Hull General Cemetery Archives - Page 6 of 10 - Friends Of Hull General Cemetery

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

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.

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

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.

William Tesseyman

February 25, 2022February 25, 2022 by Bill Longbonein Facebook Archive, General, History3 Comments

William Tesseyman was termed as Hull’s oldest businessmen in his obituary in 1919. He died at the age of 91 whilst still working.

Tesseyman obituary Hull Daily Mail 1919

William Tesseyman was born in Fish Street, Hull in 1828. He was the eldest child of George and Mary Ann Tesseyman. He worked as a currier (leather curer) in his father’s business that his father had started in 1817. The family business premises were initially on Bowlalley Lane, but later transferred to The Land of Green Ginger, at its junction with Manor Street.

Tesseyman building at the junstion with Manor Street and The Land of Green Ginger

William married Elizabeth Sarah Hart in 1851. The new family lived at Ocean Place. This was situated at the beginning of Anlaby Rd. They were living there with their 7 children. Sadly, two of them died in childhood, Alice, aged 4 months in 1865, and Elizabeth, aged 6 years, in 1866.

He was an active member of the Hull Masons, and became a Worshipful Master of the Humber Lodge. In the 1870’s, after the death of his father in 1871, the family moved to 335. Beverley Road. A public house called The Bevvy Hotel now occupies the site.

William’s wife died aged 68 in 1901 and he died in 1919. William, his wife Elizabeth and their two daughters are buried in Hull General Cemetery, along with other members of the family.

The business continued under the leadership of his sons.

The family headstone no longer exists. The East Yorkshire Family History Society recorded the inscriptions on the headstone.

Tesseyman monumental inscription

Bill Longbone

Anniversary March 1877

February 25, 2022February 25, 2022 by Pete Lowdenin General, History, News, Volunteers2 Comments

This month’s anniversary is interesting. In May 1876 a discussion took place as to whether a clock tower should be built in the grounds or a clock installed in the lodge. The question rattled back and forth for months. By that September the decision was taken to install the clock into the Lodge belfry.

This repair work was to cost £94. 5s which was a considerable sum for a building that was only 30 years old.

The AGM

In March 1877 the decision was ratified at the AGM and the plan was to install the clock and also conduct some repair work to the Lodge as it,

This interaction is interesting in a number of ways. Firstly the decision to repair to the original design shows that the Lodge was something they were proud of. Somewhat different to their feelings in the late 1840s. Then it was obvious from the Company paperwork that the Board were heartily sick of the troubles the Lodge had caused them.

Secondly, it shows the Cemetery Company still wanting to present a good image of itself to the community. The placing of the clock was civic minded. Yes, they may have cloaked this idea with the line, ‘business of the cemetery’ but they knew progress was happening.

By this time, D. P. Garbutt had begun the development of the Avenues. This development, to the Board, was surely just the beginnings of the area the Cemetery occupied becoming more salubrious. Who knows where that may lead?

As such the installation of a clock was a smart move. It was civic-minded enough to appeal, yet it’s cost was small. In essence, a win-win situation for the Company.

Fixing the clock

The Company received a tender for fixing the clock from a Mr George Pickering of Prospect Street. This tender was accepted and the cost of making and installing the clock was £7.

The final cost of repairing the Lodge and installing the clock was a stupendous £124 10s. At this time the Company were still desirous of making a show and if that meant spending money, then so be it.

Later in its long life it would not be so happy to do so.

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

Vandalism

January 27, 2022 by Pete Lowdenin General, History, Volunteers3 Comments

A perennial problem cropped up on the first of June 1959. In a letter to the then Chief Constable of Hull Police, Mr. S. Lawrence esq. O.B.E. the problem was aired. That problem was vandalism.

The role of Cemetery Secretary at this time was held by the Company Solicitor Mr J.F. Payne of Payne and Payne, Solicitors. Here is the text of his letter.

The first letter

‘Unfortunately, the Company is almost impossible to supervise without a police force of its own, which the Company simply cannot afford to pay for and accordingly damage to grave stones and monuments is invariably reported late, which makes the job of the police force in detecting the miscreants, equally impossible.

