Taphophile Tragics # 46

I adore ceramic grave adornments such as this one that I found in Point Clare cemetery, outside Gosford on the New South Wales Central Coast. They seem to strike just the right note.

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Welcome to the 46th week of Taphophile Tragics.

Unfortunately, I have to bring this meme to a close after this week. There is simply too much for me to do at the moment, and I am not doing your entries justice. I do not have enough time to tour cemeteries, and the hard drive with all my cemetery history is irrecoverable!

However, your final contribution is most welcome. Please ensure that you include some details of the cemetery in which you took your photographs, and link directly to your post, rather than simply to your blog in general. This week, Mr Linky opens at 9:30 PM Monday, Sydney time (GMT+11), and closes at 9:30 PM on the Friday.

Taphophile Tragics #45

I see graves like this frequently, all too frequently. However, that sounds censurious, and who am I to cast stones. Speaking of stones ... Gladys Amy McDonald died in November 1956. She doesn't sound Jewish, nor does she sound 'continental'. So ... why the pebbles? And why the pattern? Although they look recent, have a close look around the base of the pebbles, at the build up of mould and soot. They have been there quite some time. In the Cemetery Index for Point Clare, Gladys is only recorded as having a father (Harry) and a mother (Amelia). The birth records for the state of New South Wales can only be searched up until 1911, and she was not born prior to that, well not in NSW at least. Meaning she was younger than 45. Her father died in 1981, and her mother later than that. Neither of them rest in Point Clare Cemetery. I am guessing that Gladys was much much younger than 45 But why the pebbles, and why the pattern?

Stumbled upon in Point Clare Cemetery, Gosford, whilst looking for something else entirely.

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Welcome to the 45th week of Taphophile Tragics. Your contribution is most welcome. Please ensure that you include some details of the cemetery in which you took your photographs, and link directly to your post, rather than simply to your blog in general. This week, Mr Linky opens at 9:30 PM Monday, Sydney time (GMT+11), and closes at 9:30 PM on the Friday.

Taphophile Tragcs # 44

Andrew Marvell wrote 'To His Coy Mistress' during which he was trying to convince her to get into the sack with him! He included these lines which resonate even today: But at my back I always hear Time's winged chariot hurrying near; And yonder all before us lie Deserts of vast eternity.

Fossicked for in the Presbyterian Section, Rookwood Necropolis, Sydney, New South Wales

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Welcome to the 44th week of Taphophile Tragics. Your contribution is most welcome. Please ensure that you include some details of the cemetery in which you took your photographs, and link directly to your post, rather than simply to your blog in general. This week, Mr Linky opens at Twelve Noon, Sunday, Sydney time (GMT+11), and closes at Twelve Noon on the Friday. I apologise for my lack of activity at the moment, and my failing to visit you all. If you are a member of the City Daily Photo community you will understand, I hope, what is occupying my time.

The push toward respectability

So ... some more relatives. Cousins, for sure. But which cousins? To work it out, one has to go back to the first ancestor in common. The woman buried here, Sarah Puckeridge Drennan, was a younger sister of my great-great-grandmother, Mary Ann Puckeridge Selby. So, counting back to Mary Ann is four generations. But we have to go back one more generation to Amelia Hughes Puckeridge. So five generations. This means, I think, that the descendents of Sarah Drennan are my fourth cousins, however much removed. Confusing, isn't it?

Keep in mind that Mary Ann and Sarah had grandparents who were convicts, and in those days that was a massive stain on the family reputation. Not like today, where it is regarded as a badge of honour! Look at the plot here. It is massive. Well, very big, anyways. But it would need to be! It was purchased upon the death of William Drennan, Sarah's husband, in 1883 at the age of 46. It was, obviously, a mob that knew the value of money. Here is a list of who else is interred in this one plot out at Rookwood, in the Presbyterian Section 3A, in plot 1757 Edwin Bellis, 1896 aged 6 months, Sarah's grandson Reginald Bellis, 1899 aged 7 months, Sarah's grandson Arthur Tumeth, 1900 aged 11 months, Sarah's grandson Sarah, 1928 aged 85 Sarah Atkins, 1939 aged 64 Sarah's 6th child Thomas Drennan, 1942 aged 79, Sarah's oldest child Thomas Drennan, 1943 abed 43, Sarah's grandson Marion Drennan, 1950 aged 80, no idea where she fits in. I feel really chuffed to have found just these three lines of the family, and to have given them a voice.

