George Robert Stentiford & Clara Elsie Stentiford, Merrow, Guildford, Surrey

You can read a bit about George Robert Stentiford at Guildford & District

War Memorial in Easton, Huntingdonshire circa 1920

Southwick War Memorial, Dumfriesshire, Scotland

First World War

Pt A.S CAMERON MM
Pt Jas CHALMERS
Pt A.Ed DAVIDSON
Pt J.C FRASER
Sgt Maj G.W. KENNEDY D.C.M, MM
Cnr T KIRKLAND
Pt J.F McADAM
Pt J. McWHIRTER
Pt W McWHIRTER
Pt Jas NICHOLSON
Pt Jno NICHOLSON
Cpl H SEGGIE
Pt Jas SEGGIE
Pt W SHENNAN
Pt W STOYAN
Cpl Jas THOMSON
Pt R THOMSON
Pt T WRIGHT 

Second World War
Lieut J.G BARTON
Sgt A BEATTIE
Pte J.K HUNTER
Pte G.W McV.Gordon

Transcribed by J Goucher June 2000

Shaldon Devon War Memorial

Shaldon Devon War Memorial

Erected 1921

First World War

L.E. CARTER  Can Camrn Hlds
A.K CATES  Scots Guards
A.A COLBRAN  5th Devons
E.B. CONYBEARE  Worcs Rgt
J.B CORNISH  5th N.Z.C.
C EARDLEY WILMOT  R.F.C
C.R. EAST  N.A.C.
L.O. GRAEME  Q.O.Cameron N
N.F. HORSHAM  Devons Rgt
J LAMBE  Devons Rgt
A LORAM  Warwick Rgt
M.H. LUCAS  37th Lancers
S MATTHEWS  Devon Rgt
C.T. MERCHANT  Kings LPL Rgt
F PAYNE  Coldstream Gds
R.B. REED  R.N.R.
L SHEPPARD  R.F.C.
C STEPHENS  R.N.R
F.T. STEPHENS  Canada
L TAYLOR  15th Ryl Scots
R TOTHILL  R.N.
W WINDCATT  Grenadier Gds
C.T. WITHEY  R.N.R
S.A. WITHEY  Devon Rgt
J WOOD  R.N.R.

Second War World

S BRIMILCOMBE  R.N.
F FEILDEN  R.A.F
G HICKS  R.T.R
J.I. HOUSTON  Essex Rgt
J LONG  R.N.
T PAYNE  Devon Rgt
E.A. SLATER  R.A.F.
R.P. STOYLE  R.N.
W.M. THEOBALD  R.A.F.V.R.

Other

R.S. BAKER-FAULKNER D.S.O. D.S.C. R.N.
1949  A.J. ROBERTS  4th Hussars

Transcribed by J Goucher 1996 -2002.

War Memorial Cockington Church, Torquay, Devon 1914-1918 & 1939 - 1945

Memorial in Cockington Church

First World War

                                       Frederick. T ANDREWS

 Harry BASTIN        

 William J BLIGHT
 Albert G BOURHILL
 James F BOURHILL
 Norman BOVEY
 Walter P C BOVEY
 A Frank CHAPMAN
 George E CHAPMAN
 John L COLE
 Stewart CRAIG
 Frank G L DAMERELL
 George DAVIES
 George EASTERBROOK
 W GOODWIN
 Samual HAWKINS
 Charles HEWETT
 Mark HEWETT
 Walter HEWETT
 Harry HOOPER
 John HORNBROOK
 Felix C LOCKYER
 Colin J MacLAVERTY
 Charles H MALLOCK
 Alec MERCER
 Arthur W MILNE
 Sidney G MOORE
 Francis E OAKELEY
 Algeron W PALMER
 Walter E J PAYNE
 Athur R PUTT
 Carl V RANDELL
 B SKINNER
 John SMITH
 Harry W SNOW
 Ernest J SOPER
 William E STROUD
 Sidney R SWEENEY
 W H Cecil THOMAS
 William H TOPE
 Clandine L TYLER
 T G Frank WILLS
 Gilbert J WINGET

