Wednesday 31 October 2018
An idiots guide to an Idiot: Resting place of an ancestor
An idiots guide to an Idiot: Resting place of an ancestor: I happened to be in the Willesden area today & it occurred to me that one of my Great Grandfathers was buried in Paddington Cemetery wh...
Resting place of an ancestor
I happened to be in the Willesden area today & it occurred to me that one of my Great Grandfathers was buried in Paddington Cemetery which confusingly is in Willesden. George Henry Small died on 23rd February 1917 and was buried here on 2nd March 1917 aged but 49 years.
There's a story, told to me by my Dad, attached to his demise.
He was a coach painter & was working at the Royal Mews in Buckingham Palace (more of that later), my Gran (his daughter) used to take him his lunch but one day she either forgot or for some reason couldn't get there so he returned to Paddington where they lived and got run over by a bus on the way home, from which he died. However I have a copy of his death certificate and that has no mention of being knocked down, cause of death is recorded as 'carcinoma of the stomach and exhaustion.'. So stomach cancer killed him. I have learnt that in genealogy it is dangerous not to note all family stories & indeed tittle tattle as there maybe a grain of truth buried there somewhere. I thought it may just be that later, after he'd been run over he complained of stomach problems leading to cancer and his family blamed these on the accident. I'll never have a satisfactory answer to this of course though I haven't checked the local papers of the time to see whether an accident is noted. I'll add it to my 'to do' list.
The gates photoed must have been the same entrance that his funeral cortege would have gone through, I presume a horse drawn hearse. It seems a long way from Paddington where they lived but there wasn't a nearer cemetery, it would seem they were not at all wealthy on the electoral roll George, his wife Annie and their six children lived in two rooms at 28 Church Street. In 1906 they were paying 7shillings a week rent.
He is buried in a common grave in section 3e. This is pretty well a paupers grave, the bodies being buried up to ten deep ( must have been one hell of a hole!) and there is no headstone. The cemetery has been neglected, the gate houses either side of the entrance seem to have been sold off and the chapel in the middle, where I expect my Great Grandfather would have had his funeral service, has gone to rack and ruin, as you can see from the photos it is surrounded by fencing, I can only hope the authorities intend to renovate at some stage.
I don't know much about George really and have no photos of him but I can tell you he was born in 1867 in Marylebone, I haven't found his baptism yet so his age is worked out from census returns. He was the sixth of eight children to William George & Sarah Elizabeth Small (nee Hutchins), they were both born in Salisbury, Wiltshire and moved to London somewhere between 1854 and 1861 where they lived at 24 Exeter Street, two of their six children were born in Wiltshire, the rest in London, the Marylebone area which later gets called Paddington. William is noted as a coach painter on all the census returns and George followed him doing the same job. Buckingham Palace didn't employ coach painters, they employed outside companies so he must have worked for one of them. I have a list of companies used but so far I haven't found out which one he may have worked for.
George married Annie Eliza Cunningham on 23rd December 1888 at the parish Church of St Marylebone, they lived at 31 Exeter Street to start with. They had eight children in total,two of them dying very young, my Grandmother being the fifth born. How they'd have got on once George was dead I do not know. My Gran would have been 16 so I expect, along with her sisters & brother contributed to the family coffers.
I would think my Dad was named after him as he too was George Henry. He always hated both his names but said he reckoned his parents thought no further than the name of the King for him, you'd have thought they may have told him he was named after his Grandfather.
There's a story, told to me by my Dad, attached to his demise.
He was a coach painter & was working at the Royal Mews in Buckingham Palace (more of that later), my Gran (his daughter) used to take him his lunch but one day she either forgot or for some reason couldn't get there so he returned to Paddington where they lived and got run over by a bus on the way home, from which he died. However I have a copy of his death certificate and that has no mention of being knocked down, cause of death is recorded as 'carcinoma of the stomach and exhaustion.'. So stomach cancer killed him. I have learnt that in genealogy it is dangerous not to note all family stories & indeed tittle tattle as there maybe a grain of truth buried there somewhere. I thought it may just be that later, after he'd been run over he complained of stomach problems leading to cancer and his family blamed these on the accident. I'll never have a satisfactory answer to this of course though I haven't checked the local papers of the time to see whether an accident is noted. I'll add it to my 'to do' list.
The gates photoed must have been the same entrance that his funeral cortege would have gone through, I presume a horse drawn hearse. It seems a long way from Paddington where they lived but there wasn't a nearer cemetery, it would seem they were not at all wealthy on the electoral roll George, his wife Annie and their six children lived in two rooms at 28 Church Street. In 1906 they were paying 7shillings a week rent.
