Herbert Frederick Batten

Father of Colin Victor Batten

Born:

1 Aug 1909 Hampstead, Middlesex, England

Baptised:

10 Oct 1909 St John's Church, Hampstead, Middlesex, England

Married:

31 Mar 1934 Wesleyan Methodist Central Hall, Burnt Oak, Middlesex, England to Alice Mary Flower

Died:

10 Sep 1980 Luton, Bedfordshire, England. Age 71

Cause of death:

Malignant lymphoma

Timeline

Aug 1909

Oct 1909

1911-1915

1918-1926

1928-1934

Mar 1934

1934-1935

Jul 1936

1939

1942-1977

Dec 1977

1979-1980

Sep 1980

Born at parents' home at 63 Campden Buildings, Holly Bush Vale, Hampstead, Middlesex [1]

Baptised at St John's Church in Hampstead, Middlesex [2]

Lived with parents at 4C Willow Buildings, Willow Road, Hampstead, Middlesex [3] [4] [5]

Lived with parents at 11 Branch Hill Mews, Hampstead, Middlesex [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11]

Lived with parents at 19 Silkstream Road, Burnt Oak, Middlesex [12] [13] [14] [15]

Married Alice Mary Flower at the Wesleyan Methodist Central Hall, Burnt Oak, Middlesex. Worked as a bricklayer [15]

Lived with wife at 26 Downhurst Avenue, Mill Hill, Middlesex [16] [17]

Birth of first child. Lived with wife at 26 Downhurst Avenue, Mill Hill, Middlesex. Worked as builder's bricklayer [18]

Lived with family at 5 Booth Road, Colindale, Middlesex. Worked as bricklayer [19]

Lived with family at 68 Tenby Road, Edgware, Middlesex. Worked as a builder's surveyor in 1942. Worked as a quantity surveyor in 1958 [20] [21] [22] [23] [24] [25] [26]

Death of wife, Alice [26]

Lived with daughter's family at 14 The Cheverells, Dunstable, Bedfordshire [27] [28]

Died from malignant lymphoma at St Mary's Hospital in Luton, Bedfordshire [30]

Biography

Early years

High Street, Hampstead, 1898

Herbert was born on the 1st of August, 1909, in Campden Buildings, Holly Bush Vale in Hampstead, a north-west London suburb dominated by the much-beloved Hampstead Heath. He was baptised in the local church of St John, on Church Row, Hampstead [1] [2].

Campden Buildings, Holly Bush Vale, 1975

Church Row Hampstead with St Johns Church in background.jpg

Church Row Hampstead, showing St John's Church in the distance

The Campden Buildings were built by Wells and Campden Charities in 1887 and were designed for those displaced by a town improvement scheme. It was a block of 65 tenement flats, at which Herbert's parents lived at number 63 [1] [30].

Herbert's father, Herbert Victor, was a professional locksmith and also from Hampstead, while his mother Mary Ethel ("Ethel") Dungate originally hailed from Kent.

By 1911, Herbert and his parents were living in Willow Buildings, two mid-19th century blocks of flats, raised above street level and facing a courtyard [3] [4] [5] [31].

During the Great War, Herbert's father served in the RAAF as an Air Mechanic but, by 1918, they had moved to Branch Hill Mews, part of the Branch Hill Estate in Hampstead, and overlooking the Heath. They were there for several years, before moving to Silkstream Road, on the Watling Estate in Burnt Oak, Middlesex, around 1927-28 [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12].

Marriage to Alice Mary Flower

Watling Estate, Burnt Oak, Middlesex

The Watling Estate was a large estate built by London City Council as part of the post-War drive to improve housing. When the Battens arrived in 1927-1928, construction on the Estate was ongoing and families had only just started moving in. In those early days, there were few facilities - no shops and no pubs. No where for young people like Herbert - then aged 16/17 years old - to congregate [32] [33].

His house on Silkstream Road had an open view of Silkstream Park, which was directly opposite. Within the park ran the Silk Stream, which gave its name to the park and the road.

View of the park from Silkstream Rd - Google Maps.jpg

View of Silkstream Park from Herbert's home on Silkstream Road

On Watling Avenue, around the corner from where Herbert and his family lived, a main shopping parade was built in 1930 [32]. It was on this Avenue as well, that Frederick's future bride Alice lived. The Flowers had moved to the Estate about the same time as the Battens, in 1928 [34]. When first getting to know each other, the athletic pair often played tennis together [40].

Batten Herbert Frederick 1934 - wedding to Alice Mary Flower.jpeg

Herbert and Alice exiting the Wesleyan Methodist Central Hall on their wedding day, 1934

Herbert and Alice were married at the Wesleyan Methodist Central Hall on Thirleby Road, around the corner from Watling Avenue [15]. According to a short write-up of their wedding in the Hendon and Finchley Times newspaper, Herbert's best man was George Shearman [36]. He lived just off the Estate in nearby Colindale and appears to have worked as a bricklayer's foreman. As Herbert was also a bricklayer by trade, it is possible they met through work [37] [38].

