Dr. William Gordon

Dr. William Gordon was known as the ‘The People’s Friend’.

Dr. Wm Gordon

William Gordon was born at Fountains Hall near Ripon on 2nd August 1801. He was educated at the Ripon Grammar School.  He studied medicine at London and Edinburgh. After qualifying he set up a medical practice at Welton, near Brough around 1825. He married Mary Ann Lowthrop of Welton Hall in 1826, pictured below. They had one daughter, Charlotte, who was born 1828.

Welton hall

His father-in-law was Sir William Lowthrop. He had been the Mayor of Hull when Victoria came to the throne. Sir William was one of the original Committee that instigated the creation of Hull General Cemetery. He and his son-in-law, Dr. Gordon, were early shareholders in this venture.The Creation of Hull General Cemetery: Part One

The family moved to 29 Albion Street in Hull where he set up his medical practice. Albion Street at that time was the ‘Harley Street’ of Hull. Many medical men lived there including Dr. Alderson.

Dr. Gordon was very involved with Christian movements and an active supporter of the working classes. He was also President of The Christian Temperance Society and became known as ‘The People’s Friend’. Chris Ketchell once said that he could not understand why Dr Gordon earned this title as, at that time, alcoholic drink was a better friend to the working man but Chris always had a personal view upon alcohol and its benefits.

All through Dr. Gordon’s short life he had an affinity with the working class and poor people of Hull, and would help them in whatever way he could.

Dr. Gordon’s daughter Charlotte, married the Albion Street Chapel pastor, the Rev Christopher Newman Hall.

His death

Dr. Gordon contracted a wasting disease during 1848 and eventually died at his home in Albion Street in February 1849 aged 47.

His son-in-law wrote a rather morbid detailed account of his death in a booklet which he published the same year.

Dr. Wm Gordon narrative

His funeral was a well attended event. It commenced at the Albion Street Chapel with a procession of five Mourning coaches. Hundreds of people followed on foot. Police officers, six abreast, accompanied the cortege to Hull General Cemetery.

It was well reported in the local press at the time.

doctor gordon eulogy

He was buried in the centre of the newly opened cemetery. His grave was just east of the central willow tree as he had requested. At that time the plot’s shrubbery had been planted in the shape of a Maltese Cross.

Dr. Wm Gordon funeral

The monument

The newspapers of the day prompted the idea of a public subscription for a monument to him. The working class of Hull contributed greatly to this public subscription to erect a large monument to Dr Gordon. They collected the full £80 for the monument. Only Dr. Gordon’s monument, Captain Gravill’s and the Cholera Monument were erected after calls for a public subscription.

Many local sculptors put forward designs for the monument, including William Keyworth. The commission, however, was given to Aaron Shaw. The total cost was £80.

The monument was erected in November 1849 and took the form of an obelisk of white marble modelled on the one that Napoleon had brought from Luxor.

It stood twenty-five feet high and was inscribed: ‘Erected by public subscription, to William Gordon, M.D., F.L.S. – the People’s Friend. Ob. Feb. 7 1849 aet 47’.

The monument still exists in Hull General cemetery. It is still in good condition if a little moss covered.

However, it needed reducing in size at the turn of the 20th century. The monument was becoming unstable. The Cemetery Company contacted Dr. Gordon’s daughter, Charlotte Hall, regarding this.

Dr. Wm Gordon memorial

She and the Cemetery Company came to an arrangement and the Monument was lowered by about a third. Early maps of the cemetery show it and the Cholera Monument marked. 

Shortly after Dr Gordon’s death his wife, Mary Ann, moved from Albion St to Carlton Terrace. This was near Park Street on Spring Bank. She died in 1886. She is  buried in the same grave with her husband.

Their daughter remarried Mr Frank Richardson after the death of the Rev Newman Hall. She died in 1903 and is also commemorated on the monument.

Henry Hodge

Henry Hodge was born at Kilnsea, East Yorkshire in 1812. He was the son of a small farmer and one of 12 children. Henry Hodge can truly be described as a self-made man.
Henry Hodge
In 1826 the Hodge family moved to Hull and took on a dairy farm at Newland Tofts. As a young man Henry worked at Bell’s flour Mill on Holderness Rd. This was  situated near what is now Morrill Street. The access to the mill was along a track which eventually became the entrance to the Morrill Street clinic.

