Wednesday's Child

In 

Memory of

Dear Elsie

The Beloved Daughter of

Robert and Alice Milton

Died Sept. 16th 1916 Aged 10 Years

'Safe In The Arms of Jesus'

Wednesday's Children

In Loving Memory 

of

Daphne Lund

Who Died 28 Dec. 1934

Aged 2 Years & 3 Months

God has Gathered in Our Darling

Placed Our Bud Amongst His Flowers

Taken Back the Child He Lent Us

To a Better Home Than Ours

Sweet 

Memories of

Jeremy

Johnathon Nunn

Who Died the

21st Nov. 1960

ged 20 Months

Sleeping 

In Loving Memory

of

Stephen John Lund

Who Died 22 Feb. 1950

Aged 1 Year 17 Days

How We Miss Our Little Darling

Our Sad Hearts Alone Can Tell

Jesus Thought it Best to Take Him

Home in Heaven with Him to Dwell 

Killed by Shell in France

In 

Ever Loving

Memory of

George

Ernest Reynolds

Who was Killed by Shell

in France

December 13 ~ 1916

Aged 34 Years

'Nearer my God to Thee'

In Loving Remembrance

George E Reynolds was a Private in the 6th Battalion York and Lancaster Regiment and he is buried in the Hamel Military Cemetery in Beaumont~Hamel in France.

The detail of the buds and broken stem with a fallen Flower are well detailed on this headstone. The buds are a reminder of the potential of a life cut tragically short and the broken stem depicts that ending. The flower in bloom shows us that the person reached adulthood, whereas a broken bud would often depict the loss of a child.  

Wednesday's Child

In 

Loving 

Memory

of

Mabel Eleanor Bacon

Died January 31. 1916

Aged 9 Months

It is a sad fact that so many of these delicate little crosses no longer stand upright, whether this is due to their age or vandalism is not always known........

Some stones and their leaded letters seem to stand the ravages of time far better than those of an equal age.

Monday Mourning ~ Uprooted

In Affectionate Rememberance of

Louisa Ann the Beloved Wife of Frank Palmerstone Ellis

of Thorley Bourne

Who died 21st October 1885 Aged 32 Years

'Not Lost but Gone Before'

I love the mature trees of the older well established Cemeteries, it's what makes them such places of serenity. They stand like protective sentinels over the resting places of loved ones, sometimes however their growing habits can take over the spaces they shelter.........

   

Friday's Funerary Art ~ Death's Delicate Stone Flowers

These beautifully carved stone flowers are a true testament to the finest craft and artistry of the Master Stone Mason, not just because of their intricacy, but also because of their unusual uniqueness. They are weathered now, but would have been stunning in brilliant white marble when first done.

This monument in Bishops Stortford Cemetery in Hertfordshire is dedicated to three members of the Death Family, the fourth plate having been left blank.  

Requiescat in Pace

In Loving Memory of

Lydia Unwin Death

of 'The Cedars'

Bassingbourne, Cambs

who was accidentally killed

by a Motor ~ Cyclist at

Scarborough

on August 13th 1904

Aged 78

The Lord God Hath Given Rest

After he had served his own generation by the will of God he fell on sleep

In Loving Memory of

Woodham Death

of 'South Lodge' Thorley

who Died March 19 ~ 1889

Aged 81 years

'He giveth his beloved sleep'

Erected by his sorrowing niece

Sarah Death

An Old Disciple

In Loving Memory of

Sarah Death

of 'South Lodge'

Bps Stortford

who Passed away in

her sleep on the Eve

of her 94th Birthday

Februaury 18 ~ 1920

Born at

Burnt Mill, Essex

February 19 ~ 1827

This woman was full of good works

Explorer and Cartographer ~ Ignazio Nicolas Dracopoli

  

  

Ignazio Nicolas Dracopoli

Born

December 6th 1887

Ex Umbris Et Imaginibus

In Veritatem

January 7th 1923

~ From out of the shadows and images into truth ~ 

When I took this photo of a rather plain and uninspiring altar tomb in Bishops Stortford Cemetery, I had no idea that its owner had lead a rather incredible life as an Explorer and Map maker. Who had in fact charted parts of Africa that no other white man had set foot upon.

The following Obituary therefore is that of Ignazio Nicolas Dracopoli and comes from the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, Vol. 84

Ignazio Nicolas Dracopoli was born on 1887 December 6 at the Cape d'Antibes, France. He was educated at Malvern College and University College, Oxford and played Cricket for Dorset Minor Counties Championship in 1906.

