cemetery Archives - Friends Of Hull General Cemetery

The Company, Cholera, Colouring and the Corporation

September 24, 2023September 27, 2023 by Pete Lowdenin General, History, Points of Interest, Volunteers1 Comment

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

petelowden.co.uk

The New Information Board

November 29, 2022December 3, 2024 by Bill Longbonein Events, News, Points of Interest, Volunteers, Walks2 Comments

There is to be an information board in the Cemetery. The image above is hopefully how it will look. The board will sit inside the main gates on Spring Bank West. This board will provide a brief history of the site. It will also allow visitors to access via their smart phone some of the more interesting aspects and monuments of the site.

1. The Main Gates

The main gates were designed by the renowned local architect Cuthbert Brodrick in 1846 as part of the original cemetery entrance on Prince’s Avenue. The gates were removed in the early 1920’s when Prince’s Avenue was widened and moved to their current location. They are now Grade II listed and are one of only a few remaining examples of Brodrick’s work.

2. The Mason Monument

Benjamin Burnett Mason was born in Hull on 16 February 1822, the son of Capt Samuel Mason and his wife Martha (Burnett). He attended Trinity House School and upon leaving went to sea, He left shortly afterwards after suffering a severe attack of typhus fever, and became apprenticed to Mr William Hopwood, shipowner, who had offices at 32 High Street.

Buying the firm

After the death of Mr Hopwood, Benjamin and his fellow clerk, John Ellerby, purchased the business and renamed it Ellerby & Mason, Commission Agents. After the death of his partner, Benjamin carried on the business on his own.

On 20 June 1844 he married Anne Green, youngest daughter of artist William Green, at St Mary’s Bishophill, York. Initially living in Northgate, Cottingham, where they had two sons Benjamin William and Samuel Burnett, prior to moving to Canton Place on Anlaby Road. Still later they moved to 3 Grosvenor Terrace on Beverley Road. Their eldest son, Benjamin William, died of scarlet fever on 29 November 1863 and was buried in Hull General Cemetery and a cast iron gothic monument was erected the following year by the family in his memory.

The Monument

In 1866 Benjamin purchased the business of Messrs Hayes & Whittaker, wine and spirit merchants of Lowgate, the company owned ten bonding warehouses and several vessels carrying wine from the Iberian Peninsula. His wife Anne died of bronchitis on 7 February 1874 aged 58.

The Mason Cross

Second marriage

He married Mary Jane Blyth at All Saints Church, Margaret Street on 3 March the following year. In 1878 Benjamin’s surviving son, Samuel B Mason joined the company, trading as BB Mason & Son.

Benjamin was a member of the Hull Literary Society, a JP, a member of the Committee of the Hull Industrial School and Training Ship ‘Southampton’, a director of the Hull Dock Company among other positions. He was the author of a book on the Brief History of The Dock Company, and was an active member at the Minerva Lodge of Freemasons.

Death

However, he suffered for many years with ill health, and died of bronchitis at his Grosvenor Terrace home on 12 January 1888 in his 76th year. His funeral was well attended by many local dignitaries, so numerous that it was impossible for them to get into the chapel.

Benjamin and his first wife Anne were buried in the family grave with their son Benjamin William and their inscriptions were recorded on the gothic cross, although they no longer remain.

The company successfully maintained the original premises which stretched through from Lowgate to Guildhall and continued in business until the 1980’s.

His 2nd wife, Mary Jane, died on 4 December 1902 aged 79, and is buried in a separate grave in Hull General Cemetery.

3. Thomas Wilson

He was born in Hull in 1792, the son of a lighterman, David Wilson & his wife Elizabeth Gray.

Thomas married Susannah West, the daughter of a Hull wine merchant, and they had 15 children. He was apprenticed in the counting house of a Hull merchant, and after working in the Sheffield steel industry for a few years he formed a partnership with Newcastle merchant, John Beckington. The company started dealing in iron ore with Sweden, sending consignments of the high grade ore from his yard at Garrison Side to Sheffield for smelting.

After experiencing problems with the Swedish shipping service, Thomas Wilson & his partner began chartering sail powered packet boats between Hull & Gothenburg, taking passengers as well as cargo. Wilson & Beckington then began using the new, much faster steam ships on the Gothenburg and later Norway routes. By 1840 the partnership broke up and after a short period as Wilson Hudson & Co, Thomas Wison continued on his own, expanding his iron ore trade with Sweden.

Business expanded

His business rapidly expanded and four of his sons, David, John, Charles Henry and Arthur joined the company. David, who was unmarried and lived at The Bungalow, Cottingham, later left to run his mother’s wine business. John also left to work in Sweden and became a naturalized Swede, leaving the running of the business to Charles Henry and Arthur.

In the mid 19th century the port of Hull was booming, resulting in the opening of three new docks. In the 1850’s, Thos. Wilson & Sons commissioned the construction of several steam boats from Earle’s ship yard on Hedon Road. It was at this time that they started the practice of naming them with names ending in ‘o’ with green hulls and red funnels. (Wilson’s parrots)

Thomas and his wife lived at the relatively modest Park House in Cottingham. He was a typical blunt Yorkshireman with a reputation for ruthlessness. However, he was a great philanthropist and contributed generously to many welfare projects in Hull. These included the Orphan Homes on Spring Bank and a house for fallen women in Nile Street.

Stepping back

Although Thomas kept an active role in the business, it was effectively being run by Charles Henry and Arthur. Charles later became Lord Nunburnholme and lived at Warter. Arthur lived at Tranby Croft in Anlaby, the scene of the famous ‘Baccarat Scandal’ involving the future King Edward VII.

Thomas died of a stroke at his home in June 1869, aged 77.

He was one of the first Hull businessmen to be buried in the new Hull General Cemetery. The cortege slowly travelled from Cottingham. A group of Wilson employees joined the cortege on Beverley Road. This was later followed by a contingent from Earles’ shipyard, and the orphans from Spring Bank Orphanage joining in. By the time the cortege reached the cemetery gates there were 57 carriages and a crowd of 1500 persons..

After the death of Charles Henry (1907) and Arthur (1909) Wilson’s were purchased by Sir John Ellerman, becoming the Ellerman Wilson Line, one of the largest shipping lines in the world. However, the company lost many vessels in WWI, and as the shipping industry evolved it lead to a rapid decline of the company, eventually ceasing the shipping business in the 1973.

4. Quaker Burial Ground

In 1672, Hull merchant, and a member of the Society of Friends (Quakers), Anthony Wells purchased a half acre site called Sutton Burying Ground as a burial ground for him, and his fellow believers, later becoming part of Hodgson St, off Cleveland St.

It remained a Quaker burial ground until it was forced to close in 1856. The previous year the Society of Friends had purchased a plot in Hull General Cemetery for £100. This had a 999 year lease. This lease remains to this day, and is known as the Quaker’s Burial Ground.

The Society of Friends gifted the old site to Hull Corporation in the 1890’s with a proviso that it could not be built upon. The site was developed into a children’s playground in the early 20th century, (see image above), but after the houses were demolished in the 1960’s/70’s, it became redundant.

The Removal of the Memorial Stones

In 1973, the memorial stones, including the original stone of Anthony Wells’ wife Elizabeth, and those that had been mounted in the brick piers of the old burying ground, were removed and placed in Hull General Cemetery. They still remain there to this day, and are laid flat in a tidy group. NO PHOTO

Many local Quaker industrialists have graves in the Burial Ground, including members of the Reckitt, Priestman and Good families.

5. John Fountain

John Fountain was born in Hull in 1802 and was baptised at Holy Trinity on 20 September the same year. He was a fruit merchant trading from premises in the old town.

He married Sarah Thomas at Holy Trinity on 17 August 1825 and had a daughter, Eliza Ann. She married ship captain Robert Crow Gleadow in 1854.

The family lived at 7 Coburg Terrace on Anlaby Road next door to tannery owner Thomas Hall Holmes, before moving to nearby 3 Balmoral Terrace. John remained there for the rest of his life.

Civic duties

John became an Alderman of Hull and was actively involved in charitable works. This work included being the vice president of the Training ship Southampton, Chairman of the Hull Infirmary Board and Member of the Lodge of Druids.

He was the Governor of the Hull Incorporation of the Poor at the Hull Workhouse on Anlaby Road, for 21 years and saw many changes there.

He died of old age on 15 May 1887 aged 84, and was, according to his wishes, buried in the Workhouse Section of the cemetery amongst the beloved poor people of Hull. His grave is marked with an obelisk and his wife Sarah and daughter Eliza are buried in the same grave.

Fountain Street and Fountain Road are named after him.

6. The Workhouse Area

The workhouse area of the cemetery is a 1 acre area to the west of the cemetery. It contains the graves of approx. 10,000 people who were buried in the cemetery. Hull General Cemetery Company had an arrangement with the Hull Workhouse on Anlaby Road that they would provide a simple coffin and respectfully bury any inmates who had died in the Workhouse.

The graves are public graves with no formal headstone or markings. The three exceptions are the graves of John Fountain and his employees at the Workhouse, James Myers, the workhouse joiner and his wife Ellen, John Vickers, Master of the Workhouse and his wife Margaret, John Coulson Jackson, Workhouse Messenger

Their graves are located close to John Fountain’s monument.

Plaque commemorating the 10,000 Workhouse burials.

There is also a Commonwealth War Grave located in this area, that of Sgt Herbert John Alexander of 7th Battalion, East Yorkshire Regiment.

The Workhouse Graves of Hull General Cemetery

7. Johnson Obelisk

The impressive obelisk monument located close to the Thoresby Street entrance, records members of the Johnson family. These include WW1 CWGC casualties Lt Col VD Richard Ethelbert Johnson and his son, Gunner Albert Kay Johnson of the 8th Canadian Field Artillery.

Lt Col Johnson collapsed and died after attending a function of his RGA Regiment at the Station Hotel Goole on 29 October 1915. He was given a full military funeral at Hull General Cemetery.

His son Albert Kay, had emigrated to Canada around 1913 and joined the Canadian Army at the outbreak of war, but died of wounds in France on 16 April 1918 aged 29. He is buried in Etaples Military Cemetery, but commemorated on the family monument.

8. Cholera Monument

In the late summer of 1849, just two years after the cemetery was opened, Hull was struck by a deadly cholera epidemic, It lasted for three months and took the life of 1860 inhabitants (approx. 2.5% of the population, 700 of whom were buried in this cemetery.

The monument was erected by private and public subscriptions to ‘Commemorate the great visitation’.

The epidemic did have the result of a much improved water supply being provided to the town from the Springhead Pumping Station at nearby Anlaby.

9. Rollitt’s Memorial

Eleanor Rollitt (Bailey) was born in Hull in 1853, the 2nd daughter of ship builder, William Bailey and Mary Badger Ainley. William was a self made man, and a partner in the steamship company, Bailey & Leetham, which was taken over by Thomas Wilson & Co. in 1903.

William was also a JP, and a director of the Hull Dock Company and he lived at White Hall, Winestead.

Eleanor married Albert Kaye Rollitt at the newly opened, St Peter’s Church, Anlaby on 26th August 1872 when she was just 18 years old. Her brother, Walter Samuel Bailey, of The Mansion, Anlaby, married Albert’s sister, Ellen Rollitt.

Albert Kaye Rollitt, was the son of solicitor John Rollitt, and brother of Arthur, also a renowned solicitor who lived at Browsholme, Cottingham. Albert became very successful, eventually became President of the Law Society, and was later knighted.

Philanthropic

Their only daughter, Ellen Kaye was born in 1874, and the family lived at Thwaite House in Cottingham. Eleanor was very involved with local charities, and was a great supporter and benefactor of the Sailor’s Orphanage on Spring Bank. She was also a patron of the training ship T.S. Southampton. This ship trained wayward boys and orphans in the basics of seamanship. It was moored in the Humber at the mouth of the River Hull. Eleanor personally opened bank accounts with the Hull Savings Bank for the boys.

Eleanor was always referred to as charitable and philanthropic. She organized annual visits and fetes at the family house in Thwaite Street, for the children of the orphanage. She also subscribed towards a new wing at the Hull Royal Hospital in Prospect Street.

Lady Mayoress

When her husband became Mayor of Hull in 1883-1885, Eleanor became Lady Mayoress and extended her support for local charities and good causes. She was also very active in the early women’s suffrage movement. Sadly, during her tenure of Lady Mayoress, she suffered heart problems, and died on 11 January 1885, aged only 31.

Her funeral was attended by ex-mayors, councillors and many of the local dignitaries. The cortege, which left from the family house in Cottingham, was lined all the way to Hull General Cemetery, with crowds of in excess of 20,000 people, including the orphans of the Sailor’s Orphan Homes. Her portrait was painted by Ernest Gustave Giradot and hangs in The Guildhall. A marble bust by local sculptor William Day Keyworth junior is also in the Guildhall.

Inspirational Women

10. Timothy Reeves

One of the most impressive tombs in Hull General Cemetery is that of Timothy Reeves and his family.

Timothy Reeves was born in Hull on 2 July 1793 (although the inscription on the tomb incorrectly states 1794), the son of local brewer, Timothy Reeves senior and his wife, Ann Atkinson.

Early life and marriage

He was articled as an attorney to Robert Galland in 1810 and eventually had his own successful legal practice at 12 Parliament Street. He married Betsey Hill at Holy Trinity Church on 25 August 1823, and initially lived at 32 Neptune Street on the Humber Bank. They had 4 children, including Stafford and Ann Elizabeth. The family later moved to the more prestigious, but nearby address of 31 English Street.

His wife Betsey, died on 7 November 1836 aged 39, and was buried in St James’s Church. Timothy continued to live in English Street, but also lived for a while in Paddington, London. He died of bronchitis and congestion of the lungs at his home on 11 August 1879 aged 85.