This is my contribution to the Taphophile Tragics Community

Taphophile Tragics # 43

Many people spend extravagant amounts of money for a proper send-off for their loved-ones. Some can afford it; some cannot. Others spend very little, and yet that is probably felt as keenly.My guess is that Reg and Beryl were battlers. Childless, there was someone who loved them. Beryl died aged 28, and it is tempting to conjecture that it was during childbirth. Reg only lived another ten years. A simple adornment. But still there, after all these years. Discovered in the Church of England Section, Manly Cemetery, Sydney.

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Welcome to the 43rd week of Taphophile Tragics. Your contribution is most welcome. Please ensure that you include some details of the cemetery in which you took your photographs, and link directly to your post, rather than simply to your blog in general. This week, Mr Linky opens at 9:30pm Monday, Sydney time (GMT+11), and closes at 9:30pm on the Friday. When you can, please visit the other contributing bloggers to show your appreciation of their endeavours. Due to time zone variations and overcrowded schedules, some contributions are made later than Tuesday/Wednesday. As per usual, we are working with the Linky with thumbnails, and displaying the oldest entry first, with no randomising.

Taphophile Tragics # 42

When I first saw this stone, I thought that something had dropped off, been broken through the years. Then it dawned on me. It is a reference to the Holy Trinity. Fairly rough and ready, thought I. Crude, even. Discovered in the Independent Section, Rookwood Necropolis, Sydney.

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Welcome to the 42nd week of Taphophile Tragics.

Your contribution is most welcome. Please ensure that you include some details of the cemetery in which you took your photographs, and link directly to your post, rather than simply to your blog in general. This week, Mr Linky opens at 9:30pm Monday, Sydney time (GMT+11), and closes at 9:30pm on the Friday. When you can, please visit the other contributing bloggers to show your appreciation of their endeavours. Due to time zone variations and overcrowded schedules, some contributions are made later than Tuesday/Wednesday. As per usual, we are working with the Linky with thumbnails, and displaying the oldest entry first, with no randomising.

From woolcombs to whitesmithing

The 'Deceased Search' within the Independent Section of Rookwood Necropolis, indicates that there are three plots within this enclosure: OG/774, OG/776, and OG/780. Resting in OG/776 is James Perry, the patriarch (1826-1908). Resting in OG/778 is Ann Perry, the first matriarch (1824 - 1873), as well as James J. Perry (1851 - 1895), their second child. Resting in OG/780 is Charles Perry their third child (1852 - 1905), together with his four day old son, Charles James Perry (August 1878).

Ann Matts married James Perry in Leicester, England in October 1847, and they sailed for Australia in the 'Thetis', aged just 21 and 23, arriving on 27th May, 1848. Although James' father, William, had been a woolcomb maker, James was on his way to becoming a whitesmith. A whitesmith is a person who works with "white" or light-coloured metals such as tin and pewter. Unlike blacksmiths (who work mostly with hot metal), whitesmiths do the majority of their work on cold metal (although they might use a hearth to heat and help shape their raw materials). Whitesmiths fabricate items such as tin or pewter cups, water pitchers, forks, spoons, and candle holders and it was a common occupation in pre-industrial times.

Between 1849 and 1857, James and Ann produced five children, three sons and two daughters. Their first child, Clara, married James Freeman, yet is buried in the adjacent OG/774). They all must have been close, as after Ann's early death, James married Marie Louise and produced three more children. Yet here he is, buried with his first family. The other explanation could be that, during the last years of his working life, there were a number of depressions, and his business in Arncliffe kept on going broke, and his second family had to all muck in and take in whatever work they could find, including Marie Louise. Already owning a substantial plot, with rights to bury more within the self-same plots, would have proved irresistable.

Although Ann died in 1873 aged only 49, James lived until 1908, dying at his premises in Wickham Street, Arncliffe at the age of 82. I was unable to track down photographs of James with his first family which given it was 1847 to 1873, is probably understandable. However, from Ancestry.com I sourced much information uploaded into public trees by a grandson of James' youngest son, Adolf. The individual portrait here is James in 1877 at his wedding to Marie Louise.

Taphophile Tragics # 41

Mary Jane and George have slipped their earthly shackles. Rookwood Necropolis, Sydney, New South Wales

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Welcome to the 41st week of Taphophile Tragics.

