Author: Pete Lowden

Pete Lowden is a member of the Friends of Hull General Cemetery committee which is committed to reclaiming the cemetery and returning it back to a community resource.

The Company, Cholera, Colouring and the Corporation

by Pete Lowdenin General, History, Points of Interest, Volunteers1 Comment on The Company, Cholera, Colouring and the Corporation

Most of you will know that the ‘great visitation’ inscribed on the large obelisk in the Cemetery refers to the cholera outbreak of the late summer of 1849. This was the second time that true cholera had touched the townspeople of Hull. The 1849 epidemic was the worst outbreak of the disease that Hull ever suffered. As such memories of those grim days lingered in the collective consciousness.

Cholera

This may explain the letter that the Company received in early September 1893. Signed by the Town Clerk, R. Hill-Dawes ,it was friendly enough but requested information in relation to a resolution passed by the Cholera Sub-Committee the previous day. That there was in existence such a sub-committee shows the fear of cholera still reigning in Hull. It didn’t help that a new wave of cholera was sweeping across the world around this time.

Although it was now known how cholera was transmitted, via contaminated water, that didn’t offer immunity to the people of Hull. The reason for this was that many of the people were still dependent upon stand-pipes and that not all of the cesspits had been closed down. As such this letter landed on the the Cemetery Superintendent’s desk, dated the 6th September 1893. He reported it to his board of directors at the 3rd October Board meeting.

letter from town clerk, Oct 1893

 

A Quick Response

As may be seen, the Town Clerk desired the Secretary’s ‘observations’ the very next day. as it was ‘of urgent importance’. The Secretary after having read the resolution on the other side of the letter knew this needed a response from the Board not just from him. The resolution, copied below, alludes to the cholera grounds in the cemetery.

 

resolution October 1893

Upon receipt of this letter the Secretary immediately informed the Chairman. The Chair carefully drafted a reply for Michael Kelly to send. In this reply the Chair refuted any tampering of the area where the cholera victims were laid to rest. This was a patch of ground comprising of parts of four compartments; 96,  97, 122, 123. This appeared to be where the majority of cholera victims were buried. But not all. If a family member died of the disease and that family had a family plot then that family member would have had the right to be buried there. There was also the mystery of plot 121 which I’ve written about before.

Mysteries

Why Panic Now?

So, on many occasions the ground that contained a cholera victim could have been disturbed. Why the panic now?

As mentioned earlier the Corporation was anxious due to the new pandemic, They were taking steps to not allowing cholera to come in via the back door so to speak. They needn’t have worried. Unlike such diseases as tetanus the cholera bacillus cannot persist in the ground unless it lives in the groundwater. After almost 50 years since the 1849 epidemic the likelihood of the cholera bacillus being active was extremely remote. But rational thought doesn’t come into it when dealing with a pandemic. We all saw that recently didn’t we?

The Reply

The chair’s reply is below, signed by Michael Kelly.

Chair's reply

With this reply the matter appears to die a death. It never resurfaces in the minute books. We have no knowledge of whether any of the sub-committee availed themselves of the offer to visit the cholera ground.

Paranoia

Two points are apparent from this reply. One is that the paranoia that affected most of the Company’s board meetings during the period since the Borough Cemetery opened in 1862 were reaching an unhealthy peak at this time. The minute books are strewn with comments alleging that the Company was under attack from all and sundry. The message is that the Company was struggling to function and that cutbacks were necessary. Yet at the same time very healthy dividends were regularly paid to its shareholders. To square this cognitive dissonance it became necessary to claim that unfair methods were being used against the Company.  This attitude continued until the the 1930’s when reality finally made the Company realise it no longer had the assets to contain trading. This was when it began to seriously look to liquidation but that is another story.

Colour Coding

The second point is perhaps more mundane but interesting nonetheless. You may have noticed that Kelly states that,

‘In the plan of the Cemetery all these Cholera Public Grave were inked Salmon Colour as a guide to the Officials’

This was true, at least in the first part of the Cemetery’s life. All grave spaces were assigned a colour. This was dependent upon the status of the grave space being used. The index of this system is shown below although Kelly noted at the top of the page that this system had not been used for some time.

 

Colouring of graves in the HGC burial registers

 

Compartment 102

So, for example if we look at compartment 102 we can see this system in operation. Note the large red square to the lower part of map. This corresponds to the large monument to William Hunt Pearson . Other examples of the second class of graves includes Harbord Harbord at the top of the image.

 

William Pearson's monument taken in the 1990s

William Hunt Pearson’s monument as it was in the 1990s. Below is a more recent photograph.

 

William hunt pearson memorial now

The Victorian Cult of the Funeral

In many areas of Victorian society you were ultimately judged upon your material wealth. Even in death equality did not reign. The rise of the funerary business and the memorialisation of all those who could afford it took off in this period. Poorer families would descend further into debt to give their family member a ‘good send-off’ mainly because it was expected of them. That the neighbours ‘would talk’ was still a feature of communities when I was a young boy in the 1950s. How much worse it must have been when the funeral industry was in its pomp and dictating what sort of crepe and the colour of linen that could be used depending upon your relationship to the corpse doesn’t bear thinking about.

The obelisk that adorns Pearson’s vault tells all and sundry that he was important because he was wealthy. And now you know that not only did he have a large monument but it stood upon a first class grave. vault That may have been some comfort to him and his family. The rites were observed and those attending the funeral would have been suitably assured that Pearson was a ‘great man’. However he was still as dead as those poor people in the workhouse plots and now, like them, he resides in a derelict cemetery where his first class status means nothing any longer.

Oh well, as Dylan sang, ‘That’s life and life only’. Or in this case death.

