FOWNC Newsletter No 52. January 2005. Free to members. Price £1.00 to non-members

Chairman's Report - Bob Flanagan

Progress continues with the works to the cemetery infrastructure as detailed in the last Newsletter. In addition a landscape historical survey has been commissioned. The aim is to establish what is left of Tite's original planting scheme for the cemetery in order to guide future planning. Sadly Jill O'Meara's replacement, Debbie Franson, has moved on. Whilst thanking her for her efforts since the summer, we welcome the new Project Officer Andrew Moran.

Some further news of Lambeth personnel. Anne Russell and Linda Friday who have worked in the cemetery office at Norwood for many years are taking early retirement and leave in circa February/March. We would like to thank them for all the help they have willingly given us, relatives, and visitors to the cemetery, and wish them both long and happy retirements.

Finally, thanks to all who have either joined FOWNC recently or rejoined from previous years. We feel confident that progress with various projects will accelerate in 2005, with a new guidebook a priority.

Rededication of the Jerrold Memorial

Hopefully many of you will have seen the splendidly-restored Jerrold memorial (grave 5,452, square 97). There will be a short rededication ceremony at 14.00 on 21 May 2005. If anyone has any thoughts as to the format to be followed or people to invite please contact Paul Graham (details p. 16).

A Memorial to George Tinworth (1843-1913)?

George Tinworth was the son of a Walworth wheelwright. Intent on being a sculptor and encouraged by his mother Jane, he surreptitiously produce carvings unbeknown to his father. From 1861 he took evening classes at the Lambeth School of Art under JCL Sparkes, reportedly after pawning his overcoat to pay the fees. In 1864 he entered the Royal Academy Schools and exhibited his first RA work in 1866 - a group of children fighting called Peace and Wrath in Low Life.

After the death of his father in 1867, Tinworth had to support Jane and himself in the family business. However, Sparkes introduced him to Henry Doulton (grave 22,589, square 36), and Doulton employed him for the rest of his life. Among early sculptural works for Doulton, Tinworth produced some oversized copies of antique Greek and Italian coins. These came to the notice of John Ruskin, who was a strong supporter thereafter.

Tinworth's work consists mainly of hundreds of terra cotta panels, wholly or partially in relief, showing biblical scenes. His religious works included two big commissions from the architect GE Street - a reredos for York Minster (1876-9, still extant, though moved elsewhere in the Minster), and 28 semicircular panels for the Military Chapel in Wellington Barracks, largely lost. Secular work includes the Amazon Vase, which went to Fairmont Park, Philadelphia, and a fountain for Kennington Park, destroyed except for a single extant pillar which is currently under repair. A panel above the entrance to the former Doulton Works in Lambeth does survive, however, and religious panels may be seen in the Museum of Garden History nearby. Sadly the memorial to the educational reformer Henry Fawcett (1833-1884) on the site of his house in Vauxhall Park and given by Henry Doulton does not survive. The pedestal consisted of relief panels depicting Justice, Good and Bad News, Sympathy, Courage, Truth, India and the Post Office. It was unveiled on 7 June 1893 by the Archbishop of Canterbury. The statute and panels were removed in the 1960s, but its head is reportedly preserved in the Henry Fawcett Junior School. A drinking fountain with a model of Fawcett's head survives in the Victoria Embankment Gardens.

Jane Tinworth died 10 October 1881 aged 63 and was buried at Norwood (grave 18,786, square 118). George himself died 10 September 1913 and is also buried in the grave. The late Eric Smith recorded a memorial, but we have no idea what it looked like. Lambeth have since re-sold the grave and have, after prompting from George's descendent Mrs Gill Griffin, placed a simple plaque on the grave recording the names of those buried there. But surely George and Jane deserve a proper headstone. A terra cotta memorial would seem appropriate in view of Tinworth's work in this medium. We would be grateful to hear member's suggestions as to how to try to proceed with this difficult issue.

Captions

1. George Tinworth at work on a model of the Fawcett memorial

2. Lost memorial to Henry Fawcett (Vauxhall Gardens)

May Juanita FitzGerald née Etheridge, Duchess of Leinster (1892-1935) by Jill Dudman

A brief but intriguing news item appeared in the Daily Mail on Wednesday 24 November:

'The 8th Duke of Leinster, Ireland's 90-year-old premier peer, is to be asked to restore the unmarked grave of his mother, Brixton-born musical comedy soubrette May Etheridge, in West Norwood Cemetery, South London. When she died from a drug overdose in 1935, penniless after her divorce from the 7th Duke, her only son, then a 21-year-old subaltern, declined to attend the obsequies after being advised by a fellow officer: "You cannot possibly go to a pauper's funeral." A former Leinster trustee says: "Her grave is so overgrown that the cemetery officials couldn't find it when I asked to see it".'

