Dunkelsbuhler - Angels and Diamonds

Taphophilia is a passion for and enjoyment of cemeteries. The singular term is a taphophile.


Angel monument to Kathleen Dunkles, Frances Dunkels and Ernest Dunkles.

"Kathleen Dunkles 15 August 1906
Frances Dunkles 16 December 1953
Ernest Dunkels 12 September 1956"

Ernest Dunkles was born Ernest Dunkelsbuhler in London, Middlesex in 1880 to German parents Anton and Minna Dunkelsbuhler.  Anton was a famous diamond dealer who owned Anton Dunkelsbuhler & Company.  Ernest became a barrister and assumed the surname Dunkles in 1895, perhaps he felt it would be easier for his clients and neighbours than Dunkelsbuhler.

In 1909 Ernest married Frances S Van Nostrand, who travelled to England from New York on the ship Germanic on 9th June 1897.  On the Incoming Passengers List her occupation is listed simply as 'Lady'.  The lived together in Woodhurst Maidenhead and in 1916 Ernest enlisted and served in The Great War.  Frances passed away in the December of 1953, but not before giving Ernest four children.  Ernest was to follow his wife three years later.

Kathleen Dunkles was born Fanny Dunklesbuhler in London, Middlesex in 1878.  She was Ernest's elder sister.  Sometime between 1891 and 1906 Fanny changed her name to Kathleen, possibly a middle name, and took to using it instead of Fanny.  Ernest was to name his first daughter born in 1910, Kathleen after his sister.

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Julie from Taphophile Tragics and Sydney Eye asked a question relating to last week's Manlove post.

But there was another daughter , if I interrpert 'elder & beloved daughter' correctly.  I wonder what happend to the younger daughter.

Joseph and Eleanor had three children during their marriage, two who survived them.  Joseph Swailes Manlove born in October 1881 in Islington Middlesex and Dorothy Mary Manlove born on 27th December 1901 in Maidenhead.

Joseph became a bank cashier and married Alice Gertrude Maunder on 7th October 1909 in Marylebone London.  Joseph died in 1937 Tonbridge Kent.

All that I can find out about Dorothy is that she didn't marry and died a spinster in 1988 in Maidenhead.  It is possible that she rests in the same cemetery as her parents and elder sister.  A challange for my next visit?

Windows Into The Past - Ceramic Gravestone Memorials

(c) Headstones and History

Ceramic photograph memorials allow us a peek into the grave and a glimpse into the past.

Ceramic photographs started in 1854 when two french invented patented a method for fixing photographic images onto enamel or porcelain by firing in a kiln.  At first these enamels were used for home viewing before paper photos replaced them.  Soon after the custom of adding ceramic memorials to gravestones spread throughout southern and eastern Europe and into America.

Sadly due to weathering and sometimes vandalism, these wonderful windows into the past are disappearing. Laurel Mellien at Headstones and History has been taking photographs of these vanishing memorials, in the hopes of preserving what remains.

(c) Headstones and History

Showing signs of damamge.
(c) Headstones and History

(c) Headstones and History

(c) Headstones and History

Even pets were memoralised
(c) Headstones and History

For more information on the history of ceramic and enamel photograph memorials please click here.

To more fantastic ceramic memorial photographs and further information on gravestone symbolism, visit Laurel Mellien's Facebook page Headstones and History.

All photographs copyright of Headstones and History and reproduced with permission.

** Originally posted on Herding Cats



Manlove

Taphophilia is a passion for and enjoyment of cemeteries. The singular term is a taphophile.

Monument to Winifred Florence, Eleanor Amelia and Joseph Henry Manlove.  All Saints Cemetery, Maidenhead Berkshire.

"In Loving Memory of

Winifred Florence, elder & beloved daughter of J.H and E.A Manlove
Born May 2nd 1884 - Died 28th Nov 1909
Thanks be to God which Giveth us the victory
Through  our Lord Jesus Christ 1 Cor 15. 57

Also

Eleanor Amelia Manlove
Bleoved wife of J.H Manlove
Born Feb 26th 1861 - Died May 15th 1928
"With Christ which is far better"

And of

Joseph Henry Manlove
Born June 8th 1856 - Died Oct 26th 1938

At Rest"

Joseph Henry Manlove was born in Maidenhead Berkshire in 1856 to Richard George Manlove, a coach builder and his wife Hannah Manlove nee Marks.