Their son, Stafford, who was born on 4 July 1826, went to Trinity College, Cambridge. He spent his early years on the continent, becoming fluent in several languages. Stafford was also studying chemical science and physiology in Bonn. He later became something of an adventurer, and spent much time developing his interests in the Southern States of America. Whilst there he married, Elizabeth Atherton Seidell, the daughter of Charles Ward Seidell in Orange County, Pennsylvania on 30 March 1856.

American Civil War

The couple had two children in America, but with the political changes prior to the outbreak of the American Civil War, he severed his links with the United States. The family returned to England immediately after the birth of their daughter, Ann, in April 1861 just weeks prior to the outbreak of the American Civil War.

At the time of the 1861 census, the family was living in Everton, before moving to Pool Bank Cottage in Welton, (which still exists as Pool Bank Farm, just off a lay-by close to the A63). They eventually had ten children, and are recorded in the 1871 and 1881 census’ as living at Pool Bank Cottage, although his occupation was given as an Annuitant, he was also a journalist for ‘The Times’ newspaper. The family moved to Cheltenham in 1881, where his wife, Elizabeth Ann, died of heart disease on Boxing Day the same year aged 50.

Stafford married Ann Pilmer Withcombe in 1899, and he died at Cheltenham on 26 July 1909 aged 82.

The Ellerman connection

Ann Elizabeth, Stafford’s sister, (Timothy and Ann’s eldest daughter), married a Lutheran ship broker and corn merchant, Johannes Hermann Ellerman, on 5 October 1855 who had emigrated, like many others, to Hull from Hamburg in 1850. They had three children, one of whom, was John Reeves Ellerman.

He was born in the house adjacent to the ‘Hope House’ rescue home for fallen girls, on 15 May 1862. He trained as an accountant, and by acquiring under-priced companies, became a ship owner and investor in many businesses including newspapers and breweries. However, like many multi-millionaires, his personal life was notably modest and private. He was noted as the richest man in England.

11. Thomas Earle

Thomas was born on 9 June1810 at 11 Osborne Street Hull. He was the son of architect, builder and statuary maker John Earle and his wife Mary (Alder). John is recorded in White’s 1828 directory as having premises at 29 Whitefriargate.

Thomas was also the nephew of George & Thomas Earle, founders of Earle’s Cement Ltd, and cousin of Charles & William Earle who founded the Earle’s Shipbuilding Company. His father John designed the Pilot Office on Nelson Street and the Ferres Hospital (now Roland House) on Princes Dock Side.

To London and fame

Thomas was proficient in model making from an early age, and in 1830 he left Hull to work as a modeller and designer for Sir Francis Leggatt Chantrey at his London studio, eventually studying at the Royal Academy. In 1846 Thomas married Mary Appleyard, daughter of renowned Hull builder Frank Appleyard at Holy Trinity Church, Hull. He and his wife returned to 1 Vincent Street, Chelsea where he started his own studio. Thomas and Mary continued to live at the Chelsea address, and were living there at the time of the 1851, 1861 and 1871 census’. They had no children.

He produced several fine statues, monuments and busts, many of them in Hull. These included those of Queen Victoria & Prince Albert in Pearson Park, Dr John Alderson, (now outside HRI on Anlaby Rd), Edward 1 in the Guildhall and several monuments in Holy Trinity, including the magnificent memorial to Thomas Ferres. His own memorial is located in The Minster.

Death

Thomas died suddenly of heart disease in London on 28 April 1876 aged 65. His body was brought back to Hull for burial in Hull General Cemetery where many people attended the ceremony. His wife Mary returned to Hull and lived on Spring Bank, until her death on 12 June 1881 aged 74. They are both buried in a sarcophagus styled, raised tomb that still remains in HGC.

12. Phillip Larkin Bench

In the 1970’s the cemetery was in a state of disrepair and the council were considering removing all of the monuments and headstones and making the area into a recreation park. Some 3,500 headstones and monuments were removed from the cemetery and crushed. Philip Larkin was instrumental in preventing the total demolition and often came into the cemetery, writing a poem about it. Today only about 1000 of the original 5000 headstones remain. Even these few may have been lost with his intervention.

He met with his friend the poet laureate, John Betjaman in the cemetery and a short film was made about the cemetery. In late 2022 a commemorative bench was erected on the spot where the two men were photographed for the BBC. The bench was funded by The Friends of Hull General Cemetery and The Philip Larkin Society.

13. Zachariah Pearson

Zachariah Pearson was born in Hull on 28 August 1821. He was one of ten children of Zachariah and his wife Elizabeth (Harker). His mother died on 24 November 1825 whilst giving birth to a daughter, who also died. Zachariah was brought up by his uncle. but he went to sea at an early age By the time he was 21 he was a captain, and owned his own ship by the age of 25.

He married Mary Ann Coleman of Limehouse, London, at Holy Trinity Church on 10 April 1844. They had eight children. They lived at 11 Spring Street, prior to moving to Grosvenor Terrace, Beverley Road. He set up a shipping business with his brother-in-law, James Harker Coleman, with premises in High Street, and trading as Coleman, Pearson & Co.

Success

His partner died in 1851. Zachariah continued successfully on his own, building up a fleet of ships and readily converting from sail to steam. He became Sheriff of Hull in 1858, and was the Mayor in 1859 and 1860. Zachariah never forgot his poor beginnings, and did much to help the poor. This included founding the Port of Hull Sailor’s Orphan Homes in 1860, supporting many charities and building the Beverley Road Wesleyan Chapel. He promoted the building of the West Dock. He also paid for repairs to Holy Trinity Church and supported the installation of the new water supply to Hull.

In 1860 he donated 27 acres on Beverley Road to be used as The People’s Park. He also encouraged the merchants of Hull to stay in the town, by building the large houses around the park.

The American Civil War

However, his fortunes changed with the American Civil War (1861-1865). The two large cotton mills in Hull closed down because of the cotton embargo enforced by the Southern States. This put thousands of people out of work and into poverty.

In 1862, in an attempt to re-instate jobs and re-open the cotton mills, Zachariah tried to break the Confederate blockade. This was by taking arms and supplies to the South. However, six of his ships were captured by the Union Navy, and were confiscated along with their cargo, whilst another ran aground. This put Pearson, a staunch Wesleyan, at variance with the abolitionist’s, who believed that that he was supporting the slavery cause.

Bankrupt

He was declared bankrupt in 1864, owing more than £645,000. The People’s Park had to be completed by the Town Corporation. He moved into a smaller house at 64 Pearson Park. Zachariah spent the next 27 years repaying his debts, eventually returning to favour.

He died 29 Oct 1891 aged 70, his wife died the previous year on 12 Feb 1890. They are buried in Hull General Cemetery with his son and other family members. Their grave has a modest headstone, and still exists in the cemetery.

14. Mortuary Chapel (site of)

In addition to the Lodge that was located at the cemetery gates on Prince’s Ave, there was a Mortuary Chapel designed by Cuthbert Broderick. It was situated at the rear of the cemetery, backing onto land that was to become Welbeck Street. It also had catacombs nearby, but were seldom used.

The chapel always suffered from damp and unstable foundations, probably due to its proximity to the alignment of an old drain, as seen on the old plan.

Burial services where held here and it was also used as a mortuary. It was finally demolished in 1981.

15. James Henwood

James Henwood was born in Sittingbourne, Kent in October 1784. He moved to Cambridge and then to Hull in the early 1800’s. He joined the banking company of Samuel Smiith & Co, formerly Abel Smith & Sons and Wilberforce & Smith initially as a clerk and eventually becoming a partner.

James lived, at what was to become Wilberforce House, in High Street and remained there until his death, being the last occupant of Wilberforce House.

James was a JP, a director of Railway companies and a Deputy Chairman of the Hull Docks Company. He was also involved in many philanthropic and educational enterprises. Always regarded as a benevolent man supporting numerous charities, he was a staunch Methodist all of his life. He regularly attended the Kingston and Humber Street chapels. He was dedicated to his work and many charitable interests and never married.

Death

James died of heart disease on 15 April 1854 aged 70. Many people flocked to attend his funeral in Hull General Cemetery. He was buried in a large stone tomb which still exists.

16. Captain John Gravill

John Gravel Graville, was born in Gainsborough, Lincolnshire on 4 March 1802, the son of William Gravil Graville and Ann Solelift. He went to sea at an early age, serving initially as a harpooner on the whaling ships sailing from Hull, later becoming mate on various whalers. These were the Eagle, the Harmony and the William Ward.

He married Ann Solelift at Holy Trinity on 29 Feb 1824, and they had three children, Ann, Emily, and John. In 1851 the family were living at 7 Little Reed Street, off Wright Street, later moving to 6 Mount Place, Hessle Road.

In 1857 Capt Graville was given command of The Diana. This was a barque rigged sailing ship. 117 ft long, with a 29 foot beam, and a depth of 17.5 ft, built at Bremen in 1840. In 1856 the whaler was taken over by Brown Atkinson of Hull, making her first voyage to the Davis Straits in 1856. The following year, The Diana was fitted with a 40 HP steam engine. This was installed by the well-known shipbuilders and engineers Messrs Earle & Co, being the first Hull whaler to be so fitted.

The Whaling Industry

The whalers searched for whale oil and sealskins, resulting in a large fleet of steam and sail whaling ships making the journey to the Arctic in search of the bounty. Leaving their home ports of Hull, Dundee, Aberdeen and Peterhead, at the end of February they called in at Shetland, usually Lerwick. Here they augmented their crews with men who were naturally adept at small boat handling and boat work.

Reports of many whales in the extreme northern limits of the Davis Straits, encouraged whalers to probe even further than what had been accepted as limits of safe navigation. To reach these waters the whalers were forced to run the gauntlet of drifting ice floes and even bigger icebergs driven by gales, and it was inevitable that many whale ships would come to grief, or spend long periods trapped in the ice.

1866

In May 1866, despite a fruitless voyage, the Diana, re-provisioned in Lerwick, and sailed north again in the hope of finding more bountiful waters. Although they caught a small number of whales, the dense ice and whale shortage, convinced Captain Gravill to return home.

However, strong gales and thick ice hampered their journey throughout. Many times Gravill considered abandoning ship. The Diana became damaged by the ice. In December, the crew removed everything that could be moved from the badly damaged ship and laid it out on the ice. Tents were erected, and the crew moved between the ship and the make shift camp whenever ice broke around the ship. In Hull it was feared that the Diana was lost, as it had been gone seven months.

His death and funeral

On Boxing Day 1866 Captain Graville died of ‘dropsy and agitation of the mind, at the age of sixty four. Seven other crewman died on the ice. However, by March 1867 the waters cleared of ice and the crew set sail homeward.

On the 1st April 1867 they sighted the west coast of Shetland, and the next day arrived into Ronas Voe. A further 5 crew members died after arrival. The crew, many of whom were from Lerwick, were all buried there, except Captain Gravill. His body was returned to Hull, and his remains buried in Hull General Cemetery in a ceremony that attracted 15,000 people.

The monument, which still remains, is of Sicilian marble by Keywoth of Saville Street. It was paid for by public subscription.

In 1869, whilst making her way back from the Davis Strait, the Diana encountered a strong gale. She was washed into the Donna Nook sands, on the Lincolnshire coast, and broke up. Diana was the last whaling ship to sail from the port of Hull. Her disastrous voyage ended the whaling industry in Hull.

17. Captain William Cape

The raised tomb was purchased by Master Mariner William Cape for his 3 year old daughter, Barbara who died in 1848, just one year after the cemetery opened.

William was born in Bridlington on 25 September 1809, the son of William and Ann (Clarke). He went to sea at the age of 15. He married Ann Keighley at St Mary’s, Sculcoates on 10 November 1836. They lived at 6 Charles Street and had 6 children. As mentioned above, one of their daughters, Barbara, died of consumption on 11 November 1848, and was one of the earliest burials in the cemetery.

William gained his Masters Certificate in 1850 and became captain of the steamer ‘Emperor’.

The Crimean War

In 1853 the Crimean War commenced when Britain, France and Turkey declared war on Russia. The war was fought mainly on the Crimean Peninsula. Captain Cape and the ‘Emperor’ were seconded to transport troops to Turkey.

The principal naval base in the area and the main port of disembarkation was Varna on the Black Sea. It is recorded that the Captain Cape on board the ‘Emperor’ sailed for the Crimea on 7 April 1854. The ship carried Lord Raglan’s horses for the ill fated Charge of the Light Brigade. It also carried a captain, 2 subalterns, 5 sergeants and 115 other ranks.

Cholera was rife in the area at this time and many soldiers died of the disease. On 4 September 1854 William died aged 44, probably of cholera.

His family after his death

His wife continued living at the Charles Street address, raising their children on her own. William’s mother, Ann, died on 30 January 1855 aged 88. She is buried in the family tomb.

In 1871 his widow Ann Cape is living at 13 Brunswick Terrace on Beverley Road. In the 1881 census she is living at 35 Louis Street with her daughter Catherine and her two widowed daughters, Mary Ann Taylor and Jane Ridsdale.

Ann died on 8 October 1888 aged 81, and is also buried in the tomb, as is her nephew, William Keighley who died aged 52 on 30 July 1856.

The only other readable inscription on the tomb is that of their daughter, Jane Ridsdale. She died of cancer and paralysis on 26 February 1898 aged 58. Jane had married William Henry Ridsdale in 1870.

18. Prim Corner (Primitive Methodist Corner)

This section of the cemetery is located close to where the original entrance to the cemetery would have been.

It has several clergy men buried there. These include one of the founders of the Primitive Methodist movement William Clowes. Others are Parkinson Milson, Henry Hodge and his daughter Emma Robson

19. Lt. Frederick Hall

Frederick was born in Muswell Hill, London on 20 March 1898. He was the only child of Hull solicitor, Frederick William and Florence Elizabeth Hall (Taylor).

Vincent joined the Royal Navy in WW1. He became a Flt Sub Lieutenant in the newly formed RNAS. This was the forerunner of the RAF. Vincent trained on Sopwith Pups. On 2 May 1917 he took part in the defence of the French village of Dunkirk which was suffering from many attacks by German aircraft.

