Silent Sunday Cemetery Scapes ~ Brompton Cemetery

The Inspiration for Beatrix Potter's Squirrel Nutkin ?

In 

Loving Memory of

Susannah Nutkins

who entered into Rest

Aug 3rd 1906

In her 90th Year

Also

Tom William Nutkins

Grandson of the Above

who died June 26th 1906

Aged 14 Years

Also of

George Nutkins

who entered into Rest

December 24th 1915

In his 62nd Year

also Helen Nutkins

Born Feb 16 1877

Died Feb 12th 1959

R.I.P

Whilst visiting Brompton Cemetery our guide made a reference to the name of 'Nutkins' on this headstone, as the source of inspiration for the character of Squirrel Nutkin in the much loved Tales written by Beatrix Potter . Whom it was believed, had often walked through the cemetery and had been inspired by the name for the little squirrel in her books. As Brompton simply oozes squirrels, which are tame enough to take food from your hand, the story sounded a very likely one.

But like all good stories as this one is, 'The Tale of Squirrel Nutkin' was published in 1903 and the first of the 'Nutkins' family was not to be interred until 1906, some three years later.

So it seems unlikely, but it's a nice little Tale......

Suffragette ~ Emmeline Pankhurst

On this day 84 years ago in 1928 the British Suffragette Emmeline Pankhurst died and was buried in Brompton Cemetery, London.
Pathe Film Clip of Emmeline Pankhurst

The Suffragette Movement

In 1903 Emmeline Pankhurst founded the Women's Socil and Political Union, along with her daughters Christabel and Sylvia. They wanted women to have the right to Vote and the Union became better known as the Suffragettes.

'Suffrage' means the right to vote and the National Union of Women's Suffrage had been was founded earlier in 1897 by Millicent Fawcett. Millicent believed in peaceful protest and patient logical debate.

Sylvia and Christabel

Although the Suffragettes started out peacefully the going was slow, by 1905 Christabel Pankhurst and Annie Kenney interrupted a political meeting and asked Winston Churchill and Sir Edward Grey if they believed women should have the right to vote. When the men did not answer, the two women got out a banner with the slogan 'Votes for Women' on it. The women were arrested for causing an obstruction and refused to pay a fine, preferring to go to prison instead to highlight their cause. This kind of behaviour was unheard of at the time and really caused a stir, however the women refused to bow down.

Emmeline Pankhurst is Arrested

Others opposed to the movement were the Church of England and so the women burnt down churches, the Royal Family was also seen to be against women having the right to vote and so the women chained themselves to the railings outside Buckingham Palace. Shop windows were broken in London's Oxford Street and boats were hired to sail up the Thames, where abuse was shouted through loud hailers at Parliment. Paintings in galleries were slashed and post boxes set alight. Women refused to pay taxes and Politicians were attacked on their way to work and had their houses fire bombed.

Suffragettes happily went to Prison where they went on hunger strikes, however they were then force fed. This caused a public outcry as force feeding was reserved for the treatment of lunatics and these were mostly educated women.

The government responded with the Cat and Mouse Act, which allowed the Suffragette to go on hunger strike without being force fed, until becoming on the point of collapse and so weakened that she was unable to continue protesting. The Suffragette would then be released from prison before dying from starvation, which saved the government from embarrassment. Those that did recover were then re~arrested for the most trivial of charges so that the whole process could start again.

Emily Davison at the Derby

The Suffragettes took even more extreme measures to further their cause, when in June 1913 Emily Wilding Davison died when she threw herself at the King's racehorse during The Derby.

Emily Davison

Many men asked the question, that if an educated woman such as Emily could do this, then what might a lesser educated woman do ? How could they possibly be given the right to vote ?

Emily Davison's Funeral

In August 1914 at the start of World War One, Emmeline Pankhurst instructed Suffragettes to support the government and the War effort as a sign of patriotism by stepping into those roles left behind by men who had gone to war.

By 1918 selected women over 30 years old got the vote and in 1928, all women over 21 years old win the vote.

Queen Victoria's Courier

This stone

was erected by the

Queen

and the

Prince of Wales

 to mark their appreciation of the

long and valued services of

Joseph Julius Kanne

1889

Joseph Julius Kanne, was Queen Victoria's invaluable courier, the director of her continental journeys.

Kanne was the son of Josephine Loewenfeld and Leopold Kanne and was born about 1818 in Austria. An article in the Jewish Chronicle of Oct 1947, tells that Josephine was the daughter of Moses Loewenfeld of Schoenwald who owned a distillery there. While Leopold’s family were originally from Frankfort a Main, a wealthy and influential family.

Josephine and Leopold lived in Pilsen, after Leopold’s death Josephine moved to Prague and died in 1874 and is buried in the Jewish Cemetery there.Joseph then took British naturalisation in 1864 having seen active service in the Crimean War where he had been present at the siege of Sebastopol.