Joseph, now an Iron Foundary Manager, married Eleanor Amelia Wright in Hackney in 1880 and their second child Winifred Florence was born in the May of 1884.  Winifred was to die in the November of 1909 aged 25 years.

Eleanor Amelia was the daughter of John Wright a London Greengrocer and his wife Mary Ann born in London in 1861.



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Le Blanc Smith - Sinking of The Tanjong Penang

Taphophilia is a passion for and enjoyment of cemeteries. The singular term is a taphophile.


Monument to Gladys Le Blanc Smith, All Saint's Cemetery, Maidenhead, Berkshire.


"In Ever Loving Memory of

Gladys

The Dearly Beloved And Most Devoted Wife Of

Fredrick Stuart Le Blanc Smith

Born January 8th 1884 - Died August 2nd 1913."


Gladys Le Blanc Smith was born Gladys Haig on 8th January 1884 at Bray Court, Windsor Road, Maidenhead, Berkshire to John Haig, a Distiller from Scotland and Jane Mary Ann Davis.

In 1910 Gladys married Frederick Stuart Le Blanc Smith, a member of The London Stock Exchange at All Saint's Church, Boyne Hill, Maidenhead.  The 1911 Census shows them living at Cairns, King's Grove, Maidenhead.  Soon their marriage was blessed by the birth of their daughter Beatrice (Betty), but tragically death was to take Gladys away from her young daughter in the August of 1913.

The outbreak of world War II saw Beatrice joining the Queen Alexandra's Imperial Military Nursing Service, where she served in the Far East on the 'Evacuation Ships'.  Beatrice was on the SS Kuala on 12th February 1942 when it came under enemy aircraft attack, killing many of the nurses, women and children aboard.  When the SS Kuala evenutually sank off of Pom Pong Island, Beatrice was one of the few survivors.  However fate was not kind to her. 

Fellow Nurse Margot Turner recounts -

"During the night of 16-17^th February, all women, children and wounded were taken off the island in rowing boats and placed on board the ‘Tanjong Penang’, a small cargo boat which was very crowed.

On the morning of the 17^th February 1942. She was hit by gunfire at 9.30 p.m. on that day and sank in about 5 minutes.

I was lying next to Sister Beatrice le Blanc Smith and there were people dead and dying all round us. Beatrice got a nasty wound in the buttock… My first thought was for the women and children in the hold; but a VAD (Voluntary Aid Detachment nurse) struggling up from there to the deck, her dress covered in blood, said that the hold had had the full force of one of the shells and was absolutely smashed. In any case I realised that there was nothing I could do as the ship was already at a steep angle and obviously just about to turn over. Beatrice and I just stepped into the sea and were very lucky not to be sucked down when the ship suddenly turned over and sank.

The cries and screams of the wounded, the helpless and the dying, were quite terrible."


Before the ship sunk the officers had managed to throw a few small rafts overboard and Le Blanc Smith and Turner got hold of two and tied them together.  Both Beatrice and Margot had managed to save sixteen people from the sea, including six chidren, two of whom were under a year in age.  Sadly Sister Beatrice was not to make it, sucumming to her wounds on 18th February 1942

Beatrice is commemorated on the Singapore Memorial Collum 114.

Singapore Memorial

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** Originally posted on Herding Cats

Grinstead - Death of an Empire

Taphophilia is a passion for and enjoyment of cemeteries. The singular term is a taphophile.

Angel monument to Charles Grinsted, Daisy Grinsted and Agnes Sarah Grinsted.  All Saint's Cemetery, Maidenhead Berkshire.

"In Ever Loving Memory of -

Charles Grinsted who passed away December 12th 1928 aged 65 years
Also Daisy, his daughter who died October 6th 1908 aged 12 years
Also his beloved wife Agnes Sarah, died Oct 7th 1935 aged 71 years."

