February 2017 Newsletter Welcome to the February newsletter. We are counting down the days to when we hope to begin transcribing in the cemetery again. At the moment we re aiming to commence on 1 st April. As before, times and dates for sessions will be sent via email and also posted on our Facebook page. We look forward to meeting our new volunteers.
RESEARCH Thank you to all those who turned out on a bleak, January Sunday afternoon to attend our research meeting. For those who were unable to attend, here is a summary. Hand-outs were given to everyone, explaining how we d like to approach the subject of research. Pete highlighted what was on the sheets by explaining that we don t want to throw our weight around and assign areas of research to people. We ve already had several people approach us stating that they re interested in researching certain people/subjects with links to the cemetery, and would like to use our resources. This is just how we envisage our resources being used in the long run. To give us a glimpse of things to come, Pete introduced Linda, Lance and David White who gave us a presentation on the searchable database they are producing, based on the transcriptions we have completed so far. This will be very userfriendly and Lance gave examples of how this can be used; by searching key words, burial and plot numbers. We d like to see this online one day, but a lot of the finer details would need to be ironed out before that happen. Concerns were raised that some researchers may encroach on on-going areas of research that pre-date the cemetery project. For this reason we are building a list of people s interests and areas of research, so that there is no unnecessary doubling-up or stealing of thunder. The areas of interest and names currently being researched are listed at the end of this newsletter. If you have a mutual interest in any of these, please contact either Pete or Mandy who can put you in touch with the person or history group currently researching that subject. How will the results of research be made available? This point was raised at the meeting. Nothing has been set in stone for this. We currently want to concentrate on the main aim of the project, which is to transcribe the memorials and produce a database. In the meantime, we are not discouraging any kind of research the winter months are providing us all with a wonderful opportunity to cultivate our research, using the information we ve amassed so far. Examples of this can be seen in our regular Tales in the newsletters and the Tales at Pete s talks. We fully appreciate that there are many local and family history projects already underway and we are happy to support these by encouraging you to use our resources, but we are really hoping that this can be a two-way thing too. We d love to have your contributions, either to the newsletter or for the future, when we decide how we d like to publish, which was another point raised at the meeting Many love to browse through books and many like their information digitally. When the time come, we will explore both these options and consult with all the friends and keep you posted.
Tales from the Cemetery Being February, it seemed fitting to choose someone with a suitably-sounding name Edward Valantine Somerset born George Williams described himself as a careless, thoughtless, godless, swearing young fellow, yet by the age of 16, had converted and was a member of the Zion congregational church. He was an apprentice draper and he moved to London in 1841. By 1844, he had been made department manager in a draper s shop. He was appalled by the dreadful conditions for young working men in London, and together with a group of fellow drapers, he formed the YMCA on the 6 th June, 1844. One of these fellow drapers was Edward Valantine, who is buried in our cemetery. His memorial proudly states that he was One of the 1 st 12 of the Y.M.C.A. Edward and George were both very spiritual, spending the very little time they had outside work seeking guidance in a London Evangelical chapel. At around this time, safe leisure pursuits were being introduced, such as public libraries and art galleries, but Edward and his friends, whilst enjoying these activities, felt they were a distraction from concentrating on spiritual matters, particularly as leisure time was very limited after working an average of 16-17 hours a day. Their new association brought about the Early Closing Movement, resulting in the shop door being locked earlier, allowing men to engage in self-improving activities. The YMCA became the ideal place for young men to come together and create a Christian brotherhood, holding weekly prayer meetings, away from the city s dangerous influences. They would seek salvation through the library of useful knowledge rather than to cards and billiards etc. Edward was the first Treasurer of the YMCA. He attended the Henry Allon Unionist Chapel in Islington, and was the Superintendent of the Sunday Schools this chapel was very popular and counted Gladstone and Asquith in its congregation. When Edward was 42, he married Elizabeth Armstrong who was over 20 years younger than him. The couple had 9 children and Edward continued to work in the drapery trade. At this stage of our research, it is not known what brought Edward to our town and what caused his death. As his wife was with him here in Herne Bay, and she purchased the plot in the cemetery just 2 days before he died, we can only speculate that like many, Edward came here due to ill health, and didn t recover. For reasons unknown, it would be another 12 years before the headstone and kerb were erected to mark his resting place. Jesus the author & finisher of our faith The text inscribed on Edward Valantine s memorial (Hebrews 12:2) By Mandy Boxall Unionist chapel Islington