War Graves

by Pete Lowdenin Events, News, Points of Interest, Volunteers

The recent unveiling of the headstone commemorating the last war grave headstone removed from the site last year occurred on the 14th July this year.  It seemed therefore appropriate to tell the story of the lost war graves headstones now.

The reason behind the design and implementation of the classic war grave headstone is told more fully in The War Dead of Hull General Cemetery book. I’m sure you can still find it available on Amazon. Suffice to say that Hull General Cemetery had a number of them erected after the Great War. More arrived after the Second World War. In all there were 28 of them.

Monitoring

One of the statutory duties laid upon the War Grave Commission is to monitor the sites that hold such stones. It has a statutory power to remove stones from sites that it feels may be at risk. That risk is deemed to be high if the headstones are at risk of damage. Surprisingly this role may even stretch overseas. I know that the Commission closely monitored the burial sites of the Commonwealth armed forces from both World Wars in Iraq and Libya in recent years.

Closer to home it took a close interest in how the maintenance of Hull General Cemetery began to decline after the Second World War. On the 11th July 1960 the Hull General Cemetery Company received a letter from the War Graves Commission. This letter informed the Company that the headstones would be removed. The letter stated that,

‘Their purpose in doing this is to substitute them for small blocks in a wall of remembrance being built in the Northern Cemetery, and they want to get all the commemoration tablets in one place in Hull if this can be managed, mainly to save maintenance costs for which they are responsible.’ 

Other cemeteries affected

This reason was given, I believe, in an attempt to preserve the pride of the cemeteries affected. Hull General Cemetery was the largest one affected but other sites in Hull had their headstones removed too. These other sites were mainly church run ones. Thus Sculcoates, Drypool and Division Road had headstones removed from their jurisdiction. These individuals are all commemorated on the plaques in Northern Cemetery.

However, no action was taken for a considerable time. The Company had no reason to hurry this development, nor did they have the money to remove the stones themselves. The War Graves Commission had no such excuse. Yet, surprisingly, nothing then happened for approximately five years.

The Final Act

The matter surfaced again in the October 1965. Once again it took the form of a letter. However this showed that developments had been occurring in the background. A written affidavit was taken out, presumably by the War Graves Commission.

‘By this written memorandum the Board of Directors resolves that the Secretary be authorised to affix the common seal of the Company to a Deed of Covenant, respecting twenty-eight Commonwealth War burials, made between the Company of the one part and the Commonwealth War Graves Commission of the other part.’

With this document the removal of the headstones was complete…or was it?

As we now know one solitary headstone was left. We have no information as to why it was left. It stood there at the base of the Hodgson family grave for over 50 years after the rest had been removed. It harmed no one and was relatively unobtrusive. And then one day in 2022 it disappeared. The story of that event has been discussed here and on the Facebook site so I don’t need to contribute to that debate.

With the re-introduction of the plaque above commemorating Private Hodgson’s death the story hopefully comes to an end.

Eva La Pensee: A personal appreciation

by Pete Lowdenin Events, General, News, Volunteers4 Comments on Eva La Pensee: A personal appreciation

The death of Eva La Pensee in June was a shock although in our hearts we all knew it was coming. Eva had been ill for some time and this had restricted her physical involvement greatly. However, she still played an active role in the policy and clerical work that such a project throws up. Over a few short months even this work became too much for her. Eva died on June 10th.

Secretary

Eva was the original secretary and minute secretary of the FOHGC. She was also one of the founder members of that group attending its inaugural meeting in 2016. She took on board the idea that the cemetery was valuable to the citizens of Hull even if they themselves were not aware of it. As such she launched herself into the above roles with her usual skills and enthusiasm. Her forte in the organisation was the ability to be both  analytical and work to a goal. She provided the necessary rigour and discipline that was lacking in some of the original members who were moved more by ‘magical thinking’ than realism. She could see that this project would need more than ‘wishing on a star’ to make it happen.

Skill set

Eva knew that a fanciful approach, unless tied in with factual evidence, was doomed. The Friends needed to convince the people who needed to be convinced to support the fledgling group. She could do this, marshalling an argument so perfectly, that to refuse her analysis of a situation would have been seen to be just being stupid on the listener’s part. I sometimes just had to sit there and admire her in action.

She also had a good grounding from her work with various local authorities that enabled her to negotiate the very first grant from Hull City Council. This grant allowed the Hull Civic Society to open a bank account for the Friends, which at that time was a sub-committee of that society. From this small acorn the Friends grew, FOHGC? Who the hell do they think they are?

What was that all about?

At my first meeting of the Friends, Eva was absent and on holiday. I must admit that I was less than impressed with the organization at that time. It seemed to be dithery and lacking focus. There was no shortage of ideas which was a good thing. Sadly all were doomed. They were either so nebulous that they could never happen. Or, on the other hand, some ideas would have been so negligible in their effect they would not have been worth doing. Adopt a grave, anyone?

So what was the point in talking about them never mind trying to put them into practice. I left the meeting frustrated, and thinking I’d give them another go to prove themselves to me, as I was interested in saving the cemetery.  However, as usual, I was busy with other things so I wasn’t going to waste my time.

Eva as a leader

I am so glad I did go back.

At the next meeting Eva was present. You could see immediately how she co-ordinated the meeting. Shepherding the chair, allowing discussions to reach a logical end point and then summarising the debate. And then writing it all up as the minutes and circulating them. This was a whole different ballgame. Count me in I thought.

From my perspective the Friends could not have survived a year without Eva’s intelligence, drive and ability to organise. She was the engine behind the group. She put the fuel in the tank. Without her there at the beginning, the group would never have left the sterile debate of the boardroom where big dreams were endlessly debated yet little groundwork ever happened.

