OLD PLYMOUTH . UK
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WHO WAS WHO IN OLD PLYMOUTH

HENRY OBERLIN SERPELL (1853-1943)

Henry Oberlin Serpell (1853-1943) was born on April 30th 1853 to Mr Robert Coad Serpell (1816-1886) and his wife, the former Miss Caroline Wilson.

Mr Henry Oberlin Serpell married Miss Louisa Jane Butcher at Wheatenhurst, Gloucestershire, in 1877.

Mr Henry Oberlin Serpell inherited the family business, Messrs R C Serpell and Company, when his father, Mr Robert Coad Serpell (1816-1886) died on Monday October 25th 1886 and immediately changed the name to Messrs H O Serpell and Company.

In 1899 the business was transferred from Lambhay Wharf, Commercial Road, Plymouth, to South Street in Reading, Berkshire.

The 1901 census shows Mr and Mrs Serpell living at "Estover", Redlands Road, Reading, Berkshire, with their sons, Mr Henry William Serpell (1877-1907), biscuit manufacturer, and Mr Shutzer Archibald Serpell (1883-1965), a clerk in the biscuit factory but who later became a motor car salesman in Sussex.

Mr Henry Oberlin Serpell married Miss/Mrs Fanny Yates Bailey at Chorlton, Lancashire, in 1904.  By 1911 Mr Serpell was living at 10 Hyde Park Mansions, Marylebone, London.

Mr Serpell had retired by the time the census was taken on September 29th 1939.  He and his wife employed a butler and a cook.

Mr Henry Oberlin Serpell died on September 13th 1943 at his home, Westcroft Park, Chobham, Surrey, but was buried at the Plymouth, Stonehouse and Devonport Cemetery in Plymouth, along with his father.  His estate of some £237,304, was left to his widow.

Messrs H O Serpell and Company Limited was put into liquidation in 1959.

Mr Shultzer Archibald Serpell died at 63 Dean Court Road, Rottingdean, Sussex, on November 1st 1965.