He engaged a German Albatross plane which he successfully shot down, killing the pilot and the observer. The local press recorded that Frederick and his co-officer, Wing Commander Newbury, went to salute the bodies of the German airmen before their bodies were removed.

In gratitude for their action in protecting the town, the Mayor of Dunkerque awarded the 2 men commemorative medals.

20. Stather Monument

There are three Gothic revival, cast iron monuments in the cemetery, two of which are Grade II listed.

The first one was erected in memory of Thomas Stather’s wife, Elizabeth (nee) Oates. It was manufactured by Thomas’ engineering company, Thompson and Stather. The company had a long relationship with the cemetery. They had been commissioned to manufacture the now Grade II listed gates which still survive to this day.

Thomas and Elizabeth married on 20 February 1836 and lived in Derringham Street. Elizabeth, died of atrophy on the 1st April 1863 aged 58. She is buried in a brick lined vault beneath the monument which is mounted on a sandstone kerb-set.

Thomas married Mary Elizabeth Spower the following year and they lived at Victoria Cottage, Derringham Street.

Thomas died of heart disease on 25 October 1878 aged 66 and is buried in the same grave. Mary Elizabeth died on 4 January 1909 aged 83 and is also buried in the same grave.

The Eleanor Crosses

21. Reverend George Lambert

George Lambert was born in Leeds on 12 November 1742, the son of George S Lambert and Susannah Swift. He established himself as a passionate lay preacher and carried out many services in Heckmondwyke and the Leeds area. George married Hannah Ainsley in Leeds on 15 June 1769. They came to Hull the same year where he carried out sermons.

A new chapel

He was a gifted orator. Whilst preaching in Hull he came to the attention of the church leaders who were impressed with his words and impressive bearing. He was invited to take up the position of the pastor of the newly opened Congregational Chapel in Dagger Lane. After much deliberation he accepted the post in October 1769. In 1782 a new chapel was erected in Fish Street. Known as The Fish Street Congregational Chapel it was far more spacious than the Blanket Row church. However, George’s sermons were so popular that the chapel had to be extended in 1802.

George and Hannah had ten children between 1769 and 1786, but in 1831 Hannah died aged 55. George threw himself into his work. He became known as ‘The Pastor of Fish Street’, regularly helping out parishioners and neighbours. George continued as pastor for over 47 years until his death on 17 March 1816 aged 74 years.

He was buried along with his wife at the Fish Street Chapel. The church was closed and the premises acquired by the National Telephone Company, George. As such, his wife and three of their daughters were re-interred into Hull General Cemetery on 17 June 1904.

Bill Longbone

Bill Longbone has had a long relationship with the Hull General Cemetery. He is an active member of the FOHGC and manages the work of the volunteers on the site. His biographical sketches of some of the people buried in the cemetery are one of the highpoints of the success of the Facebook site.

Anniversary November 1900

October 23, 2022 by Pete Lowdenin General, History, Volunteers2 Comments

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

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.

petelowden.co.uk

Anniversary August 1846

June 28, 2022 by Pete Lowdenin History, News

The month of August is an interesting anniversary.

On the 8th August 1846 the Board of the Cemetery Company had a pleasant surprise. They received a visit from a surprise visitor. That visitor was John Shields, the superintendent of York Cemetery. And this was not simply a courtesy visit. The Company minute book records that,

‘Mr John Shields, the superintendent of York Cemetery, called and laid before the chairman the following testimonials of character and stated that he would be at liberty on the first week of Sept.’

This news was a great, and probably quite a pleasant surprise. Here was an experienced superintendent of an existing cemetery who was offering his services to them. Although there appeared to be no other candidate for the post this may well have been because the Board had not gotten round to advertising for the post. They may well have not even given a thought to it. So this sudden arrival of John Shields must have almost been like manna from heaven.

The Minute book also actually records John Shields testimonial from York Cemetery,

‘York, August 7^th 1846. The Board of the York Public Cemetery hereby certify that John Shields, our late manager and gardener has been 9 years in our service and during that time has conducted himself in an honest, sober, industrious and attentive manner and has filled his situation with ability.

Signed Thomas Price, Chairman, York Cemetery.’

On the 26th September the Board did take the proper and correct decision. They offered John the position of general superintendent, registrar and manager at the princely sum of £90 per annum. The Company also offered to pay his rent for his residence until the Lodge was inhabitable.

He remained in this post until his death in December 1866.

Anniversary June 1972

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.

petelowden.co.uk

Cemetery Wildlife – June 2022

June 27, 2022 by Helen Bovillin News, Volunteers, Wildlife1 Comment

There has been some fine sunny weather this month. Whilst not quite hot enough to describe as a heatwave, the temperature did reach over 25 degrees on a few days. This has left the footpaths and the grass verge very dry as there has not been any significant rainfall this month. Many of the Spring plants have now stopped flowering, leaving lots of seeds for the cemetery wildlife to eat.

Insects

I saw my first Red Admirals of the season in the cemetery. The one above was in a sunny area near the volunteers’ cabin. There were also some Speckled Woods around, and I saw a Large White on the Spring Bank West grass verge.

June can be rather a quiet month for Butterflies. The ones that emerged earlier in the year will have mated, laid their eggs and then died. The period between that and the emergence of the next generation from July onwards is known as the ‘’June gap’’. I’ve certainly found this to be the case, not just in the Cemetery but in other areas as well.

However, there were still plenty of other flying insects around.

I also found an insect I hadn’t seen before – a Plant Bug, which is the size of a Ladybird. It doesn’t seem to have a specific common name, so I’ve included its scientific name on the photo. This one is a female – the males are usually a lot darker. They’re fairly new to this country, being first identified in 1996.

I also found a different type of Ladybird – this Cream-spot one. It’s a native British species, identified by its maroon-brown colour and the 14 cream spots on it.

Plants

Some Poppies are now flowering in the grassy area in the centre of the Cemetery. Alongside the Red Campions and Buttercups, they add a nice splash of colour to all the lush greenery.

The cemetery can sometimes look a bit tired at this time of year. This is because the Spring flowering plants have now started to die back and in particular the Wild Garlic, Cow Parsley and Hogweed. The grass verge can also look a little tired too. But other plants have now started to flower such as the Creeping Thistle you can see on the White Butterfly and the Bee photos. There is also White Clover, Common Mallow and Ragwort growing in this area.

To give this area a boost, the Council provided the volunteers with a good selection of native wildflowers to set along here and this has now been done. Due to the lack of rain I’ve had to go back and water them a few times on each of the hotter days. I hope we get a decent amount of rainfall sooner rather than later!

Birds

The birds have been very active this month. I’ve seen them gathering nesting material and also collecting food for their hungry chicks. Some of the birds are very vocal too, especially the Song Thrushes, Blackcaps, Wrens and Robins. An early morning walk is highly recommended – go nice and early and you can often have the whole place to yourself, with just the birds and other cemetery wildlife for company.

The dense foliage on all the trees makes the birds rather difficult to photograph. They are very much a case of heard but not seen. Well, maybe just a brief glimpse!

I haven’t seen any unusual birds this month, just the regular Blue Tits, Great Tits, Dunnocks, Blackbirds, Crows, Magpies, Wood Pigeons and Stock Doves in addition to the ones mentioned earlier. Chaffinches are another common species in the cemetery.

Fungi

There hasn’t been much to report recently, but I did find a Dryad’s Saddle later on in the month. It wasn’t as large as some of the specimens I saw last year but it was still a nice surprise to see it. Note the hole – obviously this is a good source of food for the cemetery wildlife, although I’m not sure which species.

Conclusion

June has been a warm, dry and sunny month, creating the perfect conditions for the flora and fauna in the cemetery. The birds are around in good numbers, and I’ve seen some fledglings exploring the world outside their nests.

And finally, it’s nice to see one of the fallen logs being used by creatures that won’t leave any litter scattered around it!

Cemetery wildlife – May 2022

Helen Bovill

Helen is a keen photographer and nature lover. She spent a large part of her working life at the Land Registry. She is a member of the Yorkshire Wildlife Trust and various other similar organisations. Living close to the Cemetery for over 30 years she has seen the fortunes of the site fluctuate and has joined the FOHGC to make a positive difference.

Anniversary June 1972

May 23, 2022May 30, 2022 by Pete Lowdenin General, History, Volunteers

The anniversary this month is poignant. It marks 50 years since the Hull General Cemetery Company dissolved itself. Since that time the site has undergone some changes; some good, some not so good. It has changed ownership for better or worse. The site has been ‘developed’ and then allowed to sink back into the ‘decay’ it had been in before that ‘development’. One could say that Hull General Cemetery has had mixed fortunes since the last meeting of the shareholders of the company took place.

But that was in the future. In June 1972 no one knew what would happen to the site, least of all the Company, and neither did its future owners, Hull City Council. At no time did it seem certain that Hull City Council would become the owners. Although, quietly and behind the scenes, some activity told a different story.

Let’s look at how the Council did take over and this story may take us all back a lot further than you’d think.

To sell or not to sell

On the 14th December 1853 the company received a letter from the clerk to the Local Board of Health. This body had recently been set up in response to the Public Health Act of 1848. Amongst its many duties was the control of burials within its district. It was with this duty in mind that Mr Wells, the clerk, wrote to the Company. Mr Wells said that he had been instructed by the Parliamentary Bill Committee to ask the Company to name their price with regard to selling their cemetery.

This letter on the face of it was straightforward. Basically it asked for the company how much they wanted for selling the site. Underlying that letter though was an implied threat. This threat was that the Parliamentary Bill Committee were, at that moment, steering a bill through Parliament that sought to ‘improve’ the town. Part of that improvement was the right of compulsory purchase of the cemetery. That the letter came from this committee rather than the Local Board of Health itself would not have been lost on the Directors.

It also cannot have slipped the Directors’ minds that the Local Board of Health’s solicitor had written to them in November. This November letter was much less friendlier. It stated that,

The threat of the Local Board of Health (LBOH) to compulsorily purchase the cemetery coupled with the oblique threat of erecting gas works in front of the entrance of the cemetery would have been fresh in their minds.

A more emollient approach

The December letter stated that the LBOH,

‘would be glad to receive from the Company an offer to sell to the local Board of Health for the benefit of the Borough the Hull General Cemetery and all its property rights and interests.’

A reply was requested by the 22nd. The company replied saying that, ‘it was not their present intention of the Company to part with their cemetery.’

The following February 1854 another letter arrived. In this the Parliamentary Bill Committee suggested that three directors should meet three LBOH members with a view to settling this issue. The Company agreed to this and dispatched the Chair, John S. Thompson, William Irving and John Pearson Bell to this meeting.

Suffice to say that both parties attended the meeting with their own agenda. Although there were glimmers of agreement it was not wholly successful for either side. The Company did agree to sell the cemetery to the LBOH but they wanted the LBOH to come up with a price first. However the LBOH did not do this and the matter was not pursued. No doubt the LBOH felt that their Act of Parliament would gain the cemetery for them. They were in for a surprise.

The Acts of Parliament

For the Cemetery Company were also pursuing this approach. It became a race which Act would be enacted first.

As such both parties set to with a will to get their respective Acts of Parliament through the next session of Parliament. By 1854 the Corporation had their Hull Improvement Act in place that would have enabled them to purchase the cemetery. However the Company had managed to get their own Act in place. This forestalled any municipal authority from compulsorily purchasing a cemetery established and incorporated by an Act of Parliament. Stalemate. A couple of years later anther approach almost made it over the finish line but was scuppered by greed. You can read about it here. An Anniversary: June 1856

And so this state of affairs continued for the next 120 years.

Having said that, the fortunes of both parties altered significantly over time. In 1854 the Company was definitely in the driving seat. In effect it could name the conditions upon which it would sell. This was its highwater point. After this the pendulum swung the other way. By the turn of the 20th century the company would have been glad to sell the cemetery but the Corporation now had its own burial grounds and was content to wait.

One hundred years later

By the middle of the 20th century the chair, Arthur J. Downs, a relative of Rose, Downs and Thompson, the engineering firm, was reporting to the Company AGM that negotiations to sell the site to the Corporation were stalling.

‘It was noted that the corporation were insistent that steps be taken to recall capital as a condition to their considering the matter further. As such the matter was not competent business for discussion at an Ordinary General Meeting, it was decided that the new board, when constituted, should take up negotiations and refer back to the proprietors as necessary.’

Recall of Capital

This issue of ‘recall the capital’ refers back to the foundation of the Company. Avid students of this subject will remember that the initial shares in the company were sold for £10. Out of that £10 only £1 of that was asked from the shareholders by the Company. The Company had, from its beginnings, worked on income it generated and initial lending via bonds. As such the original shareholders reaped the benefit of dividends for over a hundred years without actually paying the full price for their shares.

By the time the Company found itself in financial trouble many of the original shareholders had died or their families had moved away. Thus the Company felt it was unfair to trouble the descendants for the remaining £9 owing.

Sadly, the Corporation didn’t view that particular issue in such a misty-eyed way. They demanded that before any purchase of the cemetery this money should be paid into the cemetery coffers. In this way the Corporation felt that they would not have to pay the entire cost of attempting to bring the site back to a healthy state. Upon this rock all future negotiations foundered.

1955

By 1955 two changes had occurred. Firstly a new chair was installed. This was Clifford Hookins Ashburn. A solicitor, like many of his predecessors. As such he perhaps saw more clearly that the present situation could not continue.

The second change was that on the 27th January that year the nettle was grasped. At an Extraordinary Meeting of the proprietors a resolution was put forward. This stated that,

On the face of it this resolution would allow the Company to continue negotiations with the Corporation. However an upset at the meeting changed things.

So the ‘burden’ of paying the £9 owing would not simply be taken up by the remaining proprietors but also by the relatives or descendants of all the shareholders. Some of these people may not have known they were shareholders in the Company. Those old shares could be mouldering in a trunk in the attic or have been lost over the intervening period of a century. It’s doubtful whether any of them had received any dividends over time as addresses would have changed.