He is buried in a common grave in section 3e. This is pretty well a paupers grave, the bodies being buried up to ten deep ( must have been one hell of a hole!) and there is no headstone. The cemetery has been neglected, the gate houses either side of the entrance seem to have been sold off and the chapel in the middle, where I expect my Great Grandfather would have had his funeral service, has gone to rack and ruin, as you can see from the photos it is surrounded by fencing, I can only hope the authorities intend to renovate at some stage.
I don't know much about George really and have no photos of him but I can tell you he was born in 1867 in Marylebone, I haven't found his baptism yet so his age is worked out from census returns. He was the sixth of eight children to William George & Sarah Elizabeth Small (nee Hutchins), they were both born in Salisbury, Wiltshire and moved to London somewhere between 1854 and 1861 where they lived at 24 Exeter Street, two of their six children were born in Wiltshire, the rest in London, the Marylebone area which later gets called Paddington. William is noted as a coach painter on all the census returns and George followed him doing the same job. Buckingham Palace didn't employ coach painters, they employed outside companies so he must have worked for one of them. I have a list of companies used but so far I haven't found out which one he may have worked for.
George married Annie Eliza Cunningham on 23rd December 1888 at the parish Church of St Marylebone, they lived at 31 Exeter Street to start with. They had eight children in total,two of them dying very young, my Grandmother being the fifth born. How they'd have got on once George was dead I do not know. My Gran would have been 16 so I expect, along with her sisters & brother contributed to the family coffers.
I would think my Dad was named after him as he too was George Henry. He always hated both his names but said he reckoned his parents thought no further than the name of the King for him, you'd have thought they may have told him he was named after his Grandfather.
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| Views of area 3E where George Henry Small is buried |
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| Area 3E |
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| Area 3E |
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| Memorial to all buried in unmarked graves. |
Saturday 27 October 2018
An idiots guide to an Idiot: Poppies
An idiots guide to an Idiot: Poppies: We went to the stunning 'Poppy Fields' instillation at St Albans Cathedral last night. Have to say that as you entered the cathedra...
Poppies
We went to the stunning 'Poppy Fields' instillation at St Albans Cathedral last night. Have to say that as you entered the cathedral it almost took your breath away as wherever you looked there was poppies. It was accompanied with music, quite ethereal music by David Harper Msc.It was awesome and strangely emotional as well. You know what I'm like particularly remembering the dead of the world wars, with their ages being that of our children and younger it is always sad.
Further round the cathedral you pass the book of remembrance to the Hertfordshire Regiment festooned with poppies and above are the Colours of the regiment, which of course carry battle honours from the Great War, further still there is a continuous list of names of those who served over the past 100 years. I'd be interested to know how this list was compiled, as it's only just occurred to me that my Dad's name should be there and many of our ancestors who took part in the Great War, I'll have to try & find out, and then information panels on the war memorials all round St Albans & those who fell.
There is a video featuring the actor Eddie Redmayne ( star of the adaption of 'Bird Song' a couple of years ago, all about a young subaltern on the Western Front) reciting war poems, then falling leaves, not too sure what they represent, and finally quite a gruesome (I thought) sculpture of a blindfolded head entitled 'The pity of war.'
A unique tribute I am pleased I saw. We repaired to the pub after, first the Slug & Lettuce. Not only was this pub full of 12 year olds (it appeared!) but the music was so bloody loud we were unable to hold any sort of conversation, look, I'm not an old git & I can certainly 'do' loud, I still go to heavy metal gigs for gawds sake, but it was no point staying there, so we walked on to The Waterend Barn, a Wetherspoons as it happens which was much better, though my choice of beer wasn't , a pint of 'Old Man,' I think Gary thought I was winding him up when I told him what it was called! which was far darker than I like & tasted like cough mixture, it got better though with a good old Tring Brewery beer, 'Pale Four.' Cathie kindly drove us this evening so slummed it on lemonade & tea, Gary on lager & Tara on Bacardi & coke.
It was a really good evening , in the best company and a moving tribute to the Great War.
Further round the cathedral you pass the book of remembrance to the Hertfordshire Regiment festooned with poppies and above are the Colours of the regiment, which of course carry battle honours from the Great War, further still there is a continuous list of names of those who served over the past 100 years. I'd be interested to know how this list was compiled, as it's only just occurred to me that my Dad's name should be there and many of our ancestors who took part in the Great War, I'll have to try & find out, and then information panels on the war memorials all round St Albans & those who fell.
