Have I ever told you about Sheldon K. Goodman and the Cemetery Club? I feel sure I must have mentioned him at some point.
Sheldon established the Cemetery Club website in May 2013 sharing his belief that cemeteries are not only beautiful places but an important historical repository, as he calls them ‘museums of people.’
A City of Wesminster Tour Guide, Sheldon has also worked with the National Achives, the BBC, Pride in London and the National Maritime Museum and he has visted most of the cemeteries on my wish list and some I’d never even heard of before.
When the Covid crisis shut us all down Sheldon transferred to online presentations, developing the short video pieces he has long been sharing on social media to full length talks and this week I joined his virtual tour of Highgate Cemetery. This is one cemetery I have long wanted to visit, but for various reasons have never managed to get to.
Sheldon took his audience on a virtual walk through this spectacular cemetery, introducing us to residents old and more recently arrived. With videos and supplementary images and information, I can well appreciate just how many hours of work go into producing one of these virtual walks and talks – and that’s without the palaver of ‘zooming.’
Now that Covid restrictions have been relaxed Sheldon is getting back into ‘live’ cemetery walks and has a busy programme planned. One of these days I will get to see him proper, but for the time being I shall continue to follow him online and I am busy buying tickets for the next two virtual cemetery visits – Myths & Monsters Saturday September 18 at 7 pm and Brookwood on Saturday October 2nd 7pm. Visit the Cemetery Club website for further details.
Never let it be said the Radnor Street Cemetery team never go that extra mile to bring you an interesting story?
On a recent trip to the Orkney Islands, Noel took a wander around the churchyard at St. Magnus Cathedral, Kirkwall, where this headstone caught his eye.
I popped the name Robert Yorston into Google search and was amazed to discover a heap of information thanks to the family history research of Ray Millar (it’s never usually that easy).
As an introduction to his family history page Ray tells how he began his research in 2004. His family originated from the Orkney Islands before emigrating to Australia, New Zealand and Canada, so possibly Ray lives in one of these countries.
His work on Robert Yorston is pretty extensive and I hope he will not mind me using it here.
Ray includes two newspaper reports. The first published in the Rosshire Journal of December 24, 1887 following Robert’s 100th birthday.
Mr. Robert Yorston, a burgess of Kirkwall, who recently completed the 100th year of his age, was visited by Provost Reid, Bailies Peace and Irvine, and his minister, the Rev. David Webster, of the United Presbyterian Church, the other day, and was presented by the provost, on behalf of certain well-wishers, with a purse of sovereigns.
The deputation found the old man in bed, but quite able to sit up and receive his friends. He suffers no pain, is in full possession of all his faculties except hearing, which is a little impaired ; and though feeble is able with some help to leave his bed daily, and sit for a while in his old arm chair.
He is quite contented and happy, his mind clear, and his memory fairly good. On the day which closed his 100th year, Robert had shaved himself, when his face looked clean and smooth like that of a young man, with not a wrinkle on it.
Robert Yorston was born in Kirkwall on the 10th December, 1786. His father and grandfather belonged to the island of Rousay, and are said to havedescended from one of three brothers who, centuries ago, came from Denmark, when two of them settled in Orkney, while the third went to the neighbourhood of Aberdeen.
When upwards of 60 years of age Robert suffered from a prolonged and mysterious weakness, which confined him to bed about a couple of years, but he gradually recovered, and has lived to see another generation of his fellows pass away.
The second account is taken from the Australian Town and Country Journal Sat. 8th Sept. 1888
CENTENARIANS.-Robert Yorston, the oldest man in Orkney (Scotland), died at Kirkwall recently. He was born on December 10,1786, so that he was within a few months of completing his 102nd year.
For the last year or so he was almost continuously confined to bed; and during the past few weeks he had grown so weak that he rarely spoke to anyone. Up to his 100th year, however, his memory was wonderfully good and he had a large store of local anecdotes regarding time and people long passed away.
Mr. Yorston had twelve of a family, six of whom survive him; the oldest being about 60 years of age. It may also be of interest to note that though Mr. Yorston’s father died when a comparatively young man, his mother reached the age of 90 years.
The inscription on the headstone reads:
In memory of Robert Yorston who died 8th July 1888 aged 101 and a half years. Also his wife Elizabeth Gorie who died 6th August 1867 aged 75 years. Also their daughter Mary Yorston who died 7th May 1911 aged 90 years.
With kind thanks to Ray Millar whose research into his Orkney family can be found here.
Considering Gloucester is pretty much on my doorstep I don’t know why I’ve never visited the cathedral before. I emerged from College Court, the medieval way once called Craft’s Lane and Ironmongers Row, to arrive at St Michael’s Gate, a pedestrian gateway in the former precinct wall of the Benedictine Abbey of St. Peter, now the Cathedral. Today the Cathedral Green is a pleasant garden with street furniture telling the Cathedral’s story. Originally a graveyard within the Abbey grounds, from the 1920s until 2018 this area was a car park!