Queen Victoria arrived in Berlin early in the morning on 24th Apr 1888 to visit her daughter. Soon after she heard the news that:
'Poor good Kanne, who had a relapse a week ago after having recovered wonderfully from the first attack in March had become much worse and was in great danger' an hour later the Queen was advised of his death at his private residence in Dover Street, London. She wrote 'For thirty years he had attended me on all my journeys, making all the arrangements in a most admirable manner. He used to think of every little thing for my pleasure and comfort and had a wonderful power of organisation. I can hardly realise that he is gone and he will be such a loss. All my children and people are so grieved'.

His epitaph reads: This stone was erected by the Queen and the Prince of Wales to mark their appreciation of the long and valued services of Joseph Julius Kanne.
In memory of Joseph Julius Kanne, for nearly 40 years one of Her Majesty’s most devoted servants. Died 24 April 1888 aged 70 years.

The London Gazette reported on 26 Jun 1888 that probate was granted on 13 June to Achille Vintras of Hanover Square, Doctor of Medicine. Dr Vintras was the founder of the French Hospital in London.

 

 

Friday's Funerary Symbols ~ Swifts

These are the first Swifts I have ever seen to be pictured on a tombstone and I think they are so beautiful, that you could almost forget the sense of loss they depict.

The symbol of the Swift denotes the fleeting passage of time that their brief summer visits herald. When portrayed as a flock of swifts, these migratory birds remind us of the departure that comes before a journey toward a better place. 

Sacred to the Memory of

James Childs

Died April 5 1880 Age 60 Years

also James, Grandson

Died Dec 25 1886 Age 7 Mths

also Sarah, his wife

Died March16 1897 Age 76 Years

also Elizabeth, Granddaughter

 ? Age 9 Years 

There is also another Grandson who died May 22 and another Elizabeth, who died in January that is mentioned as well. Unfortunately I was unable to get any closer due to overgrown brambles in that area and so this was the best I could capture from a distance.

Sioux Chief Long Wolf ~ Returned Home

The Gravesite of Chief Long Wolf as it looks today

Long Wolf, an Indian Chief whose body was covered with battle scars was believed by his family to have fought in the Battle of Little Big Horn, died of pneumonia at the age of 59 in 1892 and was then buried in Brompton cemetery in London.

How the graveside of Chief Long Wolf originally appeared

The plot in Brompton Cemetery belonged to William Cody and so it became the final resting place for Chief Long Wolf after he fell ill with pneumonia and died whilst performing with 'Col. Buffalo Bill'  ~ in Cody's 'Wild West Show' at Earl's Court in London.

Chief Long Wolf

In the 1880s, as federal troops were herding thousands of Sioux onto reservations, William Cody recruited Long Wolf and 10 others to perform in his traveling show, re~enacting battles.

Brave Chief, Eagle Chief, Knife Chief, Young Chief, William Cody,Chief American Horse, Chief Rocky Bear, Chief Flies Above, Chief Long Wolf

Long Wolf's dying wish was to return home and be buried in his native soil, but it never happened, as his Great Grandson John Black Feather says "Back then, they had burials at sea, they did ask his wife if she wanted to take him home and she figured that as soon as they hit the water they would throw him overboard, so that's why they left him here."

Long Wolf's grave was re~discovered in 1991 by Elizabeth Knight, a housewife from Worcestershire, who had read a second-hand book by Robert Cunningham Grahame that included a description of Long Wolf's life and burial and described the 'neglected grave in a lone corner of a crowded London cemetery'.
"This really struck a chord in me, he shouldn't be here in an unkempted grave", said Elizabeth. After finding the grave, she wrote to a newspaper in South Dakota.

This in turn, led to the discovery of Long Wolf's granddaughter, Jessie Black Feather ~ John Black Feather's mother, who was 87 years old at the time and Long Wolf's oldest living relative. She had lost track of where Long Wolf had been buried.

Postcard of Buffalo Bill's Wild West Indian Camp

As a child, Black Feather listened to his mother's stories of Long Wolf and he said of his Great Grandfather "He shouldn't be here, returning the body to the United States is important. Our medicine men and holy men tell us that since he's buried in a foreign country with no relatives, it would be better if he was brought to his homeland for his final resting place,they figure that his spirit will never rest until he's brought home."

John Black Feather

On 25th September 1997, some 105 years later, Chief Long Wolf began his long overdue voyage home.

His funeral procession was led by three members of the Sioux tribe of South Dakota, ahead of them, two black horses pulled a wagon bearing the casket draped with the American and Sioux flags, that contained the Warrior Chief's remains.

