I continue the story of my visit to Brighton's Extra Mural Cemetery and include some links if you’d like to read more about an extraordinary woman and her father.
Family history is detective work , a bit of dogged determination, luck, and the help of others. You’ve come across each of these in this lovely narrative. I know it’s not your family history but it is someone’s! One of the positive aspects of looking for information about the deceased is that they aren’t going anywhere. Graves just waiting to be discovered, whether with a memorial stone or not. And the energy or soul of someone that you tap into by looking for them.
At a slight tangent , the burial process in Victorian times is something that is not that well documented. There’s the simple distinction of pauper burial ( although that definition varies from place to place) , but I can’t find much about the undertakers and memorial stonemasons of the period. Was there competition? What was the cost? Given the price of contemporary funerals was a Victorian one equally a substantial priory of savings or income?
If you or any reader knows of the nitty gritty of undertaking, let me know please.
Oh, and sorry to be a pedant but you mention the 1865 Census. A mistype I guess , as the census was 1861 and then 1871…,
Hi Peter - I agree there is so much work in family history and it can be rewarding and frustrating in equal measure. Graveyards are so full of sleeping stories just waiting to be unearthed.
The whole question of the burial process is fascinating. I know when I’ve been in Ireland for example finding out about how people during the famine would do anything to get into the workhouse just to ensure an actual burial. The alternative was being placed in a mass grave of which there are many in Ireland.
I am also very interested in the ritual around death in Victorian times - death masks, death dolls, ostentatious memorials, promenading and picnicking in cemeteries, mourning periods. So much of that then went out of fashion in the Edwardian period.
Thanks for picking up the point about the census! I will check and amend the piece.
Family history is detective work , a bit of dogged determination, luck, and the help of others. You’ve come across each of these in this lovely narrative. I know it’s not your family history but it is someone’s! One of the positive aspects of looking for information about the deceased is that they aren’t going anywhere. Graves just waiting to be discovered, whether with a memorial stone or not. And the energy or soul of someone that you tap into by looking for them.
At a slight tangent , the burial process in Victorian times is something that is not that well documented. There’s the simple distinction of pauper burial ( although that definition varies from place to place) , but I can’t find much about the undertakers and memorial stonemasons of the period. Was there competition? What was the cost? Given the price of contemporary funerals was a Victorian one equally a substantial priory of savings or income?
If you or any reader knows of the nitty gritty of undertaking, let me know please.
Oh, and sorry to be a pedant but you mention the 1865 Census. A mistype I guess , as the census was 1861 and then 1871…,
Hi Peter - I agree there is so much work in family history and it can be rewarding and frustrating in equal measure. Graveyards are so full of sleeping stories just waiting to be unearthed.
The whole question of the burial process is fascinating. I know when I’ve been in Ireland for example finding out about how people during the famine would do anything to get into the workhouse just to ensure an actual burial. The alternative was being placed in a mass grave of which there are many in Ireland.
I am also very interested in the ritual around death in Victorian times - death masks, death dolls, ostentatious memorials, promenading and picnicking in cemeteries, mourning periods. So much of that then went out of fashion in the Edwardian period.
Thanks for picking up the point about the census! I will check and amend the piece.
How sad a tale. Magical that you should find Seb though!
Yes, he was indeed a ‘kindly man’ and by a twist of faith turns out to be the ex -partner of a friend of mine!
Oh wow! You must attract the magic!