The Cathedral itself is stunning, particularly the cloisters which were used during the filming of the Harry Potter films. But of course it was the memorials I had come to see, and there were plenty of them.
In 2015 during investigative work as part of the 10 year Project Pilgrim, one of the ledgerstones in the north transept gave up its unexpected secret. When the stone was lifted it revealed through a hole a brick built family vault below, complete with intact coffins.
The ledger stone records the date of death of Benjamin and Elizabeth Hyett, and tragically eight of their children.
Sarah 1692 0
William 1706 26
Mary 1712 23
John 1682 4
Mary 1682 22 days
Elizabeth 1683 2
Robert 1683 8 months
Joseph 1686 5
Benjamin Hyett was a lawyer who served as Deputy Clerk of the Peace for Gloucestershire from 1673-78 and then as Clerk of the Peace from 1678-89. The Assizes and Quarter Sessions took place in Booth Hall, the old Shire Hall in Westgate Street. His duties would have been to officiate at the Court of Assizes, prepare indictments and record the proceedings. He may also have been required to give legal advice to the justices along with a number of other duties.
Benjamin married Elizabeth Morwent, the daughter of Joseph Morwent of Tetbury, Gent and his wife Mary, on August 10, 1674 at St Mary’s Church, Tetbury.
It is likely the family lived in the Westgate Street area of Gloucester, within reach of Benjamin’s place of work and close to the church of St Michael’s where they had five of their children baptised between 1677-1685; Robert, Sara, Elizabeth, John and Joseph.
In his Will made on March 7, 1707 Benjamin mentions four children, the sole survivors from a family of twelve. He makes his eldest son Charles executor of his Will and leaves him all his freehold estate. To his son Benjamin he leaves £500 and to his daughter Elizabeth £1,500. He leaves his daughter Mary an annuity of £50 a year.
Benjamin was buried in the vault beneath the north transept on March 22, 1711, joining his wife Elizabeth and seven of their children (Mary, mentioned in her father’s Will, died in 1712), his father-in-law Joseph Morwent who died in 1704 aged 82 and his brother-in-law (Elizabeth’s brother) who died in 1675 aged 20 years old. In 1731 the vault was opened again for the interment of Edward James, the husband of Benjamin and Elizabeth’s daughter, and their only son Thomas James who died aged 9 years old. Elizabeth James died in 1739 aged 51, and presumably this was the last time the vault was opened until the investigations 276 years later.
I shall be returning with more stories from Gloucester Cathedral.
As part of the Heritage Open Days event this September, I will be conducting short, guided churchyard walksat St. Mary’s Church, Lydiard Park. These will take place at 2pm and 3pm Saturday September 11 (today) and Sunday September 12 (tomorrow) and at the same time next weekend Saturday 18 and Sunday 19 September.
This memorial, just inside the churchyard gates, records the burial of Jonas Clarke who died on March 31, 1862 aged 74. The names of his two young grandchildren Cordelia Ann Carey and her brother Jonas Carey are also mentioned although they are not recorded in the burial registers so it is possible they were buried elsewhere.
Jonas was born in Minety in 1787 where he spent his early adult life. He married Elizabeth Fitchew in 1816 but the marriage proved to be unsuccessful and by 1818 he had entered into a relationship with Alice Pinnell. The couple had seven children but had to wait more than thirty years for the death of Elizabeth before they could marry.
Their children were baptised at All Saints’ Church, Oaksey and St Michael’s, Brinkworth and took the names Clarke Pinnell. Various Clarke Pinnell marriages took place at St. Mary’s, Lydiard Tregoze including a double wedding on May 4, 1841 when Sarah Clark Pinnell married Thomas Hall, a yeoman from Broad Blunsdon and her sister Jane married Francis Carey, a yeoman, also from Broad Blunsdon. The girls’ parents Jonas and Alice were eventually able to marry at St. Mary’s in 1853.
Jonas Clarke, farmed at Wick Farm just beyond the entrance to Lydiard Park, next to the Rectory, from about 1839 until his death in 1862, when his son Jonas Jnr took over. Farm accounts dated 1869 reveal that during the month of June, Wick Farm produced an average of three cheeses a day, over 90 in total during that month. In October of the same year there were 110 cheeses in the cheese room weighing over three tons.
The area around St. Mary’s church and Lydiard House was developed in the 1980s and 90s when street names were often taken from ancient field names. Two fields on Wick Farm called Green Down and the Green Down Mead were adopted for the new Secondary School. (The school has since changed its name to Lydiard Park Academy). The Prinnells estate takes its name from one of the Wick Farm fields, as does the area known as Freshbrook.
Radnor Street Cemetery 