Born Henrietta Richardson on 5th August 1931 to Percy Harry Richardson (a paint-shop foreman at Robey and Co engineering works, Lincoln) and Maud Marjorie (nee Wilkinson), she grew up on Doddington Road, Lincoln with older brothers Percy and Stanley. She also spent much time playing with neighbours’ children: Essie Rogers and Betty Bacon, who all remained close friends throughout their lives. The family also owned nearby farmland off Tritton Road, where Hetty enjoyed looking after their two cows and growing vegetables, establishing a love of gardening encouraged by their neighbour Mr Pennell, who ran a garden centre.
Both her brothers went to serve in the Second World War when she was a child, and her father took on the duties of a local air raid warden. Her brother Stanley, a sailor in the Royal Navy, died when serving aboard HMS Porpoise which was sunk by Japanese aircraft in 1945, the last Royal Navy submarine to be lost to enemy action.
She attended Bracebridge Infant and Junior schools, Sincil Bank Girls School (for one year only), going on to St. Joseph’s Convent School for Girls in Lincoln, which she loved. She excelled at music: a friend of her father’s gave her a piano at the age of 5, she took lessons from Miss Holmes in Rookery Lane, practicing for an hour a day after school, gaining grade 8, and playing the organ at Swallowbeck Methodist Church. She qualified from college with an NNEB diploma in nursery nursing in 1949, working at Newland Day Nursery, then going on to work as a nanny for the Parker family at Scopwick House, where she made two more life-long friends: German girls Inga and Erica who were also working for the household. She then worked as a nanny for the Leachman and Newsom families in Lincoln, very much enjoying this time in her life.
In 1954 she married Joseph Halse (a welder at Clayton Dewandre factory in Lincoln), moving to Hawthorn Road, Cherry Willingham, having children: Shirley in 1955, Peter in 1956 and Maureen in 1959. But tragedy struck in 1960, when baby Maureen died suddenly of meningitis aged just one year. The family then moved to Fir Tree Cottage, Sudbrooke which remained the family home for nearly 40 years, and more children arrived: Brian in 1961, David in 1963 and Christine in 1968.
The couple, both from farming families, transformed the plot of land into a busy smallholding, rearing pigs and poultry, and growing fruit and vegetables for many years. Hetty converted a room in the house into a village shop which she ran as a small business serving the local community, selling groceries and a wide range of other goods, often at the request of local residents. After the closure of the shop in the mid-70s, locals continued to call in to buy fresh produce, vegetables, eggs, rhubarb and apples, with prices frequently chalked up on a board by the roadside. A welcoming household, the door was always open to neighbours, including the milkman and post-lady stopping in every morning for a cup of coffee and a chat around the kitchen table.
She also took on work caring for children suffering with mental health problems and difficult family backgrounds, at the Lawn Hospital Lincoln’s residential children’s unit. Known to them as “Auntie Hetty” she would sometimes bring them over to visit the farm at Sudbrooke, where they would enjoy seeing the collection of animals: pigs, chickens, rabbits, guinea pigs, pigeons, cats, dogs, budgies, goldfish, a guinea fowl, occasionally a turkey or two, (and later ducks, geese, lambs and a pony). A dedicated animal-lover, she was given her first cat, Judy at the age of 5 from her beloved Auntie Gladys (Wilkinson) and the family kept a kitten from the first litter of every generation descended from her. Throughout her life Hetty couldn’t turn away a stray, especially loving to take in homeless cats, having ten at one stage.
She was closely involved with Scothern School, where her children did their primary education, and served on the PTA at Cherry Willingham Comprehensive where she enjoyed a highly active role in fundraising. Sadly, tragedy struck again in 1979 when eldest daughter Shirley died, leaving her 9-month-old son, Daniel, whom Hetty took in and brought up at Sudbrooke, as she would her own.
Highly accomplished at needlework she made curtains, soft furnishings and fitted covers for chairs and settees, privately and for all the High Street shops in Lincoln, any made-to-measure curtains bought from the Co-op, Binns, G H Shaw, Allied Carpets or Rosebys in the 80s, would have been made by Hetty. Even Prince Charles encountered Hetty’s sewing when unveiling a plaque in Cambridge, for which she had been asked to make the unveiling curtains! She also took on a variety of more elaborate projects such as wedding and bridesmaid dresses, fancy dress costumes, embroidered altar cloths for Sudbrooke Church, and unique knitted designs to raise money for charity in collaboration with Radio Lincolnshire. Keen on local and family history she volunteered with heritage societies, serving in gift shops and transcribing parish register details from microfiche for Lincolnshire archive collections. Her beloved older half-sister Alma and brother-in-law Fred Banks restored Alford Windmill, where Hetty and the family would often help-out, serving visitors and running the mill, especially on busy bank holidays.
Husband Joe died in 1986 after a long battle with heart disease. Hetty moved from Sudbrooke to All Saints Lane, Nettleham in 1999, where she took pride in feeding the garden birds, attracting a great variety to the garden. She was well known and liked at the village luncheon club and enjoyed spending time with friends playing bingo in Lincoln. In her later years she gained great comfort from the music of Daniel O’Donnell and his vibrant, welcoming community of fans, who became much valued firm friends, enjoying holidays in Ireland and many trips around the UK to attend concerts and join in events.
Hetty died on 16th January 2021, aged 89. Thanks goes to the staff at Willow Court Nursing Home in Cherry Willingham for their exceptional care in her final days.
She’s survived by 4 children (Peter, Brian, David and Christine), 8 grandchildren (Daniel, Joshua, Harry, Owen, Charlotte, Sophie, Jennifer and Joseph), 4 great grandchildren (Katie, Cameron, Rylan and Jay) and a step-great-granddaughter (Harmony)