Charles Grinsted was born in 1863 in Mile End, Old Town, London to Thomas Place Grinsted and his wife Emma Shakel.  Some time between 1881 and 1891 Charles married Agnes Sarah Bushell and followed in his father's fishmonger footsteps by opening a fishmongers shop at 2 King Street Maidenhead.  Eventually branching out into 4, 6 and 8 King Street.

Their fifth child and fourth daughter Daisy was born at 2 King Street in 1897, sadly she was to die at the age of 12 in 1908.

Charles continued to build his mini empire to become a bookmaker and licensed game dealer until his death in the December of 1928.  Agnes remained at 4 King Street along with her daughter Lily, Lily's husband Freddie Cook and their daughter Norah (who was born on the kitchen table of number 4 King Street on 9th July 1911) until her death in October 1935.  Lily, Freddie and Norah carried on the family business, adding butchery to their skills, until the 1950s when Windsor and Maidenhead Council compulsorily purchased the King Street shops and demolished them to make way for the New Market development.  Norah moved to The Crescent, Maidenhead.

King Street Maidenhead c1950

Sadly Norah Cook passed away on 14th March 2011, just months shy of her 100th birthday.  The last remaining grandchild of Charles and Agnes Grinsted, bringing an end to the empire. 

Norah's Obituary can be found here - The Maidenhead Advertiser:  Obituary: Fun-loving Maidonian, 99, was last granddaughter in dynasty.

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Weather Worn and Forgotten

? Aged 71 Years

Mary ?

Taphophilia is a passion for and enjoyment of cemeteries. The singular term is a taphophile.

Two weather worn and eroded gravestones found at St James the Less, Stubbings, Burchetts Green and St Luke's Churchyard, Maidenhead, Berkshire.

The only information that can be gleaned from these stones is, 'Aged 71 Years' and 'Mary'.

An all too common sight in Britain's churchyards and cemeteries.  The poorer classes were not able to afford the marble and granite markers of their rich counterparts.  Having to make do with softer local stone or Limestone.  Sadly decades and even centuries of wind and rain has stripped them of their identities and thrown them into worn obscurity.

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The Nash Children

Taphophilia is a passion for and enjoyment of cemeteries. The singular term is a taphophile.

Monument to James, Florence Catherine, Albert George and Alfred Henry Nash, St Michael's Churchyard, Bray, Berkshire.

"Sacred To The Memory of
James Nash died Feb.y 9th 1878 aged 3 years

Florence Catherine Nash died Feb.y 3rd 1881 aged 11 months
Albert George Nash died Jan.y 18th 1882 aged 5 years
'Of such is the kingdom of heaven'
Alfred Henry Nash died June 1st 1887 aged 3 years"

James, Florence, Albert and Alfred were all the children of James and Martha Catherine Nash, nee Lewis.

James Nash snr was born in Maidenhead Berkshire in 1853, he later became a house painter before he married Martha Catherine Lewis in 1874. The couple soon moved to King Street in Maidenhead and started their family with the arrival of James in 1875 and followed by Albert George in 1876, Frederick William in 1879, Florence Catherine in 1880 and Alfred Henry in 1884, Frank Edward in 1886 and Bessie Louise in 1889. Tragically three were to die in the space of nine years.

In 1891 their mother Martha Catherine Nash passed away, yet she seems to have been buried elsewhere and not with her beloved children.

Poor James had lost three of his children and his wife within 17 years of their marriage. How must this have affected James and his remaining children, the youngest Bessie being a mere three years old at the time?

James continued to live and work in King Street with his surviving children until his death at the relatively young age of 51 in 1904. Did so much grief in such a short time prove too much for James? We shall never know.

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Alfred Beague Gundry - Drowned

Taphophilia is a passion for and enjoyment of cemeteries. The singular term is a taphophile.

Monument of Alfred Beague Gundry, St Michael's Churchyard, Bray, Berkshire

"Sacred to the memory of Alfred Beague Gundry. Youngest son of Walter Eustace Gundry ESQre late of Bridport Dorset who was drowned by the upsetting of a boat on the Thames at Bray Weir on the 18th April 1862 aged 26 years

~ Sincerely beloved and deeply lamented. What I do thou knowest not now, but thou shalt know here after.

