Henry and Emma Kalbitzer Suggested by Tim Harding February 2026
The Old Golf Clubhouse on Lower Kingsdown Road (courtesy Carol Payne)
Henry and Emma Kalbitzer lived at the Golf Clubhouse, Lower Kingsdown Road from at least 1901 to 1911, where Emma was employed as the golf club caretaker and Henry lived on his British Army pension. Henry (1838-1920) was born in Germany at Uslar, Saling, Hanover, where his father George worked as a baker. Henry came to England as a child and joined the British Army in 1858 as a private in the 109th Foot Regiment. The regiment was originally raised by the East India Company and played a significant role against the Indian Mutiny of 1857-59. Henry served 21 years in the military, 19 years of which were in India, in 1861 at Kurrachee (Karachi now in Pakistan) and in 1871 at Roorkee (north-east India encompassing part of the Himalayas). He married in India in October 1869 and had a child but the couple separated only a few months later in 1870 and their child died. Henry appears to have focused his attention on his military service and rose through the ranks to role of Colour Sergeant.
Henry was clearly very popular with his fellow soldiers. On his retirement in 1879 he was presented with a silver tankard by his fellows and other ranks.[1] He had an enhanced Chelsea pension for his good conduct and long service and took a job as second steward of Bradfield College, Reading. He moved again quite soon and in 1881 was working at the Grammar School, Eton, where he described his role as overlooker of the pupils and his occupation as drill sergeant teacher.
In 1882 Henry married again to Emma West (1854-1922) in Bath. Emma was a spinster aged 28, the daughter of William, agricultural labourer, and Mary Ann West from Kingsdown. By the age of 17, Emma was living in as a domestic servant for a butcher in Bath. Henry and Emma stayed in Box, living for a time at Prospect Cottages. However, Henry’s past caught up with him when his first wife came to light. She had also remarried, saying that she believed Henry had died. Her marriage to Henry was annulled in 1887 in India and the matter came before British courts in 1890.[2]
Henry was clearly very popular with his fellow soldiers. On his retirement in 1879 he was presented with a silver tankard by his fellows and other ranks.[1] He had an enhanced Chelsea pension for his good conduct and long service and took a job as second steward of Bradfield College, Reading. He moved again quite soon and in 1881 was working at the Grammar School, Eton, where he described his role as overlooker of the pupils and his occupation as drill sergeant teacher.
In 1882 Henry married again to Emma West (1854-1922) in Bath. Emma was a spinster aged 28, the daughter of William, agricultural labourer, and Mary Ann West from Kingsdown. By the age of 17, Emma was living in as a domestic servant for a butcher in Bath. Henry and Emma stayed in Box, living for a time at Prospect Cottages. However, Henry’s past caught up with him when his first wife came to light. She had also remarried, saying that she believed Henry had died. Her marriage to Henry was annulled in 1887 in India and the matter came before British courts in 1890.[2]
Life in the Golf Clubhouse
By 1901 Henry and Emma were appointed to manage the clubhouse for the Kingsdown Golf Club and lived in at the Golf Cottage, Lower Kingsdown Road. In the club minutes of 1892 the property was referred to as “Mr Stainers Cottage”, so at some point Mr Stainer moved out and Mr and Mrs Kalbitzer replaced the Stainers and the name of the property was changed. The Kalbitzers lived next door to Emma’s younger brother John (1847-) and his wife Sarah (1852-).
Local resident, Victor Painter, recalled the Kalbitzers fondly as very nice people.[3] They adopted a son, Edward (known as Ted) W Albert Kalbitzer (1882-1952), who worked for John Brooke at the bakery in the Firs and delivered bread locally by horse and cart. In 1913 Ted married Alice Fletcher, who Victor Painter described as a real nice lady that was an expert in making wedding and birthday cakes also Christmas cakes. They moved to Bathford.
The club room was basically a corrugated iron hut built in the garden of the cottage. The plans show it was about 20 foot by 12 foot and rather basic. It was used to store clubs and wet weather clothing in lockers. Emma Kalbitzer provided food and beverage for the golfers in the main cottage and kept the club room clean. Henry appears to have been appointed greenkeeper in 1899 with a wage of 7 shillings per week. He resigned at the end of 1906 when Harry Painter took over. The Kalbitzers appear to have stayed in the cottage and the club provided the Painters with rent-free accommodation at Hundred Acre Cottage.
After Harry Painter was called up as a National Reservist in October 1914 and Ted Kalbitzer was engaged as Head Greenkeeper at 17 shillings per week.[4] There are references to the Kalbitzers in the minutes of the golf club including the following in 1915:
By 1901 Henry and Emma were appointed to manage the clubhouse for the Kingsdown Golf Club and lived in at the Golf Cottage, Lower Kingsdown Road. In the club minutes of 1892 the property was referred to as “Mr Stainers Cottage”, so at some point Mr Stainer moved out and Mr and Mrs Kalbitzer replaced the Stainers and the name of the property was changed. The Kalbitzers lived next door to Emma’s younger brother John (1847-) and his wife Sarah (1852-).