Mutual respect

As time went on we became friends. I’d like to think that there was a mutual respect for each other. We had disagreements of course but never on a personal level. The disagreements happened when our visions for the cemetery did not coincide. Sometimes she was right and sometimes, on far fewer occasions I have to admit, I was. The point was that both of us wanted the best for cemetery and it was just the ‘how’ rather than the ‘why’ which set us apart for a few moments. She was also someone who could recognise when a colleague was overextended.

My forgetfulness and how Eva saved me

One instance of this happening was when Eva had arranged a visit to the cemetery of a group of Hull University students. Eva asked me if I could guide them on the day and I agreed. I knew I had other things on my plate at the time. I probably thought my plans were much more important so the event was filed away in my mind but not in my diary.

The result was as you would expect. I forgot all about it and only later that day, hours after I should have been there, did I remember. I rang Eva to apologise. She said that I shouldn’t worry as she had realised I was up to my neck with things and she had gone along, ‘just in case’. At the next Friends meeting I explained my failure to the rest of the group and how Eva had rescued the group’s good name. Eva sat there quietly while I finished and then said she had planned to attend anyway to help me.

Afterwards

After the meeting she quietly said to me that I had no need to let the others know as she knew I was doing lots of work that many of the other members were not. I said I was raised to ‘own up’ if I had done wrong. She just looked at me and silently shook her head. I occasionally brought up this episode at future meetings as a kind of running joke between Eva and myself.  To see Eva smile and tell me, in a mockingly severe tone, to ‘let it go, Peter’ and ‘that she hoped I would try harder in future,’ were some moments I truly treasure of this remarkable lady.

Books

Let’s never forget that it was Eva who prompted Bill and myself to write the books on and for the cemetery. She invited us to her house where Clive, her husband, ran through how one could publish books on Amazon without any start up costs. Although neither Bill nor myself were sure about whether we were ‘author’ material we set to. The result as I detailed in an email to the FOHGC last December was that we had sold 774 books and made, for the FOHGC, over £2000.

None of this would have happened without the gentle nudging of Eva.

Her past

I remember another occasion when Barbara and myself arranged to attend a walk given by Paul Schofield around the historic  sites of Primitive Methodism in Hull one evening. Eva was also going and we met up. Later, after the walk, and as with all Paul’s walks it ended with a visit to a pub, we sat and talked. She told us of her childhood in war torn Germany and her experiences which had obviously shaped her views on many things.

I thought at the time how she was, to coin a phrase, ‘ so well-balanced’ after that trauma. She could have given lessons in humanity and co-existence to some of our present politicians who still feel the need to ‘re-fight’ the Second World War to appeal to the baser instincts of society. Here was a woman who’d seen those ‘baser instincts’ as a child and had no desire to have them inflicted upon others today.

Our loss

The Friends has lost one of its guiding lights. I have lost a good, true friend as I know all the others in the Friends group have too.

A greater loss than ours

Our thoughts go out to her husband Clive, her daughters Annemarie and Louise and their partners. Of course one must not forget Eva’s grandchildren. They were a joy to her later years.

Our loss is minimal to all of theirs and cannot compare at all. As Clive said at the funeral, Eva’s last words to him were, ‘We go in different directions now’. I can only guess that without that guiding light of Eva showing the right direction all pathways will remain dark for a while.

Eva and Clive

 

The Beginnings of Western Cemetery

by Pete Lowdenin General, History, Volunteers4 Comments on The Beginnings of Western Cemetery

The Beginnings of Western Cemetery

Western Cemetery is a large cemetery situated about a mile and half from the city centre of Hull. It comprises of approximately 37 acres and it is unusual for it is divided by a main road, Chanterlands Avenue. People walking around it, sometimes with dogs, in summer with children, treat it as a public space complete with headstones. Although there are still funerals in there, these are quite a rarity these days. There are no services held there now as the Cemetery no longer boasts any chapels. In fact, it is a pleasant ‘country’ walk. Which is a far cry from its beginnings. This article is a short history of this place of rest for many of the town’s residents.

The beginnings of Western Cemetery, or as it was originally called, the Borough Cemetery, are closely tied up with its next-door neighbour, Hull General Cemetery.

Hull General Cemetery opened in 1847. The owners purchasing 18 acres from Henry Broadley M.P. By 1854 it had developed about 10 acres for burial. By the 1850s it would sign separate covenants with both the Society of Friends, also known as the Quakers, and the Hull Workhouse Board that would swallow up another 3 acres. This left 5 acres at the extreme westernmost point of the Hull General Cemetery undeveloped. These were still let out as allotment gardens.

Politics: Local and National

At this point it would be helpful to touch upon both the national and local politics of that period. For both would have an effect upon the creation of Western Cemetery.

In 1848 the Liberal Government of Lord John Russell enacted some legislation. This was probably the first crack in the wall of laissez-faire values. This was the first Public Health Act. It was radical in that it not only took on the role of public guardian of the health of the nation but could be seen to infringe upon private interests such as water companies and private cemeteries. It also empowered local authorities to develop and enact local initiatives to make the health of their charges better, be that via housing, sanitation reform, medical provision etc. Not least of these was the creation of local burial boards. They would oversee the maintenance, provision and delivery of the burials within their jurisdiction.

Cholera and the Local Board of Health

With this legislation in force the Hull Corporation began its work to improve the health of its citizens. Almost before it could get into its stride Hull, and indeed the whole country, suffered from the effects of the second pandemic of cholera. This disease, waterborne by the cholera vibrio bacillus, struck Hull badly. During a four-month period the town lost 3% of its population. This was probably the most destructive visitation of a disease in Hull since the Black Death stalked the land. The Local Board of Health (LBOH) could do nothing to mitigate this disaster. An attempt to clean afflicted housing and whitewash the internal walls was the sum total of the Board’s efforts.