There is a video featuring the actor Eddie Redmayne ( star of the adaption of 'Bird Song' a couple of years ago, all about a young subaltern on the Western Front) reciting war poems, then falling leaves, not too sure what they represent, and finally quite a gruesome (I thought) sculpture of a blindfolded head entitled 'The pity of war.'
A unique tribute I am pleased I saw. We repaired to the pub after, first the Slug & Lettuce. Not only was this pub full of 12 year olds (it appeared!) but the music was so bloody loud we were unable to hold any sort of conversation, look, I'm not an old git & I can certainly 'do' loud, I still go to heavy metal gigs for gawds sake, but it was no point staying there, so we walked on to The Waterend Barn, a Wetherspoons as it happens which was much better, though my choice of beer wasn't , a pint of 'Old Man,' I think Gary thought I was winding him up when I told him what it was called! which was far darker than I like & tasted like cough mixture, it got better though with a good old Tring Brewery beer, 'Pale Four.' Cathie kindly drove us this evening so slummed it on lemonade & tea, Gary on lager & Tara on Bacardi & coke.
It was a really good evening , in the best company and a moving tribute to the Great War.
Wednesday 24 October 2018
An idiots guide to an Idiot: 24th October 1918
An idiots guide to an Idiot: 24th October 1918: The Great War had but 18 days left to run yet men were still being killed. Of all the futile waste of the war these deaths must surely r...
24th October 1918
The Great War had but 18 days left to run yet men were still being killed.
Of all the futile waste of the war these deaths must surely rank amongst the most futile. The 16th/Royal Warwickshire's, the battalion in which my Grandad now served, had been in the trenches since the 12th October and had passed through such areas as 'sunken road' later made famous in photos etc, they were around the village of Viesly and on the 20th withdrew to Bethencourt. The action they had been involved in won the congratulations of the General Officer Commanding the 5th Division Major General J Ponsonby. The casualty figures for October 1918, the last full month of the war were:
Killed
2 Officers
16 Other Ranks
Wounded
3 Officers
71 Other Ranks
Missing
8 Other Ranks
NYD* (Gas)
16 Other Ranks
Of course it's unknown whether any of the wounded subsequently died or what extent their wounds were. The still very class conscious age named all officers in the diaries but NCO's and men were just referred to as the all encompassing 'Other Ranks.' A point which still annoys me, even after all the war diaries I have read, why should a captain's name be more note worthy than that of a corporal?
The battalion was now at Caudry and on todays date the entry just reads:
A & D Coys** on range. Company training.
*Not Yet Diagnosed.
** Company (approx 120 men though less towards the end of the war)
Of all the futile waste of the war these deaths must surely rank amongst the most futile. The 16th/Royal Warwickshire's, the battalion in which my Grandad now served, had been in the trenches since the 12th October and had passed through such areas as 'sunken road' later made famous in photos etc, they were around the village of Viesly and on the 20th withdrew to Bethencourt. The action they had been involved in won the congratulations of the General Officer Commanding the 5th Division Major General J Ponsonby. The casualty figures for October 1918, the last full month of the war were:
Killed
2 Officers
16 Other Ranks
Wounded
3 Officers
71 Other Ranks
Missing
8 Other Ranks
NYD* (Gas)
16 Other Ranks
Of course it's unknown whether any of the wounded subsequently died or what extent their wounds were. The still very class conscious age named all officers in the diaries but NCO's and men were just referred to as the all encompassing 'Other Ranks.' A point which still annoys me, even after all the war diaries I have read, why should a captain's name be more note worthy than that of a corporal?
The battalion was now at Caudry and on todays date the entry just reads:
A & D Coys** on range. Company training.
*Not Yet Diagnosed.
** Company (approx 120 men though less towards the end of the war)
Sunday 21 October 2018
An idiots guide to an Idiot: A pleasant Suday walk
An idiots guide to an Idiot: A pleasant Suday walk: We met Paul & Kate today for a walk over in Sarratt, Holy Cross Church there is where Tara Grandparents and Aunt are buried, there'...
A pleasant Suday walk
We met Paul & Kate today for a walk over in Sarratt, Holy Cross Church there is where Tara Grandparents and Aunt are buried, there's a very nice pub opposite as well. Tara is convinced her Grandad planned this specially as he liked a pub lunch.