This put the Company in an invidious position. They would now need to source where these ‘missing’ proprietors were and that would take money. Something the Company were sadly lacking in.

The offer of a deal

Realising that this task was impossible. the Chair and the Company’s solicitors, Payne and Payne, had, by June 1956, opted for hopefully an easier way. They approached the Corporation to accept £3 10 shillings per share rather than the full £9. The Board thought that this approach at least passed the buck back to the Corporation. The Board felt that it showed their willingness to compromise on the issue and provide a solution.

By January 1957 the Board heard that,

Roscoe’s Report

At a board meeting on the 21st August that year the Directors were informed that the site visit had been undertaken. Mr Roscoe, the Corporation Parks and Burials Superintendent, had visited the site. In researching this article I have not had sight of the report. However what we do have is a resume of the report and the conclusions of the Town Clerk, J Haydon W. Glen. It’s not pretty reading for the Company.

It starts quite positively and then takes a turn for the worst.

It went on to say,

The resume by the Town Clerk was simply saying that the Company had managed to get itself into this mess, was still in business, so should endeavour to get itself out of it. As it says, ‘it may be wondered why the Corporation should get involved in the matter at all.’ And an objective observer would probably agree with them. It needed the Company to fail completely before the site could be rescued.

With that report, the hope that the Company had of the Corporation taking the site over was gone.

1966 and all that

In November 1961 the Company formally recognised this and recorded that they would not approach the Corporation again. The issue resurfaces indirectly in November 1966 when the Company asked for another look at their own counsel’s advice from a decade ago. This advice had been to sell the site quickly as may be seen below,

At the next meeting of the Board on the 27th August 1968 Mr Wilkinson reported back. He said that although the Corporation were not unsympathetic to the Company, they said they themselves did not ‘have the resources to take the initiative in the matter.’ As such the Corporation said the Company ‘must do what it thought fit.‘

The plan

Upon this news the Directors decided to undertake another plan. This was to list the Company under the Companies Act 1948. Taking this approach meant that the Company could apply to the Courts to be liquidated under that Act. The Extraordinary General Meeting (EGM) of the proprietors that would vote on this issue was to take place on the 11th August 1970. The Board were confident it would be approved.

At this meeting 10 proprietors attended, owning 153 shares between them. The chair outlined the situation facing all those present after which the outcome was a foregone conclusion. A resolution was put forward from the floor and it was unanimously accepted.

From now on the liquidation of the Company was simply a matter of when. Over the next 20 months the process of liquidation followed its legal course. By May 1972 everything was in place for the Company to be terminated. And then, at the eleventh hour, an outside intervention occurred.

Mr Dennis

On the 22nd May, at the Law Society Offices, Bowlalley Lane, another EGM took place. In an unconscious ironic twist of fate both this and the final shareholder’s meeting took place in the very building that the first meeting of the Company had taken place in back in 1845. Out of the 967 shareholders known to the Company only seven were present. However those present did own the majority of the Company’s shares between them.

At this meeting in May, Clifford H Ashburn, the chair, invited a Mr Dennis to speak. This young man, a Hull University graduate and now a businessman in a property company, outlined his proposal.

The chair had invited representatives of the local press and radio to this meeting. As such this late intervention was reported in the Hull Daily Mail the following day.

Under the headline ‘Hull Graduates Want To Buy Derelict Cemetery’, Mr Dennis’s scheme was explained. The article went into much more detail than the Company minute books. In essence it’s an intriguing ‘What If…’ aspect of the long history of the cemetery.

Counterfactual

As the historian Hugh Trevor-Roper once said,

‘History is not merely what happened; it is what happened in the context of what might have happened.’

And with the intervention of Mr Dennis we have a perfect opportunity of imagining such a thing in connection with Hull General Cemetery. Could such an intervention have succeeded? What would have been the likely outcome over time?

On the credit side the Cemetery Company was not in debt. It still owned two properties. Yes, these were up for sale but that sale could be withdrawn. On the debit side it had no staff and the site was totally overgrown and shabby. However this last point appeared to be a credit point to the prospective buyers. In effect the site could have been transferred and the new owners have put into place their own plans. As long as the new owners closed the burial side of the business which the Company had already begun to do there would have been no legal objection that could have been sustained by the Council.

What then could have occurred? Mr Dennis said that a fence would be erected around the site. This would have been quite an expense. He also said that certain headstones and memorials would be made safe and restored. Once again this would have been an expensive undertaking. Other than making the paths of the cemetery passable no other work was envisaged. I would suppose that routine maintenance of the trees would have taken place to make sure they would not damage the stones but beyond that the site would be left in situ.

Income generating?

Mr Dennis did not say whether the venture would be income generating. However he was a businessman, even if he had long hair and ‘outlandish’ ideas, so it’s possible there was a germ of an idea to make money from the site. We do not know. However we can hypothesise.

Mr Dennis may well have foreseen that such a site could potentially generate money as a ‘heritage’ resource. We are all familiar with visiting country houses etc but accessing other sites rich in heritage is also viable. Possibly Mr Dennis may have had such an idea that the site could become such an attraction. With the rise of genealogical studies in the 1990s such sites became much more popular. Guided tours of the historic monuments (for a price) could have taken place. Accessing both local and central government funding for environmental and bio-diversity work could have also generated significant income. Another form of income generation could have been leasing it out as a film or television set. One can imagine how this could have been successful.

By the millennium the site could have become a self-sustaining part of the rich fabric of attractive heritage and natural highlights of the city.

Meanwhile back at the meeting, and the press report that followed.

Plastic people

The article began by stating that,

Mr Dennis, the representative of the graduates, stated,

‘that he feared the Hull Corporation would take over the cemetery, and by flattening it out, make it “a ghastly and tasteless plastic graveyard for plastic people.”.

Mr Dennis channelling Frank Zappa there! And of course he wasn’t far wrong in that assessment as a previous article pointed out. A Monumental Loss

Warming to his theme he outlined the plans he and his fellows had for the site,

This was perhaps not what the present owners wanted to hear. They had lamented the state of the cemetery for the best part of 40 years without paying for its restoration. Now, sat in front of them, is this long haired ‘hippie’ saying that he and his fellows preferred this state of affairs and indeed wanted it to continue. One can imagine their consternation at this news.

Under the paragraph heading, ‘Not Crazy’, Mr Dennis further outlined how he would take control of the cemetery,

In the Yorkshire Post Mr Dennis was quoted as saying,

‘I want to buy it because it is a nice place just as it is – as long as it will not cost me too much. You could say I just want it as a garden. Let the place rest in peace whereas if the council got hold of it we would have council officials marching all over it, levelling it out. Many people enjoy looking around it in its present wild state. Let them enjoy the pleasure.’

He also said in the Hull Times that he did not want the Corporation, ‘to take over the cemetery, to make it into a second Queens Gardens.’

Cold water

At the end of the Hull Daily Mail article the chair of the Cemetery Company poured cold water on this plan. He said he did not think it was possible for Blawhurst Limited, of which Mr Dennis was a founder, to buy the cemetery.

‘For one thing it may be too late to do anything now as we are well on the way to having the Company would up. It must be in doubt whether Mr Dennis’s company have enough cash. There are also various legal complication to be considered.’

With that cold assessment we now move on to the endgame of the Cemetery Company and to the final meeting of the Company. However, before we enter that meeting room for the last time, the intervention by Mr Dennis and his associates caused some ripples beyond the room.

The cat is out of the bag

On the 31st May, eight days after this meeting, the Joint Under-Secretary of State at the Department of the Environment (DOE), a Mr Keith Speed, revealed that Hull Corporation had already enquired for a direct grant from his department to ‘tidy up the dilapidated 127- year old cemetery.’

Sir Keith Speed, as he later became, was the minister for the Navy and was sacked by Margaret Thatcher in 1981. He had publicly disagreed with the cuts taking place on the Navy that she and the defence minister John Nott, were imposing. A year later, with the Falklands War, his assessment was proved correct. Naturally enough he was never forgiven by Thatcher and he was only knighted after she had left office. He died in 2018.

This embarrassing revelation for the Corporation came about, probably much to the Corporation’s chagrin, via the West Hull M.P. James Johnson at the time. He had received a letter from the DOE after he complained about the state of the site. So, contrary to past denials and negative pronouncements about the site the Hull Corporation were seeking to acquire it. But they did not want to buy it but ‘inherit’ it.

A clarification – of sorts

Responding to this news, Sir Leo Schultz, the leader of Hull City Council, said, ‘It was impossible at present to say whether the Corporation would step in.’ This statement, made no doubt to cover for the Corporation’s earlier machinations in applying for a DOE grant, continued,

‘There were plots which people had bought in the area but had not taken up, and the public still needed access to graves in the cemetery. The company is still using it as a burial ground, I understand, so we have commitments regarding it. this means we could not take steps to clear it up until the company has totally completed its business.’

The phrase, ‘to clear it up’, perhaps already shows the Corporation’s plans for the site. Ominously Sir Leo Schultz went on to say,

‘That in any case the Spring Bank area was not the only cemetery in the city which was untidy and needed attention. There were old cemeteries such as those near Division Road and Sculcoates Lane which also must be looked at under the clean-up scheme’

And so they were cleared up, with the significant loss of heritage assets such as the headstone of David Garbutt, the man behind the Avenues project, in Division Road. In Sculcoates Lane the destruction of the chapel that Greenwood in 1835 said was a great artistic piece of work was another blow to Hull historical record. ‘Clean-up’, as a phrase used by the Council at this time, surely should have struck fear into any historian.

The final meeting

The final meeting of the Company shareholders took place once again at the Bowlalley Lane site. The date was the 1st of June 1972. At this meeting two resolutions, unanimously agreed by all present were put forward. The first was that, ‘The Hull General Cemetery Company be dissolved.’ and the second stated, ‘That the Hull General Cemetery Company Limited be wound up in Court.‘

The shareholders then had to deal with the intervention by Mr Dennis and his associates. The shareholders had already agreed that they could not countenance this deal. As the minutes show,

It was only after the press were informed of this decision that Mr Dennis was asked to join the meeting. There he was not told that his offer had been rejected. He was asked to explain his offer once again which he did.

What a novel idea

This approach would not have endeared him and his associates to the shareholders. He was saying that the cemetery, as it stood, was fine. That he could continue to run the cemetery as a business but that would not be its main function. Its main function would be as a site of historical and environmental interest. In essence Mr Dennis was stating something that to us today is quite normal but to the ears of the shareholders it was not only novel but dangerous. Indeed Mr Dennis was articulating what the Spring Bank Cemetery Action Group and the Friends of Hull General Cemetery said later. That the combination of both nature and history complimented each other and should be preserved as much as possible. That in it’s present state (in 1972) it was attractive and informative. The shareholders must have thought the young man was mad.

Back at the meeting

Meanwhile back at the meeting,

So the last chance to preserve the beauty of the Cemetery as it was was lost. That the directors stated that Blawhurst Ltd was a ‘company of straw’ is ironic as it is still one of the leading rental property owners in Hull. Once again one wonders what if the directors had gone along with this scheme what would we now have today on the site? A fruitless exercise I know but sometimes one can’t help playing such mind games.

The final minutes of the final meeting of the Hull General Cemetery Company were never signed off as no further meeting took place. In 1872 the Marie Celeste was found floating in the Atlantic with no one aboard yet still appearing as if it was crewed. One hundred years later so must the Hull General Cemetery have looked. The site continued to exist, the stones still stood in serried ranks, the wild things still scurried around and the trees and bushes still encroached further on to the paths. The site did not care a fig for legal obligations or who owned what. It just did what it does today; it continued to exist.

Hull Corporation come clean

For 18 months the site was ownerless and then things changed. On December 14th 1973, under the headline, ‘City to buy derelict cemetery’, the open secret that the Hull Corporation would take over the site was revealed finally.

The article went on to say in an unflattering way, and it must be said that the Hull Daily Mail was one of the site’s severest critics. It never failed to use the word ‘eyesore for the site.

Perhaps more sinisterly, the plans for the site were expounded by Mr J.A. Milne, the Director of the Council Leisure Services Department.

This is where this part of the story ends and the next stage of the story is already on this website. Please read it and realise what we have lost. A Monumental Loss

Postscript

I attempted to contact Mr Dennis back in 2016. I was intrigued by this whole episode as I hope you are. He had since retired from his role as a Director of Blawhurst Ltd and now lived in Devon. Sadly I never received a reply to my enquiries and perhaps he felt that, as L.P. Hartley said in The Go-Between, ‘The past is foreign country; they do things differently there.’ Like us all he perhaps feels that his youthful indiscretions should remain hidden and forgotten. Who am I to argue with that? It is a shame though.

Postscript Two

This is my last piece as editor of the website. It some ways it seems quite fitting to end with the end of the Company. It’s almost as if I had planned it that way which I assure you I hadn’t. I hope you have enjoyed these glances at some pieces of forgotten and ignored history. I hope you continue to enjoy the website and the cemetery itself for as long as you want to. Bye.

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.

petelowden.co.uk

Cemetery Wildlife April 2022

April 26, 2022 by Helen Bovillin Volunteers3 Comments

CEMETERY WILDLIFE APRIL 2022

We have not had many of those famous April showers! The total rainfall has been much lower than average for the month and the footpaths are therefore dry and easy to walk on. There have been plenty of warm sunny days and the leaves on the trees have started to open. That fresh, bright pale green so characteristic of Spring is everywhere now.

Trees and Plants

The English Oak trees planted by the volunteers last year are doing well, especially the larger of the two.

Alongside the green foliage of most of the trees is the copper colouring of the new leaves on the large Beech tree in the centre of the cemetery. This tree is also known locally as the “Money Tree” and can be seen in my first photo.