Second World War
 Adelaide M BAXTER (Civilian)
 Stanley A BENNETT
 Beatrice M BICKFORD (Civilian)
 Lancelot S DOBSON
 Norman C DRAPER
 Albert E GERMAIN
 Florence C GILLARD (Civilian)
 Ivor HOARE
 Charles HORSWILL (Civilian)
 Francis C KELLY
 Geoffrey LANG
 Frederick G MAEERS
 Howard MAPPIN
 Edward MARTIN
 Frederick J H MARTIN
 William T PARSONS
 Howard C POLKINGHORNE
 Edward E R SCOTT
 Alfred D VINCENT
 Fredrick WARBURTON
 Fredrick WELLINGTON
 Harold H WILLS

Transcribed by J Goucher 1996 -2002.

Plaque in Cockington Church, Torquay, Devon - George S Sanders

For Remembrance before God of

George S SANDERS

Private in the Imperial Yeomanry Hospital Staff

He died at Maitland Cape Colony November 27th, 1900

And was buried in Woodstock Cemetery Cape Town

Of the five Cockington Fire Brigade men who

Volunteered for service in the South African War

He was the only one who did not come home again.

 Transcribed by J Goucher 1996-2002

War Memorial at St John The Evangelist, Merrow, Guildford

First World War

F.S.J BARTON
 BENNETT
F BLAKE
J.T BLAKE
F BLUNDELL
C BOOKER
A BUTCHER
H CRANFIELD
C CRYER
F.A De PEARCE
W FAWCETT
J GROVER
A GYATT
T.L IMMS
A KEMP
R KNIGHT
L LICKFOLD
W LUNN
F MAPPLEDORUM
W MEARS
S.C.L MOORE
N NEILL
W NORRIS
R PEASE
C PULLEN
T.A PULLINGER
J.W RUDALL
H SCARLETT
W.T SLYFIELD
J.R SOLE
W STEMP
T STRUDWICK
S VICARY
S VINALL
H WADEY
G WAIN
C WIELD
H.H WYATT-SMITH
J.D WYATT-SMITH

Transcribed by J Goucher 1995.

Pearlware Jug - Mary Clark 1802

Earlier in the week I spoke of a visit to the Royal Albert Memorial Museum in Exeter. You can read my post HERE & see some photographs of the various plaques at Grave Encounters.

One of the images that I did not show was this little lovely item

The details on the information card revealed that it was named for Mary Clark of Berrynarbour and shows the date of 1802.

The pearlware jug was made at the Swansea Pottery in South Wales. This type of pottery became popular in the late 1700s as a cheap and hard wearing alternative to porcelain. Much of the white clay was extracted from the Teign Valley in South Devon, actually not too far from where I live. It was mixed with flint to produce the required colour and pearlware was an improved lighter colour

Plaques at the Royal Albert Memorial Museum, Exeter

Yesterday, I had the opportunity to visit the Royal Albert Memorial Museum in Exeter. You can read the post over at Anglers Rest. As I walked through the museum there were a few plaques that were worth photographing and sharing here.

All of these were located on the first floor of the Museum and I do apologise for the condition of the third photograph. It was located in a corner and almost obscured by a large totem pole, hence the slight fuzziness!

The Orangery, Teignmouth Devon

Yesterday we explored the local spot of the Orangery at Teignmouth. You can read that post HERE. Even in this small historical location there were a few plaques and I photographed them and shall post them here, but first a general view of the Orangery.

Located on a bench at the rear of the main Bitton House Building

Haldon Aerodrome - Wing Commander William R Parkhouse MBE

This commemoration plaque and stone is located at Haldon, which is owned by the National Trust and was the site of Haldon Aerodrome

Wall Plaque - Masonic Hall, Sidmouth Devon

An interesting building, complete with a wall plaque which was concreted to the left of left door, just beyond the tree in the picture.

