The Granville Ram family was the last family to live in Berkhamsted Place, the Castle, before it was converted into flats and then suffered the fate of many other large houses at the time and was demolished in 1967. Abel John Ram and his son Lucius Abel John Granville Ram were both Barristers; both were prominent in their professional lives and played an active part in local affairs. Abel John’s father, also Abel John, was a clergyman rising to the position of Honorary Canon of Rochester. The family were well connected and figure in the ranks of the peerage.
Abel John Ram and his family moved to Berkhamsted Place in the early 1900s. What brought them to Berkhamsted we shall never know. They were probably seeking a country residence with good rail connections to their Chambers in London. Berkhamsted Place is in the parish of Berkhamsted St Peter yet both Abel John Ram and his wife and Granville Ram and his wife were buried in the little churchyard of St Peter and St Paul at Little Gaddesden.
The Ram daughters left Berkhamsted Place after their marriages and it was left to their brother, Granville Ram to continue the family connection with Berkhamsted. In local affairs he served as a magistrate for Herts from 1923 and was Chairman of the County’s Quarter Sessions from 1946 until his death in 1952; and from 1948 was a Church Commissioner.
It is apparent that Granville was actively involved in the affairs of the local community, becoming a Churchwarden of St Peter’s in 1923. Already he had worked closely with the Rector the Rev. Chipcase-Stainsby on the preparations for the grand pageant when he was Chairman of the organising committee. The pageant took place in the Castle grounds and was staged to commemorate the seven hundredth anniversary of the consecration of St. Peter’s.
It would appear that the Ram family severed their connection with Berkhamsted at the sale of Berkhamsted Place. The auction sale of 1946 and the departure of the Rams marked the end of an era.
Jennifer Sherwood, Chronicle v.XVII (Mar 2019).
Berkhamsted Local History & Museum Society 