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England (Counties as in 1851-1901) => London and Middlesex => England => London & Middlesex Lookup Requests => Topic started by: Maz R on Tuesday 17 July 18 16:29 BST (UK)
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Just wondered if anyone goes to Twickenham Cemetery and could take a couple of grave photos for me. They are Charles Pearce Section B Grave E13 Class B with his wife and George Pearce Section E row 93.
Many Thanks
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Hello, I am near by. I will go tomorrow lunchtime.
Martin
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Thanks very much
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Maz R, I've just got back home. It's been an interesting day. Much of the older part of the cemetery has suffered, probably from vandalism over the years. Many of the headstones are missing or on the ground. I printed the map of the cemetery from the Richmond Council website, and after spending about 40 minutes failing to find either of the two graves that I was looking for, I found a friendly cemetery worker. I told him my problem, and suddenly two more friendly cemetery workers appeared. Within moments one of them disappeared again and returned with some original cemetery plans hand drawn on linen, dating from the late 1800's. These were attached to a pole like having 8 or 10 curtains on one pole. I was astonished to see them. I cringed when he laid them out over the hot bonnet of his van, and even more so when he laid them out on the ground. To cut a long story short he couldn't work out how the references that you have related to his plan. The cemetery staff were very familiar with the plans and the numbering system and must have used the same maps many times. I've taken photographs of what they think could be right, but there is some doubt whether I was even in the right cemetery. I was at the cemetery in Hospital Bridge Road Whitton, which is officially known as Twickenham Cemetery. I wonder if it could have been somewhere else.
The men were wearing black t-shirts and the sun was very bright but they were happy for me to take photographs, but I don't know whether the detail of the charts will be shown. You'd have given several fingers to be there, it was brilliant.
If any of the photographs of the maps are any good I will post them here later today as they will be of interest to anybody.
Could you confirm that what you call Twickenham Cemetery is the one that is in Hospital Bridge Road Whitton, and has a sign saying Twickenham Cemetery outside it. Where did you get the grave location details from?
Martin
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Martin
I know feel very guilty asking as you had so much trouble but on the other hand jealous as sounds great. I got the plot references from the web from here https://www2.richmond.gov.uk/lbrburials/(S(y3143ltjm3aalogktdbvdwnj))/DeceasedDetails.aspx?t=dec&id=293783 Hope this link works as search results. If not https://www2.richmond.gov.uk/lbrburials/(S(ghdusliasb4escrr3osny0qw))/Search.aspx is the main site. As far as which cemetery I have no idea as you will see from here that it just says Twickenham?
Marie-Claire
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Marie-Claire, don't feel guilty, it was very interesting. And so hot!! I am sure that I was in what is definitely 'Twickenham Cemetery', although it is much nearer Whitton, the next town. I will take the photos off my camera either later or tomorrow morning and send the relevant ones to you, and post a picture of the old maps here as they were amazing. I took a few that will let you see how dilapidated it has become, despite the valiant efforts of my 'new friends'.
I will also send you an annotated copy of the cemetery map showing where the staff think the graves were. the newer parts are much more neatly laid out, in recitilinear designs, rather than 'concentrically' around the perimeter of irregular shaped areas.
Martin
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Hi Martin
It does sound likely as they were baptized and married in Whitton Church so if it is near Whitton that would make sense. They are a very hard family to follow and know they have always been in the London area. An area I know nothing about being born and lived in Guernsey all my life. They are my grandmother's mothers family. All rather strange she only meet her half a dozen times and lived with her grandmother in Guernsey all her life. Even when my Grandmother was evacuated out of Guernsey in WW2 and lived in Bournemouth and Southend and had her children there she never saw her mother.
Thanks
Marie-Claire
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I'm trying to add a photo to this thread, but when I click on 'Attachments and other options', I don't get offered the file upload window. I could do it in a new message, but I don't want to do that. Very odd? Does anyone have a solution?
Martin
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I' too have head-scratched over this in the past, Mart. It turns out that photo attachments aren't allowed in Lookup forums to stop people uploading copyright register scans.
Please start a new thread in the parent London & Middlesex forum. I will be interested in seeing the maps as some of my relatives lived in Richmond.
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Chris, thank you for explaining that. I can't believe there is no indication. I tried a PC, two different tablets and about five different versions of browsers. I thought 40 years as an IT consultant had gone down the tubes. I shall try it shortly.
Update at 16:54. Try this:
http://www.rootschat.com/forum/index.php?topic=797095.new#new
Martin
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Good afternoon,
I can sympathise with you Martin, I too have done a search and took photo's there for a fellow RCr some years ago.
I used to park my truck along hospital rd for tacho breaks so it was easy or so I thought. I searched once but couldn't locate them but on my second visit saw those same plans. Probably even the same men who took me straight to where I wanted. Somewhere near that dirty patch on the plan you show. It had been overgrown on my first visit but had been cleared when I returned.
Not every grave has one but enough do to help locate what you want. You may have to rummage in the grass but you will find grave no's at the foot of the grave nr one corner. Carved into grave surrounds or slabs where possible. Row markers are nr the footpaths, but inside of the rows around the edge, or should be. Some are now missing especially at the older end where you are looking.
John915
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John, I saw some markers numbers, but many headstones had gone, and they all need a good strimming. The numbers we did find helped tell us where the graves should have been, but even the edge stones had gone. The staff were doing a good job, but the place has been vandalised a lot over the years. I will never forget how hot it was there, yesterday!
Martin
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Just a personal observation but I think strimmers should be kept well away from gravestones. There is a gravestone of some of my ancestors in a churchyard up in Yorkshire. The stone had a lot of writing on it that contained the genealogical information of three generations. Unfortunately someone had been over enthusiastic with a strimmer and chipped away at the stone resulting in the last three lines being chipped away. Luckily the missing lines were recorded in some church transcriptions of monumental inscriptions, but that is not always the case.