Calling into the cemetery office, I found that the staff had already seen this, and were very puzzled about it. Assuming that a common grave was meant, these are generally in areas that are now largely cleared (of vegetation and monuments), and there wasn't enough detailed information in the report to search the cemetery records.

Fascinated by all this, I determined to get to the bottom of the matter, and began by browsing the internet. Luckily, I soon found a peerage genealogy website with all the family details of the Dukes of Leinster. This informed me that the family surname of the Dukes of Leinster is Fitzgerald, and that May Etheridge (first wife of the 7th Duke, divorced 1930) died 11 February 1935.

Armed with this information, I looked in the burial register at Lambeth Archives, and found this rather strange entry: May Juanita Murray 'coroner's order says Fitzgerald', of Nutley Avenue, Saltdean, Brighton, was buried 14 February 1935, aged 43, in square 116, grave 31,117. The grave had been purchased on 6 February 1905, by her mother Theresa Grace Harriett Ann Etheridge, née Summerell, of 134 Dalyell Road, Stockwell, for the burial of her husband Jess. They had married in 1885 and the birth of May Juanita Etheridge was registered in the 3rd quarter of 1892. May Murray was the name May had adopted through deed poll.

So, not a common grave at all, but a privately purchased one. The next step was to search for the grave. Luckily, square 116, at the Robson Road side, not far from the front of the cemetery, is quite free of overgrowth and, although partially cleared of monuments, still has quite a lot surviving, thus enabling a very accurate fix of the grave location to be obtained - and there is no monument on it.

The final task in such cases is to consult the microfiche in Lambeth Archives of the catalogue of monument inscriptions which took the late Eric Smith FSA over 10 years to compile in the 1970s. There is no entry for any Etheridges with the above forenames, so the monument (if indeed there had ever been one) must have fallen into decay by then.

Just as I thought I had reached the end of this piece of research, there appeared on the obituaries page of the Daily Telegraph, Tuesday 7 December, a notice that the 8th Duke of Leinster had died the previous Friday, aged 90. The Times (14 December) carried a further obituary. These notices contain more information about both his parents. His father, the 7th Duke, is described as a compulsive gambler and ne'er-do-well, who was bankrupted three times and married four times - 'he ended up living in a tiny Pimlico bedsitter where, distraught, depressed and utterly penniless, he eventually committed suicide in 1976'.

Of more interest to us is the additional information about his mother. Referring to the 7th Duke, the Telegraph obituary relates: "His first wife, May Etheridge, was the daughter of a commercial traveler who had graduated from her home in Brixton, via the Gaiety chorus, to a leading role in a West End show. There she captivated the young Lord Edward FitzGerald, who defied his family and married her in 1913. Their only son, Gerald FitzGerald, was born on May 27, 1914. Beset by financial problems, their romance soon wore thin, and in 1922 the couple separated. From then on the young Duchess was not allowed to see her son and grew increasingly depressed. She had to write to him through a firm of solicitors, who answered all her inquiries with a formal 'The Marquess of Kildare is in good health'. In 1930 she was found in a gas-filled room in Brixton, but was brought back to life just in time. Prematurely aged and stricken in health, she died in 1935 aged 43." A sad end for a pretty girl.

Apparently May Etheridge had small roles in two Robert Courtneidge productions at the Shatesbury Theatre - as a geisha, Go-Kiku, in The Mousmé starring Florence Smithson, Cicely Courtneidge, Ada Blanche, Harry Welchman, Nelson Keys, Dan Rolyat (9 September 1911-21 March 1912, 211 performances) and a shared role as a palace servant-maid, Ursula, in Princess Caprice starring Clara Evelyn, Cicely Courtneidge, Courtice Pounds, Harry Welchman, Nelson Keys and George Graves (11 May 1912-25 January 1913). She also appeared as an extra in Bluebird at the Queens Theatre (26 November 1911-3 February 1912, 70 performances).

The records are silent concerning the show in which the Telegraph suggests she starred; but it's rumoured that after marriage and motherhood she reappeared, uncredited, in the chorus at Daly's Theatre for Betty (1915). A fellow chorister there recalled her as "a sweet girl of no great education" and believed that "aristocratic life was too much for her". However, if she really was obliged to return to the theatre with a one-year-old child it sounds as if it was not so much aristocratic life, but rather her husband's spendthrift ways that were too much for her.

So, that really does seem to be the end of the story, with little likelihood now of a monument being reinstated, but at least we have been able to give her a memorial of sorts in this Newsletter.

Acknowledgement: Thanks to Andrew Lamb, Alex Bisett, and John Culme for help with this article.

Caption. May Etheridge as Go-Kiku in The Mousmé (Shaftesbury Theatre, September 1911 - photo courtesy Andrew Lamb)

Caption. May Etheridge, the 'Pink Pajama Girl' of the Shaftsbury Theatre (Photo: Foulsham & Banfield, London, 1912 - courtesy John Culme's Footlight Notes Collection).