Seed crushing industry

At this time seed crushing was becoming an important industry in Hull. As a result, the mill changed from a flour mill to a seed crushing mill. Around 1831 the hydraulic press was invented for crushing seed. This soon replaced the old stamper mill. The firm of Rose, Down & Thompson were one of the early fore-runners in this development.
Henry accumulated a little capital whilst working at a mill in Louth. Along with his brother, William who was now a foreman at Bell’s Mill, they purchased a former mustard and flour mill. This stood on what was then William St in Drypool. It later was renamed Hodge Street. They then installed 2 hydraulic presses to crush seed.
In 1852 the nearby Tower Mill at the junction of Holderness Rd and Clarence St was purchased. However, although the business was successful, the two brothers dissolved the partnership. William took the Tower Mill whilst Henry kept the mill in William St.

Family life


He married Jane Simpson in 1842 and they had 6 children. One of them was Emma Hodge, who married Joseph Robson. Emma became a very active member of the Primitive Methodist church. Henry’s family originally lived in East Parade on Holderness Rd between Williamson St and Field St. They also lived and worked at Blaydes House at 6 High St for a time.
Henry Hodge mill advert
In 1869 his daughter Emma died at the young age of 32. This devastated Henry. His wife, Jane had already died in 1867 aged 54 years. In 1871 Henry married his housekeeper, Emma Graves.

Henry’s business continued to expand. He erected the huge Alexandria Mill in High St, in 1884. He also purchased the adjoining Phoenix Mill. This was followed three years later by the Globe Mill on Church St, which was part of what is now Wincolmlee.

Pioneer


Henry was a pioneer in the seed crushing industry. Prior to 1861, the only seeds imported into Hull for oil and cake were linseed, rapeseed and nigerseed.  Henry began to experiment with Egyptian cottonseed. He found that it made an ideal oil for use in the manufacture of soap, paint, culinary purposes and also for cattle feed. It soon became one of the major seed imports into the city.
henry hodge advert for cattle feed

He subsequently purchased Bell’s Mill near Morrill St, where he had previously worked.
The family lived at Ivy House adjacent to the mill until his death in 1889.
Henry Hodge
In addition to being a mill owner he was also a very active member of the Primitive Methodist Church in Hull. He was also a benefactor of many good causes, and subscribed to the erection of several churches. This included the Holderness Rd chapel near Bright Street, and the Henry Hodge Memorial Chapel in Williamson Street.
He was also a member of the East Hull Conservative Club and an alderman. His brother William was twice mayor of Hull.

Henry, his wives Jane & Emma, daughter Emma, son Edwin and son in law Joseph Robson are all buried in the ‘Prim Corner’ of The Hull General Cemetery. His brother William Hodge, and his family, also have a large monument in the cemetery.
Henry Hodge tomb

The Eleanor Crosses

The catacombs of Hull General Cemetery are now long gone. Nothing remains of them. (see the link below)

Unlike the Eleanor Crosses. Let us examine their history here.

Thompson and Stather

We’re fortunate in having a reasonable idea of who built the crosses. The firm of Thompson and Stather were an engineering firm in Victorian Hull. This firm had a long relationship with the Cemetery in its early days. The Stather in this firm was Thomas Stather. His brother John was equally as successful in his business enterprise. Their stories will be published on the website at a later date. Suffice to say here that, in terms of Hull General Cemetery, both brothers and their families are buried there.

As an example of Thompson and Stather’s relationship with the Cemetery Company, in August 1852 the firm were approached by the Company. They were asked to make some new gates for the Cemetery. These listed gates still survive and may be seen on Spring Bank West. They also completed a number of other contracts for the Company. Thompson and Stather were one of the foremost engineering firms of the Victorian Hull. So it stands to reason that the Cemetery Company would have dealings with them.