We have, however, a fairly recent instance, some three weeks ago, where a smooth granite tomb has been interfered with and damaged, and accordingly we wonder whether it would be possible for any useful action to be taken by you on this recent complaint, but perhaps particularly, whether it would be possible to give the Cemetery just a little extra supervision by the beatman concerned for say the next three or four weeks.

If we may suggest it, as the gates of the Cemetery are now left open it might be possible for a beatman with a bicycle to ride through a portion of the Cemetery on his rounds. We think the most likely miscreants are teenagers.

We refer to the interference with a very smooth granite tomb. It does just occur to us that, if you felt the matter justified it, this might, even at this late date, bear some fingerprints of those responsible’

Naivety

The letter shows not only that vandalism was just as common then as now. So much for the ‘Good Old Days’

It also shows a rather touching naivety in the power of detecting criminals that the police may have. The request for a ‘beatman’, or a police officer on a bicycle, to ride through the Cemetery is perhaps a worthwhile approach. The taking of fingerprints from overturned headstones is quite laughable.

I suspect that this letter was sent more in hope rather than having a belief that action would be taken.

It also shows that the Cemetery was fast becoming derelict. This was a foretaste for the future and the decline of the Cemetery was already well established by the late 1950s.

The second letter

We have no way of knowing what the official response to this request was. Another letter of the 7th June 1960 to the Chief Constable showed that good may have come from the initial letter.

‘Dear Sir,

I understand that two or three of your officers have recently interviewed several youths in connection with damage done to trees and headstones in this cemetery.

It would be appreciated if you would forward to me copies of any statements obtained by your officers, or given by them, together with, if possible, any reported interviews.’

This letter shows perhaps a little naivety of legal proceedings, especially from a solicitor. He wanted access to police interviews and statements from people. These people had not been legally processed at that time.

However the letter also shows that some youths had been apprehended. So perhaps the initial letter had met with a positive response.

We have no further information on this intriguing line of inquiry. Sadly we do know that it did not end the vandalism there.

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 Cemetery Burial Records

January 26, 2022January 29, 2022 by Pete Lowdenin General, News, Talks, Volunteers3 Comments

Some of you may remember that, as part of the rehabilitation of Hull General Cemetery, some research and administrative tasks were to be carried out. It was hoped that when these tasks were completed it would help to raise the profile of the site.

One of those tasks was to transcribe the Cemetery burial records onto an Excel spreadsheet. This would then be placed onto this site so that people could search for their relatives or use it for research for other purposes. We were also going to share this database with the Carnegie Heritage Centre, the East Yorkshire Family History Society and also the Hull History Centre.

https://www.carnegiehull.co.uk/

https://www.eyfhs.org.uk/

https://www.hullhistorycentre.org.uk/home.aspx

Still our aim

That is still our aim. You’ll be glad to know that this exercise is reaching the final stages. It’s about 80% complete. We would like to have it completed by the Heritage Open Days in September this year. Perhaps even have a ‘Grand Opening’ of it at a venue yet to be decided upon.

However, to make that date we would like to ask you to join us in finalising this project.

You will need your own computer and access to the internet. The actual work involved is light but it does need patience and attention to detail.

This project will be invaluable to the City of Hull as well as the professional researcher and the person who just wants to find their ancestor’s grave.

Here’s an example of a burial record so you can see what the job entails. Its from July 1860. As you can see the social history is apparent from the first entry. Rebecca Day dying of fever in Hull Borough Asylum. This building, the last remains of it having been demolished within the last two years, was set at the back of the present HRI. Just think how much more you could find out.

If you want to be part of this project then please contact the FOHGC. We’ll guide you through it and help where its needed.

Hold the front page!

Sorry, I’ve always wanted to write that and this is the closest I can get to it.

I just thought I’d let you know that I will be giving a talk at the Hull Central Library on Saturday, 19th February. The talk may probably be the last time I’ll be doing The Rise and Fall of Hull General Cemetery.

The talk takes place in the old Local Studies Library, known as the James Reckitt room. It starts at 11.00 a.m. and I think there is a charge of £1.

Hope to see you there.

