Graveyards in many parts of England and Wales will
be threatened if a report compiled by the Institute
of Burial and Cremation is accepted by local
authorities. Written by Angela Dunn it suggests that
tombstones should stand for no more than 30 years
because of the number of accidents involving
crumbling masonry. According to the study of the 199
authorities surveyed 1.5% reported accidents in
graveyards they are responsible for - three of them
fatal.
Although the memorials are the responsibility of
the owners, the cemetery authorities are answerable
for safety. The thirty-year rule would apply unless
the onus for maintaining the graves was taken on by
the owners. But family historians in the future may
not come across a memorial for their family until
many years after the burial took place. If this
report is accepted then unless the local authority
can trace the family involved, they may have the
right to remove the memorial entirely. This has
already happened in many of the large cemeteries. In
the older cemeteries in Greater London many local
authorities have bulldozed acres of land with their
memorials, to make way for new burials. Some, like
Westminster Council, sold off cemeteries to private
developers. It was only after a public outcry that
the decision was reversed. Pressure will have to be
put on Berkshire authorities to ensure that similar
measures are not taken here. The author of the report
admits this is likely to be a very sensitive subject
and that when considering the removal of memorials
the cemetery authorities will have to consider the
heritage of these sites, and that headstones will be
spared if they have special historical significance.
The Society of Genealogists' policy is not to
campaign for the preservation of headstones,
providing they are properly copied, but that ignores
the heritage of our past. Too many of our cemeteries
have been allowed to decay to the point where the
graves have become vandalised by hooligans. Alan
Bennett after visiting his uncle's First World War
Grave in Belgium was astute when he wrote: "if
this foreign field were forever England the bronze
door would have long since been kicked off, the gates
nicked 'Skins' and 'Chelsea' sprayed over all".
How should we preserve the past for the future?
Slough Branch Meetings
From January 25, 2000 Slough Branch meetings will
be held at Windsor. The new meeting hall is at Christ
Church, United Reformed Church, William Street,
Windsor. As before meetings begin at 7.30pm for 7.45pm.
Paddington train disaster
Most people living in Berkshire will have been
touched in some way by the train accident that
occurred on October 5. 1 have been a regular commuter
on the Reading to Paddington line for more than 25
years, so seeing the pictures of the two trains after
the collision was especially difficult to comprehend.
I received a card from Una Wickett, from Honington,
Bury St. Edmunds, who has been a member of the
Society for many years. She writes. "May all of
you who have been touched in any way know that the
thoughts of those far away are with you. God bless
and take care of you". Thank you, Una, for your
kind thoughts.
If it moves, tax it - hat
duty
Did you know that between 1803 and 1811 a licence
was required to sell hats: in towns and cities it was
£1, and five shillings in rural areas. Failure to
obtain a licence could lead to a fine Of £50. In
addition there was a graduated duty payable on all
hats sold from 6d on hats between five shillings and
seven shillings up to a hefty three shillings on hats
worth 16 shillings or more.
More from the 1881 CDROM
Roy Stockdill, editor of the Journal of One-Name
Studies, has been searching through the 1881 census
on CDROM again. After finding Queen Victoria he's
found more eminent Victorians. Florence Nightingale,
the heroine of the Crimea, was living in South
Street, Mayfair; two doors away was the Earl of
Lucan, who shared responsibility with the Earl of
Cardigan for the Charge of the Light Brigade.
He's also discovered that one of the victims of
Jack the Ripper, Annie Chapman, had connections with
Windsor. She was born Eliza Anne Smith in 1841 to
George Smith and Ruth Chapman. She married at All
Saints', Knightsbridge, a coachman, John Chapman, a
relative of her mother, and they lived in West London
until some time in 1881 before moving to Windsor. Her
husband was in the service of a gentleman at Clewer,
Windsor. Annie was murdered on September 8, 1888,
Jack the Ripper's second victim.
A 1901 Census update
The contractor for the digitisation and internet
programme for the 1901 census is, as expected a
government agency, the Defence Evaluation Research
Agency. Charging on the internet will be based on the
principle of the full cost of the service and rates
will be set to encourage maximum use. Any profits
will be used to finance the digitisation of other
censuses. The charges have not been fixed, but the
indications are that the index containing name and
place would be free. To obtain a copy of the
transcript would be about 50pence and to view the
original, which could be down loaded, 80pence. There
would be a minimum charge of five pounds, but heavy
users may be able to maintain an account.
North Moreton
The register of burials for North Moreton for the
period 1813-1891, includes the burial in November
1813 Of three members of the Bland family, 24 year
old Harriet, 36 year old Mary, and baby Elizabeth,
all of smallpox; the suicide by hanging of Richard
Woolley, 68, in 1816 and in 1844 the death and burial
of "John Lamb alias John Moorhen", a
travelling bottomer of chairs, who died in
Wallingford workhouse aged 27. There are also some
unusual prayers for an election: "pray that all
candidates, agents, canvassers, and electors, may
avoid every temptation to impute unworthy motives
.... and may refrain from making or embracing,
unfounded promises". It's prayer that modem
politicians ought to remember before every election.
South Moreton
The Berkshire Record Office has just acquired some
parish records from South Moreton. Perhaps the most
welcome were two volumes of overseers' accounts and
rates for 1790-1808, thought to have been lost many
years ago. They contain detailed records of
expenditure on poor relief in this downland parish
during a period of particular hardship in rural
communities generally caused by a series of bad
harvests in the mid-1790s which led to a scarcity of
wheat and high prices for food.
Ain't this sweet - an entry
from the 1851 Census
Geoff Mather contributed this entry from the 1851
Census at 69 Oxford Road, Reading.
Ellis, Henry F: Head: 38: Plebeian gardener
and Chartist: Born: City of Chimney Pots
Ellis, Ann: Wife: 39: Fruitful wife: Household
and maternal cares: Born: Ufton: BRK
Ellis, Mary: Dau: 15: Parents house-maid: Born:
Reading: BRK
Ellis, Arm: Dau: 13: Parents housemaid: Born:
Reading: BRK
Ellis, Henry: Son: 11: Much work and little pay:
Born: Reading: BRK
Ellis, John: Son: 9: Helps brother and plays with
the others: Born: Reading: BRK
Ellis, Charles: Son: 7: Goes to school whistling
as he goes: Born: Reading: BRK
Ellis, Thomas: Son: 3: Stops at home and plays
with baby: Born: Reading: BRK
Ellis, Edwin: Son: 4m: Nursed tenderly: Born:
Reading: BRK
In deaf and dumb column presumably referring
to his loving wife is: Can hear the Church bells:
Talks to her baby and wears specs when daylight
grows dim.
Kennington
The archives of Kennington Local History Society
have been transferred to the Oxford Central Library.
Before the local government changes in 1974
Kennington was in the ancient county of Berkshire.
And finally...
If you like a Kiss go to Crewe, to see a Tart take
a train to Telford and for a Binge visit Cambridge.
This is not a vice tour of England, but a survey of
unusual surnames compiled by a marketing and
information company. Lovejoy, Flitter and Eighteen
appear as the most unusual names in Reading. Unless
of course you know better .......