The weather was glorious today, hard to believe it's nearly November! Had a nice walk with Ida as well and also our dog guest for a couple of days, Slade. You forget how big cows are until you have to walk through a herd of them don't you? This was the case half way round our walk, they were all quite docile and moved eventually, not sure how Alec would have got on though!
Back The Cock Inn for dinner. It caters for gluten free dishes so T had a Nut Roast, Paul & Kate had Roast beef and I had chicken and leek pie washed down with a pint of Badger Brewery's best bitter. All delicious, we've eaten here before and will eat here again. Some of the conversation today was that of Paul & Kates impending nuptials next October in the Lake District , an area they both love, so we're looking forward to that.
The weather was glorious today, hard to believe it's nearly November! Had a nice walk with Ida as well and also our dog guest for a couple of days, Slade. You forget how big cows are until you have to walk through a herd of them don't you? This was the case half way round our walk, they were all quite docile and moved eventually, not sure how Alec would have got on though!
Back The Cock Inn for dinner. It caters for gluten free dishes so T had a Nut Roast, Paul & Kate had Roast beef and I had chicken and leek pie washed down with a pint of Badger Brewery's best bitter. All delicious, we've eaten here before and will eat here again. Some of the conversation today was that of Paul & Kates impending nuptials next October in the Lake District , an area they both love, so we're looking forward to that.
An idiots guide to an Idiot: Spamalot
An idiots guide to an Idiot: Spamalot: Tara's Birthday treat from her Mum was tickets to see Spamalot despite telling her Mum that she's not a big Monty Python fan......P...
Spamalot
Tara's Birthday treat from her Mum was tickets to see Spamalot despite telling her Mum that she's not a big Monty Python fan......Parents!
It was put on by the Dunstable Musical Theatre Company, at the Grove Theatre in Dunstable and what a brilliant performance it was! Initially I thought the West End production was on tour but not so, so they must have released the rights or whatever to allow amateur groups to produce it, though to call the DMTC an amateur group makes them sound second rate and they certainly weren't that!
It was a very slick and polished performance and was a hoot from beginning to end, the cast obviously enjoyed themselves too. This stage version of the film of Monty Python and the Holy Grail has other bits of Python shoehorned in, 'Always look on the bright side of life' is in it even though it was from The Life of Brian and of course its adapted to make it work on stage. Its very funny and well worth seeing, and Tara? She thoroughly enjoyed the show. I should also say that Ella & Julian treated us to dinner at the Gary Cooper before the performance which was really nice & a couple of beers naturally!
As you aren't allowed, or at least not supposed to take photos of the performance here's a photo of the intermission!
It was put on by the Dunstable Musical Theatre Company, at the Grove Theatre in Dunstable and what a brilliant performance it was! Initially I thought the West End production was on tour but not so, so they must have released the rights or whatever to allow amateur groups to produce it, though to call the DMTC an amateur group makes them sound second rate and they certainly weren't that!
It was a very slick and polished performance and was a hoot from beginning to end, the cast obviously enjoyed themselves too. This stage version of the film of Monty Python and the Holy Grail has other bits of Python shoehorned in, 'Always look on the bright side of life' is in it even though it was from The Life of Brian and of course its adapted to make it work on stage. Its very funny and well worth seeing, and Tara? She thoroughly enjoyed the show. I should also say that Ella & Julian treated us to dinner at the Gary Cooper before the performance which was really nice & a couple of beers naturally!
As you aren't allowed, or at least not supposed to take photos of the performance here's a photo of the intermission!
An idiots guide to an Idiot: Gig
An idiots guide to an Idiot: Gig: The last gig we've got booked this year was a brilliant one! A few of us going as well, our great friends, Kevin, Gary & Cathie, sh...
Gig
The last gig we've got booked this year was a brilliant one! A few of us going as well, our great friends, Kevin, Gary & Cathie, should have been Paul as well but he had to work late, bugger!
This gig was at the Roundhouse in Kentish Town. An interesting building which is indeed round but not a house. It was originally built in 1847 as an engine shed with a turntable to turn the steam engines round. It was only used for about a decade because the engines were by then too long for the shed! After that it was used just as a warehouse. It was listed in 1954 and reopened as an arts venue in 1964. In 2006 an extension was added to fit in bars and cafes etc, the building itself lovingly restored, capacity is 1700 people, we has seats & could see well except for the original iron pillars that encircled the middle of the building, notwithstanding that we had a very good view.
