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MORRIS, Tyttenhanger, near St Albans, early 20th century May, 2003 |
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This page has been archived - no further updates - see Mothballed Pages |
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MORRIS, Tyttenhanger, near St Albans, early 20th century May, 2003 |
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This page has been archived - no further updates - see Mothballed Pages |
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Steve Parish (steve.parish @t ihsenergy.com) of Tyttenhanger Green, St Albans, writes I am the Booking Officer of the Charles Morris Hall , Tyttenhanger Green, St Albans. The Hall was built in the early 1970s at the behest of the residents of Tyttenhanger Green. The building was financed by the sale to the City & District Council of land left to the the community by the late Charles Morris, a local businessman, after whom the Hall is named. I know Charles Morris lived at Highfield Hall, Tyttenhanger Green but since his demise (in the mid 20th Century?) this building has been converted into 29 apartments.
I would like to include on the Hall's website (www.charlesmorrishall.org.uk) some history about Charles Morris but I have been unable to find any on the web. My e-mail requests to the Times and Daily Telegraph for possible obituaries of Charles Morris have gone unanswered. I would be obliged if you could provide any information on Charles Morris or point me in the direction of sources of such information.
Your starting point should be the St Albans street directories in the St Albans Central Library - as they have them for nearly every year from about 1880 to the mid 20th century. I have access to a few of the less informative county directories (see archiveCDbooks) and in 1922 I noted that a Charles Morris, of London Colney, was listed as a magistrate under St Albans. Switching to the London Colney entry he is listed as "Morris, Charles, J.P., Highfield Hall, T N 59, St Albans." and is also listed as one of the principal landowners in London Colney. [A Joshua Harmond East was at Highfield Hall in 1890.]
He is not listed under London Colney in the 1937 county directory, while the 1929 directory has a reference to the executors of Charles Morris. This suggests he died sometime between 1922 and 1929 and the St Albans directories will probably allow you to estimate a more precise date. Someone who was a major landowner and a magistrate would almost certainly have left a will, and a visit to First Avenue House should turn up information on his date and place of death within a hour - with a longer wait if you want to see the will on the same day.
Back to St Albans Central Library and, once you have the date of death, you should be able to go straight to the relevant microfilmed copy of the Herts Advertiser and find the obituary and description of his funeral. He was probably not important enough to get an obituary in The Times - but there is a copy of the Times on microfilm at the New Barnsfield Library, Hatfield, together with an index.
The obituary should give clues as to where else to search - and may provide enough information to locate him on the 1881 and 1901 censuses. Let me know what you find.