Amon Henry Wilds and the Last Enigma of Dr Gideon Mantell by Don Bianco

Amon Wilds (1762-1833)

Amon Wilds was born in Hastings in January 1762. Nothing of his formative years is recorded. Originally established at Lewes, Sussex, he moved in 1815 with his son to Brighton and for a time carried on business as a builder/architect under the name of A&H Wilds in both towns simultaneously. The role of architect as distinct from builder in the firm's work was more often played by Wilds senior than by his son, although every building associated with either of them was erected jointly. Nevertheless, Wilds senior is usually referred to as 'Builder' or 'Surveyor' rather than 'Architect' in deeds and other contemporary documents. But the terms were loosely used at that period. His son in later days is invariably given the title 'Architect'.

In 1820 Wilds senior sold the Lewes business and entered into partnership with Charles Augustin Busby (1788-1834), a builder and engineer, with whom he carried out an extensive building programme in Brighton, where the rapidly expanding resort offered great opportunities. Indeed, the Brighton we know today is largely the result work of their work in the 1820s-30s. Their relations, however, were unhappy, and the partnership was dissolved in 1825. Busby went on to failure, bankruptcy and an abject, early death. Before his association with Busby, Wilds had erected Western Lodge for Mrs Sober (1817), the speculative development of Richmond Terrace (1818), and designed the Congregational Chapel in Union Street (1820). At Lewes he rebuilt the nave of All Saints Church in 1806. He acted as Surveyor to the Town Commissioners of Brighton from September 1825-July 1828 and was himself a Commissioner from 1832-3. He married twice - his first wife, Sarah, died at Brighton on 3 February 1822 aged 57 years, and was buried in St Nicholas's churchyard; his second wife Anne survived him and was the sole executrix and legatee of his will. She later married again and died in 1867 aged 86 years and was also buried in St Nicholas's churchyard. Wilds senior died at his home in Richmond Terrace on 12 September 1833 and was buried on 19 September. The inscription on the tomb reads:

A remarkable incident accompanies the period at which this gentleman
came to settle in Brighton. Through his abilities and taste the order of
the ancient architecture of buildings in Brighton may be dated to have
changed from its antiquated simplicity and rusticity; and its improvements
have since progressively increased. He was a man of extensive genius
and talent, and in his reputation for uprightness of conduct could only
meet its parallel.

This not exactly well-composed tribute has recently been re-lettered by the Regency Society of Brighton & Hove, thereby ensuring its retention as a record of a man and his work. It was presumably composed either by Wilds' second wife or by his son, who designed the memorial. If the latter, it is of particular interest in showing what this competent artist and necessarily well-informed authority considered was his father's share in the creation of the new Brighton which transformed the old town out of all recognition during the first 30 years of the 19th century. Although he rarely showed anything like the panache of Nash, from whose Regents Park terraces the 'sea-side Sussex' style was derived, he nevertheless has an important place in Brighton's architectural history.

Wilds senior lived at 7 Little East Street in Lewes. He also owned the adjoining houses on the south of that street (numbers 8 and 9), but later sold all three to a surgeon, Dr James Moore. Dr Moore lived at 3 Castle Place, one of four houses that were designed and built by the Wilds partnership in 1810. In 1816 Moore's partner, Dr Gideon Mantell, doctor, geologist, museum curator, author, and passionate fossil collector, took over the house and 3 years later bought the adjoining house from Wilds. The two houses were converted into a single dwelling and from then on were called Castle Place. The end houses, numbers 1 and 4, no longer exist, but 2 and 3 survive. The ammonite order was used to decorate the façade, being singularly appropriate to the house of a distinguished geologist and fossil collector. Nikolaus Pevsner thought Castle Place 'a sweet little thing'.

The Ammonite Order was originated by George Dance, who used it first on Boydell's Gallery (Shakespeare's Gallery) in Pall Mall (1789). The Order comprises fluted pilasters, the volutes in the capitals of which are in the form of ammonites, geological fossils consisting of whorled chambered shells resembling the horn of Jupiter (Amon) in shape. It was adopted by Wilds senior and AH Wilds, who were probably attracted to it as much by the punning allusion to their own Christian names as by its intrinsic architectural merit, and was first used by them at 2-3 Castle Place, Lewes. It was subsequently used several times in Brighton, viz. Western Terrace wherein is Western Pavilion, AH Wilds' own house, Montpelier Road, and Oriental Place. In London it was applied to 6-12 New Cross Road (Carlton Cottages) and to 864-884 Old Kent Road. It seems evident that it was AH Wilds who was responsible for the use of the Ammonite Order, but there is little doubt that it became the hallmark feature of the Wilds' architectural work, which generally features little else by way of ornament.

