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Tragic Tale of a Young Cyclist: Will Cornwell's Untimely Death in 1923


Will Cornwell, for whom the gravestone was initially erected, was killed whilst cycling home from work one April evening in 1923. He was the third son of Henry & Ada Minnie Cornwell who lived in Sangley Road, Catford, and who would later be buried beside him, and commemorated on his memorial.

Will was born in Catford and lived there all his brief life. His first job out of school was as an office boy with Charles Dodson, a coachbuilder in Victoria where his Father worked, but in 1923 he was working as an Engineer’s fitter in Vauxhall for Messrs Adam, Grimaldi & Co. of the Albert Embankment. They were manufacturers of aircraft parts, and at that time also manufacturers of a short-lived car called the “Albert”.

He was a keen cyclist and in March 1923 he had once again begun cycling to work after the winter. Thursday 12th April was a showery day, his ride home to Catford that evening took him over Camberwell Green and onward down Peckham Road. At that time the tram ran down the middle of the road with the area between the tracks and the central conduit paved. As he approached the junction with Talfour Avenue he overtook a steam waggon proceeding at a walking pace, and with a tram approaching from behind he pulled out onto the tram tracks to overtake, his bike slipped on the wet roadway, and he fell under the steam waggon. His clothing caught up under the vehicle and he died instantly from a fractured skull.

At the ensuing Coroner’s Inquest witnesses stated that Will “possessed a kindly and charming disposition”, and made friends everywhere. His employer wrote to Will’s parents that he had “always thought very highly of your son. In his conscientiousness to his work and in the progress he was making, I regarded him as one of the best boys we have ever had”.

Henry & Ada Minnie Cornwell had been living in Catford for nearly twenty years but neither were local. Henry was a shopkeeper’s son from Kedington in the South of Suffolk, but in the early 1890s his Father took up farming near Castle Hedingham, Essex. When Henry was 16 his Father tripped whilst walking in his fields and was accidentally killed after falling on the shotgun he habitually carried with him. Henry apprenticed as a wheelwright to a coachbuilder in the nearby village, where he met Ada Minnie Smith, an orphan living with her Grandmother. They married in 1900 and moved to Chadwell Heath in Essex where their first child, Stanley, was born. He died of whooping cough in 1903, aged just 10 months and was buried in Ilford. His name appears in remembrance on the grave in Ladywell Cemetery.

A further son, Arthur, was born in Chadwell Heath in 1903, after which the family moved to Sangley Road, Catford, where three further sons and a daughter were born. Henry worked for Dodson’s until in 1927 he was hired by Hovis Motor Garage on the corner of Bradgate Road and Rushey Green in Catford. Although known as a baker of bread, the company had an associated business repairing and selling motor vehicles. The family lived in a flat above the garage until he retired in 1943.

Their daughter Gladys had married Harold Lambert, who just before the war bought Davenport Garage in Catford, so upon retirement Henry & Ada Minnie moved to Davenport Road on the other side of Rushey Green. They remained there for the rest of their lives.

If you delve deep enough, many families have famous relatives. Henry Cornwell’s Great Grandfather Richard Cornwell had a 4 x Great Grandson called David John Moore Cornwell, who was the successful author better known as John Le CarrĂ©. Born more than fifty years apart, Henry was a 2nd Cousin 3 times removed from the younger David Cornwell.


Thanks to Trevor Ralph, Great Grandson of Henry & Ada Minnie Cornwell, who kindly penned this article and for the use of the family photos

Photo of grave. Phill Barnes-Warden

Posted by,  Phill Barnes-Warden. FoBLC,  committee member.


Friends of Brockley & Ladywell Cemeteries Open Day, Sunday 14 July 2024, from 11.00am - 4.30pm

 


FoBLC Annual General Meeting 15th June 2024 at 2pm & National Cemeteries Week 8–16 June 2024

Discover how Cemetery Friends throughout the UK support the people keeping your cemetery tidy and safe, and many other aspects of their work. 

Friends of Brockley & Ladywell Cemeteries Annual General Meeting 15th June 2024 at 2pm Ladywell Cemetery Chapel 

Following the AGM and a break for refreshments at 3pm. approx. An Appreciation of the late Mike Guilfoyle
MIke Guilfoyle 1955-2023

Members and friends are invited to share their appreciation of the work done by Mike while a member of the Friends’ group in his various roles. Comments will be interspersed with recordings of his podcasts highlighting the lives of three of the fascinating people buried in the cemeteries, with PowerPoint illustrations. 

 National Cemeteries Week is supported by the National Federation of Cemetery Friends in association with Caring for God’s Acre. 

For further information visit https://www.cemeteryfriends.com/ncw