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

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

Cemetery Wildlife December

December 27, 2021 by Helen Bovillin General, Volunteers, Wildlife4 Comments

Cemetery Wildlife December

A few days after going to press last month, storm Arwen hit us. I’m happy to report that none of the cemetery’s trees suffered any major damage during that storm. A few branches broke loose but none of them were large enough to cause any damage. But at the beginning of December storm Barra arrived and this caused some more significant damage to one of the trees near the main gates. A large branch the size of a small tree broke off a Sycamore, blocking one of the footpaths. Luckily it didn’t damage any of the headstones although it did fall quite close to them. The volunteers quickly got it cleared it away.

December got off to a very cold, wet and windy start and there was even a slight dusting of snow in the first week. It remained wet for most of the month and the footpaths are still very soft and muddy. The fallen branches were put to good use by the volunteers, turning them into chippings which were used to repair the worst affected parts of the footpaths. Before the chippings were laid, some of the deepest mud was removed and put to one side, revealing many worms in the process. The Robins were quick to notice this – it is always nice to see the cemetery wildlife benefiting from human activity!

Trees and Plants

Most of the trees are now bare, but a few pockets of leaves are still clinging on to some of them – for example, on this Norway Maple.

I was surprised to see some flowers on one of the Pyracantha bushes growing along the grass verge on Spring Bank West, especially considering that it still had a few berries on it last month. It is in a sunny location though.

There are still some berries on the Rowan – a good source of food for the birds. Over the course of the next few years, it is hoped we can plant some new native trees and shrubs of the kind that have plenty of berries on them. This will provide food for the current cemetery wildlife and hopefully attract new species, increasing the site’s biodiversity.

Very few plants are in flower at the moment. I noticed a Dandelion and some Smooth Sow-thistle along the grass verge, and also some Hogweed, although it was a much smaller plant than usual, being less than a foot tall.

Birds

The highlight of this month was seeing three Bullfinches in a wild area towards the eastern side of the cemetery – please see lead photo at the start of this report. This is the first time I’ve seen Bullfinches in the cemetery this year – they seem to be only occasional visitors at the moment. But they do appear to like feeding on the seeds found in old Brambles and there are plenty of these in the cemetery. Several areas, where there are no headstones, are deliberately left untouched for the benefit of the cemetery wildlife.

There are lots of Wood Pigeons around, and I’ve also seen a pair of Stock Doves in amongst them. The Wood Pigeons are the larger of the two species. I mentioned them in my first report back in March – these more detailed photos illustrate the different plumage and eye colours much better.

The volunteers put up some more bird boxes a few weeks ago. I noticed a Blue Tit checking one out only last week. It seems quite early to be starting the nesting process, but it might just have been looking for somewhere to shelter from the cold.

Fungi

Last month I mentioned the intriguingly named King Alfred’s Cakes that one of the volunteers had found, and I managed to find quite a few of them too. I wouldn’t normally do this, but I removed one from the tree and sliced through it to see what it looked like inside. One of my reference books describes it as “Inedible. A folk remedy to relieve night cramp and it is called Cramp Balls for this reason”.

I also found a few very small mushrooms on the ground, some of which were growing out of the wood chippings laid earlier on in the year. Fallen branches can be good places for mushrooms to grow, and some of the larger branches have been deliberately left where they fell to encourage this. Fungi, plus the tiny insects that can sometimes be seen on them, are another good food source for the cemetery wildlife.

Conclusion

It has been a very cold, wet and dull month but there is still plenty of wildlife around. As I write this it is nearly Christmas; by the time you read this Christmas will be over. I hope yours was a happy Christmas and that the coming year will be a good one for you!

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 December 1914

November 24, 2021November 24, 2021 by Pete Lowdenin History, Volunteers

The anniversary this month has striking similarities with events today in that it deals with refugees.

In August 1914 the United Kingdom, along with its allies, France, Russia and Belgium entered into a conflict with the Central Powers of Germany and Austro-Hungary. This conflict has become known to us as the Great War and it began with the Germans invading Belgium. The conflict lasted for just over four years.

However, like all such modern conflicts, the victims were not confined to the armed forces. Belgium was almost completely occupied by the Germans except for a small south west corner. The rest was under martial law and, like today, the civilians fled the conflict zones. Propaganda reared its head and graphic horror stories were circulated as to the tragedy the Belgians were suffering.

