Wednesday's Child

Sacred to the Memory of

Edward ( Ted ) Francis

Son of

Francis John & Louisa Clapcott

Accidentally killed 8th Aug. 1931

Aged 9 Years 9 Months

A sudden call

At God's command he fell

He had not time to bid his friends farewell

Death came without a warning given

And bade him meet his God in Heaven

All Saints Church, Freshwater, Isle of Wight

Monday Mourning ~ Drowned whilst working on Submarine

In 

Loving Memory of

A Dearly

Loved Husband and Father

James Maggs Brown

Accidentally Drowned in Ipswich Dock

Whilst working on H.M.S Submarine D.4

February 23rd 1915

in his 42nd Year

What Peaceful hours we once enjoyed

How sweet their memory still

But they have left an aching void

The world can never fill

Beloved and Respected by all who knew him

HMS Submarine D4 was a British D class submarine built by Vickers, Barrow. D4 was laid down on 24th February 1910, launched 27th April 1911 and was commissioned on 29th November 1911. She was the first submarine to be fitted with a gun for offensive use.

Click on this bold type link for more information of H.M.S Submarine D4

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.  

 

Four Sisters of Barnston Hall

These tombstones in the churchyard of St.Andrews at Barnston, Essex, tell of sad and poignant tales of four sisters who all died young.
The first to die was, Martha Susannah who died of 'A slow decline' at the age of 14 years old in 1827. Thirteen years after that in 1840, Emma who was aged 22 years, was thrown from her horse. Eight months later, Jane who was aged 19 years old died of a heart attack and her demise was closely followed by 16 year old Maria, who succumbed to smallpox.


Sacred

to the Memory of

Martha Susannah

Third daughter of

Edward and Sarah Livermore

of Barnston Hall

who departed this life

April 3 1827

Aged 14 years

My life was like an April sky
Changing at each fleeting hour
A slow decline taught me to rely
And rest my hope in my Creators power

Sacred
to the Memory of
Emma
Fourth daughter of
Edward and Sarah Livermore
of Barnston Hall
who died Sep. 10 1840
Aged 22 Years

Our life is but a single thread
Which soon is cut and we are dead
Then boast not reader of thy might
Alive and well at noon and dead at night

Sacred
to the Memory of
Jane
Daughter of
Edward and Sarah Livermore
of Barnston Hall
She died May 30 1841
Aged 19 Years

The rising morning ca'nt assure
That we shall end the day
For Death stands ready at the door
To take our lives away

Sacred
to the Memory of
Maria
Youngest daughter of
Edward and Sarah Livermore
of Barnston Hall
who died Dec. 9th 1841
Aged 16 Years

Put not your trust in strength or youth
But trust in Heaven whose gifts they are
And now the solemn voice of truth
Hear, and to meet thine God prepare

This painting of the Livermore Sisters tombs by the artist Kenneth Rowntree was done in the 1940's as a part of the 'Recording Britain' series . It provides a record of the appearance of a typical country churchyard before the mass clearances of the 1950s and 1960s. These clearances led to a great deal of local social history to become lost forever as the gravestones themselves were often broken up.

Barnston Hall, the home of the Livermore Sisters as mentioned on their headstones.

Sleeping in Tombs

Photo not from Mill Road Cemetery

 

I saw this article on the front page of our local paper the 'Cambridge News' and was shocked to see how the Mill Road Cemetery in Cambridge had quite literally become a 'Sleeping Garden' not for the Dearly Departed, but the Drunk and Drugged.

Here is the full story:

 

Drunks and Addicts 'Sleeping in Tombs' by Chris Havergal

 

Drunks are pushing the lids off tombs at a Cambridge cemetery to sleep inside them.Horrified people living close to the graveyard have also reported seeing drug-addicts injecting themselves while sat in graves.

Police revealed the full impact of street drinking on the Petersfield neighbourhood in their bid to ban alcohol sales at a shop which they claim is a “soft touch” on liquor sales and a magnet for troublemakers – News and More in Norfolk Street.

Officers said problems started at the store and spread out into the surrounding area, including to Mill Road cemetery, which is plagued by drunkenness, littering, defecating and drug abuse, and can be accessed via an alleyway opposite the newsagent.

In a statement, Pc Alan Tregilgas said: “It is not unusual to find drunken persons sleeping in this area and in some cases tombstone lids have been pushed off so they can sleep inside them.
“One resident said she was shocked when she saw a male sitting on a grave with his trousers down injecting himself in his thigh in full view of everyone.”
In a first for the city’s force, officers have drawn up a dossier of evidence to support a request to revoke News and More’s licence, and this will be determined by councillors on Monday, January 7.

In the file, police and residents allege street drinkers frequent Norfolk Street itself from 8.30am, intimidating pupils at St Matthew’s Primary School by drinking, vomiting, urinating and begging, and by letting dogs run free.
Evidence about News and More include claims that:

* Staff opened the door of a fridge containing alcohol for two men who were too drunk to do so themselves and then sold liquor to the pair.

* A drunk man was asked for directions to the shop because he said 'it was the only place he would get served'.

* The store is seen as a 'Soft Touch' by people determined to get alcohol, whatever state they are in.

* A binge drinker died hours after being served alcohol there, having been refused liquor at another nearby newsagent because he looked sick.

Pc Peter Sinclair, the force’s licensing officer, said he believed owner Shailesh Patel was “knowingly breaching” licensing rules by serving drunks and that there was a “causal link” between sales at the shop and disorder.

He said advice given on numerous occasions “appeared to have fallen on deaf ears” and that the Patels “have by their behaviour treated the law-abiding residents in the area with utter contempt”.

However, the Patels have won support from customers, 39 of whom have written letters calling for the licence to remain in place – plus 112 who signed a petition.
They claim the Patels are careful about who they sell alcohol to and that it would be unfair to single out News and More when street drinking was a citywide problem.
Mr Patel said he had voluntarily stopped selling super-strength alcohol and that he had “tried his best” to prevent problems.













 

Died on All Hallows' Eve 1917

 

 

We recently visited Carnforth Railway's Heritage Centre in Lancashire,

where this display was exhibited in honour of the local men

who had fought in the Great War.

 

Henry Gardner was killed in an enemy Air Raid on 31st October 1917 in Belgium

during the First World War. His grave is in the Solferino Farm Cemetery, Ieper West~Vlaanderen. He was a Sapper, official number 265578 in the Army with the 22nd Light Railway Operating Coy, Royal Engineers. He died in his 21st year and was the son of Edwar and Ann Gardener of 14 King Street, Carnforth, Lancashire.

 

 

A photograph of Henry's War Grave was sent to his Father.  

 

 

Photograph by War Graves Photograph volunteer: Rudy van Kerckhoven

 

 

 Henry's name appears on the Role of Honour on the War memorial,

opposite the Railway station