There must be some degree of sympathy for the Board’s efforts. No one knew then of the existence of things like bacillus. How disease could be transmitted by such miniscule creatures was more of a mystery. In fact, the prevalent view amongst the public, and indeed medical practitioners, was that disease was caused by bad smells. This idea of how diseases were transmitted goes back to the time of Aristotle and Galen. This thinking had little changed by the early 19th century. The term ‘mal air’ or bad air can be seen to be the root of the term ‘malaria’ which is an example of that kind of thinking.

Suffice to say that preventative measures to reduce or alleviate the effects of the cholera were ineffective. The LBOH and the inhabitants of the town simply had to wait for the disease to run its course. By October deaths began to fall and by the following month no more deaths from cholera were recorded. The Board now could begin its work in earnest.

The Race for Legislation

One of the first things it looked at was purchasing the Hull General Cemetery. The offer for it was rejected. The LBOH then began to look towards legislation via parliament to gain control of this cemetery. By 1854 it was seeking, via the Kingston Upon Hull Improvement Act (1854) to compulsory purchase the cemetery. Similarly, the Hull General Cemetery Company looked to its own legislation to protect itself from this scheme. It sought to have the Cemetery Company incorporated. This would protect it from any form of compulsory purchase. The race was on. The Hull General Cemetery Company won that race, probably because their bill was much simpler that the Hull Corporation one. This Bill was looking at many other factors than simply burials and the disposal of the dead.

To Buy or Not to Buy

A part of that Hull General Cemetery Company Act was the clause that allowed the Cemetery Company to compulsory purchase the adjacent land to the North. This area, now comprising of Welbeck, Thorseby and part of Newstead Streets, was owned by the Wilkinson family of Cottingham. The Cemetery Company had unfortunately fallen foul of this family when a mix up over what the Company thought was a verbal agreement saw its workmen entering Mr Wilkinson’s grounds and felling his orchard trees. Legal threats ensued and the relationship between the two had remained frosty even after Mr Wilkinson died.

Problems over the valuation of this land and the intransigence of the Wilkinson family suggested that the only recourse the Company had was to pay for, and attend a Sheriff’s Court, who would adjudicate this valuation. The Company, short-sightedly, decided that the expense could not be justified and the matter was left in abeyance.

By 1855 Hull General Cemetery was not only protected from the threat of being compulsorily purchased by Hull Corporation but was now in the ascendance. And here we need to just look back slightly to yet another piece of legislation arising from the 1848 Public Health Act.

No Dignity for the Dead

The state of the burial grounds throughout the country had long been a source of disquiet. Many of them were full yet still being used. In Hull the burial ground of St Mary’s in Lowgate was between 5 and 8 feet above the pavement. It was common knowledge that burials could only take place if the most recent coffins in that grave space were removed to accommodate the next burial. After some shocking stories of the mistreatment of the dead were recorded in the popular press and also by a public- spirited reformer called George Walker in his book, ‘Gathering from the Graveyards’ reform was demanded by the public. This took the form of the Metropolis Act of 1850.

This Act closed many of the disgusting and over-used burial places within the metropolitan area of London. The Act was then systematically rolled out throughout the country. By 1855 it was Hull’s turn. In Hull, both Holy Trinity and St Mary’s churchyards were closed, Also Trippett Street churchyard, which was the overflow burial ground of St Mary’s, was closed. St Peter’s in Drypool also suffered the same as did St Mary’s, Sculcoates. The Quaker burial ground in Hodgson Street was closed and the Jewish burial ground on Hessle Road was also shut. Castle Street survived as a burial ground on a technicality but was ordered to be shut by 1860.

Suddenly, almost overnight, Hull General Cemetery held a near monopoly upon burials in the area. This change in fortunes made the Cemetery Company even more resistant to being taken over by the LBOH. As such the LBOH changed tack.

Lease or Buy?

In the June of 1855 the LBOH again approached the Cemetery Company.  Their new approach was that it could buy or lease the cemetery. If not that then perhaps it could buy or lease the 5 acres towards the west. The Company had not yet developed this area yet. The aim of the LBOH was to start a Borough Burial Ground. Over a period of two years the parties engaged in negotiations. It wasn’t until the AGM of the Cemetery Company in March 1859 that the board of directors stated that,

The negotiations with the LBOH are all but concluded and your board now think this the proper time to lay the arrangement before you. The deeds to carry out the arrangement with the local board are already prepared and require sealing to complete the matter. On the completion of the arrangement with the LBOH your directors propose to call a special meeting of shareholders as the funds for building a new chapel (required under any circumstances.) and for fencing, planting, draining and laying out the portion of ground set apart for the LBOH will then have to be voted on.

By the July of that year agreements had been signed for the drainage and fencing of the five acres. In the September the contact for the erection of the new chapel was signed and later that month the site was chosen and on the 3rd October the foundation stone was laid by the Mayor, Marin Samuelson, of Sammy’s point fame. This chapel was demolished in the 1920s.

 

This is a map of the five acres originally leased by Hull Corporation in 1859. The future Spring Bank West is to the top of the map and the Hull General Cemetery is to the left.

No Division in Heaven

The five acres were leased to the LBOH for the period of 500 years. One final hiccough appeared via the archbishop who demanded that the new chapel could only be used for Anglican burials and that the old chapel in the grounds of Hull General Cemetery should be used for Dissenters. Both the LBOH and the Company agreed to this unreasonable demand and the ground was consecrated accordingly. Later this stipulation would entail the building of another chapel to cater for Dissenters when the LBOH and the Company fell out with each other.

Map of Original Western consecrated ground

Map of the original five acres showing the consecrated area in pink and the unconsecrated and other religion’s burial area. 

At this time, we have the Hull General Cemetery Company operating its own concern. It was also conducting the burials and maintenance of the Hull Corporation’s new burial ground. This arrangement lasted less than two years.

A Moment of Madness?