For, as these postcards show, the results could be terrible.

At the very least the loss of your possessions and home.

And the ultimate sacrifice was your life

In contrast with today, the more enlightened view of this period was for Britain to welcome these refugees. They were offered food, warmth, shelter and protection. Sadly, this was often given too late for some. Although they may have managed to flee from the Germans and escape the continent the damage for some was already done.

The minute book

On the 21st December 1914 there is an entry related to this suffering in the Company minute books. It reads,

‘The secretary reported that since the last meeting an application was made to bury a Belgian refugee (a nun from Antwerp) who had died in Hull. He communicated with Mr Jackson, the chair, who instructed (the secretary) to make no charge for the burial. The Rev Mother of the Convent of Mercy, Hull, where many more refugees had been given asylum and who are all quite destitute, expressed herself as being very grateful for the company’s kindness. The chair’s action was approved.’

The nun’s name in the Convent was Sister Marie. Her birth name was Therese de Diken.

Her burial took place in compartment 60, grave number 8249 on the 20th November 1914. As may be seen in the image below her name appears as the occupant of said grave.

However she is not the sole occupant of the grave. She was the first person in it but not the last. Obviously, as a nun, she would not have had children. And yet the other occupant is a child.

Her name was Matihilde Cortebeck. She was buried on the 29th July 1916 and she was aged only 14 when she died of consumption. Who was this young girl? That she was a catholic is evidenced by her burial in the catholic area of the cemetery. Another clue was that Moses was the undertaker. Even in my time Moses and Sons was always the preferred undertaker for Catholic burials. Her name perhaps shows she too was a foreigner. She may have been another refugee. Did she have no family? Her residence is given simply as Beverley so no clues there. Yet another mystery of the Cemetery.

The Terninck Foundation

Meanwhile let’s return to Sister Marie. She was the Mother Superior at the Terninck Foundation in Antwerp. This had been set up in 1697. As the Foundation’s website states today,

Fondatie Terninck was founded in 1697 by Canon Christiaan Terninck. He was deeply moved by the misery of distressed children in Antwerp at the time. When he found a foundling on the sill of his front door, he sprang into action. He founded a school and monastic community to take in poor orphaned girls and provide them with shelter and clothing. But these children also acquired here – and above all – a solid religious education and the necessary skills in needlework.

When the First World War broke out in 1914, the sisters fled with a group of children to Great Britain, where they stayed until after the war. On return, and in gratitude that there were no deaths during the war and the home had remained undamaged, a statue of Saint Joseph was placed in the front of the building. (Above the large doorway to the left)

Terninck Foundation

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 November 1846

October 29, 2021 by Pete Lowdenin General, History, Volunteers2 Comments

This month is the anniversary of a very important point in the Cemetery’s life. On the 5th of November 1846 the Company’s board held an important meeting. The Cemetery wasn’t due to open until the June of 1847 so planning was still taking place. At this meeting two important points were discussed the ramifications of which are still being felt today.

The first point discussed was the extension of the Cemetery’s land holdings. Remember that it was only in the spring of 1846 that the Company had bought their original site from Henry Broadley. Even before the Cemetery opened they were hopeful of extending the site to the north. Seemingly the Board were so confident of the success of this venture.

More land to be bought

How this point was raised at this Board meeting was due to John Shields. As you all know, he was the first superintendent of the Cemetery. As he described the reason why he had brought it to the Board’s attention,

‘Mr Shields informed the board yesterday that Mr Nutchley and himself had seen Mr Wilkinson and that he had offered the Board the field contiguous to the cemetery grounds at £300 per acre, with the understanding that a final answer should be given by Saturday next.’

The Board were obviously interested in this development. As can be seen by the map below Mr Wilkinson owned the site that now comprises Welbeck, Thorseby, Newstead Streets as well as further land. On the map ‘the land to be taken for the enlargement of the cemetery’ was also owned by Mr Wilkinson.

So, yes the Board were interested. £300 per acre was a reasonable price, similar indeed to what they had paid Henry Broadley.