This photograph is of the Masonic Lodge at Sidmouth Devon. You can see a bit more detail and the location of the lodge HERE

Shared with the Fraternal Organisations for Genealogists Group

Heidi Clarke Lewis - Friend of the Zoo (Wagga Wagga NSW Australia)

The City of Wagga Wagga in New South Wales Australia hosts a lovely botanical garden. The garden is set within 20 hectares of land and therefore within the confines of the land there is plenty of room for Wagga zoo where most of the animals are free to roam and enjoy life.

This plaque was found on one of the benches within the zoo.

Grave Matters

A few months ago, on the Graveyard Rabbit Column, History Hare I talked about the plight of some graves in Australia being defiled. I commented that whilst it was not metaphorically speaking, in my back yard, it might be one day.

Well it would appear that that day has come.

Some 205 plots located at one of the biggest cemeteries in the Country, the City of London Cemetery at Manor Park are under threat. The announcement is located HERE and a map of the cemetery is located HERE. The formal notice is located HERE with the details of whom to write to in order to raise an objection.

The Official notice does not provide the names of the occupants or the plot owners. It lists plot numbers only. The Burial Registers are not indexed.  In order to establish if you have an ancestor in one of the plots under threat then a charge of £100 is being made per name per year. If you know the plot details then the charge is £25.

Is it the cynic in me that indicates that the costs are so prohibitive that the Officials will get their way?

It would appear that during the 1950 -1960 period the memorials on these graves were removed and no effort was made to record the details. The scanning project of the Burial Records only managed to cover from 1856 – 1861 before the project was halted.

The situation is tragic and one that is only going to get worse, not just across the Capital but across the whole of the United Kingdom and other parts of the globe.

A few years ago I became aware of a similar plight in my home town. The official notice was displayed and asked for people who had an interest in the cemetery to make contact with the cemetery. I made the 200 mile journey and looked over the grave where my Great Grandparents were buried; my Great Grandfather in 1931 and my Great Grandmother in 1937. The plot was purchased with a 75 year ownership. I contacted the council and the plot was transferred into my ownership. Of course I am now responsible for any repairs that are needed, but I do that quite willingly and more importantly the graves are safe from any recycling.

Many of us do not live where our ancestors did. Perhaps there should be a scheme of “Love Your Cemetery” whereby each individual takes part in a project at their nearest cemetery in the hope that the ancestral graves of their family are preserved at another.

I truly do not know the answer, but we need to find one and quickly.

On line Journal of Graveyard Rabbit

Point in View Chapel, Exmouth Devon

Following on from yesterday's post about the Point in View Chapel and about A La Ronde. These are the various plaques that are displayed either inside the Chapel or on the benches outside.

Located on the wood paneling inside the Chapel

Located on the door just as you go out

 The next few photographs are plaques on seats within the Chapel grounds

Point in View Chapel, Exmouth Devon

Over the weekend we visted the National Trust property of A La Ronde, a delightful 16 sided property owned by two spinster Cousins, the Misses Mary and Jane Parminter. You can read a bit more and see some photographs HERE

Set about 200 metres from the main house lies the Point in View Chapel.

Point in View Chapel

The plaque commemorating the Miss Parminter's

The ceiling of the chapel

Bible inside a glass case located at the Chapel

There were several plaques commemorating others at the Chapel, both inside and outside, most from the 20th Century. Those picture will be up tomorrow.

Meanwhile, the Chapel and the other buildings on the land are attended to by the Mary Parminter Trust

Plympton St Maurice, War Memorial, Devon

In Grateful Memory of the Men of

PLYMPTON St MAURICE.

Who died for their Fellow-Men in the War

1939 – 1945

“Greater Lover hath no Man than this”

ANDERSON, E. M

BAKER, E. W

BEAVER, S. C

BEAVER, F. W

BOWER, W. J. S

BURNETT, R. A. C

CAWSE, W. C

DOYLE, A. E

HEAT, J. C. S

JANE, F. E

PARSONS, H

PULLEN, J

REVELL, K. S

ROBERTS, A. C

ROWSE, E. R. S

SANDOVER, R. W

SARAH, A. H

TREDUNING, A

WAKEFIELD, J. A

WEBBER, C

WINZER, C. S. A

WILLCOCKS, E. S. C

Transcribed by J Goucher July 2002, Photographed S Goucher July 2002

Plympton St Maurice,Devon War Memorial

In Grateful Memory of the Men of

PLYMPTON St MAURICE.

