Beards Of Essex

As we have seen in the Origins section, the name Beard has deep roots in Gloucestershire. Some evidently made it across country to Essex.

Richard Beard¹ was born in either Little Dean or Cinderford, Gloucestershire around 1859. He appears to have moved to Uttoxeter in Staffordshire in 1881, and then to West Ham and ultimately to Great Dunmow in the 1880s. In 1901 he is recorded as an elementary school teacher; by 1911 he is working for the County Council. They lived initially on the High Street, and then at The Downs.

In 1887 he married Margaret Richards Rosewarne (born 2 July 1864 in Cornwall and died in 1910²), and they had four known children:

• George Henry Beard, born c1886 in West Ham
• Margaret Eliza Beard, baptised 29 September 1888 in Great Dunmow
• Richard Beard, baptised 6 October 1889 in Great Dunmow, who in 1913 married a Jeffrey in Great Dunmow. He doesnt appear in the 1911 census in Dunmow but is likely the Richard Beard found aboard a vessel in Newport Monmouthshire. Richard is known to have served in Royal Navy from 1916 to 1919, assigned variously to the Excellent, St George, Brilliant, Victory Ark Royal and Empress, and reaching the rank of Lieutenant, thereafter receiving a Mercantile Marine Ribbon in 1919 and a Mercantile Marine Medal in 1930. He was possibly resident in Roydon in 1916, and was linked to Aylsham in Norfolk in 1930.
• Rebecca Richards Rosewarne Beard, born c1893 in Great Dunmow. Still living with widowed father and brother George in 1911, at that time working as a Post Office Clerk. We know that in World War One she served in the Womens Army Auxiliary Corps as a “telegraphist” in 1917 – and was at that time in good health and stood at 5′ 3″!

According to census records of the time, George Henry Beard was a “Union Masters Clerk” in 1901, and a “Relieving Office for the Board of Guardians” in 1911. We have unusually detailed account of him by way of the Masonic Great War Project, which has the photo to the right and records the following:

“He had gained his aviators certificate no. 1095 whilst serving as a Flight Sub-Lieut in the Royal Naval Air Service (RNAS), in a Wright Biplane, at the Beatty School, Hendon on the February 20th, 1915.

BEARD, George Henry, Flight Commander, 7 Flight, B Squadron, No 5 Wing, RFC, George BEARD was killed in action, flying Caudron G.IV No. 9114 on a raid to St Denis Westrem. His body was recovered from the sea on 23 September 1916. He was awarded the DSC for services at Dunkerque since May 1915. He had twice attacked German submarines.

Probate record: BEARD, George Hency of The Downs, Dunmow, Essex flight commander, R.N.A.S. D.S.C. was last seen alive on 7th September 1916 and whose dead body was found on the 23rd September 1916 at sea. Administration, with will, at London 24th January to Richard Beard senior esquire. Effects £167 11s 10d.”

The Essex Review³ adds “Flight-Lieut G.H.Beard, RNAS, DSc who has done splendid work in submarine patrols and aircraft reconnaisances, has lost his life in the North Sea. His body was recovered and buried with full naval honours. He was the son of Mr Richard Beard, Master of the Church Schools at Dunmow. 1916.”

    [1] Essex Review Vol 25 p.170

According to FreeBMD:

• Birth – Dec 1889 – BEARD, Richard – Dunmow 4a 598
• Birth – Sep 1893 – BEARD, Rebecca Richards R – Dunmow 4a 673
• Marriage – Sep 1913 – BEARD, Richard (to Jeffrey) – Dunmow 4a 1807
• Marriage – Jun 1922 – BEARD, Rebecca R R (to Hurry) – Dunmow 4a 1897
• Death – Mar 1910 – BEARD, Margaret Richards – 45 years – Dunmow 4a 468
• Death – Dec 1934 – BEARD, Richard – 75 years – Dunmow 4a 942

1. Richard Beard (1859 – 1934) – Genealogy (geni.com) ↩︎
2. Margaret Richards Rosewarne (1864 – 1910) – Genealogy (geni.com) ↩︎
3. Essex Review Vol 25 p.170 ↩︎