An End to the Tale This month s tale from the cemetery, along with some of our previous ones, ends on a speculative note. We wonder what brought Edward Valantine to our town, and how he died, and what caused the death of poor little Walter Allaeys on Christmas Eve, 1916. These answers can usually be found on a death certificate, but these are expensive to purchase. We do our best by searching for alternative sources; obituaries in newspapers, wills, burial registers, local history books, and if we re lucky, speaking to relatives and descendants. So, please bear with us. We ll keep searching, as we d love to give these tales their proper endings. Article from the London Evening Standard 25 th January 2017 Highgate Cemetery reveals identities of all 160,000 buried corpses for first time Famous: Karl Marx and George Eliot are buried at the cemetery in Highgate Alex Norton/Highgate Cemetery
The mysteries of those who lie beneath the graves of Highgate Cemetery could finally be solved as the entire catalogue of burial records goes public for the first time. Details of all 160,000 burials between 1839 and 2010 at London s most famous cemetery have now been made available online. Highgate Cemetery, in north London, is home to an array of globally important figures from the worlds of politics, art and sport. Revolutionary German philosopher Karl Marx, author George Eliot, poet Christina Rossetti and electro-magnetism scientist Michael Faraday are among those buried in the 15-hectare site. Pop star George Michael, who died on Christmas Day, is set to be buried next to his mother in the cemetery. Deceased Online has worked with the Friends of Highgate Cemetery, who manage the cemetery, to prepare and digitise the records. They include digital scans of original registers, grave details indicating all those buried in each grave and location maps for almost all of the graves. The website allows registered users to search free of charge or there are more advanced search tools for those willing to pay. Records cost between 1.50 and 5 to download and view. Dr Ian Dungavell, Chief Executive of Friends of Highgate Cemetery Trust, said: We are delighted to be able to offer this service not just to visitors to the cemetery but to a global audience, whether they be interested in the wonderful history of this special place or if they are simply researching their own family history. This is also very useful for our own staff and researchers, providing a comprehensive resource to locate graves and burials quickly and easily. Wonderful stuff! This is something we could aspire to, and is actually nothing new. Some councils and parishes around the country have already had similar online records available for free for some time an example of this is Hastings District Council, where burial records can be accessed and the information available is quite extensive, and can include all of the following - Name, date of death/burial, location, occupation, name of purchaser, undertaker and an image of the memorial. Kingston and Surbiton also provides a similar search with a link to an image of the entry in the burial register. The Leeds General Cemetery Burial Registers Index is a wonderful example of an online database you can search over 97,000 entries, not just by name but also causes of death, occupation and roles. There is also a link to the image in the burial register. In addition there are some statistical searches, such as children buried in the 19 th century and Victims of a 2 nd world war air raid.
Research interests Thank you for letting us know your interests. The list below shows names and subjects being researched for the cemetery project and also ongoing subjects that pre-date the project. Please get in touch if you want to have something added to the list or would like to get in touch with one of the researchers with whom you d like to share information on anything listed below. Don t worry if you missed having your interests in this month s newsletter. We ll update it every month just keep us posted of anything you d like included. SURNAME WW1 names on Herne war memorial (see below) Palmer Gates Port Eastman Groom Greenhead Cursons Hogbin Dalziel Cadby Simmons Ruding Culver Mortlock Arnold Karop Weston Allaeys Hunter Wiltshier SUBJECT Clocks & watchmakers Artists, Writers, Poets VAD hospitals Populating the houses Women s movements Reculver parish Names on Herne Bay War Memorial Herne Bay Shops Memorial Sculptures History of the cemetery Blean Union Workhouse 1870-1900
NAMES ON HERNE WW1 MEMORIAL Arnold Adair Tom Adley James Anderson Horace Andrews William Benton Horace Bounds Norman Brown Harold Browning James Bruce Cecil Bubb John Burge Bert Christian Charles Christian Walter Clark Arthur Cullen Aubrey Cullen John Cullen Frank Dale Tom Dale Giles Daubeney Alan Dinot Kenneth Dilnot Laurence Dyer Ian Edwards Mark French Arthur Frisby Harry Gammon Stanley Gates Arthur Godfrey Henry Grainger Archibald Griggs Ernest Hammond William Hearn NAMES ON HERNE WW1 MEMORIAL cont d Walter Heath Charles Hoare Oliver Holness Jesse Hopkins Ernest Hudson Francis Katinakis Percy Keen Charles Marsh Edward McManus Cecil Moat William Moat Sidney Morris James Neame Lawrence Page Jack Palmer Percy Pooley Hugh Sayer Walter Sayer William Sayer Edgar Simmons George Stone William Stone Bert Stewart Bert Taylor Frederick Taylor Harry Taylor Ernest Thundow Frederick Thundow Benjamin Vennell Thomas Waltho Harry Wells VC William Woollett Norman Wootton