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Thursday

The Martin Family




Helen Hancock has kindly supplied this account about her great grandparents who are buried in Brockley cemetery. She has been researching their lives for the last 8 years and contacted the FOBLC in order to obtain a photo of their graves.


THE MARTIN FAMILY
My father’s maternal grandparents are buried at Brockley, Plot X883. They had lived at 57 Etta Street, Deptford up until the time of their deaths. My great grandmother, Agnes Martin, was born in 1863, to parents Patrick and Mary Hanley in Ireland, possibly in Ballyleague on the shores of the Shannon. William Thomas Martin was born in Tipton in 1859 to mother Eliza Martin, née Caddick.


AGNES MARTIN (1963-1935)
Agnes and William are rumoured to have met in America after her parents had joined millions of Irish people seeking work and a better life from the hardships in Ireland. William travelled several times to America and lived for a short time in Providence. They married there in 1884. From Providence, Agnes and William moved back to Birmingham where William was a Brass Polisher. Between 1885 and 1888 the couple moved to Deptford where it is believed William worked at J. Stone & Co. They had eleven children, Eliza, William Thomas, Florrie, Edith, Mabel Louisa, Agnes Mary, Arthur, Lily, May, Walter and an unknown child.


WILLIAM THOMAS MARTIN (1859-1947)

The headstone at Brockley carries the names of Agnes, who died in May of 1935, aged 72 at St. Alpheges Hospital, Greenwich following years of illness, William Thomas Martin who died in 1947, aged 88, and two of their children. Lily died aged 21 and William Thomas Jnr., who was killed during the First World War in 1917. He was part of the British Expeditionary Force and died at the age of 29. He is buried at the War Graves site in Baghdad, maintained by the War Graves Commission.

COY.SGT.MAJOR WILLIAM THOMAS MARTIN, Royal Engineers (1888-1917)

Posted by Patrick Napier at 23:26 1 comments

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Sunday

Clearing ivy from headstones and memorials

Here are some before and after shots from the successful recent workday in conjunction with Lewisham Nature's Gyms. Many thanks to all who came and helped.

Posted by Patrick Napier at 23:08 1 comments

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History and Notable Burials

Probably the most interesting (albeit gruesome) piece of history in Brockley Cemetery is a monument erected to the memory of Jane Clouson.

The monument was paid for by public money and stands alone amongst the trees - a praying child sits on top of a pillar.

Below the figure is an inscription detailing the horrific events surrounding her brutal murder on April 25th, 1871:

"A motherless girl who was murdered in Kidbrooke Lane Eltham age 17 in 1871. Her last words were, "Oh, let me die". "

The Scottish Times

News and intelligence from Scotland, and around the globe. Vol. II–No. 38.] Edinburgh, October 11, 1871. Price 3d.

[from Northstar Creative.co.uk]

GREENWICH MURDERER ACQUITTED. YESTERDAY, the Pook family of Greenwich, London, were forced to leave their family home, so strong was the feeling of the local community against them – the animosity having arisen from Mr E. Pooks recent acquittal at his trial, for the murder of Miss J. Clouson.

For anyone who has not been following the case, the public anger and resentment is quite understandable when one considers the undisputed evidence, in that: Jane Clouson was 17 year old when she gained employment at the Pook’s residence, that 3 years later Mr E. Pooks overcame her virtue, and that earlier this year the unfortunate girl found herself pregnant.

It was also revealed from testimonies that Miss J. Clouson had been led to believe Mr E. Pooks was going to make a respectable woman of her and, on the evening of her demise, she was going to meet him.

What follows next is a clear and exact series of events, which only a judge – with the mighty burden of the Law weighing down on his shoulders – could find circumstantial.

Sometime later on that fateful evening, a Constable discovered Jane Clouson in a wretched condition, crawling on Kidbrooke Lane with her head battered so severely, that one eye was hanging from its socket. She never fully regained consciousness, and died later in Guy’s Hospital.

Despite the facts that the accused was seen running from the lane, and that the murder weapon found at the scene – a hammer – had been sold to him by a local shopkeeper some days earlier, and that his trousers were covered in blood and mud : there still remained a “reasonable doubt”.

Mr Pooks claimed that he had spent the entire evening, awaiting with amorous intent, outside another ladies’ house in Greenwich – and this claim, much against everyone’s wishes, could not be disproved.

Notable burials:

Sir William Eames (1821-1897) Marine engineer

Sir John Gilbert (1817 - 1897) Illustrator, drawing for the 'Illustrated London News' and designed a cover for 'Punch'

Sir George Grove (1820 - 1900) First director of the Royal College of Music in 1882 - author of 'Dictionary of Music and Musicians)

Sir William Hardy (1807 - 1887) Deputy Keeper of Public Records 1878 - 1886

Sir Alexander Nisbet (1812 - 1892) Inspector General of the Royal Navy and honorary physician to the Queen

William Stephens (1817 - 1871) Grand Warden of the Grand Lodge of England

[information from London Cemeteries - Hugh Mellor]

Taken from London Necropolis

 
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