In June 1861 the chairman of the Cemetery Company informed his fellow board members that he had sent a letter to the LBOH. This letter was sent as a result of him being present in the council chamber at the time of a debate upon burial fees. In this debate, which centred upon the plan by the Holy Trinity Church to develop some three acres they had been given to them by Sophia Broadley as a burial ground for the parish to compensate for the closure of Castle Street, the high cost of burial in Hull General Cemetery was raised and commented upon unfavourably.

The Fateful Letter

The chairman, William Irving, being also a councillor, was angered by the tone of this debate, as he thought, this discourtesy to the Cemetery Company was unjust after all they had done to accommodate the Hull Corporation with the new burial ground. As such he penned the following letter,

To the Burial Committee, LBOH 8/5/1861

Gentlemen, I have read with surprise the report of your board meeting on the 29th Ult and the resolution passed on the occasion. It appears to me that your board in dealing with the burial question have not fairly considered the rights of the Cemetery Company.

At the request of your board the company entered into an arrangement to provide 5 acres of land, then let off as gardens, as and for the place of burial for the inhabitants of the borough; to lay  out the same as an ornamental cemetery and also to erect a suitable chapel thereon; and when the ground should be found insufficient the cemetery engaged to provide another suitable and adjoining piece of land and set it apart in the same way for your board.

These works have been carried out by the company at a cost of £1328 exclusive of land.

The Letter went on…

The company have justified their part in this agreement to the letter, and also to the satisfaction of your board as the following resolution of the 5/5 1860 will prove.

The company, in expending their money to meet the requirements of the board naturally looked to a fair return in the shape of interest on the outlay but your board’s resolution of the 29th ult renders it hopeless. The company think that in arriving at such a decision your board were wholly regardless of the position of the company with your board under the arrangement referred to the effect of your resolution being to deprive this company of the whole or a large part of their anticipation.

Under these circumstances. I have to suggest whether the proper course for the LBOH to adopt would be to purchase the ground included in the arrangement and thus, by taking the whole affair into their hands, release the cemetery company from their present unsatisfactory position, brought about as it has been by the action of your board.

Should the above suggestion to purchase meet with your views and should your board decide on adopting it, you would then be in a position to provide a family burial place in the board’s cemetery for the fees alone, which you can regulate at your pleasure and thus preserve the management of burials under your own control.

The Mistake and in Writing Too.

To carry out the suggestion the cemetery company would be willing to sell your board the land included in the arrangement on the following terms, subject to such regulations for preserving unity of design and uniformity of appearance as might be mutually agreed upon.

Say 5 acres of land at £315 per acre (the cost to the company £1575. Amount expended by the company in laying out, draining, planting and erecting a new chapel to meet the requirements of the burial board £1328. Total £2903.

The company would grant a perpetual right of road through the present cemetery, the board contributing their proportion of maintaining it in good order.

The Justification

The company think that they are fully justified in laying their suggestion before your committee, satisfied that they are entitled to their due consideration at the hands of your board for the large (and as far as they, the company are concerned, unnecessary) outlay they have incurred for the convenience of your board, and they would urge upon the board, through your committee, the necessity under existing circumstances. If your board’s arranging either to purchase the ground as suggested, or to give such compensation as may be mutually agreed upon.

In conclusion I may state that the object of the promoters of the cemetery company was to provide for the inhabitants of Hull what so much needed by them, a place of burial for all sects and denominations; to secure to all classes of the community the means of decent and undisturbed sepulture according to the rights of their own religious faith, and to put an end to intramural interments. This has been the aim of the company from its foundation to the present time and it was with this view, and not with the expectation of pecuniary gain that the arrangement with your board was entered into.

Yours

Wm Irving

Chairman, HGCC.

The Fallout from It

One wonders what his fellow directors thought of this letter, and of him sending it without asking for their approval. In an instant William Irving had curtailed any further development of the Hull General Cemetery. Its demise was certified by the LBOH’s response. In short, they accepted the terms in the Chairman’s letter. From the April of 1862, the Borough Burial Ground was independent of the Cemetery Company. That is except for the administration and the working and maintenance of the ground.  This arrangement was continued for a sum of £180 per annum.

However, although the Cemetery Company did not realise this, the agreement was to continue only until the Borough could gain enough experience and employ its own labour force to take care of its own burial ground. The Cemetery Company received in final settlement the sum of £2903. This appears to be a small sum for committing suicide.

The Borough Burial ground was the genesis of the Western Cemetery. In 1864 it erected a new chapel to accommodate the Dissenters. This chapel was finally demolished in 1994. It had long been disused for services. It was used for the storage of plant and tools towards the end of its life.

The End of the Agreement

The Borough cemetery continued to cater for the Hull citizens whilst being managed by the Hull General Cemetery Company. However, on the 1st June 1880, the Cemetery Company received a rude shock. This was a letter from the Town Clerk and secretary to the LBOH, Charles Spilman Todd, later to become the Sheriff of Hull, stating that they were giving the Cemetery Company one month’s notice of the termination of the agreement that allowed the Cemetery Company to maintain and administer the Borough ground. A further letter that day said that the Hull Corporation were willing to enter into a similar agreement for a lesser sum of money.

Negotiations began in earnest once again between these two adversaries. By the August the Cemetery Company had grudgingly accepted the Corporation’s final offer of £130. This also included £5 for the upkeep of the connecting road. This was a reduction from the £180 and £20 which had originally been agreed back in 1862.

Such changes as this showed that far from being the major player in the burial business the Cemetery Company was now subservient to the Hull Corporation. One of the factors at play here was the recent opening of the Hedon Road Cemetery in 1878. A privately owned cemetery was beginning to look like an anachronism.