Family tragedy

In 1863, Thomas Stather’s wife, Elizabeth, died. She is buried in the Cemetery. The grave is a brick lined vault. Luckily it still has the headstone. Or should I say it has a large Eleanor cross on a plinth erected upon a sandstone kerb set. The cross is made of cast iron. It was the first one erected in the Cemetery and was made by her husband’s firm of Thompson and Stather.[1]

How do we know this? Local resources are scarce on these matters. We do have a newspaper report that quite clearly speaks of the erection of the cross in the cemetery. This newspaper report is shown below.[2] Thomas Stather’s wife of over 25 years, Elizabeth, died on the 1st April 1863. On the 11th September that year the cross had been erected on the grave where Elizabeth lay. I would suggest this is as concrete a proof as one may wish for.

Newspaper item re the erection of the Eleanor Cross on Elizabeth Stather's grave

Fig 1: 11th September 1863, Hull Packet.

 

Eleanor Cross on Thomas Stather's grave

Fig 2: Thomas Stather’s grave. The site of the first Eleanor Cross erected in Hull General Cemetery

The second Eleanor Cross

The second Eleanor Cross is situated about 50 yards west of the main gates of the Cemetery. It celebrates the grave of the Mason family. The plot was initially bought by Benjamin Burnett Mason. He was born on 16 Feb 1822 in Hull. The son of master mariner Samuel and Martha Mason (nee Green), he was baptised at Holy Trinity on the 9th April 1822.

Benjamin married Anne Green on 19th June 1844 and they had 2 sons, Benjamin William, born in 1846, and Samuel Burnett born in 1850. In the 1851 census Benjamin and his family were living at Northgate in Cottingham and he is listed as a wine merchant and ship owner. He was successful in his business enterprises and established a large wine and spirit business in Lowgate. Its premises eventually extended close to the quays of the Queen’s Dock, now the site of Queen’s Gardens. He also was successful in the community. He became a JP and a Guardian of the Poor. Not content with that he turned his hand to history and was the author of a book entitled The Brief History of The Dock Company. Throughout his life was also an active member at the Minerva Lodge of Freemasons.

The move to Hull

The family moved from Cottingham to a new home at 3, Grosvenor Terrace on the Beverley Road, which is now numbered 113 Beverley Rd.  A grand address in its day. It was then on the outskirts of Hull and was situated just outside the village of Stepney.

However, like all Victorian families whatever their circumstances, tragedy was never far away. On the 2nd December 1863, the eldest son, Benjamin William died at the family home from scarlet fever. He was only 18 years old. It is believed that this is when the second elaborate cast iron ‘Eleanor Cross’ was erected in Hull General Cemetery. This would have been some three months after the first cross was mentioned in the press.

There is no record in the newspapers of this new cross being erected. Nor any record in the Company’s minute books or any other documentation to confirm this. However, it appears to fit the bare facts as outlined above.

When was it erected?

We know the original cross was erected in or before the September of that year. The death of Benjamin William Mason took place in December. During the consequent sorrow that almost certainly gripped the family, it is conceivable that the family seized upon making a significant gesture to mark the passing of their son. I would suggest that they commissioned the cross on their family tomb at this time. The erection of this cross was probably appropriate and timely. Grief was something that the Victorians often felt needed to be reflected in ostentatious display and the erection of this cross certainly does do that.

Mason's home

Fig 3: The site of the family home on Beverley Road, 2018. Just out of the picture to the left is ‘Welly Club’.

Benjamin’s wife, Anne, was buried in the family grave, dying from bronchitis on the 7th February in 1874 aged 57. Benjamin’s younger son, Samuel, eventually joined the family company, and continued to work in the business.

Benjamin died of bronchitis on the 12th January 1888 aged 65. Samuel died in Cairo, Egypt on 19th Jan 1894 and was buried there. Samuel’s widow, Mary Ellen, was buried as cremated remains in the family tomb, the final interment under this Eleanor Cross.

Mason's Eleanor Cross

Fig 4: Mason’s Eleanor Cross.

The saddest story of all?

The final Eleanor Cross is perhaps the most poignant story of all. It is the smallest of the three crosses and it stands on top of a grave dug for just one person. Yet it is a public grave. A strange occurrence and the only instance known in Hull General Cemetery. As the reader knows, public graves rarely have any kind of memorial upon them. To have a cast iron monument on it is unheard of. Let’s examine the facts of the story.