Local resident, Victor Painter, recalled the Kalbitzers fondly as very nice people.[3] They adopted a son, Edward (known as Ted) W Albert Kalbitzer (1882-1952), who worked for John Brooke at the bakery in the Firs and delivered bread locally by horse and cart. In 1913 Ted married Alice Fletcher, who Victor Painter described as a real nice lady that was an expert in making wedding and birthday cakes also Christmas cakes. They moved to Bathford.
The club room was basically a corrugated iron hut built in the garden of the cottage. The plans show it was about 20 foot by 12 foot and rather basic. It was used to store clubs and wet weather clothing in lockers. Emma Kalbitzer provided food and beverage for the golfers in the main cottage and kept the club room clean. Henry appears to have been appointed greenkeeper in 1899 with a wage of 7 shillings per week. He resigned at the end of 1906 when Harry Painter took over. The Kalbitzers appear to have stayed in the cottage and the club provided the Painters with rent-free accommodation at Hundred Acre Cottage.
After Harry Painter was called up as a National Reservist in October 1914 and Ted Kalbitzer was engaged as Head Greenkeeper at 17 shillings per week.[4] There are references to the Kalbitzers in the minutes of the golf club including the following in 1915:
- Mrs Kallitzer was given a gratuity of 10 shillings from club funds having sustained losses in catering. It was decided to put up a notice stating that Mrs Kallitzer was authorised to supply tea with bread and butter for 6d per head, cake & jam 9d. Luncheons ordered beforehand should be paid for whether consumed or not !
- It was resolved to pay Mrs Kallitzer a commission on the sale of balls - 2d, 1½d and 1d on 2s.6d, 1s.6d and 1s balls respectively.
Victor Painter’s memories of Kingsdown before the Great War are often colourful. In one memory he recalled Dr MacBryan who owned and ran the Kingsdown Mental Asylum and was an active committee member of the Golf Club: Many of the gentlemen in Kingsdown House (patients) played golf and very good they were too! Several of them played together and a male attendant would always be with them, although occasionally one gentleman would play on his own. One hot, sunny day Ted Kalbitzer was lying down near the first tee when a nice gentleman from the Asylum asked Ted if he would put a golf ball on his head so he could take a good swing towards number one green. When Ted looked up and realised where the man had come up from, he got up and made for home! [5]
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Kalbitzers in Wartime
The family surname made them stand out as different, especially at a time of growing British hostility to German industrialisation and imperial expansion after 1871. Their attempt to integrate into local society was not easy. In 1886 some locals objected to Henry’s right to vote on the grounds that he was an alien.[6] In 1901 Henry described his nationality in the census as British subject. Edward was called up to served in the First World War but, as a German-born foreigner, Henry was treated very differently and obliged to report to the police every week. Henry died in 1920 and was buried in Box Cemetery, plot 204. These were difficult times for the family. Emma’s brother John was unemployed in 1921, describing his work situation as None at present, late JC Burt, GWR Goods Agent. 9 out of work. Next door Emma Kalbitzer lost her employment when the Golf Club moved its clubhouse from the Lower Kingsdown Road to its present location on the Downs. Victor Painter felt sorry for her: A new Golf Club house was built on the side of the road by Kingsdown Fairdown so the Old Golf Club house on Mrs Kalbitzer's ground was pulled down and Mrs Kalbitzer really missed the job of catering and cooking lovely meals for those Golf Club members over the many years and all the members thought so much of Mrs Kalbitzer for looking after them so well. |
Henry Kalbitzer’s grave, Box Cemetery (courtesy Carol Payne)
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To survive, Emma married again in 1921 to William Henry Benjamin (1864-1930), a stone quarryman, from Woodstock Cottages, Box, an unmarried man aged 57. The arrangement probably suited them both but it was a shock to the residents of Kingsdown: Out of the blue came romance for Mrs Kalbitzer a younger man that was asking for her hand. William had already married late in life to Emily (1858-), six years older than him, in 1911 and the lived at 3 Mill Lane, but she died in 1914. His second marriage was also short because Emma died a year afterwards in 1922. Victor Painter again took sides against William Benjamin: the word got around to say that this well-known lady of Kingsdown had passed away, and everyone around really felt sad and later to find out that her house and home and the large grounds had all been made over to this man who lost no time in selling the whole lot. A little story Ted Kalbitzer told me himself and that was how Ted went to his mother's old home at Kingsdown very soon after getting to know there was nothing being left to Ted and to let the fellow that robbed them know that Ted did not like the dirty way it had been carried out, caught hold of a loaded eating apple tree and Ted shook and shook the tree until every apple was on the ground and then Ted walked back to his wife at Bathford feeling more content.
References
[1] Naval & Military Gazette, 10 October 1879
[2] The Bath Chronicle, 27 December 1890
[3] https://www.choghole.co.uk/victor/victormain.hrm
[4] Golf Club Minutes Book, 10 October 1914
[5] Kingsdown Gold Club newsletter, December 1996
[6] The Bath Herald, 1 October 1886
[1] Naval & Military Gazette, 10 October 1879
[2] The Bath Chronicle, 27 December 1890
[3] https://www.choghole.co.uk/victor/victormain.hrm
[4] Golf Club Minutes Book, 10 October 1914
[5] Kingsdown Gold Club newsletter, December 1996
[6] The Bath Herald, 1 October 1886