I am the resurrection and the life (rest illegible) ~"

 

Alfred Beague Gundry was indeed the youngest son of Walter Eustace Gundry and Susan Jarvis, born in 1836 in Bridport Dorset. He came from an rather upper class family his father being an accountant and his elder brothers employed as Bank of England Clerks, they all lived in the affluent Pembroke Square in Kensington, London.

 

On the 1861 Census a year before his tragic and untimely death Alfred is listed as an accountant boarding at 14 Everett Street in Finsbury, London.

Quite what was Alfred doing mucking about in a boat on the river Thames on that fateful day in April? In the Victorian era, mucking about on the river pleasure boating or 'punting' was very much in vogue. Anybody who was anybody was to be seen bobbing about on the river. Pleasure punts in use in England were first built around 1860 and reached the peak of their popularity in the 1910s.

 

However punting was not an easy pastime.

 

"Punting is not as easy as it looks. As in rowing, you soon learn to get along and handle the craft, bit it takes long practice before you can do this with dignity and without getting water up your sleeve." ~ Jerome K Jerome. Three Men in a Boat (1889).

Alfred may have simply been inexperienced and got into difficulties, which the weir only added to. Rather surprisingly at the time, not everyone who partook in the activity of punting on the river was able to swim.

Bray Weir taken in 1883 by Henry W Taunt

So sad that a day of pleasure and mucking about in boats should end so tragically and cut short the life of a young man.

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Silver - Believeth

Lych gate at St James the Less, Burchetts Green, Maidenhead

Taphophilia is a passion for and enjoyment of cemeteries. The singular term is a taphophile.

Monument of Augusta Silver, Annette Silver and Mary Ann Silver, St James the Less Churchyard, Burchetts Green, Maidenhead.

"In memory of Augusta Silver Born June 15th 1842 Died April 3rd 1860 Also of Annette Silver Born May 24th 1850 Died 13th April 1861
Also of Mary wife of Richard Silver and mother of the above Born March 1st 1818 Died July 15th 1881

~ Who so ever liveth and believeth in me shall never die - St John XI 26 ~"

Augusta Silver was born in 1842 and Annette Silver in 1860 to Richard and Ann Silver nee Kuy.
Richard Silver was born in 1818 in Burghfield Berkshire. On 16th March 1838 in Cookham Berkshire, he married Mary Kuy. They are listed on the 1851 Census living in "Tittle Row" with their children Joseph Love, Augusta (spelt Agusta), Agnes and 11 month old Annette. At that time Richard was a carpenter employing five men. Mary was a dress maker.

In 1849 the foundation stone to St James the Less church in Burchetts Green Maidenhead was laid. The architect Richard Cromwell Carpenter employed Richard Silver and his team to build the church that still stands there to this day. The small round window in the west wall
was given to the Church by Richard Silver.

Sadly in both 1860 and 1861 the family was beset by double tragedy when 18 year old Augusta passed away follwed closely by his 11 year old sister Annette. Maybe this is why Richard threw himself in to politics and the running of his beloved town, Maidenhead.
Richard was elected to Maidenhead Town Council in 1870, becoming Alderman from 1890 and Mayor of Maidenhead in 1872-73 and again in 1877-78. He passed awat at his home The Walnuts, Tittle Row on 17th December 1910. In his obituary his was described as;

"A keen antiquarian. His late residence, Etruria stands on the site of an old Roman villa, where Mr Silver unearthed some valuable pottery & specimens of which are to be seen at the British Museum and at the Maidenhead Museum."

After the death of his wife Mary in 1881 Richard married Jane Stuchbery in Cookham in 1883.
Richard and Jane are listed on the 1901 Census as living at Etruria along with their servants, Elizabeth Gibson and Jane Sealey, my husband's great grandmother.

West wall of st James the Less Church in Burchetts Green Maidenhead, showing the small round window given by Richard Silver

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Louisa Cannon - We Shall Not All Sleep

Taphophilia is a passion for and enjoyment of cemeteries. The singular term is a taphophile.