We need to go back in time a little to fully explain the Crosses’ story. In the East Riding a farmer by the name of George Peacock Harrison, 1808-1885, and his wife Ann, 1807-1872, lived in the village of Gembling, near Driffield. He farmed approximately 400 acres and employed over a dozen farm workers, so he was an influential man in that neighbourhood. Throughout their married lives, he and his wife had eight children. The two we need to focus on are his third child and second son, George Peacock, 1839-1916, and his seventh child and sixth son, Jonathan, 1846-1887.

The 1851 census

As can be seen in Fig 21, G.P. Harrison’s family is gathered around him. Jonathan being four years old, but there is no sign of George Peacock junior. This was because he was absent at school in Hampshire. There is no record of any other of the children being so favoured.

By the 1861 census, George Peacock senior and his wife have moved to another farm at Wharram of 1000 acres. Their two daughters and William Christopher, the third son, went with them. His previous holding was now being run by his son George Peacock junior. No other family member resides at this time at the Gembling farm.

A George Peacock Harrison had appeared at the Assizes on a charge of rape but, according to the Barnsley Chronicle of 15th December 1858, the Grand Jury, ‘ignored the Bill’ and he was allowed to go free. We have no way of knowing which George Peacock this was but the offence was against a woman in Wharram, so it may well have been George Peacock senior who was in the dock.

Census return for the Harrison family

Fig 5: 1851 Census record for George Peacock Harrison and family.

The death of George Peacock senior

The younger George Peacock was unmarried. This personal situation continues through the 1871 and 1881 censuses and his father continues to work the Wharram farm. In October 1885 George Peacock senior died.

Probate record for George senior

Fig 6: Probate of G.P Harrison senior.

As the sole executor George Peacock Harrison junior could administer his father’s estate as he chose and this is what he proceeded to do.

Let’s just take a look back at Jonathan. He was born in 1846 and baptized that same year in the local church.

Birth Record of Jonathon Harrison

Fig 7: Jonathan Harrison’s baptismal record, May 1846.

Other than the entry on the 1851 census we lose track of Jonathan. He doesn’t surface in any of the censuses of 1861,71 or 81. Yes, there are characters who could conceivable be him but they are far removed from the family settings.

In the dock

The next we hear of Jonathan is in a court case. Reported in the Driffield Times in the July 1887. As can be seen in below, Jonathan appears to have had an altercation with his brother George Peacock Harrison junior. During this altercation he committed criminal damage to his brother’s house. The problem appeared to revolve around the will of their father, and money that Jonathan thought was his due. Being legally summoned by his brother must have been difficult for both sides. It was further exacerbated by Jonathan refusing, or being unable, to pay the fine. This resulted in a custodial sentence of one month for him.

The final straw

This appears to have been the final straw for Jonathan.  He obviously removed himself to Hull for the next and final part of this sad story. We find Jonathan next having died aged just 40. Only four months after his release from prison.

Driffield Times

Fig 8: 2nd July 1887, Driffield Times report of Jonathan’s offending.

Jonathan’s death

 

Death certificate of Jonathon Harrison

Fig 9: Jonathan Harrison’s Death Certificate.

Jonathan died four days before Christmas Day 1887 and of Cystitis which was a disease that he could easily have contracted whilst in prison.  As can be seen, he was earning his living as a cotton spinner at the time of his death and his place of work was the Royal Infirmary in Prospect Street. This was work that he would have been detailed to do as his place of residence was the Hull Workhouse. He would have been an out-worker for that institution, paying for his placement and meals by this form of work. He would, therefore, have been accorded a pauper grave.

The final gesture

Jonathan, surprisingly, lies in a grave that was purchased for one burial. Exceptional and unique for a public grave. The purchaser was a certain George Peacock Harrison. Jonathan was buried on the 23rd December 1887. The rest is conjecture. Was this purchase by George a belated gesture to his dead brother? Had he done his brother wrong? We don’t know. What we do know is that after the burial and the purchase of the private grave for one person only, the grave was surmounted by an iron Eleanor cross.