Your contribution is most welcome. Please ensure that you include some details of the cemetery in which you took your photographs, and link directly to your post, rather than simply to your blog in general. This week, Mr Linky opens at 9:30pm Monday, Sydney time (GMT+10), and closes at 9:30pm on the Friday. When you can, please visit the other contributing bloggers to show your appreciation of their endeavours. Due to time zone variations and overcrowded schedules, some contributions are made later than Tuesday/Wednesday. As per usual, we are working with the Linky with thumbnails, and displaying the oldest entry first, with no randomising.

At the moment, there are three posts a week to this blog:

Mon - Research of an individual from the details on their headstone;
Wed - An example of funerary symbolism and its meaning; and
Fri - 'Six-Feet-Down-Under' highlighting an Australian cemetery/graveyard.

Join me if that sounds of interest.

Funerary Objet d'Art - Christ the King

This post is participating in the ABC Wednesday meme.

This is the memorial stone for Jeremiah Kiley, his two year old daughter, Margaret, and his mother, Norah. It is located in Rookwood Necropolis, which is its own suburb in Sydney, New South Wales. Jeremiah was born in Caldaly, County Limerick, Ireland. He died in the suburb of Glebe on 28th December 1888, aged 45 years.

Isn't the crown fabulous? It has a large stone placed within, to ward off damaging blows. Look at the pleated 'silk' as the background. So sumptuous. There are two things here to note in way of symbolism: the crown; and the pointing finger. I have read so many variations upon the significance of the crown, but think they all point toward an individual's acknowledgement that Christ is the paramount ruler, that he is King and the individual accepts Him as 'ruler'. The hand with the single finger pointing upwards symbolises the individuals ascension into heaven. I will always be on the lookout for a hand with a single finger pointing downwards.

Taphophile Tragics # 40

I stumbled across this dedication during the Rookwood Necropolis Open Day yesterday, where I barely managed it out of the Independent Section. I wonder who 'F. Jenkins' was, yet admire the love they held in their heart for all those years.

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Welcome to the 40th week of Taphophile Tragics.

Your contribution is most welcome. Please ensure that you include some details of the cemetery in which you took your photographs, and link directly to your post, rather than simply to your blog in general. This week, Mr Linky opens at 9:30pm Monday, Sydney time (GMT+10), and closes at 9:30pm on the Friday. When you can, please visit the other contributing bloggers to show your appreciation of their endeavours. Due to time zone variations and overcrowded schedules, some contributions are made later than Tuesday/Wednesday. As per usual, we are working with the Linky with thumbnails, and displaying the oldest entry first, with no randomising.

At the moment, there are three posts a week to this blog:

Mon - Research of an individual from the details on their headstone;
Wed - An example of funerary symbolism and its meaning; and
Fri - 'Six-Feet-Down-Under' highlighting an Australian cemetery/graveyard.

Join me if that sounds of interest.

Widow's weeds

John McArthur was only 35 when he died at his home in Nelson Street Annandale. Only 35, and with a wife 7 months pregnant with their third child. I have not been able to find a coroner's report, so I will figure he had a heart-attack until something more informative jumps out in front of me. Mary McArthur was born McFarlane: they don't fall far from the tree, these canny Scots! There were two things about her that I really needed to know: when she was born; and did she remarry. The dearly departed John was born in Patrick, Scotland; perhaps Mary was a native of Scotland, too. So aged in her early 30s (conjecture, conjecture) Mary was a widow with three small girls: Maggie born in 1884, Jane in August 1885; and Jennetta in June 1887. But worse was to come ...

In July 1892, Maggie died in Parramatta Hospital as the result of burns accidently inflicted, according to the coroner's report. A house-fire would be ironic, considering her departed father, John was a builder, as was HIS father, Peter. They lived in the same set of terraces - Kilmartin Terraces - in Nelson Street Annandale. But the coroner's report did not specify the type of fire. To compound all this, another son of Peter McArthur died in October 1888, once again at his home in Kilmartin Terrace. Ready for this? Archibald, Peter McArthur's oldest son, lost his 23 year old wife in 1884. Talk about not being able to take a trick! I never did find out when Mary was born, nor if she remarried. However, I could not find a date of death either, so figure she did remarry. All this gets very complicated, yes? That is very final, that 'Farewell'. Death is a bit like that.