Monument to Louisa Cannon, St James the Less Churchyard, Stubbings, Burchetts Green, Maidenhead Berkshire.


"Sacred to the memory of Louisa Cannon Who died May 14th 1868 in the 17th year of her age.
~ We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be cherished ~"


Louisa was born in 1851 to Henry Cannon, a basket maker and his wife Ann. They lived in an area known as Maidenhead Thicket, once a haunt of highway men and a rumoured stop off point of Dick Turpin.

Sadly Louisa passed away at the age of 17 on 14th May 1868. Her gravestone, covered in algae, rests in a small village churchyard not far from where she and her family used to live. A young life cut tragically short.

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Lady Docker and Daughter

Taphophilia is a passion for and enjoyment of cemeteries. The singular term is a taphophile.


Monuments to Lady Nora Docker and Felicity Callingham, St James The Less Churchyard, Stubbings, Pinkney's Green, Maidenhead Berkshire.


The term 'Lady Docker' is also used in a derogatory way in the north of England, to describe a woman who has pretensions to be of high station but who in reality is anything but.


Nora Royce Docker nee Turner was born in Debry, Derbyshire on 23 June 1906 in a flat about a butcher's shop to Sydney and Amy Turner nee James. Sydney, a mechanical engineer was a self made man who after beginning his working life as a shopfitter for ther chemists Boots, eventually invested in motor cars, setting up his own showroom in Birmingham.

Sadly in 1922 when Nora was 16 years old, her father suffered a nervous breakdown and commited suicide by throwing himself from the ferry between Holyhead and Dublin.

- "The Turners had to sell their car showroom and release their servants. Amy Turner invested in a pub – the Three Tuns at Sutton Coldfield – but Norah found it so difficult to adjust to her new life that she could not bring herself to work behind the bar.

She was even more dismayed when her mother decided to leave the thriving business to invest in another pub – this time the Swan Hotel at Tenbury Wells. This business quickly failed and the Turners were forced to return to Birmingham, now in financial difficulties.

This brief flirtation with poverty made Norah determined never to experience it again. Just before his suicide, her father had made her promise that she would take care of the family, should anything untoward happen to him."

In 1924 aged 18 Nora left for London to seek her fortunes and became a dancer at London's fashionable Cafe de Paris. It was here that she meet her first husband Clement Callingham, head of Henekeys wine and spirit merchants. They soon set up home in Maidenhead, despite the fact Clement was waiting for a divorce from his estranged wife. In 1938 when Nora was 32 they married at Chelsea registry Office. In 1939 their son Lance was born and later joined in 1943 by their daughter Felicity.

Tragically Felicity was to pass away at the tender age of nine months old. Her resting place is directly behind that of her mother.




In July of 1945 Clement Callingham became ill and shortly after passed away.
A year after the death of her first husband Nora married his friend Sir William Collins, President of Fortnum & Mason. He too passed away in 1948.

Nora was married a third time in 1949 to Sir Bernard Docker, chairman of Birmingham Small Arms, Daimler and a director of the Midland Bank, Anglo-Argentine Tramways and Thomas Cook and Son.
Unfortunately due to their excesses and as Nora felt, the attentions of the press and paparazzi, the couple were not well liked.

Bernard passed away in 1978 and Nora moved to Majorca, yet she frequently visited England and her beloved son Lance.

In December 1983, Nora was discovered dead in her room at the Great Western Royal Hotel in London. She was 77 years old and she had lived life to it's fullest.

She now rests peacefully in a small Berkshire village churchyard along with her daughter and two of her three husbands. Almost forgotten.

**Update**

Sir Bernard and Lady Docker's former £4.4 million apartment has recently come up for sale.


 

Hannah and William Ferguson Good

Taphophilia is a passion for and enjoyment of cemeteries. The singular term is a taphophile.


Angel monument of Hannah Good, died September 29th 1927 and William Ferguson Good, died December 27th 1934. All Saints Maidenhead Cemetery, All Saints Avenue, Maidenhead, Berkshire.