 

Grave space in Hull General Cemetery burial records

Fig 10: Grave space of Jonathan Harrison, purchased by G.P. Harrison. It is the third row from the left, fourth space down. No. 6610, Compartment 48.

Not by Thompson and Stather

A smaller version and less detailed than the Thompson and Stather ones true, but a good monument. Thompson and Stather were both dead by this time and the firm dissolved. George would have probably ordered a similar cross for his brother from someone who said they could do the job.

Entry in HGC burial book

Fig 11: Grave number and the purchaser’s name, how many burials and for how many. In this case there is one burial and the grave is stated to be full.

The purchase of the iron monument appears to go beyond grief, and perhaps touches upon a deeper remorse, maybe even fuelled by guilt. We shall never know. George Peacock Harrison continued working the farm at Gembling but in the early part of the 20th century he emigrated and spent his remaining years in New Zealand. He died at Cartertown on the 9th March 1916. We don’t know what was going on in George’s mind. We can only guess. My guess is that this purchase of Eleanor Cross is due to remorse. The only indication of this may be found in the burial register of the Cemetery where he was listed as the informant,

Entry in the burial register

Fig 12: Hull General Cemetery burial register, December 1887.

Melancholia or remorse?

As you can see, George Peacock Harrison cites his brother as being a ‘gentleman’ and his cause of death as ‘melancholia’. Hardly a cause of death then as now.  Much more probably a symptom of how George was feeling at registering his brother’s death with the Cemetery, and at the same time purchasing the burial plot for his younger brother. The brother whom he had taken to court. who had gone to prison as a result of these court proceedings. The brother who eventually ended up in the workhouse where he died.

Yes, I would think there was a lot of melancholia, but I think it was George who was suffering from that, rather than Jonathan.

And that is the end of this short journey examining the Eleanor crosses of Hull General Cemetery.

The final Eleanor Cross

Fig 13: Jonathan Harrison’s grave with its monument.

Acknowledgements:

Fig  1: Hull Packet.

Figs 2, 3, 4, 13: Authors’ collection.

Figs 5, 6, 7: The National Archives.

Fig 8: Driffield Times.

Fig 9: General Record Office.

Figs 10, 11, 12: Hull History Centre.

The Catacombs of Hull General Cemetery

[1] Not Young and Pool as Historic England maintain on their website for Hull General Cemetery.

[2] See Fig 1.

 

John Leopold Brunstrom

Another of the monuments recently recorded by volunteer Andy Lister whilst undertaking the groups Photo Record Project, was that of John Leopold Brunstrom. Andy records that the stone is a ‘fallen granite obelisk with no evidence of a remaining plinth, but is otherwise in good condition’. Here is John L Brunstrom’s story.

He was born Johann Leopold Brunstrom in Sweden in 1834, the son of Olaf and Nelli Brunstrom. He worked as a mariner, and married Magdalena Theodora Korsholm, the daughter of a Danish ship store manager, in Liverpool on 2 August 1851

They had 5 children and moved to Hull some time in the 1850’s. At the time of the 1861 census they are living at 23 Francis St West, where he is recorded as a ship broker. Around the same time he formed the company of Shields & Brunstrom with his friend Samuel Shields, and in Jones’s 1863-4 Mercantile Directory, they are listed as merchants with offices at India Chambers, Queen’s Dock Side South.

One of their daughters, Elvira Helena, died of croup at their home in Francis St West on 30 April 1860 aged 1yr and 9 mths. John’s wife, Magdalena, died of consumption on 10 January 1864 aged 32 years. 5 years later another daughter, Lene Marie, died of diptheria on 5 September 1869 aged 5 yrs and 9 mths. A few months previously John and Samuel’s business had floundered, and they filed for bankruptcy on 9 February 1868. John died of liver cancer on 9 May 1875 aged 50 and his buried with his family in the above grave.

His partner Samuel Shields, died of an apoplexy at The Hull Workhouse on 30 March 1884 aged 56. He is also buried in Hull General Cemetery along with his father, brother and daughter, but unfortunately their gravestone no longer remains. However, the inscription was recorded by the EYFHS prior to its removal