Amon Henry Wilds (ca. 1790-1857)

From 1822 or so AH Wilds practiced independently, exhibiting at the Royal Academy in 1830-1 under his own name. He lived in Brighton in a miniature pavilion he had built for himself at 9 Western Terrace, 1827-30, and playing an active part in the development of the town as a sea-side resort. He designed many stuccoed terraces and crescents in the manner of John Nash. According to the Watering Places of Great Britain and Fashionable Directory of 1833 'the general style of the architectureÉ was under the direction of Mr H Wilds'. So, it appears that his father and Busby employed him in the principal product of their partnership, Kemp Town, a seafront development built by Thomas Cubitt (also buried at Norwood - grave 649, square 48) and funded by the local landowner and non-conformist preacher, Thomas Read Kemp. In 1827 the Brighton Gazette announced that AH Wilds was about to undertake extensive work at Chepstow on 'property belonging to the Duke of Beaufort, Mr Jenkins and Mr Stoke'. In 1829 'he had just returned from Limerick where he was engaged upon some plans for the improvement and embellishment of that city and a house for Sir Aubrey Hunter'. Nine months later, the same paper stated that he was 'shortly to commence large works in Wales and elsewhere'.

By1830 he was laying out a 'new town' on the Milton Park estate near Gravesend, and he exhibited a 'general view' of this project at the Royal Academy. He was town commissioner for Brighton 1845-8, but did not figure prominently in local administration. One of his leisure activities was archery - he frequently won prizes. He probably lived with his father at 9 Richmond Terrace until the completion of 9 Western Terrace. After 1850 his name no longer occurs in any Brighton directory. His death was registered at Steyning, a village near Brighton, in September 1857. Not so well known as his father on account of the latter's association with Busby, he nevertheless has an independent architectural record considerably greater than his father's. His social position, too, was superior. Amon Wilds began life as a builder and probably never had any social pretensions. His son left his humble antecedents far behind. Although never actually in society like Busby, his movements were occasionally announced in the Fashionable Chronicle of the local papers.

Death of Mantell

Gideon Mantell died in 1852 after taking an extra dose of opiates and inhaling chloroform in an attempt to alleviate severe back pain, the consequence of scoliosis (curvature of the spine) and not the consequences of the back injury suffered in a fall from his coach some years before. He was buried at Norwood in the grave of his daughter Hannah. At his own request his funeral was quiet - the mourners included his eldest daughter, but not his estranged wife. But who designed their memorial? It is a near perfect replica in form, but not in the applied detail, of the Bark Stand in the sanctuary of the Temple of Amun at Naqa, Sudan, (684-680 BC) dating from the 1st century AD in the reign of King Natakamani and Queen Amanitore. This is part of Kushite religion that is closely linked to Egypt, where Amun was worshipped in human form and in his Kushite aspect, Amani as a ram-headed human, the beliefs and practices of which are a representation of Ba (soul) in the death ritual. Clearly this is an influential component in Wilds's mind because of the Amun (also transcribed as Amon) connection rather than the symbolic and stylistic. Geoffrey Manning, in his Memorials in West Norwood Cemetery under the entry for Dr Gideon Mantell, states 'his monument is probably by Eamon (sic) Wilds who was the architect for much of Regency Brighton'. Referring to the listing particulars for the tomb of Mantell, the Department of the Environment states that it was 'designed by the Brighton architect Amon Wilds, or by his son Amon Henry Wilds'.

From the literature on the Wilds' work and lives, it seems more likely that AH Wilds, rather than Wilds senior, was responsible for the design: (i) AH Wilds had a leaning towards strict academic classical models in design, of which the Mantell memorial is a good example, (ii) AH Wilds seems to have favoured the Ammonite Order more than his father and may have had a better relationship with Mantell during the course of the conversion of Castle Place, (iii) AH Wilds was frequently described by his contemporaries as 'ubiquitous' and often visited London, (iv) Wilds senior had been dead for 6 years at the time of construction of the memorial (1840); AH Wilds was still in practice, and (v) Hannah Mantell had been ill for 4 years from 1836, 2 years after Wilds senior had died; it is unlikely that Mantell would have commissioned a memorial before 1840. However, none of this is conclusive. Further research may reveal more as to the precise origin of the memorial.

Sources

Howard Colvin: A Biographical Dictionary of British Architects 1660-1840 (1995);

Antony Dale: Fashionable Brighton (1947); JA Erredge: History of Brighthelmstone (1862); Michael Kerney: Ammonites in Architecture (Country Life, 27.1.1983); Geoffrey Manning: Memorials in West Norwood Cemetery (1989); Nikolaus Pevsner: The Buildings of England: Sussex (1973); Ken Woodhams: In Memory of Gideon Mantell: Dinosaur Hunter (FOWNC Newsletter 46, January 2003); Doreen Yarwood: English Architecture (1965); papers held at Southwark local history library; Sudan: Past & Present - exhibition at the British Museum, 2004.