In the summer of 1908 he set out for Arizona, where he roamed about for several months and then became a cowboy on the ranch of an old Frenchman, about forty miles from Tucson. He remained there until the summer of 1909 and then returned to his home in England. 

His experiences in Arizona had made him more anxious than ever to travel and he immediately began to prepare for a trip to East Africa. He set out with his younger brother in the beginning of 1910 for Nairobi, where he did some big game shooting.

With his desire to become a scientific traveler and explorer, Dracopoli joined the Royal Geographical Society and studied surveying  under Mr. E. A. Reeves, the map curator of the R.G.S. He soon became proficient and started off for the Pinacate Mountains in the Sonoran desert in Mexico. Here he made a map of the surrounding country, while his brother secured three specimens of the rather rare Sonoran mountain sheep.

In October 1912, very soon after his return from Mexico, Dracopoli left for England and again went to British East Africa. He went with the intention of exploring and mapping the country between the Lorian swamp and the Indian Ocean and to find out what happened to the River Vaso Nyiro after it entered the swamp.

As that part of Jubaland was unknown, the natives unfriendly and dangerous, he had very great difficulty in getting permission to carry out his plan.

However he managed to do so at last and starting from Kismayu on the coast, he crossed Jubaland and reached the Lorian swamp from the East which no white man had yet done.

He suffered from severe illness and hard ships of all kinds, but in spite of all difficulties he made an excellent map of the country through which he traveled, fixed the course of the Vaso Nyiro and brought back much valuable information.

He described his journey in the Journal of the R.G.S and was asked to give a lecture before the Society. He also published a book 'Through Jubaland to the Lorian Swamp'

In the 'World Atlas' published by The Times in 1922, Dracopoli's map has it's place. He was given the Bronze Medal of the Back Bequest and elected a member of the Geographical Society.

A last expedition was made to British East Africa in 1914 and on August 5th of that year he was married. He immediately offered his services to the country of his adoption, for although of Italian descent, he had become a naturalised British subject shortly before the outbreak of the war.

His health had been seriously impaired by his exploration of Jubaland and he was unfit for the fighting forces. He was given a post in the Royal Air Force, first in England and later in Egypt, where his exceptional gift of organisation had full scope. He was awarded the M.B.E for military service.

In the Spring of 1919, Dracopoli returned to England and bought a house in Bishops Stortford and went into business in the city.

He died on January 7th 1923 of a cruel disease, the seeds of which were sown during his hard journey to the Lorian swamp. He left two sons.

He was elected a Fellow of the Society on June 13th 1919.  

 

Wednesdays Child

He Shall Gather The Lambs With His Arm

Lois Ann

Daughter of

Robert & Emma L.

Brazier

Died 19th June 1869

I think the lead work on this beautiful little headstone is amazing, not just because it's so delicate but also for its incredible endurance over the years. 

Ferry Boat Drowning

In Ever Loving

Memory of

Violet Maude Handscomb

Who was Drowned in the

Ferry Boat Disaster at Fen Ditton

June 10th 1905 Aged 22 Years

The Ferry boat tragedy occured when some drunken undergraduate students attempted to climb aboard the already full 'Plough Ferry' at Fen Ditton shortly after the May boat races had taken place in nearby Cambridge.
As the ferry overturned, Violet was one of three women who drowned and lost their lives that day. 

Today the River Cam appears to be a relatively tame and easy river to cross, but in Edwardian times it was wider and shallower and edged by fen and bog, making it extremely hard to cross. Wagons, livestock and pedestrians used the ferries to traverse the river at this time.

Today there are many bridges crossing The Cam in Cambridge, but apart from the Great Bridge ~ the origin of the City's name and more commonly known as Magdalene Bridge ~  most river crossings before the Edwardian period required a ferry, of which there were several.

Bate's Ferry on the site of Victoria Bridge: a ferry by the Fort St. George ~ replaced by a footbridge in 1927. 
Dant's ferry replaced by the Cutter ~ Pye ~ footbridge, between Pembroke and Emmanuel Boat Houses.
Horse Grind ferry at Chesterton by the Green Dragon pub.
B.Jolley's ferry from the Pike and Eel pub.
Ditton Plough ferry.
All of these were known as 'Grind' ferries, because they were pulled across by a chain wound by hand. The Horse Grind ferry was unusual in that the grind was powered by a horse.