The Quaker burial ground

Activities in Hull General Cemetery during August.

Most of the work in the cemetery during August was taken up with upgrading of the Quaker Burial Ground. This work was undertaken on behalf of the Quaker’s Committee.

The Matthew Good Foundation kindly donated £1,000.This was used for the purchase of trees, plants and materials to carry out the work.

The broken perimeter hedge/fence was repaired and new defensive planting installed. This was done to form just 2 entrances/exits. The privet was given a light trim.

Quaker stones in QBG

A kerb and limestone chippings were placed around the 7 stones that originated in the Hodgson St and Owstwick Burial Grounds. This provides a great focal point for these historically important stones. The Quaker’s are looking to provide an information board to explain the origin of the stones. There already is a board explaining the presence of the Quaker burial ground.

The dilapidated headstone of  Joseph Heward, the first Quaker burial in the cemetery, was re-laid and straightened. Several other fallen kerb stones were straightened. Moss was carefully removed from the lettering on the headstones to enable them to be more easily read.

bench in QBG

A ‘Rest and Contemplation’ bench was erected in the SW corner. This was formed from a large sycamore branch that fell near the cholera monument a year or so ago.

Other fallen branches were chipped and laid as a path leading from the 2 entrances to the new bench.

New planting

The laurel bushes were pruned back to give a more formal appearance. Several shrubs and plants were planted to complement the existing plants. These including Fatsia Japonica, Choisya, Euonymus, Agapanthus and ornamental grasses.

A thousand spring bulbs have been ordered for planting in Autumn.  These include wild garlic, English bluebells, snowdrops, crocus and daffodils. Hopefully these will provide a riot of colour in the spring.

A specimen laburnum was also planted to provide early summer colour after the bulbs have finished their display.

A shallow watering dish was placed in a shady area of the burial ground. This will provide a water source for birds and small mammals.

A short, on-site, talk about the Quakers in Hull and the work of the Friends of Hull General Cemetery, was given by the Quakers on the afternoon of Saturday 21st August.

The volunteers gave a guided tour around the cemetery to the U3A, AWAKE history group during August, generating £36.00 in donations.

An Anniversary

 11th May 1854

A special piece of land in the cemetery celebrates its anniversary on this date. The plot known as the Quaker burial ground began with this entry in the Company’s minute book. After some lengthy negotiations the Society of Friends, often known as Quakers, signed the lease. The lease was for 999 years.

The Society of Friends, also known as the Quakers, take on their plot in HGC

The negotiations for this piece of land began in July 1848. This was only just over a year after the cemetery opened. The Quakers wanted to lease a strip of land on what was the frontage of the cemetery. It would have faced on to Princes Avenue and is now the site of the shops. The Company rejected this. They  did not want the drainage at the front of the cemetery site tampered with. One has to remember that running along the south side of the cemetery was Derringham Dyke. This ran all the way to Cottingham Drain alongside Queen’s Road. The cemetery culverted the Dyke but only at the cemetery’s entrance.

The following month another offer arrived from the Quakers. This offer was to take a lease on ‘part of the far field’ as their burial ground. The offer was accepted. At this time the cemetery ended roughly in line with the Cholera Monument. It owned the further 7 or 8 acres westwards, but that land had not been developed. John Shields was tasked with marking the new burial site out.

Why the delay?

And yet, 7 years elapsed between the agreement in 1848 taking place, and the lease being signed. Why?

Two reasons suggest themselves for this. Finance obviously was an important factor. The composition of the Society of Friends was broad. It took members from all classes. However, a reasonable proportion of them would surely have been from the middle class. The Society of Friends was therefore financially viable. It would also have looked after its funds. And in 1848 it didn’t need to sign the lease then. Which leads to the second reason.

The second reason was more important. The original burial ground for the Quakers, Hodgson Street, was still open. It finally closed in the year that they clinched the deal above. The closure was imposed by a Parliamentary Order in Council in 1855. This Act was known to be coming. With the passing of the Public Health Act of 1848 and the Metropolis Act of 1850, burials were regulated much more closely. The Metropolis Act was rolled out across the country. By 1855 it was Hull’s turn. At that time the Quakers had to act. And the entry above shows that they did.

An Anniversary

13th January 1942

An Anniversary

A Second Anniversary

An Anniversary