Captions

1. The grave of Amon Wilds, St Nicholas' Churchyard, Brighton (line drawing by Don Bianco)

2. The Ammonite Order (line drawing by Don Bianco)

3. The memorial of Dr Gideon Mantell, West Norwood Cemetery (line drawing by Don Bianco)

Book Review: Bob Flanagan. Trapezoid Tombstones in Estonia by Mari Loit (2004). Tallinn: Estonian National Heritage Board

According to the publicity material that came with the announcement of this book, Mari Loit is an expert on conservation in the Division of Conservation of the Estonian National Heritage Board. Most of the trapezoid tombstones that are the subject of the book can be found in Saare, Muhu and Lääne counties. According to the latest data, there are 83 known and 14 probable tombstones and fragments of tombstones. Two stones of the same type are situated in Ambla and Peetri churches in Järva County, which shows that they must originally have occurred over a much wider area.

Trapezoid tombstones were fashionable in Europe between the 7th and early 14th centuries. Their heyday was in the 11th-13th centuries. Some have suggested that the tombstones were made in Estonia after the conquest of Estonia by German and Scandinavian crusaders in the early 13th century and that they mark the beginning of Christian burials in the churches and churchyards founded at that time. Others have surmised that they date back to the pre-conquest period. It is not possible to assign an exact date to the tombstones, since they usually lack texts on the edges, but it is certain that they are the oldest surviving sculptural works in Estonia.

To find a satisfactory explanation for the symbols used in the tombstones - cross, rhombus, ring, horn, tree, human figure/warrior - is a difficult task. For modern people their deeper meaning is lost in time. The National Heritage Board hopes that this publication will help people who wish to improve their knowledge of our common heritage and to cast light on the possible meanings of the symbols depicted on these stones. The book is available in Estonian, English, and German - see: www.muinas.ee or e-mail: info@muinas.ee for more details.

Review - Don Bianco: A Most Mysterious Murder: The Case of Charles Bravo with commentary by Julian Fellowes (Saturday 16 October, BBC1)

In this latest interpretation of the enduring Bravo mystery we were transported back to the Priory, Balham where Charles Bravo died in agony in 1876 after, possibly accidentally, swallowing poison. The wealthy erstwhile widow Florence, shunned by society for her ongoing adulterous affair with her doctor, had married the handsome young barrister. But it seems he may have been only after her property. He abused her and mistreated the entire house staff, thereby providing absolutely everyone with a motive to kill him.

Bravo seems to have been a thoroughly obnoxious character - his own lawyer was appalled when, upon offering congratulations on his marriage, Bravo swore at him and demanded to know his rights to Florence's money. At the time of his death he was deep in debt and, in blaming Florence, lied to his mother. Hence her attitude to Florence, and together with Charles's morbid fear that Florence might speak to his mother and reveal all, he increasingly isolated his wife from her trusted servants. Ever since the marriage, Charles may have been trying to kill Florence with Tartar emetic (antimony hydrogen tartrate). He may have started gradually with small doses of poison, which could explain her persistent ill-health during those months.

One evening we were told, in a rage after a furious row with her, he stormed to his room and accidentally grabbed the wrong bottle and took a large dose of the poison. He realised with horror almost immediately what he had done, which explains his shouts for 'hot water! hot water!' and also why he refused to tell anyone what he had done - what he had taken, and why - because he didn't want it to be known that he was keeping a supply of poison in his room.

As this tale unfolded, Fellowes lurked in the shadows and slipped through doors, substantial but invisible like a butler or a burglar. That in error Bravo would have swallowed a lethal dose of poison is not inconceivable. Yet Florence and the housekeeper Mrs Cox are also unlikely poisoners. The dose of poison was massive - homicidal poisoning in those days was usually by repeated small doses, and neither woman showed the classic poisoner's hesitancy to call in the doctor. On his deathbed Bravo denied taking anything to purposely end his life, and the Coroner's jury returned a verdict of murder by 'person or persons unknown'. The story is well known, but alas, the case has remained open for lack of evidence, and we've been ruminating on it ever since.

So who killed Charles Bravo? Why, Charles Bravo killed Charles Bravo. Anyone for who killed Cock Robin?

Book Review - Paul Graham: Phiz - The Man Who Drew Dickens by Valerie Browne Lester. Chatto & Windus, 2004. Hardback. 269 pp, £20. 45 monochrome plates + 214 b+w illustrations.

In Newsletter No. 39 (September 2000), we recorded the visit to the cemetery of Valerie Browne Lester who was researching her family tree in preparation for writing a biography of her great-great grandfather Hablot Knight Browne (1815-82), Phiz.