Lower down, the Quince is flowering and nearby is some Yellow Archangel, which seems to do quite well in the shade.

The Lesser Celandines growing on the grass verge have almost finished flowering but they are still going strong inside the cemetery. The tiny blue flowers of the Forget-me-nots and Speedwell can now be seen if you look carefully amongst the other foliage.

Along the grass verge there is an abundance of Dandelions providing nectar for the Bees, Butterflies and other small insects. The similar-looking Hawks-beard can also be seen.

I also found some Ribwort Plantain – the first time I’d noticed any along here.

The Bluebells are now starting to flower but I will say more about them next month. It was good to see plenty of Garlic Mustard in flower – another valuable food source for Butterflies, especially the Orange-tip.

Butterflies and insects

This month I saw quite a few Small and Large White butterflies, and also Comma and Brimstone. I saw my first Orange-tips of the year this month. I also caught a few brief glimpses of my first Green-veined White of the year.

The underside of the Orange-tip’s wings looks green but this is an optical illusion caused by the black and yellow patterning.

This month also saw the first Holly Blues and Speckled Woods of the year appearing in good numbers along the verge and also inside the cemetery.

Holly Blues usually rest with their wings not fully open. These photos don’t really do them justice as they’re a much brighter blue than this but blink and you’ll miss them because they’re tiny and fast-flying. Males and females have similar underwings.

Other insects in abundance were Bees, Ladybirds and various flies including the Bee-fly.

Birds

There are still some berries on the Ivy, providing food for Wood Pigeons, Blackcaps and Blackbirds.

The birds are still busy gathering nesting material. I’ve seen quite a bit of activity around some of the bird boxes with Blue Tits in particular flying in and out of them. The larger birds will make nests of their own in the trees and bushes.

The Chiffchaffs have now arrived but are usually high up in the trees and not very easy to photograph. Their call is loud and distinctive though!

Conclusion

April has been a month of abundance, with an explosion of colour and growth in most of the plants. The number and variety of Butterflies I’ve seen is very encouraging – I’ve seen a total of 10 different species so far this year. Now is the perfect time for a stroll in the cemetery to enjoy the sights and sounds of the cemetery wildlife. You might also enjoy the many monuments too – it seems like the wildlife does! Cemetery Wildlife March 2022

Helen Bovill

Freddy Kruger

March 24, 2022 by David Hamiltonin General, History, Volunteers2 Comments

Freddy Krüger and Family revealed

The grave site C37/3060 in Hull General Cemetery before the plot had been cleared in late 2021 and the parts of the headstone re-united.

Freddy Krüger and family revealed

The gravestone located in Hull General Cemetery had long been hidden beneath a thick bed of ivy and other vegetation. The “Friends” of the cemetery often referred to this plot as “Freddy Krüger’s Grave. Late in 2021, the volunteers decided to clear the plot and liberate the headstone from the vegetation, in doing so they found the stone was in two pieces, one of which was lying face down. Once the two parts had been reunited the inscription was clear and read as follows: –

The inscription reveals a close link between the Raines and the Krüger families. Interestingly there is a lack of any biographical information in contrast with other memorials in the Cemetery.

After research over several weeks the true story of the Krüger and other families was revealed and we find a story of the Baltic trade between Hull and Russia, shipwreck, tragedy, and philanthropy in Victorian Hull through to the early 20th century.

Descendants of Robert Raines

Sarah Raines

Sarah was one of at least three daughters of Rev. Robert and Elizabeth Raines, she was born in 1789 and baptised in Hull St. Mary on 3rd June and died 12th July 1861. She appears to have been a lady of independent means who lived all her life in Hull and never married. In the 1851 census she is living at 7 Spring Street, head of the household with a nephew and two servants. The nephew is registered as Edward Brebim aged 19 and working as an engineer, nationality, Russian born in Riga. (I have been unable to find any family connection to Edward and the surname is untraceable and suspect).

There is an entry in Pigot’s Directory of 1828/9 of Sarah Raines having a Millinery and Dressmaking business at 1 Jarratt Street. There are no other records of her being in business in Hull and no references to her in the local press.

However, we find a detailed press report in the Hull Packet of a trial at Somerset Assizes on March 29th 1800. A certain Mrs Leigh Perrott was charged with stealing lace in the shop of Miss Gregory, in the City of Bath. Miss Sarah Raines, apprentice to Miss Gregory (milliner and owner of the shop), swore that on the 8th of August the prisoner came to the shop……. and was a witness to the theft.

In the 1861 census records we find Sarah living at 24 Pearson Street with one servant where she dies of “decay of nature” in July the same year. There is no record of any obituary, will or probate.

Elizabeth Raines

Sarah Raines’ sister Elizabeth was born in 1781 and died on 10th November, 1849, she is buried in Humbleton churchyard. She also had a sister Mary-Ann born in 1787 who was married to John Whitton.

Elizabeth married Francis Reimers, gentleman, on 18th February 1798 in Holy Trinity, Hull. They had two children: –

Francis Thomas born May 1800 and died January 1869 Christiana Elizabeth born December 1802

Francis Reimers died in August 1803 and buried in Hull St Mary on 30th August leaving Elizabeth a widow. His estate was valued at £100.

On the 7th March, 1810 Elizabeth marries “Jno. Frederick Krügar” in Holy Trinity, Hull. On his marriage to Elizabeth he is described as a German Teacher.

There are no official records of “John Frederick” in UK archives. His birth and death are not recorded but his marriage to Elizabeth Reimers (nee Raines) in 1810 is recorded in the Hull Trinity Parish record and there is a note of him being a clergyman in 1848 on the marriage of his son Henry Raines Krüger1 to Eleanor Blythe. There is no evidence of his presence at the marriage as a witness.

In the 1841 Census we also find Elizabeth living with her children from her first marriage at Prospect Street. Francis Thomas Reimers (her son) is head of the household, she is not described as a widow. It therefore seemed as if “John Frederick” was deceased by 1841 or had otherwise disappeared without trace.

¹There are two Henry Raines, son and grandson of Johann Friedrich Krüger

Johann Joachim Friedrich Krüger

Later I found strong evidence of family ties to St. Petersburg in Russia and that Henry Raines Krüger (his grandson) spent time in St. Petersburg with his first wife Edith who died there in the Alexander Hospital in 1886. I therefore wondered if “John Frederick” was a Lutheran clergyman of Russian descent. I found there are two Lutheran cemeteries in St. Petersburg. In the Smolenskoe Lutheran Cemetery in St. Petersburg there are several “Krügers” interred and in particular Johann Joachim Friedrich Krüger. Born 3rd July 1797 and died 3rd December 1874 age 77 years. This would seem a good match as he would have been 33 years old in 1810 on his marriage to Elizabeth.

“Rest peacefully in your tomb, your saviour will welcome you”

A further search of the cemetery records failed to find Edith, first wife of Henry Raines Krüger who died in Alexandra Hospital in 1886 although there are several other “Krügers” interred there.

It would seem that Johann lived in St. Petersburg along with other members of the family and it is likely he worked as an agent for Hull merchants in the Balkan trade with Russia.

Descendants of Johann Joachim Friedrich Krüger

Captain John Frederick Krüger

John Frederick was the youngest of Johann Friedrich’s three children, a merchant seaman, master mariner, latterly a marine surveyor and Trinity House Brother. He was called as an expert witness in several inquests into maritime accidents. He was clearly an esteemed member of the Hull community and there are numerous press reports of his close involvement, together with his brother Captain Henry Raines Krüger in the affairs of the Port of Hull Sailors’ Orphan Homes (see later).

In 1854 he married Emily Atkinson in Sculcoates, she was born in 1825 and died 28th October 1880 in Hull and is interred in Hull General Cemetery.

In the Merchant Seamen’s register (BT120), May 1836 he is Mate aged 25 on a ship belonging to Welton of Hull. Later in 1842 – 1844 he is recorded as a merchant seaman aboard the Royal William.

By 1851 he has become a Master Mariner living at 7 Spring Street. In July 1854 he was deemed qualified to be an expert witness at the Coroner’s Inquest into the loss of life resulting from the launch of the barque Dowthorpe which went awry (appendix 2).

In the 1861 census (ships at sea) he is Master of the paddle steamer PS LION along with his wife Emily, the Master’s wife aged 36 and his young son John Frederick aged 2¹/₂.

The P S LION (pictures in Maritime Museum and Ferens Art Gallery) a Hull based paddle steamer,

626 tons, 320HP built by Brownlow & Co., Hull

During the Crimean War the ship was chartered by the government for the conveyance of troops and stores. After the war she was lengthened and converted to screw propulsion at 150HP and 690 tons, before conversion she required 650 tons of coal for the St. Petersburg voyage and now only 350 tons was required and was able to carry an extra 400 tons of cargo, and her speed increased from 6.5 to 8 knots.

On the 18th November 1861 the SS LION left Kronstadt and encountered a gale, Captain Winteringham and Captain Krüger a passenger managed to drive her ashore on the island of Gotland off the Swedish coast where she was driven to pieces in the gale. The crew and passengers managed to get ashore.

Leeds Mercury, 13^th August 1888

PROBATE of the will dated 18^th February 1881, of the late Captain John Frederick Krüger of Hull, Marine Superintendent, who died on the 10^th June last, and was one of the oldest members of the Hull Merchant Service and an Elder Brother of the Hull Trinity House, has been granted to the executors, his sons. Mr. Henry Raines Krüger and Mr. John Frederick Krüger and Mr Joseph Atkinson. The testator devises all his real estate for sale and bequeaths the proceeds and all residue of his property to his said two sons and his daughter, Mrs Sarah Raines, as his tenants in common, the value of the personal estate being £6.613 15s 8d.

The Port of Hull Society’s Sailors’ Orphan Homes

Captain John Frederick and his brother Captain Henry Raines Krüger were prominent members of the merchant shipping community, Brethren of Trinity House and lifelong supporters of the Port of Hull Society’s Orphan Homes charity. Their dedication and generosity are recorded in a small book Lifebelt and Anchor published around 1900 recording the history of the Port of Hull Society as well as in numerous press reports of the activities of the society.

Capt. J. F. Krüger was one of the founding members of the Port of Hull Society and at the time of his death was the oldest serving member of the committee. He was connected with the earliest beginnings of the Orphanage and School. In conjunction with his brother Capt. H. R. Krüger, and Mr John Wright, he took an active interest in the enlargement of the orphanage when Mr Titus Salt gave his great contribution. (Titus Salt donated £5000 towards the cost of the new wing to accommodate an additional 100 orphans).

Capt. Krüger had been a member of the board of Trinity House since 1869, and he advocated the claims of the Orphanage with such zeal before the Trinity House brethren that they eventually became large subscribers to our funds, The generous subscriptions which, at this time were received from St. Petersburg, were also the result of Captain Krüger’s influence.

Lifebelt and Anchor, p125

Engraving reproduced from Lifebelt and Anchor

The Orphan’s Home is still in existence and is now the Park Hotel in Park Street.

Park Street

On the façade of the former Sailor’s Orphans Home in Park Street, Commerce and Navigation are depicted providing Charity with the means to care for homeless waifs

The Book of Hull, John Markham

Captain Henry Raines Krüger

Captain Henry Raines Krüger, son of Johann Friedrich and younger brother of John Frederick, born in 1813. He died in March 1874.

In the same year (1874) the committee were saddened by the death of Mr H R Krüger, one of two brothers who were among the earliest and most zealous friends of the Society. He was a sea captain and an agent for Messrs. Brownlow & Lumsden, a prominent firm of Hull shippers at that time. His duties connected him very closely with Russia; indeed there was Russian blood in his veins. For thirty years he had served on the committee, and in work for the Orphan Home few could have been more faithful than he.

Lifeboat and Anchor, p 99

Rev. Henry Raines Krüger

Henry was the eldest son of Captain John Frederick, born in June 1857 in Sculcoates he spent most of his early life as a forwarding clerk in the shipping trade. In the 1881 census he is living with his father John Frederick at 3, Wright Street. At this stage he is still single.

On the 27th December 1883 he marries Edith Kershaw in St. Paul’s Church, Sculcoates. Shortly after we find he and his new wife have relocated to St. Petersburg, Russia where she dies in the Alexander Hospital on the 24th February 1886.

PROBATE

17^th April 1886

Personal estate £306

Administration (with the Will) of the Personal Estate of Edith Krüger (wife of Henry Raines Krüger) late of 37 Louis Street in the Borough of Kingston-upon-Hull who died 24^th February 1886 at the Alexander Hospital, St. Petersburg in Russia was granted at YORK under certain Specialities to the said Henry Raines Krüger of 37 Louis Street and of 9 Fish Street both in Kingston-upon-Hull. Forwarding agent and John Frederick Krüger the younger of 3 Wright Street, Kingston-upon-Hull Provision Merchant the Executors.

I can find no record of her burial in St. Petersburg or anywhere else.

Henry must have remained in St. Petersburg for several more years, presumably either working with or for his father or grandfather in their shipping business as he is not recorded in the 1891 census.

By 1893 Henry has found a new life. He marries Mary Ellen Fergie in Wigan, gains a BA and is appointed to the curacy of Cullompton on the 15th June the same year. He continued his studies, gained an MA and is appointed Rector of Jacobstowe, Okehampton, Devon.

His widow, Mary Ellen retired to Hove, Sussex and died there on 30th November 1945, her estate was valued at £2,548.

Exeter and Plymouth Gazette, 18^th September 1929

Devon Clergyman’s Death

The death has taken place of the Rev. H. R. Krüger, who at one time held the curacy at Cullompton and was later presented with the living at Jacobstowe by the late Sir R. T. White-Thomson. After working in the parish for some years he was offered one of the new churches built to meet the demand of the growing population in certain parts of Plymouth. On the death of the Rev. J. W. Banks, he was presented with the living at Hatherleigh, coming to reside in the parish in 1918. In the summer of 1927, while on holiday he had a seizure which left him practically paralysed and he was persuaded by his friends to retire from active work, and a Commission granted him a pension from his living, which in the meantime was accepted by the Rev. J. C Rossiter. Much sympathy was felt for Mrs. Krüger, who has been the indefatigable nurse and constant attendant ever since her husband’s sudden illness. A knell was rung on the bells from Holsworthy, and on Sunday the Vicar made feeling reference and asked for the prayers of his congregation on behalf of Mrs. Krüger.

