More Operative Masons Margaret Wakefield December 2021
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Above Henry Lambert and his wife Jane Kingston seen in old age (courtesy Margaret Wakefield, nee Lambert)
When trawling through the internet one day, I found a record of obituaries of members of the Operative Society of Masons, referred to in your last issue by Jane Hussey. The list included payments of £10 and £5 respectively made on the death of my great-grandfather Henry Lambert (1829-1909) who died of senile decay, and his wife Jane (1835-1907) who died of exhaustion !! They had both been born in Doulting, Somerset, where Henry worked as a freestone mason before he and Jane moved to Box between 1851 and 1858 (probably around the time of their marriage in 1856). All their children were born in Box including Thomas Herbert and Alfred, who built the pair of villas on the London Road, which they named after their mother’s family, Kingston.
Interestingly, Charles Lionel Shell was another member of the Shell family, many of whom were members of the Operative Society of Masons, mentioned by Jane Hussey. I think CL Shell might have been one of the last of the Shell clan in the village. He lived at 1 Kingston Villas (next door to Thomas Herbert Lambert) during the First World War and his name was shown on the gate when the Great War soldiers were commemorated.
Interestingly, Charles Lionel Shell was another member of the Shell family, many of whom were members of the Operative Society of Masons, mentioned by Jane Hussey. I think CL Shell might have been one of the last of the Shell clan in the village. He lived at 1 Kingston Villas (next door to Thomas Herbert Lambert) during the First World War and his name was shown on the gate when the Great War soldiers were commemorated.