Tag: Earlham Cemetery

This is the grave of Richardson Badcock Mayes (along with Eleanor and Richard) and is located at Earlham Cemetery in Norwich. The first mystery here is why the grave has the name Richardson, as this wasn’t his name, which was the more simple Richard. I can only assume that it’s a nickname or similar, although the probate record gave his name as Richardson.

Richardson (and I’ll call him that on the basis that it’s what his wife put on his gravestone) was born in around 1840, but I can’t find any records of this birth. I know that he was born in Norfolk, but despite trying all manner of differing spellings of his name, I can’t find him. Nor can I find his marriage to Eleanor that would have taken place in around 1860 and nor where they were living in 1861. It’s fair to say that this isn’t ideal….

The children were both baptised at the same time, at St. Martin’s Church in Norwich, which is located opposite to the entrance to the modern gateway to the Bishop’s Palace. I’m not sure why baptisms were done as a job lot like this, but this happened to other families as well. Anyway, the children were baptised on 21 August 1864 and Richardson’s profession was noted as being a stonemason. Richardson at last appears on the official record, by way of the electoral registers, in 1868 when he lived at Barn Road.

At the 1871 census, the family lived at Barn Road although this street has been substantially altered since then. It was once a relatively quiet road which led up to the railway station, but the road is now part of the inner ring-road and the station has been demolished. George Plunkett has several photos of what Barn Road once looked like and the type of house that the Mayes would have lived in. At this census, Richardson was 31, Eleanor was 28, Richard was 9 and Arthur was 7.

Richardson died on 16 May 1878 at the age of 38. Unusually, the gravestone mentions his employers and how he worked for them as a foreman for 17 years. Such a mention would usually suggest that the employer paid for the stone and this is especially likely as Richardson worked for Mr JB Childs stonemasons. It certainly wouldn’t be bad advertising for a stonemason to get his name on the grave, although since his occupation isn’t mentioned, I can’t imagine that there was any commercial imperative here.

As for the other members of the family, Eleanor lived until 21 June 1918, when she died at the age of 78. Their son Richard had been living alone at 54 Lothian Street in Norwich following a career as a general labourer and he died on 18 March 1948, at the age of 81. As an aside, Lothian Street is located just off of Barn Road, and is visible on the map above. And as for Arthur, he had married Phoebe and had two children.

There’s not much of a story here since the first half seems to be missing, but I do wonder what it must have been like for Richard to have stood at the grave of his mother in 1918, just over 40 years since he stood there to bury his father. Richard was about 16 when he stood there for the first time and it must have been a strange situation to be there again after such a long time delay.

I wrote a few weeks ago about Alan George Gibling and how his name was wrong on the CWGC web-site. I’m pleased that following the documents that I sent them that Alan’s details have been corrected on all of their systems and his information is now correct. It’s probably not really important in the scale of world problems, but I like that a long-standing error has now been put right.

This is the war grave of Thomas Alfred Tyrrell, buried in the older military graves area of Earlham Cemetery. The volume of records that remain about an individual varies so much, there is nearly nothing on some poor souls, whereas for others the documentation is extensive. And this is so for Thomas, whose military records remain intact from his service during and before the First World War.

Thomas was born in Dereham in 1877, the son of John Tyrrell and Mary Ann Tyrrell. After briefly working in the shoe industry, he signed up (being given the service number 4080) to join the military on 29 September 1894, opting for a short service option of seven years with colors and five years in the reserves. It was noted at Thomas’s medical that he was 5’4″ in height, he weighed 9.3 stone, had brown eyes and dark brown hair.

During his service (and he served with the 1st, 2nd and 3rd Norfolk Regiments), Thomas served in Calcutta (now Kolkata) and Barrackpore in India, amongst many other locations. I’m fascinated by what he and other soldiers would have made of that experience, but as an adventure, I think it must have been one of the most exciting possible for someone without any other financial means at the time. Otherwise, for those from Norfolk, it would likely be employment as an agricultural labourer or in the shoe industry.

Thomas left the military in early 1907, but he signed up again to serve in Section D of the Army Reserves on 1 July 1907. He had married on 24 June 1907, although this was pre-planned and he didn’t hate the situation so much that he immediately to enlist again. He married Ethel Georgina (born on 31 December 1889) at St. Paul’s Church in Norwich, now sadly demolished, and she was ten years younger than him. Their first child was born on 18 February 1908, Alfred Thomas.