William Ferguson Good was born in Kilmarnock, Ayrshire Scotland in 1852 to John and Marion S Good, nee Ferguson. It seems that it was this particular family's tradition to give their son thier mother's maiden name as a middle name. In 1871 a 19 year old William appears on the Scottish Census as a tailor living at 28 West Shaw Street with his parents and siblings. By 1880 William had travelled to Leicestershire, where he met and married Hannah Croshaw Harris.

Hannah Croshaw Harris was born in Bagworth Leicestershire in 1845 to Joseph Croshaw Harris and his wife Elizabeth.

1881 sees William and Hannah making their move to the St Lukes area of Maidenhead where William is now a tailor and clothier employing one youth, Montague L Fouler. 1883 saw the birth of their only child, Maggie Good.

On 29th September 1927 Hannah passes away aged 79 years in Marylebone London. She was followed 7 years later by her husband William who died in Maidenhead aged 84.


What was Hannah doing in London at the time of her death and what became of their daughter Maggie?

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Campbell-Dykes - Gate of Everlasting Life

Taphophilia is a passion for and enjoyment of cemeteries. The singular term is a taphophile.


Gateway monument of Enid Mary U Campbell-Dykes and her mother Ellen Lewis Campbell-Dykes, All Saints Maidenhead Cemetery, All Saints Avenue, Maidenhead, Berkshire.

Mors Janua Vitae - Death is the gateway to everlasting life.
But thy eternal summer shall not fade.


Enid Mary U Campbell-Dykes was born in 1909 At 120 Mona, Grenfell Road Maidenhead, the second child to Thomas and Ellen Lewis Campbell-Dykes nee Clift.

Thomas Campbell Dykes was born in Dumfries, Dumfriesshire Scotland in 1882 to Thomas and Mary Dykes. At some point after 1901 Thomas linked together his middle name Campbell and surname Dykes to become Campbell-Dykes. In 1901 he is listed living with his parents at Spring Gardens Newall Terrace and at the time he was a dental student. Sometime between 1901 and 1907 Thomas met and married Ellen Lewis Clift who was born in 1887 in Glasgow.

In 1907 their first child Cyril Thomas was born in Richmond Yorkshire. Two years later the family is recorded on the 1911 Census as living in Maidenhead where Thomas is now a Dental Surgeon E A S. Thomas appears in the 1915 Kelly's Directory as a Dental Surgeon practicing at 120 Grenfell road. In 1916 their family grew with the birth of their second daughter Doreen Eileen T Campbell-Dykes.
Sadly tragedy was to strike on 18th May 1924 when at the age of 15 Enid passed away. She was followed eventually in 1961 by her 78 year old father and on 17th September 1963 by her 73 year old mother. Thomas is not remembered on the gravestone and at the moment his final resting place still remains a mystery.

The remaining Campbell-Dykes children both lived long and hopefully happy lives moving away from Maidenhead, marrying and having children. Cyril was to even name one of his daughters after his young sister.

Research into the Campbell-Dykes family also turned up information on Thomas's social affairs as well as a picture of the man himself. In 1936 Thomas Campbell-Dykes opened the Twyford Bowling Club.

"The Club was formally opened on Wednesday the 3rd June 1936 by Thomas Campbell-Dykes, President of the Berkshire County Bowling Association, seen here bowling the first wood on the green." - Twyford Bowling Club.

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Townsend - Misty Morning

The mist shrouded angel monument of Philip Limbrach Townsend and his second wife Louisa Townsend nee Banger. All Saints Maidenhead Cemetery, All Saints Avenue, Maidenhead Berkshire.

Philip Limbrach Townsend died March 21st 1927 aged 71 years.

Lousia Townsend died 19th December 1936 aged 70 years.

Philip Limbrach Townsend was born in 1856 in St Anns, Soho, Middlesex, to parents Philip Townsend and Jane Townsend nee Sims. His unusual middle name comes from that of his paternal grandfather, Limborough Townsend. It seems that over the years Philip's middle name was incorrectly recorded before becoming the name that adorns his grave, Limbrach. Philip Snr was listed on the 1861 Census as being a Dairyman and Cow Herder, a career that his son was to follow him in.