John Frederick Krüger (the younger) and the Apple Trade

John Frederick Krüger was the younger son of Captain John Frederick Krüger, born 18th September, 1858 in Sculcoates. We first find him aboard the PS LION with his mother and his father in command on route to Hamburg or one of the other Baltic ports. He soon becomes a shipping and merchant’s clerk, joins White & Sons fruit importers, and works his way up to senior management and a seat on the board.

John Frederick married Harriet Anne Gray on the 18^th October 1888 in the Herrington Street Chapel in Sunderland.

He was evidently a valued employee and on good terms with Colonel William Lambert White, governing director of White and Sons fruit importers as he received a gift of £100 as a token of his friendship. (Hull Daily Mail, 23^rd September 1930)

Yorkshire Post

Monday December 12th, 1932

J.F. Krüger

Pioneer of the Australian Apple Trade in Hull

Mr John Frederick Krüger, who has died at his home, 23 Park Avenue, Hull, was the pioneer of the large trade in Australian Apples now done by the port. He was a director of the firm of White and Sons, Ltd fruit importers and spent 58 years with it having joined in 1874, when the business was carried on under the style of White and Son and Strutten. He went overseas a great deal for the company.

In 1912 he was in Australia and through his initiative the first direct consignment of Australian apples was sent to Hull. The trade was developed considerably, over 400,000 boxes being imported to Hull last year. At a later date he also arranged for direct shipment of apples from South Africa but owing to the difficulty of obtaining return cargoes they had to be discontinued. A dinner was given in his honour in 1924 to celebrate 50 years with the trade.

Footnote and acknowledgements

This has been a fascinating journey through the history of merchant shipping and people of the Port of Hull in Victorian England. It has been a challenge to condense all the information I have gleaned into a concise biographical story of the Raines and Krüger families, their ancestors and descendants.

I was fortunate to find the small textbook on the history of the Port of Hull Society’s Sailors’ Orphan Homes in the Carnegie Centre “Lifebelt and Anchor” (H362.73) in which I found the images of Captains J. F and H. R Krüger together with the engraving of the orphanage in Park Street.

Finally, I want to thank Karen Towner for her encouragement and advice in compiling this biography

Appendix 1

This page reproduced from Lifeboat and Anchor, the history of the Port of Hull Society showing the eminent benefactors of the Society.

Appendix 2

Illustrated London News, July 22nd, 1854

LOSS OF LIFE AT SHIP LAUNCH

On the morning of Thursday week, Messrs. Earles, the eminent iron shipbuilders, of Hull, had arranged to launch from their yard at the east end of Victoria Dock, a very fine iron barque, named the Dowthorpe which they had built for Messrs John Beadle and Co., merchants of Hull.

This vessel is about 400 tons burthen and has on deck two poop houses. Everything was prepared, and as it was thought, every precaution taken to ensure success in the launching. Men were stationed at all posts to prevent people from getting on board the vessel, but without avail. At the time of launching there were between 300 and 400 persons on board, and of these, as many as could conceivably stand had stationed themselves on the roof of the poop houses where there was not a scrap of rope or an inch of bulwark to hold on by.

At about ten minutes past eleven o’clock the ceremony of naming the vessel Dowthorpe was performed by Miss Baird, the last of the wedges was knocked out, and the good ship glided easily and well into the water. At time it was found, we are informed, that there was too much “way” on her and some efforts were made to check her. At the same time the people on board, with the usual carelessness of danger, commenced “sallying” her – that is rushing from side to side, to make her rock in the water. Down she dipped on one side, and at this moment one of the check ropes broke, bringing the whole strain of checking on the other side, to which at the same moment the people rushed.

The combined influence of the two forces heeled the vessel completely on her beam ends, and the unfortunate people who had taken their stand on the “poops” were shot into the water one upon the other. For the moment it was thought the ship would go over altogether; but fortunately, at this moment the other check rope broke, and this, together with the lightening of the top load, by the precipitation of the people into the water, enable the vessel to right herself. In the meantime there were between fifty and sixty men and boys struggling in the water, pressing on each other to make their escape.

Happily, there were several rafts of timber floating in the dock, and upon these clambered a large proportion of the unfortunates. The loss, therefore, is not so great as might have been feared, four persons only having been dragged up. The names of the persons who have been found drowned are John Jackson, twenty-two years of age, rivet man; Joseph Lucas, fourteen, son of Mr. Lucas, hairdresser; John Coulon, twenty-four, labourer; and John Shipson, nineteen, ship-carpenter

Inspirational Women

March 12, 2022 by Bill Longbonein Facebook Archive, General, History, Volunteers1 Comment

This is an article that Bill Longbone produced some years ago for the Facebook site. In it he listed a number of women who were independent minded, resourceful and also influential. They also had a connection to Hull General Cemetery.

Bill called the article ‘Inspirational Women’ and the title fundamentally says it all. With one or two changes here it is once again for your pleasure.

Eleanor Rollit

Eleanor Rollit (Bailey) was born in Hull in 1853, the 2nd daughter of ship builder, William Bailey and Mary Badger Ainley. William was a self made man, and a partner in the steamship company, Bailey & Leetham, which was taken over by Thomas Wilson & Co. in 1903. William was a JP, and a director of the Hull Dock Company and lived at White Hall, Winestead.

Eleanor married Albert Kaye Rollit at the newly opened, St Peter’s Church, Anlaby on 26th August 1872 when she was just 18 years old. Her brother, Walter Samuel Bailey, of The Mansion, Anlaby, married Albert’s sister, Ellen Rollit.

Albert Kaye Rollit, was the son of solicitor John Rollit, and brother of Arthur, also a renowned solicitor who lived at Browsholme, Cottingham. Albert became a successful eventually became President of the Law Society, and was later knighted.

Eleanor’s charitable work

In 1874 their only daughter, Ellen Kaye was born, and the family lived at Thwaite House in Cottingham. Eleanor was very involved with local charities, and was a great supporter and benefactor of the Sailor’s Orphanage on Spring Bank, she was also a patron of the training ship T.S. Southampton, that trained wayward boys and orphans in the basics of seamanship, and was moored in the Humber at the mouth of the River Hull. Eleanor personally opened bank accounts with the Hull Savings Bank for the boys.

Eleanor was always referred to as charitable and philanthropic, she organized annual visits and fetes at the family house in Thwaite Street, for the children of the orphanage, and subscribed towards a new wing at the Hull Royal Hospital in Prospect Street.

Lady Mayoress

Her funeral was attended by ex-mayors, councillors and many of the local dignitaries. The cortege, which left from the family house in Cottingham, was lined all the way to Hull General Cemetery, with crowds of in excess of 20,000 people, including the orphans of the Sailor’s Orphan Homes. Her portrait was painted by Ernest Gustave Giradot and hangs in The Guildhall, a marble bust by local sculptor William Day Keyworth junior is also in the Guildhall.

In1892, her husband, Sir Albert Rollit, put a private members bill supporting votes for women, no doubt inspired by his wife’s work.
She was buried in the family grave, which includes her father in law, John Rollit and some of his children. Her headstone still remains in HGC, but the top section with her epitaph has been removed, and is in need of some repair work, (see photo below).

‘The Friends’ are looking at a proposal to carry out restoration work to the headstone.

Her husband, Albert, moved to London and remarried the controversial and twice married, Mary Caroline Michell, Dowager of Sutherland in 1896, he died in 1922, his cremated remains are in the family grave in Hull General Cemetery.

Thwaite House, was later purchased by the University of Hull, the gardens were used by the Botany Department the house became Halls of Residence called Thwaite Hall. The house and grounds are currently being sold by the University.

Mary Sharrah

Mary Alice Sharrah was born in Hull in1863, the daughter of William Simpson Sharrah, a prominent Wesleyan, who was The Seaman’s Missionary for the Port of Hull, and his wife Mary Ann. She taught music from an early age, setting up the Hull School of Music (The first school of music in England), in 1887, originally from her family home at 22 Reed Street, and later at 55 Spring Bank.

In 1894 she married William Henry Simpson, a director of a local grain merchant’s, and lived at their large house at 55 Spring Bank, which still exists. For teaching purposes she kept her maiden name of Sharrah, and referred to herself as ‘Madame Sharrah’. As well as music, she also taught drama and elocution, instructing many local talents such as Annie Croft, her son David Croft of Dad’s Army etc, Doris White and many others.

Charitable work

Madame Sharrah supported many charitable institutions with her shows and concerts, including The Mother Humber Fund, Newland Orphan Homes and the Hesslewood Orphanage. Throughout WW1 Alice was responsible for organizing many concerts in aid of servicemen.

Her daughter, Phyllis Sharrah continued the school after her mother’s death on 25th May 1940, amalgamating with Sizer Simpson School. The premises became 55 Antiques in the 1960’s, next to The Silhouette Club, and is now part of a number of listed buildings in the Belgrave block.

The entire family of father, mother and Mary are all buried in Hull General Cemetery, but sadly the headstones have been removed.

Mary Kirk Mawmill

Mary Kirk Mawmill was born in Beverley on 7th October 1810, the daughter of William & Hannah Mawmill. She married Edward Robinson Harland in Hull on 11th August 1832. Edward had been indentured to be a greengrocer, but a year after his marriage he started his own printing business at 14 Carlisle Street, (a street later demolished to make way for Jameson Street).

They lived near the business premises in Carlisle Street, and had 5 children, employing 2 apprentices. Unfortunately, Edward died suddenly in 1844 aged only 33, leaving Mary with 5 young children and a business to run.

Single mother of five

Mary was unphased by this set-back, and continued to run the business and bring up her young children. Under her stewardship, the business grew from strength to strength. She was described in the Hull Daily Mail as ‘a woman of rare business qualities, succeeding in keeping the Company together in the midst of great difficulty’.

A further set back occurred to Mary when her daughter, Emma, died in 1855 aged 20.

However, the business continued to expand, and became involved in the printing of tickets, two of her sons, William and Edward also joined the company to assist in the running of the Company. However, William died in 1880 aged 38, the company name was recorded as M Harland & Son. The other son Thomas, died in New Zealand in 1907 aged 74, the remaining daughter, Sarah, died in 1910 aged 73.

Her death

Mary died of an apoplexy at her home at 104 Regent Street on 3rd November 1885 aged 75, and was buried in Hull General Cemetery. After her death Edward took over the company, and moved to larger premises, to what was known as Phoenix Works, in Land of Green Ginger, although the correct address was Manor Street.

The company became one of the largest printing companies in Hull, moving to Springfield Way, Anlaby in the 1960s, and innovating into data printing and bar code systems. I believe that the company was taken over by a multi-national printing company in the 1990s, and business transferred to Eastern Europe, but a management buy-out took place and the company still trade at their Marfleet premises on Hedon Road.

Sadly, Mary’s headstone no longer exists, and she is not recorded in the MI books. She certainly was a resourceful and inspirational woman.

Mary was also the great grandmother of Annie Croft, the well known Hull actress and singer, but that’s another story…….

Annie Croft

Many people will have heard of Annie Croft, the Hull girl who became an international star of stage and screen, but few will know of her fascinating story.

Although, not buried in HGC, she is very much associated with it, as her great grandmother, Mary Harland and the woman behind the success of Harland’s Printers is buried there.

Annie Croft was born Gertrude Mulgrave on 17th August 1892 at 11 Tuke’s Terrace, Walker Street, to Frederick Steele Mulgrave and his wife Lily Ann (Davis).

Adoption

She was adopted by Michael Croft (1853-1895) and his wife Emma, the daughter of Thomas Harland and the grand daughter of Mary Harland, who we have discussed previously. She was baptised as ‘Annie Harland Croft, the adopted daughter of Michael & Emma Croft of 424 Hessle Road at the Wesleyan Methodist Chapel at the corner of St George’s Road on 24th November 1892. Michael and Emma had a shop on the opposite corner of St George’s Road to the chapel.

Over the years there has been much unfounded rumour regarding the parentage of Annie Croft. The ‘story’ was that she was the illegitimate daughter of Muriel Wilson, the daughter of Arthur Wilson and Edward Prince of Wales, (later King Edward VII), after an affair whilst the future king was staying at Tranby Croft. Whilst it is true that Prince Edward regularly stayed at Tranby Croft, (he was there at the infamous ‘Baccarat Scandal’) it has been proven beyond doubt that Annie’s ‘royal parentage’ was just a rumour.
Sadly, Annie’s adopted father, Michael Croft, died in 1895 aged just 41, leaving Emma to bring her daughter up on her own, but with some financial help from her father Thomas Harland.

Emma remarried William Drury, (a sea pilot) in 1898 and lived at 32 Waverley Street. Apparently William was a brusque man who liked a drink. He died in 1914, when Annie was 20 years old.

Becoming an artist

Annie joined Madame Sharrah’s ‘Hull School of Music’ when a young girl. She quickly became known as a talented singer and dancer, appearing in many of Mme Sharrah’s concerts and shows. In 1907, when only 16 years old, Annie decided to form her own school of dancing and music, which she called the Waverley Academy of Music, operating initially at the family home in Waverley Street, later moving to 5 Fountain Street.

In addition to teaching dancing, acting and singing, Annie produced many concerts and plays at the local theatres. During WW1 she produced many shows supporting local charities and raising money for servicemen.

David Croft

Annie’s talents were well noted and she was offered parts in plays in London, and film roles. She married American stage and film star, Reginald Sharland (1886-1944), in Hull in 1914, and appeared in many plays with him. They later moved to Bournemouth. They had two children, Peter, (1917-1988), and David Sharland (1922-2011), both of whom trained at Madame Sharrah’s Hull School of Music and adopted the stage names Croft.