Who laid down their lives in the Great War

For Freedom & Justice

1914 – 1918

“They shall be had in Everlasting Remembrance”

BULLER, H. C

CHARLICK, J. A

CUMMING, L. C

CUDMORE, A

FARNELL, M

FOLLEY, A. W

GARDINER, J

GODDEN, W. D

GORMAN, H. J

GRATTAN, J

HAMBLY, W. R

HAMMICK, E. L

HAMMICK, E

HAWKEN, A. C

HAYMAN, P. M

HELLINGS, F. W

HORTON, W. H

HOSKIN, F

HUNT, W. H

HURRELL, P.S.B

KENSHOLE, T. C

LAVIS, J. W

LEE, A

LEWIS, E. V

MARSHALL, E. W. S

NEWSON, A. J

PEARCE, H

PILLACE, E

RABLEY, A. E

ROBERTS, J. T

ROBERTS, W. B

ROBINSON, W. H

SEYMOUR, W. P

SHEPHEARD, R. A

SOPER, E. F

SPURR, F. J

STEPHENS, F .J

TRISCOTT, P. C

WEBBER, C

Transcribed by J Goucher July 2002, Photographed S Goucher July 2002

War Memorial, All Saints Church, West Alvington, Devon

First World War

Fredrick BOWDEN  RAF

James Mercer KNOWLES  Royal Navy
Roy LOWDEN  Pioneers
Harry James MORGAN  RAF
Geoffrey Sturbridge STEER  RAF

Second World War
William Edward STEPHENS  DWR
Edric Henry CLOPE  RGA
Charles Bedford DISTIN  Royal Navy
 John Aubrey FROUDE  Royal Navy

  Reginald George HARVEY  Royal Navy
George HAYNES  Devons
Herbert Thomas HILL  Devons
Albert John JEFFERY  Devons
Herbert Harold Owen MATTHEWS  Canadian
Ernest James MOORE  Devons
Francis Edwin PEARCE  RFC
Percival Henry Gillard RHYMES  Essex
Charley Norman RICH  RFC
Alfred Dorian Meyers RICHARDS  Devons
Albert ROWE  Devons
James STEPHENS  RE
James STONE  Devons
John Harold TAYLOR  RGA
William Horniman BALKWILL  Wilts

Transcribed by J Goucher 1996 - 2002.

Salcombe Lifeboat Disaster

Thirteen men lost their lives in the Salcombe Life Boat Disaster of 27th October 1916

CANHAM, James A

COOK, J. Ashley

COVE, James H

CUDD, John A

DISTIN, Albert

DISTIN, Samuel M

FOALE, Peter H

FOALE, Peter H

FOALE, William J

LAMBLE, William W

PUTT, Thomas

WOOD, Albert E

Transcribed August 2002

Cemeteries of the Future…….

Taphophilia is defined as a passion for and enjoyment of cemeteries[1]. It is sad to say, that not everyone enjoys exploring cemeteries or the ponderings of the lives of those that were interned. It is even sadder to say that not everyone believes that cemeteries are a place where we can pay our respects to the dead and thank them for the contribution their life made, no matter how small or big that contribution was.

Frightening isn’t it?

Even more frightening is the contemplation that cemeteries are being defiled. I do not mean by vandals, or youngsters with no respect or understanding of respect, but by community officials.

It is happening, the world over and ultimately driven by money. What society puts money and profit before respect? That for me is one of my personal values.

Last week, I became aware of the plight of a series of cemeteries in Australia, that are facing decimation, not by vandals, but as I have described by an attempt to save money. These are the graves of, not just the pioneers of Australia, but of the people that shaped Australia into being the nation it is today.  As it stands, Australia is only 225 years old in its colonised format.

A fellow genealogist, Catherine who writes at Seeking Susan ~ Meeting Marie had already experienced a similar issue in South Australia and was delighted when the South Australia Burial and Cremation Bill had passed it’s second reading in the House of Assembly and was due a further debate in early March, ironically on the day I am writing this article. In reality as I type this in England on Tuesday morning the debate as already been heard in Australia.