In Westminster in 1878 Philip Limbrach married Elizabeth Weston. Their marriage was to be a tragically short one. In 1884 they were blessed with the birth of their son Owen Stanley Townsend, who was to sadly die aged 12 in 1896. January 1886 saw the arrival of their second child, a son Aubrey Edward Townsend. Sadly Elizabeth died that very same month, possibly through childbirth or complications afterwards.

In 1888 in Abingdon, Berkshire Philip Limbrach marries his second wife Louisa Banger. In 1901 Philip Limbrach is a Dairy Man living in Paddington London along with his wife Louisa and his son from his first marriage Aubrey, by now an Apprentice Electrical Engineer, and his other children Elsie Margueritee born 1889, Cecil Philip Limbrach born 1892 and Dorothy May born 1894

By 1911 The family had moved to Lawnfield House, Bath Road, Maidenhead, Berkshire.  However on the night of the census, Philip, now working as a auctioneer, and his son Cecil were staying at the Marine Mansion Hotel on Marine Parade in Brighton, Sussex.  Sadly another tragedy was set to befall the family. Aubrey joined the Royal Fusiliers and sadly drowned near Huntingdon whilst bathing on 14th June 1919 aged 33. He left behind his widow Nellie Lavinia Townsend nee Clarke and is buried in a Commonwealth War Grave in Brampton Cemetery Huntingdonshire.

Andrew Neville Chirnside - Far From Home

 

Angel monument to Andrew Neville Chirnside who died on 17th May 1901 aged 12 years. All Saints Maidenhead Cemetery, All saints Avenue, Maidenhead Berkshire.

 

Andrew Neville Chirnside was born in 1889 in Werribee, Victoria, Australia to Robert Chirnside and Alice Belinda Chirnside nee Ware. His father Robert was a member of one of the leading families of landowners in Australasia in the 1880's and by all accounts -

"A man of kindly heart and generous disposition, keenly interested in pastoral management and everything connected with country life, and taking a pride in having everything of the best around him."

Robert Chirnside passed away on 4th January 1900 after a three year illness which had started with a bad cold, eventually leading to trouble with the lungs. He left behind his widow Alice and five children, three sons and two daughters.

It was on 17th May 1901 during a trip back to England with his mother Alice, that Andrew was tragically struck by peritonitis which quickly proved to be fatal.

An article in The Adelaide Register records -

 

"The passengers by The Australia have been greatly shocked at the death of Andrew Neville Chirnside, 12 yr old son of the late Mr Robert Chirnside of Carranballac, Victoria, which took place on the passage between Plymouth and London on 17 May. Until reaching the later stage of the voyage the lad was in the full flush of youthful vigour but a seizure of peritonitis quickly proved fatal."

Mrs Chirnside later remarried to Sir Henry Hodges, who she also out lived.  Lady Alice Hodges passed away on 23rd November 1942 at Mount Macedon, Victoria, Australia.  Her obituary was placed in the Melbourne Argus the day after her death.

"By the death of Lady Hodges, 83, at her home Dreamthorpe, Mt Macedon, yesterday, charitable institutions, especially those concerned with the welfare of children, have lost a very fine patroness.  Many charities have benefitted from inspections of the lovely gardens of Dreamthorpe, and it was one of the show gardens of Mt Macedon to be thrown open for charitable purposes.  Lady Hodges was born in the Western district, and was twice married.  Her first husband was the late Mr Robert Chirnside, and her second the late Sir Henry Hodges, of the Victorian Supreme Court Bench.  Her family consisted of 2 daughters (Mrs Mary Gwladis Roland and one deceased) and 3 sons, Messers. Robert Gordon Chirnside and Russell Melville Chirnside, and the late Mr Andrew Neville Chirnside. 

The funeral, which will be private, will take place on Wednesday, leaving Sleight's Chapel at 3pm for Springvale Crematorium."

It must have been extremely difficult for Alice to lose her first husband, two of her children and then her second husband.  It must also have been extremely difficult for her to leave her young son resting in a small town cemetery in England.




