A Short History of A H Freemantle Ltd.

In 1856 Charles Conway founded a builders and funeral directors at 23 East Street, Titchfield. It was not uncommon around that time for undertakers to have other jobs and Mr Conway also turned his hand to decorating and upholstery, as well as building and undertaking funerals.

Arthur Henry Freemantle (my grandfather), first became involved in the business in 1899 when, aged 14, he helped Mr Conway with the funeral of Miss Elizabeth Burgess. The total cost of the funeral he recorded, was £2-12s-6d and included a solid elm coffin. Arthur Freemantle’s father was landlord of the Queens Head pub in Titchfield High Street, but Arthur decided an apprenticeship with Mr Conway was preferable to an apprenticeship with his father, and so began working as a builder and undertaker.

New premises were sought in 1909 and the business moved to the other end of Titchfield village in South Street. Arthur Freemantle took over from Mr Conway in 1913, bought the house and the yard, and traded until his death in 1944. Since then the company has been passed from generation to generation and still bears his name today.

My grandmother was ‘the boss’ for the next 14 years followed by my father Doug, who ran the business until his retirement in 1991. During this time the building and funeral directing continued to run side by side, or even to overlap at times. Many people will remember the carpenter or plumber mysteriously disappearing only to be seen a short time later in a black suit driving down the road in a black car. Doug built many local houses around the area, perhaps the most notable of which is the clubhouse at the Hill Head Sailing Club.

The changes over 150 years have been considerable. My brother Alan now heads up a small team which while not actually building new houses, can turn their hand to any extensions, maintenance or repair work. On the funeral side, we have opened a second office in Middle Road, Park Gate and my son in law , James, has joined us. Titchfield and its surrounding area will therefore continue to benefit from a truly local, family run funeral directors for many years to come.