Their wedding was described as a popular one, which was well-attended by 80 guests in all. The reception was at the Watling Centre, with music in the afternoon and dancing in the evening [36].

After their marriage, Herbert and Alice moved off the Estate and into the nearby suburb of Mill Hill, where they welcomed their first son Colin in 1936 [18].

By the start of the Second World War in 1939, they were living in Colindale and, during the war period, Herbert served in the Home Guard [19] [39].

Latter years

Batten Colin - with his mother Alice and wife Norma.jpeg

The picture on the left is 68 Tenby Road, Edgware as it looks now - it is the end of terrace home on the left-hand side. The picture on the right shows Herbert's son Colin, with Herbert's wife Alice and their daughter-in-law Norma sitting outside 68 Tenby Road in 1960. You can see that the house has not appreciably changed since the Battens lived there.

By 1942, Herbert was working as a builder's surveyor and he and his family had settled into their "forever" home at 68 Tenby Road, an end-of-terrace in Edgware. It was here that they welcomed their second child, a daughter. Both Colin and his sister grew up in this house [20].

Growing up, his children remembered their father as quite strict, but underneath it all, a very nice gentleman. He was a quiet, inward person, who was also very clever with his hands. His hobbies were woodwork and painting, at which he was skilled, and he had beautiful penmanship. However, although Herbert and Alice never divorced, their marriage was sadly not a harmonious one [35].

By 1958, Herbert's was working as a quantity surveyor. He lived with Alice at Tenby Road until her death in December 1977 [24] [26].

Afterwards, Herbert moved to Dunstable, Bedfordshire to live with his daughter and her family [27]. On the 10th Sep 1980 he passed away at the age of 71 from cancer at St Mary's Hospital in Luton [30].