 

Finch Family Grave - Snow Angel

The snow laden angel of 'The Finch Family Grave'. All Saints Maidenhead Cemetery, All Sainst Avenue, Maidenhead Berkshire.


"William Michael Finch died 27th July 1919 aged 79 years
Emily Finch died 29th July 1902 aged 61 years

Also of their only son William Alexander Finch died 18th August 1925 aged 59

Monument by Emmanuel Harris & Son, Monumental Masons, Beaumont Street London."


William Michael Finch was born in Hackney London in 1840 to Alexander Finch, a carpet planner and his wife Caroline Harvey.  William later became a zinc worker by trade.

In 1841 nine month old William can be found living with his parents and elder siblings, Caroline Elizabeth, Alexander and James in Ann's Place, Pritchard's Road, Hackney, London.

In 1851 the ten year old school boy William is still living with his parents at Ann's Place in Pritchard's Road, however the family has grown to include George, Susannah and John.  Sadly just two years later Alexander was to pass away in 1853.

1861 finds the now twenty year old William, now a zinc worker, living with his widowed mother and younger siblings, now including nine year old Caroline, at 29 Marian Square, Bethnal Green, London.

In 1864 William married Emily Prockter in Shoreditch London and on August 5th 1866 they were blessed with the birth of their only child William Alexander Finch.

In 1871 the young family can be found living at 271 Hackney Road, Hackney London.

William and his wife Emily were still residing at 271 Hackney Road when the 1881 Census was completed.  By this time William Alexander has left the family home, however I have been unable to locate him on the 1881 Census.

In the 1891 Census William Snr was listed as living by own means at 76 Victoria Park Road, South Hackney, London along with his wife Emily, their son William, by now an Architect and Surveyor and their house keeper Emily Lee.

On 26th August 1896 William Alexander married Emeline Blundell in Westminster, London

By 1901 William Michael, now retired, is still residing at 76 Victoria Park Road with his wife Emily.  Sadly, just a year later in 1902, Emily passed away.

Their son William and his wife Emeline are listed as living at Ray Road, Maidenhead, Berkshire.  In 1908 William Alexander and Emeline celebrated the birth of their child Michael William Finch.

In 1911 William Alexander and his young family can be found living at Ravenshoe, Bourne End, Buckinghamshire.  However that same year William petitioned Emeline for a divorce, citing a Theodore Gilsdorf. 

I have been unable to trace William Michael on the 1911 Census, however he was to pass away in 1919 in Hackney, London.

William Alexander was to pass away at his home, Ravenshoe in Bourne End, Buckinghamshire on 18th 1925.

Outram - Behind Every Stone Is A Story

Taphophilia is a passion for and enjoyment of cemeteries The singular term is a taphophile.


Recently restored memorial Angel to Jessie Outram, born 7th December 1884 - died 17th October 1912 aged 27 years (after much suffering) and of Private Alexander Robert Outram of the 22nd Battalion, Royal Fusiliers, born 9th October 1879 - died 17th February 1917, killed in action in France aged 38. For years this beautiful memorial had been nothing more then a mound of ivy and brambles.

All Saints Maidenhead Cemetery, All Saints Avenue, Berkshire, UK.

Such a tragic loss of two young lives, leaving behind their son Alexander Joseph Harold Outram who also died at a young age, 32 in Westminster London.

Alexander Sr was born in Tanca Peru in 1878 and Jessie nee LeSueur was born In Jersey, the Channel Islands. They were married on 23 October 1904 in Jersey and by 1907 had moved to Maidenhead Berkshire and had their son Alexander Jr.

In 1904 Alexander Sr joined the Volunteer Reserve and later The Royal Fusiliers on 7th June 1916 . He served with the Expeditionary Force in France from 1st December that year and was reported missing in action on 17th February 1917 after fighting near Petit Miraumont. He was later known to be killed in action on that date.

Jessie died at a very young age after much suffering, possibly from an illness.

I wonder what brought them from Peru to Jersey and then to my home town in Maidenhead? Why were they and their young son all fated to die so early and were they happy during the brief time they had together?





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