At the 1911 census, Thomas, his wife and his son were all living at 2 White Entry Yard, which was located just off Bull Close. As a little aside, this would have been very convenient for the Leopard and Plasterer’s, as well as three other nearby pubs which were open when Thomas was living there.

Thomas was discharged on 26 January 1915, being declared as “physically unfit for war service” and he had experienced numerous illnesses and ailments during his time in the military. This included a period at the Cliff Hospital in Felixstowe between 17 and 27 November 1914, suffering with rheumatism.

More of a technicality I understand, but under the Military Service Act of 1916, Thomas was called in once again on 19 July 1916 and given a new service number, 20999. He served at home between then and 15 December 1916, before being discharged again. During this time he became a father for a second time, with Ethel Violet being born on 29 August 1916. By now he had moved to 5 Compass Street, located off King Street, now directly underneath Normandie Tower. He had returned to work as a boot maker and his military records show that he had served in total for 18.5 years.

Thomas died on 14 August 1920 and this would have been linked to an injury caused during military service. What is puzzling is that the grave notes he was aged 41, which is incorrect by two or three years. Errors aren’t uncommon, but the details of these stones were usually checked with family members, but perhaps a mistake or omission was made.

At the beginning of the Second World War, the mother and daughter, both named Ethel, were living in the same location on Compass Street. The younger Ethel had married as her surname was Baker, and she worked as a cardboard box maker, living until 2007. Thomas’s wife, Ethel Georgina, died in Norwich in 1975, which was 55 years after her husband.

This is the war grave of Alan George Gibling, located at Earlham Cemetery in the main area and not within the military section. I can’t find out anything about his period in the First World War itself, but the story here (for me anyway) is that this is the first time I’ve submitted a request for the CWGC to change information on their web-site.

But, going back a bit, Alan was born on 3 June 1896, the son of George Joseph Gibling and Ellen Gibling (nee Dix). At the 1901 census, he was living with his parents and his brother John Charles and his sister Margaret Ellen, as well as a servant Baldry Gibling, although it’s confusing why she shared the same surname with no obvious family links. They lived at 191 College Road in the city and Alan was educated at Avenue Road School and then at the City of Norwich School between 1 September 1908 and 20 July 1912.

At the 1911 census, the family were still living in the same property and this time the family has been joined by Geoffrey Dix, with the servant now 19-year old Alice Nichols. This census also reveals that George and Ellen lost one child at some point during their marriage.

Alan’s war records seem to have been lost in the fire during the Second World War, as so many were, but he joined the Norfolk Regiment, but I’m not sure whether or not he would have seen active service. Alan died on home soil on 17 October 1915 at the age of 19.

Back to the CWGC, the record on their web-site lists him as Allen George, and I wonder whether someone has looked at his mother’s name and got muddled up. Mistakes are not uncommon due to the challenging way that the information was gathered around a century ago, with the CWGC noting they make changes to their database most days based on details provided. All of the other war details, mentions on war memorials, his school records and censuses have him listed as Alan George. I was going to just leave the CWGC record incorrect rather than spend time compiling the evidence that they required, but it seemed the right thing to do for Alan’s permanent record to be correct.

Although we’ll likely now find out that I’ve misunderstood something and no change is needed, but we shall see….

This is the war grave of Valorous John Wright, buried in the older military graves area of Earlham Cemetery. Incidentally, my photo of this grave is at an angle as there’s a big bush in front of it.

Valorous is a wonderful name and it’s because he was born on HMS Valorous, a Royal Navy paddle frigate built in 1851, on 24 December 1866. He went to North Road Boys /Steynton School at Milford Haven and his school records remain from 1878 and 1879.

As is this document which I very much like about the school’s progress and the students clearing off home, with Valorous mentioned at the bottom.

At the 1881 census, Valorous was living with his mother, Mary Jane Wright, at Robert Street in Steynton, his father having already died. There were two lodgers in the property as well with Valorous and his mother, Richard Wakeham and William Tinkham.

He joined the army at Pembroke Dock on 14 June 1883 at the age of 16, although he declared on his form that he was 18 years and 5 months old. He asked to join the Royal Welsh Fusiliers and his medical was the next day and magically he declared his age to be 19. The records show that he was 5’6″ in height and weighed 8.7 stone.