Six-Feet-Down-Under: St Stephen's Graveyard, Newtown

The graveyard surrounding St Stephen's Anglican Church in Newtown is also known as the Camperdown Cemetery, even though it is just a small portion of the original Camperdown Cemetery, established in the 1840s, and the recipient of some of the removals from the Devonshire Street Cemetery when that cemetery closed in about 1900. On the map down below, the entire park greensward was the original Camperdown Cemetery, but in 1938 everything outside the sandstone walls of St Stephen's was removed, and most ungraciously at that. Headstones are laid along the inside of the sandstone walls to this day. Many of the remains ... remained; unless individual families wished to reinter their ancestors in either Waverley Cemetery, Botany Cemetery, or Rookwood Necropolis.

It does have a great feel to it, this graveyard. Dark and gloomy. And unlike nearly any other cemetery I have visited in Australia, most of which are like and airy, with neatly trimmed lawns and riots of cut flowers. St Stephen's is populated with great, gnarled Port Jackson fig trees, their roots twisting and turning into the soil, and their massive canopies blocking out the sun and the air, with a shadow that admonishes the merest sliver of grass that pokes it head out of the compacted clay. Moisture lies in the uneven ground, mud sloshes, and mould and fungi flourish. All of which has a predictable affect upon sandstone, which is a porous rock to begin with. I have tried to show this aspect of St Stephen's with my selection of images.

View Larger Map

View Larger Map

This is not to condemn this cemetery, which has a piercing beauty which I have described in an earlier post on another blog. It is an engagingly historic graveyard, with memorials not only from Devonshire Street but also from the original Old Burial Ground at the Town Hall. Many of the memorial are sans remains, but the feel of the place is authentic. And there is also St Stephen's, the building. I am but a little old lady, with a stick, and noone thinks twice when I sidle into a church doorway. And I am left in peace, to wander and wonder. As I did on this earlier occasion when the only people around was a bunch of electricians.

I continue to return to Camperdown Cemetery for personal reasons. To endeavour to locate the memorial to Ann Maund, which is prone and has not disclosed it resting place to me in my three previous visits. Darn it! Ann Maund is my 4x-great-grandmother on my mother's side. And a tough old biddy she apparently was. She arrived in the colony with her convict husband, Joseph Puckeridge, in 1801, her two children dying on the journey. When Joseph died in 1818, having 7 young children, she quickly married again, had three more children and died in 1850, aged 71. I have seen a photograph of her memorial, but not seen it with my own eyes yet. But I will, I will ... eventually.

Funerary Objet d'Art - Manly

A with so many of these symbols, I can read and read, but it still comes down to a guess. The combination of these two symbols lead me to think they are of masonic import. The Masons have an 'Order of the Eastern Star' to which both males and females can belong (with qualification). The OES does have a five-pointed star, but it is inverted which this one isn't. Each star point represents a different heroine of the Bible and degree of the Order, and each one represents a different virtue. 'Worthy Matrons' in the order are permitted to wear a crown symbol. The crown is a symbol of sovereignty, honour, glory, victory (especially over death) and the crown of Christ's righteousness. The symbolism could come from Paul's comment about winning the crown of life. However, I am open to a different interpretation.

To be found in Manly Cemetery, New South Wales, Australia

Taphophile Tragics # 39

This headstone, and grave, is to commemorate the life, and death of Catherin Paskell who died in August 1898. The mason forgot to leave sufficient space to tell us how old Catherin was. I was taken by the method of decoration. I have seen plain headstones, I have seen small (growing) annuals, cut blooms, and all variety of artificial flowers. It is not often that I have seen a bush of this size. I shudder to think how far the roots go downb.

Manly Cemetery, New South Wales, Australia

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Welcome to the 39th week of Taphophile Tragics.

Your contribution is most welcome. Please ensure that you include some details of the cemetery in which you took your photographs, and link directly to your post, rather than simply to your blog in general. This week, Mr Linky opens at 9:30pm Monday, Sydney time (GMT+10), and closes at 9:30pm on the Friday. When you can, please visit the other contributing bloggers to show your appreciation of their endeavours. Due to time zone variations and overcrowded schedules, some contributions are made later than Tuesday/Wednesday. As per usual, we are working with the Linky with thumbnails, and displaying the oldest entry first, with no randomising.