The Board agrees

Accordingly the Board agreed to accept this offer. As the minute books state,

‘After conversation thereon it was resolved unanimously that Mr Wilkinson’s offer be accepted and that Mr Todd be instructed to inform him the same and arrange the terms of payment in the following manner if possible viz £500 to be paid on the 1^st of July 1847 and the balance at the end of three years from thence with interest thereon at 4% per annum having also the option of paying off the same earlier on giving three months’ notice of their intentions to do so.’

All well and good so far. However, as you all should know by now, The Company’s dealings were always fraught with disaster.

The Board meeting of the 18th

If we look forward to the Board meeting of the 18th the situation had drastically changed.

The Board received a letter from Mr Wilkinson’s solicitor, Mr Samuel Lightfoot, who is buried in the HGC and whose stone still stands.

This letter was clear and unequivocal in its language.

‘We are the more surprised at this inasmuch as you have been apprised both by Mr Wilkinson and ourselves, that the offer which you made to purchase would not be accepted.’

What happened?

What had happened? We are not privileged to know all the details. We can safely assume that C.S.Todd, the secretary and solicitor of the Company, had performed his task as instructed. He was, after all, extremely competent, later to become the Secretary to the Local Board of Health and later still the Sheriff of Hull. So it is unlikely any blame would lie with him.

The most likely problem was that the Company’s terms of purchase were not to Mr Wilkinson’s liking. After all, he had not said he wanted to sell his land for anything less than cash up front. Not the complicated purchase scheme the Company had suggested. This may have been agreeable to Henry Broadley but Mr Wilkinson was not that man.

That also Mr Wilkinson had stipulated a time limit for the purchase. If he had seen this offer from the Company as a method of extending the negotiations this may have prejudiced him against going through with the sale.

And a more damning factor was that the Cemetery Company jumped the gun. Part of the solicitor’s letter stated that the Cemetery workmen had,

‘broken down Mr Wilkinson’s fence in great parts.’

To take this action before the ink was dry on the sale was stupid, especially with a man of Mr Wilkinson’s temperament.

An enemy for the future

With this action, compounded with further infractions in the December, the Company had made an enemy of their neighbour. His distrust and enmity of the Company bore fruit long after Mr William Wilkinson had died for his wife and son continued the vendetta.

Surprisingly his son chose to be buried in HGC and I have often thought this was a token revolt against his parent’s.

An alternate history?

The chance to extend the Cemetery to the north was lost forever. But let’s just imagine for a moment how an alternate history of the HGC may have run.

One of the aspects of this alternate history would have been that the Dukeries would never have been built. It is also questionable whether Garbutt’s Avenues project would have taken off. After all the residents of such an area may have enjoyed being near neighbours to the Park, the Cemetery perhaps not so much.

With the Cemetery extending to the north it would have had no need to extend to the west. Would the Local Board of Health have opted to begin the municipal burial ground that became Western Cemetery northwards instead of westwards? If this had happened the Avenues project would almost certainly not have happened.

The creation of Chanterlands Avenue

The creation of Chanterlands Avenue may not have begun either. When the Western Cemetery burial ground was simply the five acres leased from the Hull General Cemetery it was offered in 1884 another 15 acres of land as an extension. The person offering this land? Why none other than a representative of William Wilkinson’s son. Vendetta’s last a long time. He also offered another 20 odd acres further to the west.

However he stipulated that as he had extensive land to the north he wanted a 40 foot road created in between these lands as an access road to his property. The Council readily agreed and this was the beginning of Chanterlands Avenue.

Back at the Board meeting of the 5th

The second point at the meeting above was raised by Cuthbert Brodrick. Not a board member although a shareholder he had been invited to attend. The subject at issue was how to enclose the Cemetery grounds. As you may remember the chair, John Solomon Thompson, had made extensive field trips to cemeteries in London and Birmingham. The Creation of Hull General Cemetery: Part One

As such he knew what was out there. Although the need for the strict security that some of the cemeteries of London had employed to keep out the grave robbers was now redundant walls and gates were the norm. An example of which is below from Nunhead Cemetery.

With this in mind Brodrick had been entrusted with providing plans for such necessary items.