But before all that we made our way to The Pembroke just off Primrose Hill for some dinner.
Good food, good beer, good company! Cathie instigated a 'game' where you had to drop song titles into the conversation, I wasn't very good and got about 2 I think, Cathie was better & scored about 27! To be fair I think she gave me one of hers as well!
To the gig then. Got a t shirt, got a drink, got our seats, all set! 'Wayward Son's were first up and very good they were too. Featuring Toby Jepson formerly of Gun, before that a spell with Fastway and prior to them with Little Angels. I enjoyed their set immensely, I think we all did. I only recognised one song that I've heard played on Planet Rock, Kevin has their debut album which he says is now growing on him. It's on my list now as well! Being the first support they were only on about half an hour and after a break to set up the next band came on who were FM (should have been Y&T but they cancelled due to the guitarist having back problems which meant he couldn't fly over from the States)
FM have a good pedigree with two of the original members from Samson (saw them once about 40 years ago, Samson then had a relatively unknown singer called Bruce Dickinson!). I must say, even though they have clocked up 10 studio albums I found them abit pedestrian, bland was another comment. They could do their stuff with aplomb, the bass player Merv Goldworthy quite obviously having a ball but they just didn't really do it for me.
Saxon came on just after nine o'clock and bludgeoned us all with the Heavy Metal they do so well. They played just under a two hour set, whoever put up the set list on setlist.com noted that the last verse of the final song was cut as they'd overrun the curfew!
They played a good mix of old tracks, as Biff commented 'Some of you weren't even born when we wrote this one!' and newer tracks covering all the Saxon classics you'd expect like '747 Strangers in the night,' 'Wheels of Steel,' 'Motorcycle Man,' etc with a couple off the latest album as well. A problem with the stage lights at one point led to a song being done by the light of mobile phones! Never seen that before! It ended all too quickly and we were home by around 12.30am A great night!
Here's the set list:
Saxon.
This gig was at the Roundhouse in Kentish Town. An interesting building which is indeed round but not a house. It was originally built in 1847 as an engine shed with a turntable to turn the steam engines round. It was only used for about a decade because the engines were by then too long for the shed! After that it was used just as a warehouse. It was listed in 1954 and reopened as an arts venue in 1964. In 2006 an extension was added to fit in bars and cafes etc, the building itself lovingly restored, capacity is 1700 people, we has seats & could see well except for the original iron pillars that encircled the middle of the building, notwithstanding that we had a very good view.
But before all that we made our way to The Pembroke just off Primrose Hill for some dinner.
Good food, good beer, good company! Cathie instigated a 'game' where you had to drop song titles into the conversation, I wasn't very good and got about 2 I think, Cathie was better & scored about 27! To be fair I think she gave me one of hers as well!
To the gig then. Got a t shirt, got a drink, got our seats, all set! 'Wayward Son's were first up and very good they were too. Featuring Toby Jepson formerly of Gun, before that a spell with Fastway and prior to them with Little Angels. I enjoyed their set immensely, I think we all did. I only recognised one song that I've heard played on Planet Rock, Kevin has their debut album which he says is now growing on him. It's on my list now as well! Being the first support they were only on about half an hour and after a break to set up the next band came on who were FM (should have been Y&T but they cancelled due to the guitarist having back problems which meant he couldn't fly over from the States)
FM have a good pedigree with two of the original members from Samson (saw them once about 40 years ago, Samson then had a relatively unknown singer called Bruce Dickinson!). I must say, even though they have clocked up 10 studio albums I found them abit pedestrian, bland was another comment. They could do their stuff with aplomb, the bass player Merv Goldworthy quite obviously having a ball but they just didn't really do it for me.
Saxon came on just after nine o'clock and bludgeoned us all with the Heavy Metal they do so well. They played just under a two hour set, whoever put up the set list on setlist.com noted that the last verse of the final song was cut as they'd overrun the curfew!
They played a good mix of old tracks, as Biff commented 'Some of you weren't even born when we wrote this one!' and newer tracks covering all the Saxon classics you'd expect like '747 Strangers in the night,' 'Wheels of Steel,' 'Motorcycle Man,' etc with a couple off the latest album as well. A problem with the stage lights at one point led to a song being done by the light of mobile phones! Never seen that before! It ended all too quickly and we were home by around 12.30am A great night!
Here's the set list:
Saxon.
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- Encore:
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(Last verse not played as 11pm curfew breached)
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| Wayward Sons |
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| FM |
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| FM |
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| Saxon |
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