At the moment, there are three posts a week to this blog:

Mon - Research of an individual from the details on their headstone;
Wed - An example of funerary symbolism and its meaning; and
Fri - 'Six-Feet-Down-Under' highlighting an Australian cemetery/graveyard.

Join me if that sounds of interest.

Taphophile Tragics - Something does not add up

Florence and Lillian were cousins, Florence's mother (Winifred, born 1903) was the sister of Lillian's father (Samuel, born 1895). Or, at least, I think that is how it goes. Florence's story is the more straightforward, so let's start there first. She was the only child of Winifred Orr and Eric Alfred Ingoverson (born 1900). In 1938, she was on the roof of the verandah at her houme in Naremburn, when she came into contract with and energized electrical wire, and died of shock, aged 14 years. The Coroner's Report, and the New South Wales BDM records all have her down as Florence Hilda, these being also the names of two of her mother's sisters, one of whom died aged 8. So just where the 'Delmont' comes in, I have no idea.

Now Lillian is a totally different story, shrouded in mystery. Nah, not really. Just that the National Library of Australia site is down, and it holds the Trove record which shows tantalising snippets of Lily's obituary. But I have issues here. The monument says Lily died in 1931 aged 23, meaning she was born in 1908. Is my arithmetic right? The hassle is that the family trees that I can find have Lily's mother (Elsie) being born in 1901 and her father (Samuel) in 1895. I do not understand. What is more, the electoral rolls for 1930 show Samuel and Elsie living at 38 The Causeway, Enfield, yet Lillian (who would have been 22 at that stage and on the electoral roll) was not also listed. I await the repair to the NLA site with bated breath. Morning has broken, and still no Trove. However, thanks to Rosemary I went back to NSW BDM. There were two (2) Lillian Orrs: one born to William and Florence and the other born to Samuel and Elsie. The Lillian born to William and Florence is the one buried at Manly, making her the aunt of Florence and also the aunt of the second Lillian. Lillian (the older .. stick with me) was born in 1906 according to official records. Lillian the younger died in 1929, but must have been born AFTER 1911 which is the cut-off for birth-searches within the NSW BDM records. But still need Trove to read what that obituary says.

This is my contribution to the Taphophile Tragics Community.

This is my contribution to the Cemetery Sunday Community.

This post is also linked up to Graveyard Rabbits on FB.

Six-Feet-Down-Under : Manly Cemetery

This little handkerchief of a burial ground was probably way out in the boon docks when it was established in 1872. Although, Jane McLean's monument went up in 1863, and there is a charming story of a birder stumbling across a rough-hewn cross for an infant c.1861. It is small and rectangular, perhaps a normal suburban block. But it is still in use, although only cremations and burial in existing plots is any longer permitted. It is similar to Gore Hill Cemetery in that regard. Both established in the middle of the 19th century.

It is divided into religious demoninations, as were all cemeteries of that era. Christian religious demoninations, you realise. The protties and the micks. Those that protested against the ruling Protestants (eg Presbyterians, Methodists, Baptists) were begrudgingly allocated a General section. One only has to look at the dedications on the headstones to be fully aware when one moves from one section to the next. This is a relatively austere cemetery, meaning devoid of excessive decoration. There are a few angels and Marys but it gives every indication that the people who chose to spend eternity in this burial ground knew the value of money and the necessity of hard work, and kept their ego well in check.

View Larger Map

View Larger Map

Once again, this cemetery was the recipient of a removal from the old Devonshire Street Cemetery which made way for Central Railway Station in the first few years of the 20th century. One William Aberdeen who died in 1845 was reinterred here in Manly in 1899. There are a number of headstones that were instantly memorable and which I will research in more detail as time goes on. The stonemasons were mostly journeymen, judging from their finished product. George Watters’ monumental mason’s yard operated on the corner of Griffiths and Hill Streets, opposite the cemetery from around 1920; his name is carved on several headstones. The Pickworths had their masons’ yard in Harland Street from the 1930s.

The burial ground is now under the care of the Manly Council. Unlike the old Balmain Burial Ground out in Leichhardt, which was turned into a Pioneers' Park during the years of WW2, Manly Cemetery has a long way to go to be mothballed. They are still taking ashes and bodies for burial. The grass is mowed, and the memorials are kept secure. There is some destruction as you can see in the images, but this could be the result of erosion and weather, rather than vandalism. But there is little in the way of decoration; few flowers; fewer vases. It is kept tidy, without being loved.