After a church ceremony that combined religious rites with those of the Sioux, Chief Long Wolf's remains began their return to the ancestral burial ground of the Oglala Sioux tribe at the Pine Ridge Reservation.
It will be followed by a feast of venison and buffalo meat to celebrate his return at last to the land of his people.
"It's not a sad day for us," said John Black Feather. "It's gonna be a great homecoming for him."
Two other caskets had also been buried on top of Long Wolf's, that of a 2-year-old Sioux girl named Star Ghost Dog, who was killed when she fell from a horse in Cody's show. And that of an Englishman.
Star was re~buried near Wounded Knee and the Englishman was re~buried elsewhere.

Chief Long Wolf

North American Indian

with Buffalo Bill's Wild West Co.

Died June 7th 1892

Aged 59 years

Also Star

who died August 12th 1892

Aged 28 months

I Thought I Recognised This

Brompton Cemetery, London

Sacred

to the Memory of

General

Sir John Lysaght Pennefather

GCB

The Governor of The Royal Hospital Chelsea

Died 9th May 1872

In the 73rd Year of His Age

~ Verse ~

Also of Margaret, widow of the above

who entered into rest 7th February 1880

~ Verse ~

Also of Harriet Worrell ( Harrie )

The dearly loved wife of the Rev. Henry Pelham Stokes.M

Rector of Wareham Dorset: A Grand~daughter of the above

who fell asleep in Jesus 13th January 1882  

General Sir John Lysaght Pennefather GCB* B.9 September 1798 ~ D. 9 May 1872, was a British soldier who won two very remarkable victories. Firstly, at Meanee, India, where it was said that 500 Irishmen defeated 35,000 Indians.

Secondly, at the Battle of Inkerman, 5 November 1854 during the Crimean War, where he commanded a division of 3,000 Irishmen fighting in the fog were said to have defeated 35,000 Russians.

*Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath

Information from Wikipedia  

As soon as I saw the monument above, I recognised it as being veri similar to the one below from Histon Road Cemetery, Cambridge..... 

Histon Road Cemetery, Cambridge

I have shown this particular monument in an earlier posting and have always admired it because of the beautiful fine detailed Weeping Willow branches that are draped over it. 

I also liked the fact that it appeared to be an original design as I had never seen another quite like it, that is until I discovered that of Gen. Sir John Lysaght Pennefather in Brompton Cemetery. 

Wednesday's Child

Sacred

to the Memory

of Our Little

Tom

who died Jan. 10th 1882

Aged 2 Yrs 10 Months

The good condition of Little Tom's wooden head and footboard, lead me to think that they are not the originals. Tom has no surname that is visible, so who replaced them and when ?

His Sister is Missing

This is the poster that hangs on the wall of the South Lodge in Brompton Cemetery, showing the graveside where the children originally stood.

Unfortunately the pair were stolen some 10 years ago, however the little boy turned up for sale in an auction, where he was recognised and returned to Brompton. He now resides in the South Lodge for safe keeping, sadly his sister has never been recovered.

If you've seen her and know of her whereabouts, please contact Brompton Cemetery, London, UK tel: 020 7352 1201. As her brother is missing her.........  

Monday Mourning ~ Tomb Styles

Temple Tombs

Brompton Cemetery

Temple Tombs have a low pitched roof that is supported on columns as shown above or with a similar roof supported by pillars at the front and with a solid wall at the rear, resembling a porticoed facade in the style of a Grecian Temple.

The Greek Revival style was a popular architectural movement of the late 18th and early 19th centuries, predominantly in Northern Europe and the United States.

Cemeteries of the World ~ Brompton Cemetery ~ London, England

The West London and Westminster Cemetery Company, as it was known, was established in 1836 and then opened in 1840. Its founder was the architect, inventor and entrepreneur Stephen Geary, who had previously created Highgate and Nunhead cemeteries. Brompton's original 39 acres was purchased from Lord Kensington in1838.

It is regarded as one of the finest Victorian Metropolitan cemeteries in the country, with it's formal layout of a central avenue leading to a chapel based on St Peter's Basilica in Rome.

St. Peters Basilica, Rome

Brompton Cemetery, London

The cemetery company directors held a competition for the design of its buildings, judged by the distinguished architect Sir Jeffry Wyattville. He chose a design by one of his assistants, Benjamin Baud c.1807~1875, as the work was strongly reminiscent of Wyatville's own and they had also worked together at Windsor Castle, which can be seen in the background of this portrait of him.

Benjamin Baud

With Baud as the designer, Geary's own preposals were rejected and forced him to resign from the board of directors. 

The site had been a featureless brickworks and market garden, but Baud's design used this to create an immense Open-Air Cathedral with a central ‘Nave ~ Central Avenue' 2000 ft. to a spectacular ‘High Altar ~ the Domed Chapel’, through the 300 ft. Great Circle, inspired by the piazza of St. Peter’s in Rome.