Expansion: Go West Young Man

The next change to Western Cemetery, newly named as such with the opening of Hedon Road Cemetery to the east of the city, was a huge expansion. From 5 acres to 37 acres, the new cemetery dwarfed its parent. The irony here was that this land to be purchased was from the Wilkinson family. In selling it to the Hull Corporation, they were exacting revenge for the decimation of an orchard 40 years ago. The only stipulation the Wilkinson family made was an access road should be made by the Corporation so that the Wilkinson land beyond the parcel being sold could be accessed by their tenants. This the Hull Corporation agreed to and the result today is Chanterlands Avenue.

Expansion of Western Cemetery 1889

The expansion of Western Cemetery in 1889 showing the beginning of Chanterlands Avenue.

This expansion took place in 1889. As part of that expansion was the creation of a new lodge for the superintendent, Mr Whitty.  The building of a new Chapel on the western side of the new Chanterlands Avenue also took place. Another aspect of this expansion was that the Borough burials no longer needed to traverse the Cemetery Company’s grounds. They now had access to their own grounds from Chanterlands Avenue.

The Major Cemetery for Hull

Western Cemetery was the major cemetery in Hull at this time. Its heyday was perhaps the period from 1890 to the beginning of the second world war. After this time, it passed the mantle to Northern Cemetery, opened in 1916, and the Eastern Cemetery, opened in 1935.

It still continues to accommodate burials although there is now no longer any room for new graves. Such burials that take place are of family members being buried in family graves. In a few years’ time it will be in exactly the same position that Hull General Cemetery found itself in in the 1970s. The rise and fall of all cemeteries follow the same pattern. A short burst of growth at the beginning followed by a rapid expansion in its adolescence. A much longer period of maturity. This is followed by a period of decline merging into senescence at its end. Much like us all really.

The Larkin Bench

by Pete Lowdenin Events, General, History, News, Points of Interest, Volunteers

INVITATION – FRIDAY 2ND DECEMBER

At 2pm, that day, there is to be the unveiling of the Philip Larkin Bench.
This unveiling will mark the centenary of Philip Larkin’s birth, and will take place on the anniversary of his death. The bench is placed at the point the where Philip Larkin and John Betjeman met in 1964. This meeting was recorded by the BBC.
The bench was purchased by the Friends of Hull General Cemetery, with a generous donation from the Philip Larkin Society, who will be represented on Friday.
It would be great if you could be there to celebrate with us. Meet at the main gates on Spring Bank West.

Anniversary December 1846

by Pete Lowdenin History

This month’s anniversary I’m afraid does not have a Christmas theme. In fact it’s quite morbid in parts but well, we are talking about a cemetery so that comes with the territory.

As some of you may remember the Cemetery Company signed an agreement with the Union workhouses of both Hull and Sculcoates. Part of that agreement was that the Company would arrange to have any inmate of the workhouses who died brought to the Cemetery as soon as possible and placed in the Company’s Dead House, or what we would call a mortuary. That cemeteries had such buildings was quite common. Castle Street had one but it had a bad reputation as bodies left in the building were often found to have been partly eaten by the many rats that lived on the docks and in the cemetery. As such it was closed down and the Spring Street Mortuary replaced it in the early 20th century. The present City mortuary is situated on the HRI site.

Complaint

On the 30th December 1850 John Shields, the superintendent, received a deputation from the stonemasons He passed this complaint on to the Board of Directors. John Shields reported that,

‘complaints had been made by the stonemasons engaged in the Company’s stone shed of the dangers likely to arise from the near proximity of the Dead house to such shed’ 

It’s difficult to see today what the concerns were based upon. The risk of catching something infectious from any of the dead bodies lying in the Dead House would have been minimal. Especially as the mason’s would not have had reason to touch them. However, the idea of how one caught a disease was quite different in those times. Medical practice and beliefs in the Victorian period were still firmly rooted in medieval practices. Blood letting via leeches was seen as a common remedy for a host of illnesses. The idea that the ills of the body were dominated by the four ‘humours’ of the body was still current. The ‘new’ idea of inoculation was still viewed with suspicion and common hygiene, such as washing one’s hands before performing an operation, was regarded as unnecessary and probably eccentric.

Miasmic

The major belief in how one caught an illness or disease was based upon the miasmic theory. This was the idea that ‘bad air’ caused disease. It was an intriguing idea. At least to a population who had no idea of the existence of germs or viruses, it was quite plausible. So, it was probably this idea that had prompted the complaints from the stonemasons.

That this complaint was seen as reasonable is recognised by the response to it by the Board.

‘the matter having been fully considered by the Board it was ordered that the use of the present dead house be discontinued and that a new one be forthwith built on the vacant ground behind the chapel.’

So the Company Dead House was moved and presumably the stonemasons were now happy.

The new Dead House site?

Another intriguing aspect of this incident is the phrase, ‘on the vacant ground behind the chapel’. Of course whereabouts this ‘vacant ground’ was is a little mystery. It all depends upon where you stand when describing something as ‘behind’ something else. The east of the chapel was already occupied by the catacombs the Company sold. As such it cannot have been there. To the south was a path and to the north was Mr Wilkinson’s land. The Company would not have dared to build anything on his land after their legal tussles in 1847. So by process of elimination the new Dead House must have been built on the land to the west of the chapel.

How long it lasted is open to question. The land to the west of the chapel was sold as burial spaces in the 20th century. The Workhouses themselves terminated their arrangements with the Cemetery in the 1920s. As such it is reasonable to suppose that the Dead House continued to be used for the greater part of the 19th century. It probably fell into abeyance as the Cemetery entered the 20th century. All traces of this building have disappeared. It probably was quite shoddily built. It would have been removed to provide room for more grave spaces.

By the way this is the last in the series of anniversaries. I hope you’ve enjoyed the glimpses into the life of the Cemetery.

