Albert worked as a bootmaker and a grocer.
In August 1887, he was fined 5s and costs for having unjust scales.[2]
Albert and Frances had two daughters: Elizabeth Maud, born at Hardington on 25 April 1886, and Mabel Frances, born at Yetminster on 12 September 1888. Mabel was probably born at her maternal grandmother’s home.
Tragedy strikes
On 21 February 1889, Albert’s older brother, Alfred Charles Burt, died at the Butcher’s Arms, Yeovil, aged 26.[3] By then, Albert’s wife was probably showing symptoms of tuberculosis of the spine, a dreadful disease that would eventually take her life. She and her daughters moved to her mother’s home at Yetminster to facilitate her care. Sadly, no amount of care could save her, and she passed away on 4 September 1889 at the young age of 28. Following her death, her daughters remained with their grandmother while Albert sought a fresh start.
Move to Lichfield
Albert moved to Lichfield to manage a boot shop at 35 Market Street. The 1891 census recorded his nineteen-year-old sister, Emily Jane, living with him as a boot saleswoman.
Second marriage
In 1892, Albert married Henrietta Mary Ward, an assistant schoolmistress. The following year, his sister, Emily Jane, married Edward William Cureton, a brewer’s clerk.
Business success
At about this time, Albert may have borrowed £200 from his father at 3.5% interest.[4]
By September 1896, Albert had his own business as a shoe and boot dealer at 9 Bird Street, Lichfield. In March 1901, his household included his wife, their two sons and his daughter, Elizabeth Maud, from his first marriage. Albert’s daughter, Enid Mary, was born on 20 February 1903.
By 14 September 1906, when Albert and his brother, William, obtained probate for their late father’s will, Albert described himself as a boot manufacturer.[5]
In 1905 or 1906, Albert moved to Cedar House, Gravelly Hill North, a suburb of Birmingham.[6]
Early death
Four months after his father’s death, Albert also passed away. He died from acute nephritis (inflammation of the kidneys) on 8 December 1906, aged 41.[7]
His will
Albert’s estate was valued at £1,869 18s 5d.
He directed his executors to convert his estate into money, invest the resulting sum and pay his widow the income during her widowhood. After her death or remarriage, his children inherited the capital as tenants in common.[8]
Henrietta’s later life
In April 1911, Henrietta Burt was a landlady residing at 65 Clarendon Road, Southsea, with her daughter Enid and one servant.
By June 1921, Henrietta and Enid had returned to Lichfield, living at 21 Market Street, where Enid studied to become a doctor’s dispenser.
By 1928, Henrietta and Enid lived at Box in Wiltshire, where on 26 May 1928, Enid married Jack Brenton Shewring, a bank clerk.[9] Henrietta spent her final years with Enid and her husband at Paramount, Dunstone Road, Plymstock, Devon. She died on 13 August 1947, aged 81, leaving an estate valued at £1,303 7s 9d. In her later years, she wrote Gospel leaflets under the name “H. M. B.”[10]
Albert and Henrietta’s two sons
Albert and Henrietta’s two sons were killed in the First World War.
Albert Gordon Burt emigrated to Australia in 1912 and enlisted in the army, where he rose to the rank of sergeant. He died at sea on 4 September 1919 from wounds received while serving in France. He is commemorated on his brother’s headstone and the Hollybrook War Memorial at Southampton.
The other son, Frank Elliot Burt, attended Stratford-upon-Avon Grammar School. He served as a second lieutenant with the 6th North Staffordshire regiment and was killed in France on 3 October 1918.
The will of Lazarus Burt[11]
Lazarus Burt appointed his sons, Albert and William Giles, executors and trustees.
He instructed them to convert his real and personal estate into money, invest the proceeds and pay his wife 8s per week for life for her sole and separate use. On her death, he left £35 in equal shares to Emily and Alice, the daughters of his late wife, Caroline, and the residue to his four children, Albert, Henry, William Giles and Emily Jane, equally. He instructed them not to call in the loan at 3.5% interest to his son, Albert, so long as Albert paid the interest and, when his wife died, to set £200 against the share of the residue to which Albert was entitled.
References
[1] Western Gazette, 14 August 1885, p.4.
[2] Western Gazette, 5 August 1887, p.6.
[3] Western Gazette, 1 March 1889, p.1.
[4] The will of Lazarus Burt, dated 13 April 1901, proved in London on 14 September 1906.
[5] The will of Lazarus Burt, dated 13 April 1901, proved in London on 14 September 1906.
[6] The will of Lazarus Burt, dated 13 April 1901, proved in London on 14 September 1906.
[7] Lichfield Mercury, 14 December 1906, p.5.
[8] The will of Albert Burt, dated 29 June 1905, proved in London on 11 January 1907.
[9] Bath Chronicle and Weekly Gazette, 2 June 1928 p.11.
[10] Lichfield Mercury, 22 August 1947, p.6.
[11] The will of Lazarus Burt, dated 13 April 1901, proved in London on 14 September 1906.