During his time in the army, Valorous married Martha Huggins on 10 September 1896 at the Church of St. Ethelreda in Norwich. At the 1891 and 1901 censuses, Valorous was away in the army, whilst his wife Martha was living with her father John Huggins, on King Street in 1891 and at 54 Argyle Street in 1901.

Whilst in the army, Valorous fought in South Africa, but was mostly stationed in the UK and he was uninjured in battle during his service. He was promoted to Colour Sergeant on 25 February 1900, moving to the Norfolk Regiment on 27 February 1906 and then leaving the military entirely on 31 July 1909.

Valorous died on 11 December 1910 at the age of 43, leaving his wife who was ten years younger than him, with his burial being on 17 December 1910. During their final year the couple lived at 115 Sprowston Road, a house perhaps more notable today for being opposite the rather lovely Brewery Tap pub. But, my favourite part of this story is really the name, and I think it’s not unusual for people born at sea to be named after the boat that they are on.

This is the war grave of Robert Love Gracie, buried in the older military graves area of Earlham Cemetery. Robert was a Canadian who born on 9 March 1893, the son of Elizabeth Gracie. The real story behind this post is though the excellent state of the Canadian archives, all freely accessible and with substantial documentation retained for members of their armed forces. Robert’s war records are 78 pages long and contain more information about his medical condition than anyone could perhaps ever need to know.

Robert was single and he worked as a clerk at Eaton’s department stores, living at 124 Hogarth Avenue in Toronto, a property which is still there, and he had a brother and two sisters. We know from his sign-up medical that he was 5’8″, had a dark complexion, had brown eyes, black hair and declared his religious belief to be Presbyterian. Robert was given the service number 404091 and he joined the 14th Battalion of the Canadian Infantry.

On 4 June 1915, Robert sailed from Montreal to the UK on the SS Metagama, a new cruise ship which the Canadian military had requisitioned as a troop carrier. He remained in the UK until 20 January 1916, when he sailed to Le Havre and from there he was sent to the front line with his unit on 2 February 1916.

I wonder when writing these wills what the soldiers thought, as Canada at this stage didn’t have conscription, so Robert signed up voluntarily. Robert was placed on the front line for the first time on 2 February 1916, but on 9 March 1916, he was seriously injured with shrapnel wounds to his right hand and his right leg.

He was taken to a field hospital on 9 March and an operation was undertaken and x-rays were also taken, which has survived in the archive. I don’t know what I’m looking at here to be honest, but on 13 March it was decided that Robert needed to be returned to a hospital in England.

The above is his temperature chart for the time that he was at the field hospital.

The hospital that Robert was sent to was the Norfolk War Hospital in Thorpe (St. Andrew’s Hospital) and on 15 March he was seen by the doctors there. It was noted that a shell had blown off some of his fingers and the stump of his hand had gone septic. His knee and leg were very swollen and there was a penetrating wound to the upper part of his calf.

On 16 March, the doctors noted that Robert’s leg remained very swollen, but by 19 March, although the swelling was going down, he remained in a poor condition. However, on 20 March, Robert suffered from a secondary haemorrhage and his leg was amputated at the thigh, where it was discovered that his thigh muscles were riddled with pus. Unfortunately, at 10:45 on the 20 March 1916, Robert died at the age of 23.

The authorities seemed to take care of providing a suitable burial, checking if his next of kin wanted his body returning to Canada. He was buried at Earlham Cemetery, a long way from home, at 14:30 on Friday 24 March 1916, with a contingent from the military and a bugler present.

And it’s not often that there are photos available of those who died in the First World War, but this is Robert. I don’t know why he wanted to serve in the army, whether it was because he felt it was his patriotic duty or whether he wanted adventure. But, he joined at a time when it was clear that the war wasn’t going to be over quickly and he would have been aware of the loss of lives that was taking place. Either way, he seems like a hero to me.

This is one of the earliest graves in the old military burial area at Earlham Cemetery in Norwich. This story particularly interested me as the funeral was so well covered in the local press that it gave me quite a picture of what the burial must have been like.

It’s not clear whether it’s David McSweeny or David McSweeney, I suspect it’s the latter, although the grave uses the former spelling. He was born in around 1839 and he joined the military in 1858, serving in the 7th Queen’s Own Hussars and he had reached the rank of Paymaster Sergeant.