One of the graves Valerie visited was that of Katherine Ann Browne (1793-1882) (grave 8,181, square 35). The accompanying article described 'Kate' as the sister of Phiz. Astute detective work by Valerie has revealed that far from being Phiz's elder sister, as family history stoutly maintained, she was in fact his mother. Kate met and formed a liaison with a Captain Nicholas Hablot of Napoleon's Imperial Guard whilst he was imprisoner in England. On his release in 1814 he returned to France, to be followed by Kate, her mother, and her 7 younger siblings! In March 1815, Napoleon escaped from Elba, Hablot re-joined his Emperor, and a pregnant Kate and her family returned to England. Before that, the couple became engaged and he presented Kate with a gold ring inscribed "je t'aime", which she wore to her dying day. Valerie ruminates that if her grave were ever opened, that ring would come to light. She died single, assuming that Hablot died at Waterloo. But Valerie's researches into his service record show that this was not the case. He received a musket ball in the chest, another in the left thigh, and a sabre wound to the right thigh but survived. He never appears to have contacted Kate again, but year after Waterloo married a girl seventeen years his junior.

In a final, romantic twist, after discovering Kate's monument at West Norwood, where her own father had by chance been cremated, Valerie sought and obtained permission to have her father's name added to the stone. Her father's name was Hablot Robert Edgar:

'In this way the names Kate and Hablot are united in her last resting place. I had the words "je t'aime" added to the foot of the stone.'

The cemetery does contain two genuine sisters and one brother of Phiz. Emma Louisa Browne, Mrs Grant (1798-1882) is buried with Kate. She left England for Madras in 1836 to keep house for her brother, Charles Alfred. She was married there aged 42 to an infantry officer and remarkably produced a child when aged 46. The second sister, Lucinda (1801-50), married Elhanan Bicknell (1788-1861) (grave 5,930, square 38) who removed Phiz from school and had him apprenticed to the leading firm of engravers of the day. This work Phiz found uncongenial and he persuaded Bicknell to cancel his indentures and allow him to become a commercial artist. Finally, his brother Major-General Charles Alfred Browne (1801-66) is interred in the catacombs (16D - see FOWNC Newsletter 39). Despite serving for 44 years in the Madras army, and being secretary to the Church Missionary Society, he was unconventional enough to have 'his entire body tattooed with pictures of wild animals.'

Phiz was in effect abandoned by two fathers. Hablot he never knew and his adopted father (in reality his grandfather) deserted the family for a new life and new name in America when Phiz was seven. This book tells a story of triumph over adversity and is a must for anyone with an interest in the often-precarious world of the Victorian book illustrator. In his prime Phiz was illustrating the works of not only Dickens, but also Charles Lever, (our own) Douglas Jerrold (1803-57 - see Chairman's Report, page xx) and once (disastrously) Anthony Trollope. In 1840-1 he worked with George Cattermole (1800-68 - grave 8,071, square 23) to illustrate The Old Curiosity Shop and Barnaby Rudge. With advancing age and illness, the commissions dried up. Phiz, however, remained cheerful and was much loved by his very large family (he had 12 children, two of whom died in infancy). Phiz was buried in the Extra-Mural Cemetery in Brighton. In 1998 Valerie had the monument restored.

The work features numerous Phiz drawings and paintings. It also contains plates of friends and relatives who are interred in the cemetery, including Cattermole, Bicknell, Lucinda Bicknell (or at least her likeness from her death mask), and General Browne.

Forthcoming Events

London Metropolitan Archives - Monday 7 February - 14.00 - Cemeteries Talk, with Jan Pimblett LMA

Cemetery at Hampstead Church

Find out more about Mrs Basil Holmes and her studies of the capital's graveyards, enter the world of the grave robbers and take a look at some interesting architecture.

London Metropolitan Archives, 40 Northampton Road, London EC1R 0HB (020 7332 3820 if you wish to book a place; there is no fee)

www.cityoflondon.gov.uk/Corporation/leisure_heritage/libraries_archives_museums_galleries/lma/newsflash

Review of Recent FOWNC Events - Jill Dudman

As usual we took part in London Open House Weekend, putting on a series of tours with viewing of the Greek Chapel on 19 September. Simultaneously the cemetery office staff arranged their annual memorial service, and kindly incorporated our tours into their advertising. The result was an attendance of nearly 100 visitors to our event, considerably more than last year. One new feature was the use of the huge Maddick mausoleum to set up the FOWNC bookstall - it was busy with customers all afternoon, including people who just happened to be visiting the cemetery, unaware of the events of the day. The star attraction was the appearance, arranged by the cemetery office, of two horse-drawn hearses, one in the customary black, and one painted white and drawn by white horses, which I had never seen before. Thanks to all those who conducted tours, staffed the bookstall, and particularly to Don Bianco for giving talks about the Greek Chapel to each tour party.