David Croft became famous as the writer of several BBC sitcoms, including, Dad’s Army, Are You Being Served?, Allo, Allo, It Ain’t Half Hot Mum, and Hi-De-Hi.

Annie divorced Reginald Sharland in 1931, and remarried Francis Gough in 1938.

Annie died in Dorset died on 23rd March 1959. She was aged 66.

Jane Wing

Jane (Barnborough) was born in Preston in 1778, and married John Wing at Holy Trinity Church, Hull on 21 Feb 1811. John was born in 1777 at Beeford, and had moved to Patrington some time before 1791, where he had set up a small post office and a mail coach service. The coach ran from Hull to Patrington twice a week, and although less than 20 miles distant, the journey took a minimum of 4 hours. This was at a time when the route to Holderness was via the turnpike road at Wyton Bar, Preston, Hedon and Thorngumbald.

Transport before the railway

The business was very successful. John & Jane moved their premises to North Bridge Foot. This was situated at the junction of Witham and Gt Union Street.

Jane and John had at least 7 children, Thomas, John, Jane, Robert, William, George (died in infancy), and David.

In 1826, John died suddenly, aged only 49, leaving Jane to bring up the family on her own. Jane took up the challenge, and managed to continue running the coaching business with the assistance of her son John. He also ran The Holderness New Inn on the corner of Witham and Dansom Lane. John also developed a further coach route to Hornsea.

Into the Charterhouse

In December 1844, aged 67, Jane successfully applied for entry into the Hull Charterhouse. This was probably with the assistance of her youngest son, David. For many years he was a Poor Relief Officer for South Myton District.

However, in 1858 further tragedy struck when John junior died aged 46. His elder brother, Thomas, who in 1848 was recorded as having the Carpenter’s Arms and livery stables in Gt Union Street, took over the running of the business and The Holderness New Inn. He gave it up though, probably because of construction of the Hull to Hornsea Railway in 1862.

Thomas, moved to the St Stephen’s area of Hull, where he became an inn-keeper and coach proprietor.

Jane’s only daughter, Jane, married Samuel Fisher who ran a druggist store at Wilton Terrace, Holderness Road, next door to the ship’s chandler, and Quaker, John Good. Another son, Robert was a clerk at a commercial druggist. A further son, William, emigrated to Australia.

Hull to Withernsea

Ten years after Jane entered the Charterhouse, on 27 June 1854, the Hull to Withernsea railway line opened, cutting the journey time from Hull to Patrington to about ½ hour. This must have greatly affected the business that Jane had developed. However, a coach service ran to Patrington for some time after.

Jane died in The Charterhouse on 23 October 1861 of ‘Decay of Nature’ aged 83, and is buried in HGC with several members of her daughter’s family, the Fisher’s. The headstone was sadly removed in the 1970s.

Julia Hammond

Julia Hammond was born 31st December 1859 in Wisbech. She was the youngest of 10 children born to labourer, Christopher Hammond and and his wife Martha (Canham).

In the late 1860s the family moved to Hull, and lived at 3 Fanny’s Terrace, Clarendon Street. Her father died in 1871 aged 51, leaving her mother, Martha, to raise the children. Martha married John Hare in 1874, but she died in 1885.

Marriage

On 28th March 1875, when Julia was still only 15, she married George Turpin at St. Andrews Church, Kirk Ella. She was illiterate at the time, and simply put her mark. She was also under the marrying age and incorrectly stated her age as 18. Both gave their addresses as Wold Carr, which was approximately where Parkfield Drive is now, and would have been in the Kirk Ella Parish.

George was born in 1858 at Oxmardyke, near Gilberdyke. He was the son of Mark Turpin and Hannah (Simms) of Cliffe, near Market Weighton. At the time of their marriage, George’s occupation was given as a labourer. He later became a plate layer on the railways, eventually becoming an engine driver. They had 15 children, only 10 of which survived childhood. In 1881 the family was living at Cliffe, later moving to 13, Filey Terrace, Gillett Street, and then to 11 Gillett Street.

Training to be a midwife

Although having very little formal education, and being unable to read and write, Julia trained to become a midwife. This was at a time when only unmarried mothers and poor women actually gave birth in hospital. Prior to 1900, women in Hull were 6 times more likely to die from an infection in hospital, than at home. At that time, the majority of births in working class areas in Hull, were attended by a ‘local woman’, who would have experience of attending births, but would not be qualified.

Increasingly concerned about the infant mortality rate, the government introduced the Midwives Act in 1902. This meant that all midwives had to be qualified and registered. It took a couple of years to fully implement. Hull opened its first maternity ‘house’ at 569 Holderness Road, near Westminster Avenue, on 1st March 1905. In 1929, the old Sanatorium on Hedon Road, was converted into a Maternity home. However, there was a cost of £1 to enter the hospital, which not everyone could afford. Even as late as the 1920s, many women still employed the services of ‘a local woman’ when giving birth.

2500 babies delivered

Julia was one of only a handful of certified midwives in the Hull area. With her navy blue uniform, and riding her sit up and beg bicycle, complete with basket, she was a familiar figure in the Hessle Road area. She would have been on call 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. She went on to deliver over 2500 babies in the West Hull area.

Her husband, George died of an aneurysm at 17 Eastbourne Street 21st July 1929 aged 71.

Julia’s daughter Olive, and grand-daughter Sylvia, followed in her midwifery footsteps both serving in the Hessle Road area. Olive delivered about 3,600 ‘Hessle Roader’s’ before she retired in 1939, and daughter Sylvia delivered over 2000 babies until her retirement in 1958.

Julia died at 36 King Street, off Charles Street on 2nd May 1937 aged 77.

Both Julia and George are buried in Hull General Cemetery. The headstone no longer remains.

Jean Bartel

The story of the Hohenrein family of butchers and it’s tribulations during WW1 is well documented. Many of the family are buried in Hull General Cemetery, and are commemorated with an impressive marble monument.

The family originated in Mosbach, Baden- Wũrttemburg, near Heidelburg, Germany, Georg Frederick Hohenrein (1832-1902) emigrated to Hull in 1848, and established pork butchers shops in Waterworks Street and Princes Avenue.

This story relates to one of Georg’s great grand children, Jean Bartel, who, although not buried in Hull General Cemetery, has direct links to it.

Georg and his wife Katherina (Myer) had 6 children, 2 of which died in infancy. During WW1 the family suffered from anti German sentiment, and Charles Henry (1883-1974) changed the family name to Ross.

George William

Charles Henry’s brother, George William (always referred to as William) (1865-1933), married Julie Bierman. From this marriage they had a son, William born 1897, and a daughter, Else, born in Hull 3rd February 1898. Becoming increasingly concerned at the anti German sentiment during WW1, he emigrated to Germany with his family. However, as British subjects, George William. and his teenage son, William were immediately interred in the Ruhleben Internment Camp, near Berlin until the end of the war.

Moving to the USA

After the war, his daughter Else, married Alfred Leonhardt Bartelmeh, and in 1922, the family moved to America. They had a daughter, Jean who was born in Los Angeles 26th October 1923. Jean shortened her name to Jean Bartel. She later won the Miss America competition in 1943. Jean was the first college student to be crowned Miss America. She worked on Broadway as an actress/singer, and later worked in films and TV. Jean once claimed that “I was never beautiful, but I had vitality and looked healthy”. She married William Hogue but had no children. She died 6th March 2011 aged 87.

Sadly, her brother William, who became a doctor, was killed in an allied bomb attack in Germany in WW2.

Emma Hodge

Emma Hodge was the eldest of the 6 children of Henry Hodge and his wife Jane (Simpson). She was born in Louth on 27th November 1837. Her father was working there, prior to his retuning to Hull to establish his own seed-crushing mill.

Primitive Methodist involvement

The family lived on Holderness Road, near Williamson Street. Emma became very involved with the Primitive Methodist movement through her father. He had donated large sums of money for the establishment of chapels in Hull. He was also a friend of William Clowes. Clowes was one of the co-founders of this religion.

She was an active member of the ‘Bright Street Chapel opposite the family home. This chapel was one which her father had laid the foundation stone. He had also donated substantial monies for its construction in 1863.

Emma married Joseph T Robson (1838-1897) at the William Clowes Chapel in Jarratt Street on 26th May 1859. Joseph was a manager at her father’s mill on Holderness Road. He was also an active member of the Primitive Methodist Church.

Emma, (referred to as Mrs JT Robson), and her husband, were well respected, and regularly preached at local chapels. She also became a councillor, a rare event in Victorian England.

They moved to a house in Hornsea Parade on Holderness Road. During their marriage they had 3 children. These were Henry Hodge (1860), Edwin (1863) and William Arthur (1865),

Death

Emma died from Erysipelas, (an acute skin disease), on 30/6/1869 aged just 31. Her father was devastated by her death, and erected a large monument in the ‘Prim Corner’ section of HGC. The Reverend Joseph Wood wrote a rather morose book about her, entitled ‘Sunset at Noonday’. The 1870 ‘Primitive Methodist Magazine’ published Emma’s obituary. In it it is stated that ‘she was as near our ideal of the model wife and mother’.

Her husband remarried Ellen Mallinson in 1873, and had 2 further children. He died in 1897 aged 59 and is also buried in the same grave as Emma.

Rebecca Greenwood

Rebecca was the grand-daughter of William Irving, (the eldest daughter of Jane 1812-1860), and her husband John Richardson Greenwood (1806-1874), the son of a Hull shipping merchant. She was born in Hull on 8 April 1837. She was baptised at the Fish Street Independent Church on 22 June, 1837. The family moved to Dollar in Scotland, and later to Crosby Garrett. This was on the edges of the Lake District. Rebecca spent her teenage years here. Her paternal grandfather, George Greenwood, was a lay Baptist preacher who lived in Haworth. He was also a friend of Patrick Bronte. During the family’s visits to Haworth, Rebecca became friends of the Bronte sisters.

Emigration

The family emigrated to Australia in 1858, unaccountably, leaving their youngest son (Rebecca’s brother), William Irving Greenwood in Hull with her parents William & Mary Irving. Was it because he was a sickly child? We don’t know. He died of scarlet fever, in 1862 however aged only 11. He is buried in the family grave in Hull General Cemetery.

After the family emigrated to Australia, Rebecca married George Morrison M.A., after her family emigrated to Australia. He was the Principal of the National Grammar School, Geelong, in Melbourne. He was made the Principal on 7th December 1859. They had nine children. Rebecca helped run, and expand the Geelong College with her husband.

Rebecca Morrison played an important, though little advertised role, in the evolution of the Geelong College. Known simply as ‘Mrs Morrison’ to generations of students. She guided the boarding and domestic establishment that underpinned the operations of the School.

One ex-student wrote, “She always took a vivid interest in the boys at the College, and her marvellous memory for names and faces lent a great deal of charm to the visits of old boys, who came back expecting to find themselves forgotten, only to learn that Mrs Morrison remembered them and many little incidents of their school careers”.

George’s death

After the death of her husband in 1898, Rebecca continued be involved with the college. The Morrisons were to have eight children – five sons and three daughters. Rebecca died at South Yarra on 26 March 1932 aged 94 – three of her sons; Charles Norman, George Ernest, and Arthur Robertson Morrison having predeceased her. Geelong College still exists and continues to flourish.

Sara and Polly Smith

Sarah Smith was born in Hull in 1758, the daughter of Joseph Smith. She was baptised in Holy Trinity Church on the 31st August 1758. She also had a sister who was 10 years her junior called Mary, (Polly).

Sarah married mariner, William Robinson in Holy Trinity on 13th September 1785. She was obviously educated, as she signed her marriage certificate.

Matron

Sarah took on the post of Matron and House keeper of Trinity House on Christmas Day, 1794. In addition to providing lighthouses, charts etc, Trinity House were also trustees to a fund for relief & support of all maimed and disabled seamen, their widows, and children.

Remarkably, Sarah stayed in the post for 52 years, until her death on 21st November 1847 aged 90. She was succeeded in the post by her unmarried sister, Polly. She remained in the post for a further 10 years, until her own death in 1867, also aged 90.

Trinity House were obviously very impressed with the service of Sarah and her sister, Polly. “To record their faithful services the Corporation of The Trinity House have caused this stone to be erected.” The headstone still remains.

Sarah was buried in the same year that Hull General Cemetery opened. She was the 137th person to be buried there. A remarkable epitaph to two remarkable women.

Bill Longbone

Edward Nequest

December 27, 2021December 27, 2021 by Pete Lowdenin General, History4 Comments

Edward Nequest was part of a very select group of people. There were only four superintendents of Hull General Cemetery.

John Shields was the first. He and Cuthbert Brodrick laid out the paths and plots of the cemetery prior to its opening in 1847. John Shields died suddenly in 1866. He was succeeded by Edward. He himself retired in 1891. Michael Kelly took over until 1944. After that Michael’s daughter Cicely Kelly continued in this post until her enforced retirement in the 1950s. There were no more superintendents.

Edward’s birth

Edward Nequest was born in Hull in 1823. The image below shows his baptism at Holy Trinity that year.

In the second column below, which may be difficult to read, the name Edward is inserted. This is followed by ‘S of’ denoting ‘son of’. The registrar also had difficult with the surname. The correction is in brackets. Edward’s parents were Peter and Mary. Their address is given as Myton and the father’s occupation is recorded as a mariner. The incumbent of Holy Trinity at the time was John Bromby.

This vicar had the longest tenure of any incumbent of this parish. He became the vicar of Holy Trinity in 1797 and stepped down from the post in 1867 after 70 years service. He died the following year and is buried in the churchyard of North Ferriby.

Edward was the second son from this marriage. The first son was also called Peter and he was born in 1821 and baptised at the same church.