So at this point all was looking pretty good, the people who sit at the heart of the Australian Government were listening. Then it became apparent that whilst in South Australia they were listening they were not in other parts of Australia.

On the blog That Moment in Time, written by Chris was a posting just last week of the shameless desecration of the Karraketta Cemetery in Western Australia. You can read that heartbreaking post HERE.

So what can we do?

There is a petition lobbying the Labour Party of Western Australia to bring an end to the clearing of the cemeteries in this region. You can sign the petition HERE. This petition can be signed by anyone, anywhere in the world, whether or not you have ancestors in this region. Indeed I have signed it from my home in England. As far as I know I have no family members buried in this particular cemetery.

Remember, this may not be in your particular backyard, or at least not this time.

There is a very active Face Book page called Saving Graves - WA which exists to support the petition. It has photographs, current news and press cuttings.  Indeed, the group is very passionate and quite rightly so. Craig Hyde, Media Advisor for Saving Graves WA has written very passionately about the situation and I urge you to read his post HERE

There is also a link to a file detailing all the graves recorded with the Commonwealth War Graves Commission that are to be removed. Haven’t those already named on those headstones already paid the ultimate price?

Press Release of Saving Graves WA

Furthermore, it became apparent through the reading that I undertook for this article that “some graves were to be preserved for significant historical or architectural reasons”[2] Disgraceful, that even in death we are not equal.

The genealogy community is a big one and through the advancement of social media we, as a body of genealogists and family historians have a much stronger voice. One that needs to be heard, and indeed should be heard.

Whilst this may seem someone else’s problem it is not. The very moment a community displays this level of disrespect and it remains unchallenged then we as a group of genealogists, historians and family members are sending the signal that it is perfectly OK to show this level of disrespect to the generations that went before us. We must therefore stand together, united as previous generations did at battle and demand that our ancestor’s final resting place remains undisturbed

So, please get involved, support our fellow citizens.

I shall close with a poem, written by Chris of That Moment in Time, as this simply says it all.

GRANDMA'S FOUNDATION

I went to visit Grandma
Her stone it wasn’t there
I thought I made an error
But I did look everywhere
It was then I noticed rubble
Right against the fence
And a dumpster full of rubbish
It really was quite dense.
Then I saw my Grandma’s name
As if she was calling me
“Please help me darling granddaughter
Will you please help me be free
For crushing is the next step
Road base they say they need
  I suspect that that is just a cover up
It all comes down to greed.
The land here’s rather valuable
I heard the workmen say
My lovely stone you saved for
Will be destroyed today.”

© Crissouli - 2013

Saving Graves Western Australia can be supported by

Petition * Facebook * Twitter

---

[1] Wikipedia - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taphophilia

[2] Quote from Steve James, Client Relations Consultant for the Western Australia Metropolitan Cemetery Board, Published in the “Subiaco Post on 1^st May 2006.

On line Journal of Graveyard Rabbit

Saving Graves WA (Western Australia)

Part of the post that was initially here has been removed for legal reasons. - Grave Encounters

To contact Saving Graves WA, please email at Sandra Playle fedelmar@hotmail.com if you have further questions or require further. 

Last of all I would like to share a poem that has been provided by a former member of the Saving Graves WA team. The author unknown but poignant all the same; 

Your tombstone stands among the rest,  Neglected and alone. The name and the date are chiselled out, On polished, marbled stone.
 
It reaches out to all who cares, It is too late to mourn. You did not know that I exist, You died and I was born.
 
Yet each of us are cells of you, In flesh, in blood, in bone. Our blood contracts and beats a pulseEntirely not our own.
 
Dear Ancestor, the place you filled, One hundred years ago, Spreads out among,  the ones you left. Who would have loved you so?
 
I wonder if you lived and loved, I wonder if you knew That someday I would find this spot, And come to visit you.

Saving Graves Western Australia can be supported by

Petition * Facebook * Twitter