The AGM on 16 October was followed by a talk on body-snatching by long-time FOWNC member Robert Stephenson, well-known as a lecturer and for the study days on death customs which he runs. Beginning with a brief history of anatomical knowledge (or lack of it) through the ages, he pointed out how advances in medicine since the 16th century were dependent on a supply of human bodies for dissection. The law allowed the anatomy schools a limited number of bodies (of criminals), and this gave rise to the profession of the 'resurrectionists' (grave-robbers), who were well-paid for unearthing recently-buried persons. Various methods were resorted to by relatives trying to protect graves, such as metal structures or simply people standing guard for a fortnight, by which time corpses were unusable. The most extreme case was in Edinburgh where Burke and Hare actually murdered people to supply the anatomy school. The 1832 Anatomy Act, which allowed bodies from workhouses, if not claimed for burial by relatives, to be used by anatomists, brought resurrectionism to an end.

Several years ago we had a talk on City Architect Sir Horace Jones and his most famous work, Tower Bridge. This was excellently complemented by Mike Stock, formerly of English Heritage, in his lecture on 20 November, in which he surveyed Jones's career, and showed the principal buildings designed by him. The earliest featured was the Surrey Gardens Music Hall, Walworth (1856) used for entertainments and also by C H Spurgeon for preaching to huge crowds. Three major City markets followed: Smithfield (1866-8) for meat, a difficult project as it was designed to have railway access from the tunnel below; Billingsgate (1875) for fish; and Leadenhall (1881), a complex of shops, pubs, etc with a glass and iron roof over its cobbled pathways. Jones also carried out much work at the Guildhall, some of it lost in the war, but the Old Library and Museum (1872) survives. His final works were the Guildhall School of Music (1886) and the design for Tower Bridge. After his death in 1887, its construction was directed by the engineer Sir John Wolfe Barry and completed in 1894.

Forthcoming FOWNC Events - January-April 2005

General tours will be held on the first Sunday of each month (2 January, 6 February, 6 March and 3 April). January to March tours start at 11.00 and the April tour starts at 14.30, at the Cemetery main gate off Norwood Road, and they last for 1.5-2 hours. There is no formal charge but we welcome donations of £1 per person (£0.50 concessions) towards conservation projects

Spring Lectures

Talks will be held at Chatsworth Baptist Church, Chatsworth Way (off Norwood Road), SE27 (enter by second door on right in Idmiston Road) as detailed below, starting at 14.30. There is no formal charge but we welcome donations of £1 per person to help cover the hall hire.

Saturday 19 February: Lecture - 'Seven o'clock and not a baby bathed': the story of a Lambeth midwife - Robert Holden

Elizabeth Matilda Halston (née Dunkley) (1881-1975, cremated at Norwood) is regarded as an unsung heroine of the Second World War by her grandson, long-time FOWNC member Robert. As a widow with three children, she trained to become a midwife in the 1920s, and her lengthy career culminated in the delivering of hundreds of babies to women in their homes in war-torn Lambeth and Wandsworth.

Saturday 19 March: Lecture - The railway service to the Great Northern London Cemetery - Martin Dawes

Members will be familiar with the London Necropolis Railway to Brookwood, but less well known is its northern counterpart, a short-lived service started in 1861 from King's Cross to this cemetery located between Southgate and Friern Barnet. Our speaker has recently published a book recounting its history.

FOWNC Publications

Back copies of A5 format newsletters, No.25 (January 1996) onwards, full of interesting articles, are still available, price £0.50

Books - special offer for members only - all four books for £7.90 - save £3

West Norwood Cemetery's Sportsmen (Bob Flanagan - 76 pp, 1995. Many monochrome illustrations), £2.50

West Norwood Cemetery - Music Hall (Bob Flanagan - 56 pp, 1998. Many monochrome illustrations), £2.50

West Norwood Cemetery's Musicians (Bob Flanagan - 72 pp, 1998. Many monochrome illustrations), £2.95

West Norwood Cemetery - Dickens Connections (Paul Graham - 94 pp, 1995. Many monochrome illustrations), £2.95

Postcards (20p, £1.50 set of 10)

General: View north-east from St Luke's Church, ca. 1907, Cemetery entrance arch (William Tite, 1836), The cemetery in Spring (Squares 119/120)

Monuments: James William Gilbart (d. 1856; architect William Tite?), St Stephen's Chapel (Ralli chapel ca. 1872; architect J.O. Scott?) and tomb of Joshua Field (d. 1863), Charles Haddon (d. 1892) and Susannah (d. 1902) Spurgeon, Thomas Winter (Tom Spring) (d. 1851) - contemporary woodcut

Portraits: Alcock, Charles William (1842-1907), Webster, Sir Richard Everard (Viscount Alverstone) (1842-1915) (i) as amateur athlete ca. 1865 and (ii) as Lord Chief Justice ca. 1900

