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William Arthur PESTERRE (1842–1885)
His wife Mrs Ellen Alice PIGOTT, formerly Mrs PESTERRE, née PAGET (c.1858–1930)
[With a mention of their sons William Thomas Alfred PESTERRE (1881–1916)
and Herbert Carr PESTERRE (1885–1908), both buried elsewhere]
St Giles [Ss Philip & James] section: Row 41, Grave K37

 

William Arthur Pesterre was born in London on 12 June 1842 and baptised at St James's Church, Westminster on 12 November. He was the eldest son of Thomas Arthur Pesterre and Charlotte Ann Baldry (both born in London in 1808), who were married at St George’s Church, Hanover Square on 4 September 1838. William’s father was a linen draper of 13 St James’s Street, London, who later retired to Hove.

William was educated at Cheltenham College, and on 12 October 1861 at the age of 19 he was matriculated at the University of Oxford from Merton College. He obtained his B.A. (Second Class Honours) in 1866. At the time of the 1871 census, when he was a single man of 28, he was living at St Aubyn, Hove with his parents (both aged 62) and their two servants.

Ellen Alice Paget was born at Salisbury, Wiltshire in about 1856–8 (her age in the censuses seems to be rounded down).

On 16 October 1880 at Ashford in Kent, William Arthur Pesterre (described as the son of Mr Thomas A. Pesterre of St Aubyn’s, Brighton) married Ellen A. Paget, the daughter of the late Mr George Paget of Devizes, Wiltshire, and the marriage was announced in the Pall Mall Gazette. They had the following children:

• William Thomas Alfred Pesterre (born at Norham Road, Oxford on 12 September 1881 and baptised in Merton College Chapel on 22 October)
• Charlotte Ann Pesterre (born at 21 Norham Road, Oxford on 20 November 1882 and baptised at Merton College Chapel on 22 January 1883)
• Arthur Charles Pesterre (born at 21 Norham Road, Oxford on 14 February 1884 and baptised at Holywell Church on 20 April)
• Herbert Carr Pesterre (born at 21 Norham Road, Oxford on 17 August1885 and baptised at Holywell Church on 25 October).

At the time of the 1881 census the newly-married William and Ellen Pesterre were at 31 Seafield, Hove with one servant (a cook aged 19). William described himself as a Tutor and M.A Oxon, so presumably they were just taking a holiday near his parents. By 1884 they were living at 21 Norham Road.

William Pesterre senior died in 1886, leaving his wife with four children aged under four years old:

† William Arthur Pesterre died at 21 Norham Road at the age of 44 on 10 March 1886 and was buried at St Sepulchre’s Cemetery on 18 March (burial recorded in the parish registers of both St Giles’s and Ss Philip & James’s Church).

His estate came to £11,867, and his wife was his executor.

At the time of the 1891 census, the widowed Mrs Ellen Pesterre (35) was living at 2 Lincoln Villas, Willesden Lane, Willesden with William (9), Charlotte (8), Arthur (7), and Herbert (5), plus a governess, general servant, and nursemaid.

Mrs Ellen Alice Pesterre married her second husband, the widower, Henry Pigott, in the Kensington area in the second quarter of 1899. He was a provision merchant born in Oxford in 1855/6.

At the time of the 1901 census Henry and Ellen Pigott were living at 77 London Road, Reading with Henry’s son Harry (18), who worked as a provision merchant’s clerk, and Ellen’s children William (19) and Arthur (17). They had one servant. Ellen's two other children were visiting friends: Charlotte (18), who was a music student, was with the Hills family in Penge, Kent, and Herbert (15) was with the Strange family in Willesden.

William Pesterre junior went into partnership with Leslie Hewan Elton-Freeman to form the firm Richmond & Pesterre to carry on business as farmers and agisters at Beckenham Place Park, Beckenham, and also the Beckenham Hill Farm Dairy at Tudor Terrace, Shortlands, Kent. This business was dissolved by mutual consent on 29 October 1903.

William and Ellen Pesterre’s son Herbert Carr Pesterre died at 16 Harvist Road, Willesden at the age of 22 on 12 May 1908, and was probably buried there, but is mentioned on this grave. His effects came to £1,371 0s. 11d.

At the time of the 1911 census Pesterre’s widow, Mrs Pigott, was living with her daughter Lottie (28) and her second husband Henry Pigott at 79 London Road Reading.

Her son Arthur was married in 1912:

• In the fourth quarter of 1912 in the Lincoln district, Arthur Charles Pesterre married Louie Streets (born in Newark on 4 December 1888).

Her son William Thomas Alfred Pesterre, who had left for South Africa in 1903, died in Amatikulu, Zululand at the age of 34 on 4 June 1916 and is mentioned on this grave. His effects came to “nil”.

Mrs Ellen Pigott, formerly Mrs Pesterre, died in London 1930, and her body was brought back to Oxford for burial with her first husband:

† Mrs Ellen Alice Pigott, formerly Mrs Pesterre, née Paget died at 39 Gloucester Terrace, London, WC2 at the age of 71 on 13 May 1930 and was buried at St Sepulchre’s Cemetery on 16 May (burial recorded in the parish register of St Giles's Church).

A notice of her death and forthcoming funeral at St Sepulchre’s was published in The Times on 15 May 1930. Her effects came to £2,020 4s. 11d.

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William and Ellen Pesterre’s two surviving children

• Charlotte Ann Pesterre (born 1882 and known as Lottie) never married. She lived in London, and was listed at Bayswater in the telephone directory up to 1978. She died that year (reg. Westminster district fourth quarter).
• Arthur Charles Pesterre (born 1883/4) married Louie Streets (born in Newark on 4 December 1888) in the Lincoln district in the fourth quarter of 1912, and their daughter Joyce Pesterre was born near the beginning of 1919 in that area. They departed for Quebec in 1921, and went to live in the USA, where the 1940 census shows them living at Beverley Hills with their children Joyce (21) and John (11). Arthur died in Los Angeles on 31 January 1965.