It is the death of David that received much local press attention, including the inquest and the burial of his body. On the evening of 24 June 1875, he was in a rowing boat with his friend David Couper and they were nearby to St. Anne’s Staithe in Norwich (pretty much opposite the Queen of Iceni, nearby to the new St. Anne’s housing development) when a steamer hit them. David’s body was pulled out of the water a few minutes later, but he was already dead, aged just 36.

A coroner’s court took place in July 1875 at the Cinder Oven pub on King Street, in Norwich (a building now demolished, but it once jutted on to the city wall near to the Carrow Bridge boom tower). The Deputy Coroner heard evidence from numerous witnesses, but there was confusion as to how David had fallen into the water and died. Captain Thompson from the army said “it seemed rather odd that no-one appeared to see the deceased get into the water”.

One of the witnesses was WR L’Estrange, a brewer at the Bullards brewery, who said that there was no need for David to have jumped into the water as he would have been safe given the low speed of the steamer. When asked, he put his decision to jump as being “out of terror”. Captain Thompson confirmed that David hadn’t drunk alcohol for 15 years as he was tee-total, so a poor decision due to drink was ruled out, and he also confirmed that David was able to swim. The whole thing was a bit of a mystery and a verdict of accidental drowning was given.

David wasn’t married, but the non-commissioned officers clubbed together to pay for a headstone for him, a rather lovely gesture. And this is how the Norfolk News reported David’s funeral:

“On Monday afternoon, the remains of the Sergeant were interred at the Norwich Cemetery. The firing party was followed by the body of the deceased borne on a gun-carriage, the coffin being covered by a velvet pall upheld at the sides by six Sergeants of the regiment. Next came deceased’s charger, followed by the men of the troop. The military procession was succeeded by three mourning-coaches containing the relatives and friends of the deceased, who was unmarried. The bands of the regiment played a dead march, and several thousand persons assembled to watch the mournful procession on its route to the place of burial”.

The thought of that number of people watching and paying their respects is quite a picture to build up in the mind. The backdrop to this though is that the military were held in high repute by most locals and the period when David died was one where there were relatively few British military deaths. Over 10,000 had lost their lives in the Indian Rebellion in the 1850s, but the next major loss of life wasn’t until the late 1870s with the Second Anglo-Afghan War and the Anglo-Zulu War.

This does all mean that although David died relatively young at 36, his death was at least marked with respect and dignity.

This is the grave of Walter Peter Smith, located in the old war graves area of Earlham Cemetery. Unfortunately, there’s not much of a story here, other than some sympathy to anyone called Smith who is trying to research their family history.

I do know that Walter was born in the third quarter of 1893 and he married Rachel Bailey on 9 May 1915 in St. Augustine’s Church in Norwich. And I know that on 31 March 1915, he joined the 5th battalion of the Coldstream Guards with service number 15935. Walter died on either the 10 February or the 11 February 1916 (different dates for this, but I assume it’s the latter since that’s what is on his grave) at the age of 23.

His grave, which predated the CWGC stones, was erected by his wife, at that point living in New Catton. The reason for such a short story here is that Walter’s war records haven’t survived (other than for a single page from the Coldstream Guards records) and there are three Walter Smiths in Norwich at that time and it’s not clear to me which is which. Which is moderately annoying, but a usual challenge for those with this surname. Anyway, maybe I’ll work out more one day…..

This is the grave of Frank Samuel Tann, located in the older military burials area of Earlham Cemetery. These graves offer some very different sorts of military stories to those who died in the First World War, and there was no conscription in the nineteenth century so everyone in the army is there by some form of choice.

Frank was born in 1875, the son of Ransome Bransby Tann and Hannah Tann (nee Sayer), who had married at St. Peter Hungate Church in Norwich on 6 April 1874. The couple lived at Philadelphia Lane in Norwich, a street which is still there, but the Victorian housing has all long since gone.

For reasons that I don’t understand, Frank was living with his grandparents (on his mother’s side) at the 1881 census, Henry Sayer and Hannah Sayer. Henry worked as a shoemaker and the family lived at Gildengate Street in Norwich. He was still living with them at the time of the 1891 census, although they had by now moved to Middle Street and Frank was also working as a shoemaker, like his grandfather.