Home

We have no idea of where the Nequest family lived at this time but by the 1841 census we know the family lived in Cogan Street. It still exists but in a truncated form. Clive Sullivan Way now occupies the southern part where Cogan Street stood.

In the 1841 census of Peter Nequest we find him listed as a ‘Stower’, and his wife, Mary, is strangely placed near the end of the family listing. The 1841 census generally is a blunt tool in comparison with later ones. It often rounded the ages of children up or down to the nearest five yearly span. We find that in the 1841 Nequest census both of Peter’s sons’ ages, Peter and Edward, are given as 15 yet Peter would have been 20 and Edward 18 at the time. The younger Peter, as you can see, is listed as an attorney’s clerk. Edward was soon to follow his brother into this profession.

You may also see that Peter the elder has an ‘F’ against his name. That is because he was born in Sweden in 1793 and migrated to Hull. We have no information why he did this. A shrewd guess would be that it may have been due to the Napoleonic Wars and the British blockade of the continent at the time. A mariner would have found work difficult at that time and emigrating to Britain was a way out of this dilemma.

1851 census

By the time of the 1851 census Edward has moved from the family home. He now lived in a small terrace called Ville Terrace off the newly laid out Hessle Road not far from no1. Hessle Road.

Perhaps more importantly for Edward was that he now was married. He had married Ann Plaxton in 1849. He was also a solicitor’s clerk.

Not just any solicitor. He was apprenticed and articled to one of the most famous solicitors in Hull. His employer was Charles Spilman Todd. This man had been instrumental in carrying through the purchase of the cemetery’s grounds. Indeed the first meeting of the provisional committee took place in his office at no.15 Bowlalley Lane.

C.S.Todd as he was known was both the solicitor and secretary for the Company and also was a large shareholder. Still later in his life he was a councillor and became the secretary for the Local Board of Health and eventually he was elected as Sheriff of Hull. The Creation of Hull General Cemetery: Part Two

Shadrach Wride

In the 1840s the first secretary to C.S.Todd was a man called Shadrach Wride. This man is worthy of an article himself.

Baptised in 1796 in Holy Trinity the year before Rev. Bromby took over. Shadrach was the son of a man of the same name. This man had been the foreman of Jackson’s wood yard in the Groves and he ‘luckily’ married the bosses’ daughter. When he died in 1823 he left the business to his son. Whether the business was in a good state or worth anything is open to question.

Sadly the business failed in 1827 and Shadrach Wride entered the Bankruptcy Court. The timber yard was auctioned off. Even the family home on Charterhouse Lane had to be sold.

Debtor’s prison

One has to remember the draconian laws then regarding debts. Today a person who becomes bankrupt can have that burden discharged after two or three years whilst not paying their debts. Not so in Georgian and Victorian times. Charles Dickens’s father was a debtor and was placed in Marshalsea Prison until the debt was repaid. Dickens himself had to work in a blacking factory to help pay this debt at the tender age of 12. This had a marked effect upon the young boy and it came out in his works in later life.

Little Dorrit is almost completely set inside a debtor’s prison. Nicholas Nickelby, Great Expectations and Pickwick Papers all allude or feature the stigma of the debtor’s prison. Shadrach Wride would have used all in his power to avoid being imprisoned for this ‘crime’. That he did so, and was later rehabilitated says a great deal about the man.

Rebuilding his life

After this date Shadrach contented himself in making ends meet by taking on a number of roles. Often cited as an agent for insurance companies and emigration agencies he was still a respected member of society. He was the secretary for the Fish street Church and was part of that committee until his death. His abode was at 15 Spring Bank, on the corner of Spring Street, and this address was often used as a postal address for the Cemetery before the lodge was built.

To show that the ‘Good Old Days’ never really existed the newspaper item below perhaps shows that modern life is typical of what went before.

Mr Wride was also the secretary for the C.S.Todd’s legal practice and therefore the secretary for the Company. The evidence for this is often to be found in the newspapers of the time but also in the records of the Company that still exist.

Shadrach Wride was also listed as the Company secretary on the brass plate that was buried in the foundations of the Lodge at the official opening of the Cemetery in June 1847.

Wride’s death

So the man’s death came as a shock to many parties. Shadrach died on July 25th 1850 as the news item below shows.

He is buried in Hull General Cemetery in compartment 35 only two grave spaces away from his employer C.S.Todd’s own grave. the cause of death is cited as apoplexy. The vacancy he left was filled by Edward Nequest.

Edward’s work

The first we learn of Edward’s new appointment is once again via the local newspaper. This is some five years after Wride’s death. It is obvious that Edward is not taking things for granted, signing himself as pro secretary. The term ‘pro‘ here is standing for pro tem, meaning for the time being. There were no chickens being counted too early here.

By the following March, in a further newspaper item, Edward signs himself as the secretary, so his appointment must have been confirmed.

However whether any such appointment was ever confirmed is open to doubt. Shadrach Wride’s occupation given in the Cemetery’s burial register is ‘agent to the life insurance company‘ even though he had been both C.S.Todd and the Company secretary for at least five years. Edward, when he bought graves in the Cemetery, is listed as ‘Attorney’s clerk’ and this terminology lasted until the mid 1860s. It appears that the Company didn’t like to be tied down.

Domestic issues

But we are getting ahead of ourselves a bit here. Edward, as we know, was a family man and the domestic side of his life needs some explaining. Or at least an attempt should be made for there is one aspect that is a mystery.

Edward Nequest owned three graves in Hull General Cemetery. They are in compartment 105 close to the south side of the cemetery.

Whether he bought them all at the same time is debateable. What we do know was that the first purchase took place in 1850 for on the 3rd October the first burial took place within it. This was of a young girl, Jane Bell. This child was the daughter of ‘the late Robert Bell, Customs Officer’. I have struggled to find a family connection but in vain. The only supposition I have come up with is that Robert Bell may have been a friend and neighbour as the address given is Elizabeth Place, Hessle Road. This was very near to Edward’s own address at the time. I’m afraid this tenuous link is the best I can do.

1861

By the time of the 1861 census Edward had moved house. He now lived at a house in Porter Street with his wife and young daughter Mary Ann.

Sadly, only 2 years later, in the July of 1863, this child was the second burial in this plot. Measles and consumption of the bowels was the cause of death.

Becoming superintendent

In November 1866 John Shields, the first superintendent passed away suddenly. In the following January the Board appointed Edward Nequest to the post of superintendent.

They also decided, short-sightedly, to combine the roles of superintendent and secretary. Seemingly implemented as a cost-cutting measure it alienated their solicitor, the fore-mentioned C.S.Todd who resigned from the Board. When he became the secretary to the Local Board of Health this alienation came back to bite the Company but that is another story. An Anniversary

The minute books

The minute books of the Company record this decision.

‘Special meeting of directors 20/12/66. Present Irving, Bell and Oldham

‘The vacancy occasioned by the death of Mr S. the late superintendent again came under consideration of the board when the question as to the desirability of amalgamating the two offices of secretary and supt., was discussed and it was ultimately unanimously resolved that in the opinion of the board, the time has now arrived when it seems desirable that the two offices of sec., and supt., may be advantageously combined.

It was further resolved that a copy of the foregoing resolution be handed to C.S.Todd esq, the secretary and that the directors have an early interview with him on the subject. The necessity of filling up the vacancy occasioned by Mr. Shield’s death having been discussed and an application for the office received from Mr Nequest having been considered it was unanimously resolved that taking into consideration Mr Nequest’s long and satisfactory connection with the company the situation of supt., and registrar be offered to him at the salary of £110 per annum with the use of the lodge and this his duties to commence on Tuesday the first of January 1867.’

This appointment was recorded in the local press.

A Company Man

It’s fair to say that Edward threw himself into his work, much like John Shields had done, and Michael Kelly after him would do. Edward often represented the Company at investigations and on committees. In 1868 he applied to Cottingham Local Government Board for them to provide two lamps outside of the Cemetery which they agreed to. This would have been the first street lighting on what was to become Princes Avenue.

He was less successful in 1873 when he asked them to repair the road outside the cemetery.

In 1869 he attended the Local Burial Board Committee and spoke, mentioning that new burial ground of the Corporation ( Old Western Cemetery) was rapidly filling up. The same year he had to explain that it was Company policy to give visiting clergymen a surplice at the office and not to give them a surplice at the graveside as one irate clergyman demanded. The Burial Board sided with Edward.

An important meeting

A more important meeting that Edward attended took place before this appointment as superintendent. On the 21st April 1860 the Hull Advertiser recorded his intervention into a meeting of the South Myton Guardian Society.

In the meeting, which appeared to have been called as to whether the parishioners of Holy Trinity should pay for a new burial ground, Edward was forthright. The snippets below, taken from a very long article, show that Edward was a bright, eloquent speaker who was passionate about the Cemetery.

Still later, in defending the Hull General Cemetery’s charges,

Needless to say that the parishioners voted against having a rate set against them for the purchase of a burial ground. The result of this was that Castle Street continued to be used for burial for a further year until Sophia Broadley donated the land to lay out Division Road cemetery in 1862.

1871 and after

By 1871 his family had increased and living in the lodge must have become a bit tiresome.

As we know, three years later he requested that he be allowed to move from the lodge. Anniversary January 1874 This request was accepted by the Board and he moved out to a larger house. This was at 7, Zoological Terrace, situated on the corner of Norwood street and in between the Swedenborgian Church on one side and St Jude’s on the other corner of Norwood Street.

It is the building with the group of men outside of it on the pavement in this image. Here’s another image and it is the house with the steeple behind it.

Edward continued to live at this address until his death in the 20th century. By the time of the 1881 census there had been no new additions to the family but as you can see below Elizabeth had married.

A terrible decade

She had married John Frederick Byron and had borne him a son, Frederick Edward the following year. Her husband was still living with his parents at 47, Stanley Street and he lists himself as a ‘foreman of wine and spirits warehouse’.

In the 1880s his daughter, now Elizabeth Byron, lost three children. Ann on the 22nd of October 1885. She was 5 days old. The cause of death was put as premature birth. The following year, in October 1886, Ellen died at the age of 12 days old. Her cause of death was listed as disease of the spine. And in the February of 1889 another daughter, Lillie, died at the age of four from croup.

Culminating a terrible decade for Edward in the September of 1889 he lost his wife Ann. She died of cancer of the liver. Her death took place at 2, Albion Place, Quay Road, Bridlington. Cancer is rarely a sudden death and I surmise that Ann was away from home, probably with Edward, as a holiday / leave taking for both of them.

Going through the motions

It’s fair to say that the loss of his wife was a disaster for Edward. I would suppose that he no longer wanted to be associated with death for it now held painful memories for him. Sadly, worse was to come.

In the meantime, in the September of 1891, he offered his resignation from his post as Superintendent and Secretary for the Hull General Cemetery.

Its arrival is recorded in the Company minute books,

‘Read a letter that from Mr Nequest tendering his resignation of the office of secretary as and from 30 instance. Resolved that such a resignation be accepted. Read a letter from a Mr Kelly of Granville Street, Hull, for the office of secretary and superintendent rendered vacant by the resignation of Mr Nequest and after considering the same and it appearing that Mr Kelly was suitable person to fill the office it was resolved that Mr M Kelly be and he is hereby appointed secretary and superintendent on the terms named in his application.’

His daughter

Edward’s daughter by now had a family of three children. Frederick Edward now aged 10, Charles aged 8 and Gertie, born that year. Her husband, John Frederick, now listed himself as a dock labourer, so a definite coming down in the world for the family. They lived at Ebenezer Place, Raywell Street which was off Charles Street.

By the 1901 census John Frederick is nowhere to be seen and Elizabeth is listed as a widow. Indeed this is strange record for all the inhabitants are simply designated with initials.

The truth of the matter is that John Frederick had absconded to the United States where he proceeded to make a new life for himself and scant regard for his past life.

His mother had died in 1883 and his father died in 1894. By 1895 he had emigrated. two years later he committed bigamy by marrying Ruth Newman on the 15th September 1897 in Salt Lake City. I say committed bigamy but Salt lake City was and is the home of the Mormon religion and polygamy is accepted and recognised there. Did John F Byron become a Mormon? We have no way of knowing. Suffice to say that he had six more sons and five more daughters whilst in the USA so we can say he embraced his second wife if not the religion. He died in 1918 in Idaho.

Her illness

We have no idea why he absconded. It could well have been that his wife Elizabeth was ill. She eventually died from locomotor ataxia. This disease was and is extremely problematic and embarrassing for sufferers. Predominantly it is a disease of the spine. It manifests itself in locomotion issues such as jerky walking and disorientated movements which give the appearance of being drunk. Sufferers need to constantly check where there are limbs are. It is often a symptom of Tabes Dorsalis which itself is often a symptom of tertiary syphilis.

Elizabeth died in 1903. She is buried in grave number 14765, the bottom burial plot in the image shown earlier. You many note that the other grave plots are classed as B whilst Elizabeth’s is D. She is the sole occupant of that grave plot. I’m sure, like me, you can hypothesise about why this occurred but it is only guesswork and perhaps we should leave this tragedy untroubled.

1911 and beyond

The 1911 census shows Edward living in his home with his son Edward and a housekeeper. The house was spacious consisting of eight rooms and both the Edwards appear to be living a comfortable life.

The elder Edward died on the 3rd July 1920 at the age of 97.

His son then married! At the age of 56!! Once again we can wonder at this turn of events. Did the younger Edward love someone whom his father disapproved? We shall never know. And once again tragedy stalks this family. The younger Edward survived his father by less than five months, dying in the December of the same year.

He left a gross estate of £3,301 and personal wealth of £731 to his new bride Mary Elizabeth (nee Young) who continued to live in 183 Spring Bank. On February 2nd 1949, Mary Elizabeth Nequest died. She was cremated and her ashes were buried alongside her husband and her in-laws in grave number 14363. With her death this line of the family ended.

Obituary

Finally let us leave with the obituary that the Hull Daily Mail saw fit to print about Edward.

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.

petelowden.co.uk