Non-FOWNC Books

Burges in Wales (brief A4 guide to Burges' work at Cardiff Castle & Castell Coch) £0.30

Church Monuments (Brian Kemp, many monochrome illustrations) £2.95

The Cuming Family and the Cuming Museum (Stephen Humphrey, many illustrations) £4.95

Dead Centre of Streatham (John Brown - monuments in St Leonard's Churchyard) £2.50

Discovering Epitaphs (Geoffrey Wright, 96 pp, many illustrations) £4.99

Discovering Famous Graves (Lynn F Pearson, 152 pp, many illustrations) £8.99

Discovering London Statues and Monuments (Margaret Baker, 224 pp, many illustrations) £10.99

History of Lambeth's Horticultural Societies (Judy Harris) £2.50

Lambeth's Theatrical Heritage (John Cresswell - a very popular short history) £1.50

London to Brighton Dinosaur Trail (leaflet, mentions Gideon Mantell) £0.20

Mausoleums (Lynn F Pearson, 40pp, many illustrations) £3.50

Norwood Past and Present (Allan M Galer - reprint of 1890 edition) £2.99

Park Hill, Streatham (Brian Bloice, Graham Gower & Daphne Marchant - home of Leaf family & Henry Tate) £3.99

The Roupells of Lambeth (Judy Harris - tale of Victorian politics and intrigue) £7.99

Royal Doulton (Julie McKeown, 40 pp, many colour illustrations) £4.50

St Luke's, Norwood (KR Holdaway & MD Lambert - illustrated history of church opposite cemetery) £1.00

St Stephen's mortuary chapel, West Norwood Cemetery (photocopied illustrated notes on the Greek chapel) £0.50

The Story of Norwood (J B Wilson - classic history of West Norwood) £6.99

Streatham and Norwood in 1839 (Local History Reprint) £1.50

Streatham Graverobbers (John Brown) £1.50

Streatham Heritage Trail: Roupell Park and Leigham Court (Judy Harris) £2.50

Trailing the Roupells (Judy Harris) £2.50

Travel with C H Spurgeon (Clive Anderson, 128pp, many colour illustrations) £9.99

Victorian Undertaker (Trevor May, many monochrome illustrations) £2.95

Walford's History of Norwood and Streatham (Local History Reprint of work originally published in 1878) £2.50

Cards

Large Postcard (50p): William Burges: Bed-head

Postcards (30p): Beguiling of Merlin (E Burne-Jones, model Maria Cassavetti)

Cup Final Poster: 1924 (founder: Charles Alcock)

David Roberts: Lierre

George Tinworth: Model for a Shakespeare Memorial, 1904

Margherita di Prato, 1886 (medal by Maria Zambaco née Cassavetti)

William Simms: Transit Circle, Greenwich Meridian at night

Bovril - Prevents Sinking

Colman's Mustard - Fishing Party; Snowballs; The Fleet

Peek, Frean - Mother & Child; On The Telephone; Pierrot

Christmas card (with envelope, 50p): W T Brande & Michael Faraday, painting by Thomas Phillips RA, 1816

Postal/telephone orders: Jill Dudman (contact details p. 16) or at FOWNC meetings. Please make cheques payable to 'Friends of West Norwood Cemetery'. (N.B. Postage is not included in the above prices).

FOWNC Committee - January 2005

Chairman & Publications Officer:

Bob Flanagan, 79 Durban Road, London SE27 9RW (Tel: 020 8670 3265)

General Secretary & Tours Organiser:

Jill Dudman, 119 Broxholm Road, London SE27 0BJ (Tel: 020 8670 5456)

Hon. Treasurer:

George Young, 12 Swinburne Court, Denmark Hill, London SE5 8EP (Tel: 020 7274 5267)

Membership Secretary:

Rosemary Comber, 63 Bradley Road, London SE19 3NT (Tel: 020 8653 2741)

Conservation Coordinator:

Paul Graham, Flat 4, 9 St Andrews Road, Surbiton, Surrey KT6 4DT (Tel: 020 8287 6976)

Publicity Officer:

Pam Gray (Tel: 020 8761 3412)

Webmaster:

James Slattery-Kavanagh, Quotes, 20A Camden Hill Road, London SE19 1NR (Tel: 020 8766 8822)

The FOWNC Newsletter is published three times a year by the Friends of West Norwood Cemetery, 79 Durban Road, London SE27 9RW.

Registered Charity No 1063450. Member of the National Federation of Cemetery Friends

Website: http://www.fownc.org, e-mail: chairman@fownc.org or webmaster@fownc.org

If you would like further information about the Friends, please contact the Membership Secretary (address above). The annual subscription is £3. Copyright FOWNC, January 2005.