Anniversary November 1900

 

The Mason Cross

by Pete Lowdenin General, History, News, Volunteers

There are three memorials in Hull General Cemetery made from cast iron. The Eleanor Crosses

Two are shaped in the form of Eleanor Crosses. The third is a much smaller version of the same model. The first cross was erected on Elizabeth Stather’s grave by her husband, Thomas Stather. His firm of engineers, Thompson and Stather, had cast this first model and it was erected in 1863. The second one was erected after this date and it stood on the Mason grave.

Bill Longbone is one of the long standing members of the Friends of Hull General Cemetery Committee. He recently acquired the memorial book of Benjamin Burnett Mason. Memorial books were a Victorian innovation for the wealthy and famous. They listed within them the achievements of the deceased as well as the lavish funeral arrangements made for their departure. Published after the funeral it usually included the names of the people attended the funeral to show how important the dearly departed had been.

Bill asked me if I could put this book up on the site and so here it is in its entirety. I hope you enjoy it. And thank you Bill for this  view of the history of the Mason family and also an insight into Victorian funeral practices.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Anniversary November 1900

by Pete Lowdenin General, History, Volunteers2 Comments on Anniversary November 1900

Sometimes these anniversary items highlight how much has changed since they occurred and strangely how much things still stay the same. This is a case in point and involves the working relationship between manual workers and the Board and the shareholders. I would suggest that although over a century of welfare legislation has occurred between 1900 and today the relationship is still the same. Improvements have taken place but the power distribution is still the same. The time for forelock tugging may have passed but the power dynamics are still the same.

6th November Board meeting

The anniversary takes place on the 6th November 1900. At the Board meeting that day the Board were told some sad news. Jefferson, one of the gravediggers, had died. He had been ill for some time. It had been reported to the Board back in September that he was unlikely to return to work.

At the November meeting therefore the news of his death perhaps was not a surprise. The secretary, Michael Kelly, informed the Board that he had been asked to visit Mr Jefferson. He had complied. Jefferson took the chance to ask a favour of the Board. According to the minutes of the meeting Michael Kelly said he,

went to see him, (Jefferson) who asked that the company might give him a place of burial and allow his wife a little to bide her over the winter months.

Kelly placed the matter before the Chairman, John Pybus as a Board meeting was not scheduled till later in the month. John Pybus agreed that he could have a burial place and that Jefferson’s wife could have 10 shillings a week until the next Board meeting when the issue would be fully discussed.

As such, this situation was the one that presented the Board on the 6th November.

Long serving employee

At this meeting Kelly said that Jefferson had been employed by the Company for 34 years. He was one of the longest serving employees. He also said that only one payment of 10 shillings had been paid. The Board readily agreed that the burial place was agreed. However, upon reflection, it was agreed that Mrs Jefferson would only receive 5 shillings a week. This payment would discontinue at the end of March.

On the 4th December Mrs Jefferson wrote to the Board thanking them for their help.

William’s life

William Jefferson was born in Skidby in 1835. Or Cottingham. Or Newland as he seemed to change his birth place every census. Suffice to say that he was baptised as a non-conformist in June 1837 in Hull. His father was a coal porter and William’s early life was spent in the slums of Collier Street. This site is now subsumed under the Hull Interchange. By 1851 both William and his elder brother John joined their father as railway coal porters. Indeed the family address was cited as the Railway Depot.

By 1861 he had left the family home and was living in a tenement in New George Street. He still earned a living as a railway porter but was supplementing this as a general labourer. In 1867 William married Sarah Ann Howell.

1871 and after

The census of 1871 tells us that William and his new wife were living in Porter’s Terrace, Walton Street and his occupation was now listed as labourer at the Cemetery. William and Sarah were joined by a child called Joseph who was one year old. By 1881 the family had moved again. They now lived in Mason’s Terrace, Wellington Lane. William was listed as a General Cemetery labourer. The family had grown too. Joseph now 11 has two brothers, George and Amos plus a daughter Annie.

The 1891 census is the last that William appeared on. By that date the family had moved yet again. This time the address was in Seaton Street off Fountain Road. This house would have been a relatively new build at the time as the Swann Estate that most of Fountain Road was comprised of was only begun in the 1880s. He was cited as a general labourer and the family had grown once again. Joseph was now a printer and George was a boot and shoe maker. Amos and Annie were still scholars. The family had acquired Frederick and Alice, 5 and 3 year old respectively.

William died on the 28th October and was buried on the 31st. The cause of death was cited as yellow jaundice and exhaustion. The address at the time of death was 168 Waterloo Street.

William’s deathbed worries

It was this family that William worried about on his death bed. It was this family the Board graciously offered 5 shillings a week to compensate for the loss of the main breadwinner.

I know that, like me, you would like to know what happened to this family. Cast adrift in Victorian Britain, with no welfare safety network, no pension. Their only solace, if it can be called that, would have been at the top of Fountain Road and it was the Sculcoates Workhouse. What did they do to counteract this disaster?

Ice cream anyone?

The barebones of their struggle are recorded in the census returns. By 1901, some six months after William had died, their circumstances have changed. Sarah is now the head of the household and she is listed as an ice cream retailer. Her eldest son Joseph is also listed as an ice cream vendor as is young Frederick. George has left home as has Annie. Alice is still at school and Amos, now being 25, has no occupation listed. The family were making the ice cream and presumably selling it from the new address of 168, Waterloo Street. So they had pooled their resources and survived.

By 1911 the family were now living at 28, Aldbrough Street just off Cannon Street. Sarah was now retired and Joseph was running the business alongside Frederick. Alice was running a market stall where presumably ice cream was sold. George was still at school. And Amos? The 1911 census is interesting in that it wanted medical details of people who had ‘infirmities’. This ranged from ‘deafness’ to ‘imbecility’ and many things in between. Amos sadly fell into this bracket. He is listed as ‘feeble-minded’ and as such in a world where Victorian values were gauged upon how much you contributed he would have been classed as a burden. Yet another thing that William must have been troubled by as he lay on his deathbed.

