Blanche Esther Berliner was born on 4 November 1876 in Bristol, Gloucestershire, the eldest of the three children of Berman Berliner (1848-1913) and Helen Harriet Benjamin Berliner née Thoemin (1854-1893). Her father was a Jewish Minister. The 1881 census shows her living at 41 Abbey Road, St John's Wood, Marylebone with her parents, her brothers: Walter Lionel Berliner (b.1879) and Harold Benjamin Berliner (1880-1965), her maternal grandmother Esther Benjamin née Braham (1816-1891), a general servant and a nurse.
In the 1891 census she is recorded as living at 6 Marlborough Place, Marylebone, with her parents, both brothers, a cook and a housemaid. Her mother died in 1893 and in the following year her father married Emma Rebecca Marks (1857-1927) and they had one son Capt. Philip Barnett Berliner M.C. (1896-1982).
The 1901 census shows her still residing at 6 Marlborough Place with her father, step-mother, elder brother, a cook and a general servant. Her younger brother had emigrated to New Zealand in 1895.
In the 2nd quarter of 1901, she is recorded as marrying Lionel David Barnett (1871-1960) in the Marylebone registration district. They had two children: Helen Angela Barnett (1906-2004) and Dr Richard David Barnett C.B.E. (1909-1986). In the 1911 census she is shown as residing at 15 Avenue Cresent, Acton, with her husband, their two children, a nurse, a cook and a housemaid. Her husband's occupation was recorded as a keeper at The British Museum.
Local directories show that from 1925 to 1934 her husband was listed at 8 Royal Crescent, London, W11 and from 1935 to 1938 at 19 Prince Edward Mansions, Pembridge Square, London, W2. In the 1939 England and Wales Register both she and her husband are recorded at 20c Holland Villas Road, London, W14 and his occupation was given as a retired civil servant. Local directories confirm that they remained at this address until 1950.
She died, aged 78 years, on 5 April 1955 at University College Hospital, 235 Euston Road, London, WC1. Probate records show her home address to have been 33 West Heath Drive, London, NW11 and that when probate was granted on 3 September 1955 her effects totalled £5,713-12s-2d.
Credit for this entry to: Andrew Behan.