Source information

Herbert Frederick Batten, England & Wales Birth Certificate, Registered 3rd Quarter 1909 in Hampstead, Record no: 223, General Register Office [www.gro.gov.uk]
Herbert Frederick Batten, St John Hampstead Parish Register, Baptismal record, Record no: 1528, 10 Oct 1909, Ancestry [www.ancestry.co.uk]
Herbert Batten [1911], Census return for Willow Road, Hampstead, The National Archives of the UK, Ancestry [www.ancestry.co.uk]
Herbert Victor Batten, London England Electoral Registers 1832-1965, Borough of Hampstead, 1912, London Metropolitan Archives, Ancestry [www.ancestry.co.uk]. Location of father is used as a proxy for location of Herbert, as he was a minor at the time.
Herbert Victor Batten, London England Electoral Registers 1832-1965, Borough of Hampstead, 1915, London Metropolitan Archives, Ancestry [www.ancestry.co.uk]. Location of father is used as a proxy for location of Herbert, as he was a minor at the time.
Ethel Mary Batten, London England Electoral Registers 1832-1965, Borough of Hampstead, 1918, London Metropolitan Archives, Ancestry [www.ancestry.co.uk]. Location of father is used as a proxy for location of Herbert, as he was a minor at the time.
Reginald Stanley Batten, England & Wales Birth Certificate, Registered 3rd Quarter 1920 in Hampstead, Record no: 333, General Register Office [www.gro.gov.uk]
Herbert Batten, London England Electoral Registers 1832-1965, Borough of Hampstead, 1921, London Metropolitan Archives, Ancestry [www.ancestry.co.uk]. Location of father is used as a proxy for location of Herbert, as he was a minor at the time.
Herbert Batten [1921], Census return for Branch Hill Mews, Hampstead, The National Archives of the UK, Ancestry [www.ancestry.co.uk]. The address given on the census record is 2 Branch Hill Mews, although the electoral rolls for the family in the same year, as well as before and after, record the address as 11 Branch Hill Mews. I cannot account for this difference except to say that I believe the correct address for the family was 11 Branch Hill Mews, based on the consistent electoral rolls. 11 Branch Hill Mews is also the address they give on the birth certificates of the children born during this period, i.e. Reginald.
Herbert Batten, London England Electoral Registers 1832-1965, Borough of Hampstead, 1923, London Metropolitan Archives, Ancestry [www.ancestry.co.uk]. Location of father is used as a proxy for location of Herbert, as he was a minor at the time.
Herbert Batten, London England Electoral Registers 1832-1965, Borough of Hampstead, 1926, London Metropolitan Archives, Ancestry [www.ancestry.co.uk]. Location of father is used as a proxy for location of Herbert, as he was a minor at the time.
Herbert Victor Batten, London England Electoral Registers 1832-1965, Parish of Hendon (Burnt Oak), 1928, London Metropolitan Archives, Ancestry [www.ancestry.co.uk]. Location of father is used as a proxy for location of Herbert, as he was a minor at the time.
Herbert Victor Batten, London England Electoral Registers 1832-1965, Parish of Hendon, 1930, London Metropolitan Archives, Ancestry [www.ancestry.co.uk]. Location of father is used as a proxy for location of Herbert, as he was a minor at the time.
Herbert Frederick Batten, London England Electoral Registers 1832-1965, Parish of Hendon, 1932, London Metropolitan Archives, Ancestry [www.ancestry.co.uk]
Herbert Frederick Batten and Alice Mary Flower, England & Wales Marriage Certificate, Registered 1st Quarter 1934 in Hendon, Record no: 9, General Register Office [www.gro.gov.uk]
Henry Batten, London England Electoral Registers 1832-1965, Borough of Hendon, Ward of Mill Hill, 1934, London Metropolitan Archives, Ancestry [www.ancestry.co.uk]. This record is for a "Henry and Annie" Batten. However, given this is the very same address that Herbert and Alice lived at in 1935-1936 and the surname is the same, I do believe this entry is for Herbert and Alice. Perhaps it was their pet names or perhaps poor handwriting / admin meant Herbert and Alice got translated to Henry and Annie.
Frederick Batten, London England Electoral Registers 1832-1965, Borough of Hendon, Ward of Mill Hill, 1935, London Metropolitan Archives, Ancestry [www.ancestry.co.uk]
Colin Victor Batten, England & Wales Birth Certificate, Registered 3rd Quarter 1936 in Hendon, Record no: 74, General Register Office [www.gro.gov.uk]
Herbert F Batten [1939], Register return for Booth St, Hendon Metropolitan Borough, The National Archives of the UK, Ancestry [www.ancestry.co.uk]
D. Batten, England & Wales Birth Certificate, Registered 1st Quarter 1942 in Hendon, Record no: 373, General Register Office [www.gro.gov.uk]
Herbert F Batten, London England Electoral Registers 1832-1965, Borough of Harrow, Ward of South Stanmore, 1946, London Metropolitan Archives, Ancestry [www.ancestry.co.uk]
Herbert F Batten, London England Electoral Registers 1832-1965, Borough of Harrow, Ward of South Stanmore, 1951, London Metropolitan Archives, Ancestry [www.ancestry.co.uk]
Herbert F Batten, London England Electoral Registers 1832-1965, Borough of Harrow, Ward of South Stanmore, 1956, London Metropolitan Archives, Ancestry [www.ancestry.co.uk]
Colin Victor Batten and Norma Margaret Oliver, England & Wales Marriage Certificate, Registered 4th Quarter 1958 in Lewisham, Record no: 68, General Register Office [www.gro.gov.uk]
Will of Joyce Ethel Batten, National Probate Calendar, Dated 6 May 1966, Proved 7 Nov 1974 London, UK Government [probatesearch.service.gov.uk]
Alice Mary Batten, England & Wales Death Certificate, Registered 4th Quarter 1977 in Hendon, Record no: 90, General Register Office [www.gro.gov.uk]
Herbert F Batten, Bedfordshire England Electoral Registers 1832-1986, Constituency of South Bedfordshire, Division of Dunstable, 1979, Ancestry [www.ancestry.co.uk]
Herbert F Batten, Bedfordshire England Electoral Registers 1832-1986, Constituency of South Bedfordshire, Division of Dunstable, 1980, Ancestry [www.ancestry.co.uk]
Herbert Frederick Batten, England & Wales Death Certificate, Registered 3rd Quarter 1980 in Luton, Record no: 56, General Register Office [www.gro.gov.uk]
Baker, T.F.T. [Ed.], A History of the County of Middlesex, Volume IX: Hampstead and Paddington Parishes, The University of London Institute of Historical Research, 1989, Oxford University Press
Conservation Area Statement: Hampstead, Conservation & Urban Design Team, London Borough of Camden
The Watling Estate: Burnt Oak, Municipal Dreams, 30 Sep 2014 [municipaldreams.wordpress.com]
History, Watling Estate, Wikipedia, Last edited 26 May 2024 [en.wikipedia.org]
Walter George Flower, London England Electoral Registers 1832-1965, Parish of Hendon (Burnt Oak), 1928, London Metropolitan Archives, Ancestry [www.ancestry.co.uk]
Conversations with D. Herbert (nee Batten), daughter of Herbert Frederick Batten
Batten-Flower, Hendon and Finchley Times, 6 Apr 1934, page 6, FindMyPast [www.findmypast.co.uk]
George Exley Shearman, London England Electoral Registers 1832-1965, Borough of Barnet, Ward of Hendon, 1934, London Metropolitan Archives, Ancestry [www.ancestry.co.uk]
George E Shearman [1939], Register for Clifton Avenue, Harrow UD, Middlesex, The National Archives of the UK, Ancestry [www.ancestry.co.uk]
Conversations with Colin Batten, son of Herbert Frederick Batten
Conversations with Rose Fanshawe (nee Flower), sister of Alice Mary Flower