The family breaks up

Amos died in 1920 and year before Sarah passed away. Joseph the eldest son had died in 1916 and the ice cream business died then too. Annie married and went to live in a terrace off Waterloo Street and Frederick went to live with them. George had left the family home long before and worked as a stevedore on Hedon Road. Alice had married on Boxing Day 1913 and so the family had splintered by the time Sarah died. I’m sure she would have been consoled, if that’s the right word, that Amos died before she did.

The grave that the Company had given to the family was only for two. William was the first to lie there and it was expected that Sarah would join him. With the death of Joseph these calculations went awry. Joseph occupied the second spot. However Michael Kelly, probably with some thought of his fellow worker William’s wishes, managed to squeeze another burial in. So a grave for two has three in it. Sadly there was no room for Sarah as Amos took this third spot. Amos died of heart failure.

So when Sarah died in the January of 1921 there was no grave for her to go. Frederick bought another space not far from the previous one and Sarah, his mother was laid to rest there. Sarah died of bronchitis.

Fair shares?

So what did I mean at the beginning about the relationship between a workforce and the owners? What has that got to do with anything in this story? I suppose this is where politics rears its ugly head so if you don’t want to hear that I’d suggest you dip out now.

Some of you may remember one or two articles where I have told of how the finances of the Cemetery were founded. How the initial shares were priced at £10 each and the issue was over-subscribed. You may also remember that the £10 was to be paid in instalments and only an initial £1 was paid to the Company. Over the life of the Cemetery occasionally the shareholders were asked to pay a little more but none of them ever had to pay the entire £10. Surprisingly there was also occasions when what is called ‘return of capital’ gave money back to the shareholders. In essence the shareholders risked very little.

Now we come to the reason why the people bought the shares in the first place. This was the expected return from owning shares that is known as a dividend. This is still current practice today in most capitalist countries.

Money for nothing

Even though the shareholders had not paid the full amount for their shares they still expected and received dividend payments. Over the life of the Cemetery the shareholders were paid dividends that made their initial outlay appear ridiculously small. Some times the dividend would reach 16 or 17 shillings per £1. And this would be paid every year. As you can see simply raking in such dividends over 2 years would defray the cost of the shareholder’s initial purchase of his or her share.

What has this to do with William Jefferson’s sad death? The point I’m labouring here is that at the AGM the year William died the dividend was set at 9 shillings. The same rate followed the next year. So each shareholder received 9 shillings for each share they owned. This would have included the members of the Board who took the step to reduce the payment to Sarah Ann Jefferson from 10 shillings to 5 shillings. What justification could they have had? Why did they think this was the right thing to do?

No I don’t have an answer. I suppose that Mrs Jefferson was grateful and who am I to criticise a decision made over a 100 years ago. But sometimes, just sometimes, something feels so wrong that you can’t allow it to pass by without comment. This is one of those. Sorry

Heritage Open Days

by Pete Lowdenin Events, News, Volunteers, Walks2 Comments on Heritage Open Days

First, the good news

Another year over. At least in terms of Heritage Open Days and Hull General Cemetery. It was its usual success. Approximately 50 people turned up over the two Saturdays which is a very good response. It’s down on last year when it was over 100 but I think that year was partly a response to lockdowns and people wanting to get out into the fresh air. We were also blessed with good weather for the last two years which is always a bonus on an outdoor gig.

It is still the most popular of guided walks. Indeed I have been told that it is the most popular attraction of the entire HODS week. That’s pretty cool for a derelict cemetery. The initial aim of the Friends was always to raise the profile of the site and I think that we may have achieved this to some extent.

However the other major aim, such as returning it to a viable, well maintained community resource, is still ongoing. It will probably need a lot more effort from the Council and the wider community to assist the Friends to achieve that goal. Let’s just say it’s a work in progress.

And now the bad

As for Heritage Open Days I’m afraid that is it for the time being for guided walks around the site. I’m taking a year out as I have a lot of other projects which desperately need work on. So I have taken the decision not to undertake any guided walks next year for the Heritage Open Days. This includes the Western Cemetery one too. I will probably come back in 2024 but right now 2023 is earmarked for other things.

Having said that, I don’t have the monopoly on giving the guided walks. I’m quite happy for that mantle to be passed on to others. Permanently if they like the job. So, if you are up to giving it a go, feel free to contact me and I’ll give you as much help as I can.

 

A New Book

by Pete Lowdenin Books, General, History

There’s a new book. It’s called The Life of Hull General Cemetery Lodge and Other Stories.

The book covers the story of how the Cemetery Lodge, the jewel in the crown for the cemetery, was created but also the sad story of its loss to the forces of ‘progress’ in the 20th century. This building, the first commission of the noted Hull architect, Cuthbert Brodrick, was a creation in the Victorian Gothic mode. Its fairy tale castle effect was a highlight of the town. Yet within a a lifetime it was swept away.

Other stories in the book cover the struggle to create the Cemetery; the story of how the destruction of most of the headstones during the development of the cemetery in the 1970s took place and finally, a revisiting of a celebrated walk around the Cemetery by John Symons in the 1880s.

It’s available at Amazon and is priced at £10 post free.

The other books in this series are also still available from Amazon. These are a Short History of Hull General Cemetery, priced at £7. The War Dead of the Cemetery, priced at £10. Public Graves, Workhouse Graves, Catacombs and Crosses, priced at £7 and finally A Short History of Burial in Kingston Upon Hull from the Medieval Period to the Late Victorian Period. This is also priced at £7.

With the nights drawing in, what better way to spend them by reading  about cemeteries and death. Go on, treat yourself for Halloween. At the worst you can always burn them to keep warm.

The other books