The original plan was to have kept the Great Circle of Brompton cemetery clear of graves, with the burials taking place outside of the Colonnades. However it's huge popularity soon meant that these spaces eventually became used too.

The Great Circle

The Cemetery planting was completed in 1846, and it was recorded that there was once a double avenue of Limes flanked by Pines lining the central drive, these appear on Ordnance Survey maps of 1865 and 1895. Only the Limes now remain.

Central Avenue looking toward the Domed Chapel

Central Avenue looking toward the Main Gate

Two prominent colonnades flank Central Avenue and the Great Circle, with catacombs beneath, entered by impressive cast-iron doors.

Catacomb Door

Matching bell towers were planned for either side of the arcades, but financial constraints meant that only the western one was actually built.

The Bell Tower

Originally there were plans for ‘Transepts’ on either side, with dedicated chapels for Roman Catholics and Dissenters, but financial constraints and social prejudice foretold against both. 

A failed attempt to purchase a plot on which to build a chapel, caused an independent group of Roman Catholics to secure a site adjacent to Kensal Green Cemetery, where they established the Roman Catholic Cemetery of St. Mary's. As a result of this, several monks were then exhumed from Brompton for reburial there. The present chapel was initially reserved for the Church of England, but later re~dedicated for Nonconformist use.

The Domed Chapel

Interior

The directors pushed ahead with Baud’s grandiose scheme, despite concerns that the project was proving far more expensive than the estimated £30,000 for the whole job. By 1841, £61,000 had been spent with the work not yet completed.

Building was still in progress when the Bishop of London, Charles Blomfield, consecrated the cemetery in June 1840. Using the northeast lodge as a temporary chapel so that the first burial took place on 18 June 1840.

The builder, Philip Nowell, advanced the cemetery company large sums of money to continue working, due to a resession at that time and business being slow. The management then noticed structural defects, for which Nowell and Baud blamed one another. The directors owed Nowell so much that they took his side and Baud was dismissed, he later attempted to sue the Company, as previously Geary had done, but both men were unsuccessful.

Uncertainty then arose over Lord Kensington's entitlement to have sold the site, which appeared to have already been transferred in a marriage settlement. The matter was resolved through litigation, which lasted until 1854.

The Interments Act of 1850 prohibited burial in congested urban churchyards and crypts, giving the state the power of compulsory purchase over commercial cemeteries such as Brompton. The Act was repealed by the 1852 Metropolitan Burials Act, but not before an official offer had been made for the cemetery. Brompton Cemetery became the only private cemetery purchased under the 1850 Act, and also the first ever to be nationalised. It is still Britain's only crown cemetery, held for the last 50 years in the care of the Royal Parks Agency.

People from all walks of life are buried here, including thirteen holders of the Victorian Cross and Chelsea Pensioners. The cemetery provides a haven of peace, beauty and tranquillity where 'The public are permitted to walk daily'.

Brompton Cemetery's burial archive, has been transcribed onto a computer data base from the 140 registers. Original cemetery records, are held in the Public Record Office at Kew.

Brompton Cemetery was originally designed to accommodate some 60,000 plots in a combination of common and private graves.

Plots on the east side were sold in perpetuity as 'Private Graves' with heritable deeds.

Private Grave of A.B. Smith

A.K 35756

These graves could be up to 19 ft. deep and contain brick-lined vaults beneath for large monuments or mausolea to be placed above.

This encouraged wealthy families to build grand monuments which could accommodate several generations, as a lasting symbol of their status.

   

Plots on the west side, large sections of cheaper 'Common Graves' accommodated several unrelated coffins in one deep cut with no right to erect a monument above. Some were dug almost 22 ft. deep, taking up to ten adult burials. There are very few actual 'Pauper's Graves'.

From 1854 until 1939, Brompton also became the London District's Military Cemetery, after the churchyard used by the London Garrison was closed by the Interments Act.

The War Ministry paid reduced fees and servicemen were often buried in unmarked common graves. However, the Royal Hospital Chelsea purchased its own plot near the north west corner, and the Household Cavalry and the Brigade of Guards laid claim to sections due south of that.

Brigade of Guards

There were some 155,000 interments by 1900, but little more than 50,000 followed before the cemetery was closed to new burials in 1952. Over the next 40 years, Brompton Cemetery only received interments in established family and military graves.

In 1996 it was re~opened again for new burials, with provision for single and family burials, leased for a period of 75 to 100 years and the deposit of cremated remains, leased from 30 to 75 years or more.

Amongst its shady walks are over 35,000 monuments - many of historical importance.

Headstone of Emmeline Pankhurst 

leader of the British suffragette movement who helped women win the right to vote

Many thanks go to the Friends of Brompton Cemetery for their valuable information. Please click on the bold type for further info and dates and timings of guided walks and events.