Unfortunately no such copy of the plans have come down to us. Suffice to say that, upon consideration, the Board felt that,

‘Mr Broderick attended the Board with a design for the wall and iron fencing which were considered and after discussion it was determined that as the expense would be so very large, it was advisable to put up a wood fencing.’

Wood rather than brick

The result was that Cemetery was fenced rather than walled. In the short term the Board made a judgement call on the cost. They were in the midst of an ever increasing sea of costs at that time. The laying out of the Cemetery, the buildings necessary for its workings, the staffing costs etc were all coming from the increasingly small sum that had been gathered as a result of the share subscription. With no income until the Cemetery opened the next year the Board probably felt that some cost cutting measures were needed.

That these plans appeared at the same meeting that the projected extension of the Cemetery’s lands outlined above, with the costs this would entail, was unfortunate. At the same meeting,

‘Mr Harker attended the board with a plan of the engine house, boiler house and stalls and also with a plan of the fencing which were referred to a meeting of the board to be held Saturday next.’

Cost cutting

More expense. The Board were probably looking at some area where cost could be cut. What better than replacing the idea of an expensive wall with a much cheaper wooden palisade?

Well, as I said, a short term cost cutting eventually became a serious headache for later generations of Board members. The fence continually needed maintaining. Let us not forget how far it stretched. From the workshops in the north east corner, along the Dukeries side, past Thoresby School, along the western edge, back along Spring Bank West until it reached the gates at Princes Avenue corner. At no point in time was it free of maintenance costs. When the Cemetery Company fell on hard times it was one of the first things that fell by the wayside.

The result of this far-reaching decision, made in November 1846, is still with us as you can all see. The anniversary still resonates today.

Once again it would be interesting to imagine what would have been the result if the decision had been to take on Brodrick’s designs. I think I’ll leave that one with you to follow where it may lead.

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 Hardeys

September 19, 2021 by Bill Longbonein Facebook Archive, History, Volunteers1 Comment

Mrs Richard Hardey was a noted local female portrait artist. She and her husband Richard are buried in Hull General Cemetery. The Hardeys were artists and were pioneers in the new art of photography.

Hannah Maria Hudson was the daughter of a Wesleyan Minister. The Rev. Benjamin Brook Hudson and his wife Hannah were her parents. Hannah Maria was born in Dumfries in 1815, but moved to Barrow upon Humber, where her father was a minister.

Richard Hardey was born in Barrow upon Humber in 1816. Richard and Hannah married there on 23 April 1840, and later moved to Hull.

1851

In the 1851 census the couple were living at number 2 Kingston Square, at the house that was later to become part of Madame Clapham’s Costumier’s. Hannah was listed as an artist, and Richard a Commission Agent. Hannah’s mother and father lived nearby in Talbot St, off Wright St.

Hannah was an extremely talented, but relatively unknown portrait painter, working under the name of Mrs Richard Hardey. There are examples of her work in The Ferens and the Town Docks Museum. One of these works is a particularly good portrait of James Overton, painted in 1851, and depicted above.

1861

In 1861 they were still living in Kingston Square, but were childless. Hannah was still listed as an artist, whilst Richard is now listed as a photographer.

Sadly, Hannah developed breast cancer and died in January 1865.

On 1st May the same year, Richard opened his Photographic Studios at 14 Saville Street. Hannah’s father also died later that year, and her mother 2 years later in 1867.

Richard remarried Elizabeth Reynard in 1866, and in 1868 bought James Walker’s photographic studio in Doncaster, where he became quite successful.

Back to Hull

He sold the business in 1882 and moved back to Hull, and lived in Wellington Lane until his death from bronchitis in 1889 aged 73. His second wife, Elizabeth, lived in Morrill St and died in 1922 aged 81.

Richard and Hannah are buried in Hull General Cemetery together with Hannah’s parents, the Rev Benjamin Hudson and his wife Hannah. The headstone still stands, albeit with weather related vertical cracks in the stone.

The headstone marks the last resting place of the Hardeys, pioneers in photography.

Elizabeth, Richard’s second wife, is buried in a separate grave close by, but the headstone no longer exists.

Bill Longbone