Owner - Henry Temple Pitt

Henry Temple Pitt was born in Stepney in 1889 son of Frederick James Pitt and his wife Jane. Henry was with his family in the 1911 census in Walthamstow where he worked as a waiter in a restaurant. He married his wife Beatrice Wheatland in 1925. She was the widow of Henry’s older brother Sidney who died in 1911 leaving his wife with four young children.

Henry and Beatrice went on to have at least four children of their own, one of which was William James Pitt who was killed in Italy in 1944.

We have no record of the family on Canvey until after the 1929 Electoral Register. Therefore we cannot at this time say when they arrived on Canvey.

By 1939 Henry had retired and was living at ‘Clovelly’ which I think was in Denham Road. (Not clear on the census.) His occupation was ‘Retired Café Proprietor. We understand before he retired he was the owner of the Nutshell cafe which stood in the High Street not far from Tower Radio. This photo shows Henry and possibly his wife outside the cafe sometime in the 1930s.

He died in 1950 and Beatrice died in 1978 they are buried in St Kathrine’s Churchyard where their son’s death is also remembered.