At the age of 19 years (and 9 months), the excitement of working as a shoemaker (specifically he was working as a clicker in the shoe trade) in Norwich had perhaps worn off. He had been serving in the Norfolk Artillery Militia and decided that he would sign up for the army, agreeing to serve for at least 12 years. He attested for military service on 29 August 1894 (and he was given the service number 4058) and his medical revealed that he was 5’7″ in height, weighed 9.5 stone, had brown hair and was a member of the Church of England.

Frank’s war records remain, so it’s possible to say where he was stationed, although not unfortunately the exact area of any particular country. He was at his home base with the 1st Norfolk Regiment, which was at the Britannia Barracks in Norwich which had been constructed between 1885 and 1887, from 29 August 1894 until 9 November 1894. He then went to India from 10 November 1897 until 25 February 1904, before returning home between 26 February 1904 and 14 January 1905. His final overseas posting was in South Africa from 15 January 1905 until 16 February 1907, then coming back to the Britannia Barracks. I do wonder what these soldiers thought about these places they were sent, it must have felt very exotic.

His military records also give details of his promotions, he started as a private in the army, then was promoted to a lance corporal on 27 April 1896, although returned to being a private on 10 November 1896. He was made a lance corporal again on 11 September 1897, then a corporal on 18 September 1899, a lance sergeant on 1 December 1901 and then a sergeant on 6 July 1903. He served in the army for a total of 15 years and 134 days, as he died in Norwich on 9 January 1910 at the age of just 35, the cause of death being given as a malignant tumour.

On 14 September 1908, Frank had married Ellen Ethel in Brentwood and they lived at 2 King Street in Norwich. The witnesses at their wedding were Frederick Marshall and Alfred Hyatt, with Ellen Ethel later working as a nurse and she lived until 1956.

Frank was buried at the military section of cemetery and the authorities must have thought that they would have enough space for many more decades, unaware of what was ahead just a few years later with the First World War. His gravestone is a good quality one, although some of the lettering is coming off, something which the CWGC repair for the graves in their care. A life sadly cut short far too early and I do wonder what Frank thought about his over seven years in India.

This is the grave of Daniel George Hatton, located in the old military cemetery at Earlham Cemetery. He is remembered by a gravestone which was placed here by his family, pre-dating those that were provided by the CWGC. Daniel was born in 1894, the son of Daniel and Emma Hatton. Daniel (the older) had been born on 10 January 1872 and Emma on 21 May 1875, with Daniel working as a shoe finisher.

At the 1901 census, the family were living at 11 Greyhound Opening in Heigham, a property which has since been demolished. There was Daniel, his parents, and his new-born little brother, John William Hatton. By the time of the 1911 census, Daniel was using his middle name of George, with the family living at 29 Greyhound Opening, another property since demolished. Daniel George’s uncle was also with the family at the time of the census, another John Hatton. The younger Daniel was working as a boot maker and the older Daniel as a boot finisher. As an aside on this, it can only be wondered what people like Daniel would have done as a job in today’s economy, the choice of options that they had back in the early twentieth century was far more limited and many in Norwich worked in the shoe industry.

At some point after 1911, the family moved to nearby 53 Midland Street, yet another property since demolished. Daniel’s war records seem to have been lost, but he joined the 4th Norfolk Regiment in 1914 (with service number 3659), although I don’t know if he saw any service overseas.

Daniel died on 17 June 1915, at the age of just 21 after he was killed whilst travelling from London Liverpool Street to Norwich by train. The inquest found that “death was due to injuries to the head from a blow described as a terrific nature. The line had been examined, but no marks found on the bridges or signalposts.” The coroner said that this was “a mystery”, but noted that his service colleagues he was travelling with were entirely free of blame. After having to endure the inquest in Bishop’s Stortford to their son’s death, the family paid for his nice gravestone and I can sort of picture them standing there saying their final goodbyes.

Daniel’s parents were still living at 53 Midland Street at the time of the 1939 register, so they saw the start of the Second World War and perhaps wondered whether they lost their son in vain. Emma died on 1941 and I can’t find when Daniel senior died. As for John William Hatton, Daniel’s little brother, he was living with his wife Gracie at 5 Lound Road at the time of the 1939 register, dying in 1989. It must have been difficult for John, he lived for 74 years without his younger brother, having lost him when he was aged just 14.

There’s something sad about all war deaths, but for Daniel (or George, his 1911 census and one of his service records call him that) the three houses he lived in have been demolished, his war records are seemingly lost in the fire and the coroner never worked out how he died.