JOHN CLARKE - Key Persons
ABDULLAH YUSUF ALI (1872-1953) was an Indian-British barrister and Muslim scholar who wrote a number of books about Islam including a translation of the Qur'an. A supporter of the British war effort during the Great War, Ali received the CBE in 1917 for his services during the war.
Ali was born in western India on 4 April 1872 and was educated at Wilson College, Mumbai and St John's College, Cambridge. He obtained a post in the Indian Civil Service and in 1896 he was called to the Bar by Lincoln's Inn. Ali served in various districts of the United Provinces, including two short periods in the Finance Department of the Government of India.
In 1905, whilst in London, he gave a series of lectures at the Passmore Edwards Institute which provided the nucleus for his book, Life and Labour of the People of India, which appeared in 1907.
In 1914, for reasons of health and due to family anxieties, Ali was allowed to retire from the Indian Civil Service and he settled in England. He became a Trustee of the Shah Jehan Mosque in Woking. During the Great War he did much useful work for the war effort, including appeals for recruitment, in propaganda (written in English and Urdu), as a private in the West Kent Fencibles, and as President of the Indian Students' Prisoners of War Fund. The Secretary of State for War, Edwin Montagu, obtained his services for the Indian delegation at the Paris Peace Conference in 1919.
Ali then entered the service of the Nizam of Hyderabad, as counsel in the Sarf-I-Khas. In 1921 he was appointed Revenue Member of the Executive Council of the State. At the end of 1922 he took up legal practice in Lucknow; for three years from 1925 he was Principal of the Islamia College, Lahore (and again from 1935-37); and in 1928 he was one of India's representatives at the nonth Assembly of the League of Nations.
There followed a period during which he undertook a round the world lecturing tour. He ended his tour in India where he presided at the All-India Muslim Education Conference and the Sind Azad Conference. He went on to serve as a member of the Punjab University Inquiry Committee.
During his second period as Principal of the Islamia College, he devoted much of his time to a translation of the Qur'an, with notes and commentary. He brought to this enormous task his knowledge of Arabic, his great facility with the English language, and a lifetime's close study of the principles and history of Islam. The first edition of his The Holy Qur'an: Text, Translation and Commentary appeared in 1934. It has become one of the most widely known English translations of the Qur'an.
Ali was an active supporter of the World Congress of Faiths and often spoke at his meetings.
Much of Ali's literary output was devoted to the history and current problems of India, yet his chief interest remained Islam. He once wrote that the "high sounding music of the Qur'an verses" had "haunted him like a passion" since his childhood.
Ali suffered a heart attack on 10 December 1953 whilst in a London County Council home for the elderly in Dovehouse Street in Chelsea. He was taken to St Stephen's Hospital, Fulham, where he died the same day. His funeral was arranged by the Pakistan High Commission.
Abdullah Yusuf Ali Alexander Mackonochie Alexis Aladin Arthur Cates Arthur Henry Stanton Barcelona Air Disaster Battle of Britain Pilots Brookwood Russia Memorial Charles Bradlaugh Charles Nottage Charles Warne Churches Using Brookwood Cemetery Cyril Frisby VC Daniel Beak VC Edgar Inkson VC Edith Thompson Edmund Baron Hartley VC Edward Enfield Fernhurst Air Disaster The First Burials at Brookwood Sir Fortunatus Dwarris Frederick Edmon Channell Frederick Spofforth Gustav von Franck Henry Cornish Sir Henry Goldfinch Sir Henry Maxse Hogg Family Grave Horace Martineau VC Horatia Nelson Johnson HS2 Reburials Institutions Using Brookwood Cemetery James Case Jane Hammond James Hollowell VC John Lynch John Macpherson John Sherwood-Kelly VC John Trouncer Leonard Carter Matthew F M Meiklejohn VC Muslim Soldiers at Brookwood Cemetery Perpignan Air Disaster Peter Morris Ramadan H Guney Richard Ansdell Ross Mangles VC Robert Nisbet Bain Robert Dolling Rupert Hallowes VC St Edward the Martyr St Peters Walworth Reburials Samuel Prentice QC Syed Ameer Ali Thomas Hawksley Tom Jackson Carlisle VCs at Brookwood Cemetery Sir Vincent Raven Wallace Duffield Wright VC William Addison VC William Ewart Lockhart William Kenny VC William Reynolds VC William Smyth William Stewart Ross
Abdullah Yusuf Ali Alexis Aladin Arthur Cates Barcelona Air Disaster Battle of Britain Pilots Brookwood Russia Memorial Charles Bradlaugh Charles Nottage Charles Warne Churches Using Brookwood Cemetery Cyril Frisby VC Daniel Beak VC Edgar Inkson VC Edith Thompson Edmund Baron Hartley VC Edward Enfield Fernhurst Air Disaster The First Burials at Brookwood Sir Fortunatus Dwarris Frederick Edmon Channell Frederick Spofforth Gustav von Franck Henry Cornish Sir Henry Goldfinch Hogg Family Grave Horace Martineau VC Horatia Nelson Johnson HS2 Reburials Institutions Using Brookwood Cemetery James Case Jane Hammond James Hollowell VC John Lynch John Macpherson John Sherwood-Kelly VC John Trouncer Leonard Carter Matthew F M Meiklejohn VC Muslim Soldiers at Brookwood Cemetery Perpignan Air Disaster Peter Morris Ramadan H Guney Richard Ansdell Ross Mangles VC Robert Nisbet Bain Robert Dolling Rupert Hallowes VC St Edward the Martyr St Peters Walworth Reburials Samuel Prentice QC Syed Ameer Ali Thomas Hawksley Tom Jackson Carlisle VCs at Brookwood Cemetery Sir Vincent Raven Wallace Duffield Wright VC William Addison VC William Ewart Lockhart William Kenny VC William Reynolds VC William Smyth William Stewart Ross
ALEXANDER HERIOT MACKONOCHIE (1825-1887) was a priest and the first vicar of St Alban the Martyr, Holborn.
The Rev. Alexander Heriot Mackonochie long held the foremost position among the most advanced clergy of the Ritualist party, and attracted to himself the warmest love and devotion of that section of the Church. Rev. Mackonochie was educated at Wadham College, Oxford, where he took his degree in 1848. His name appeared in the second class of classical honours, while those of Mr. E. St. John Parry and a future Bishop of Chester were in the first class. In 1849 he was ordained deacon, and in the following year priest, by the Bishop of Salisbury.
Three years were then spent between the curacies of Westbury, in Wiltshire, and Wantage, in Berkshire. Then, in 1857, he was transferred to London. His lot was cast in the parish of St. George's-in-the-East, of which Rev. Bryan King was rector. One peculiarity of the parish was that the congregation had the right, to the exclusion of the rector, of naming both churchwardens. These gentlemen, as might have been expected, were both bitterly hostile to the proceedings of the rector and his curates. In point of fact, the ceremonies which were denounced on so many platforms at the time were only ritualism in its infancy, and the service as carried on in the church of St. Georges-in-the-East would now be thought less ornate than that of many a village church. The clergy were backed by a choir, who gave their services voluntarily, and by a knot of men who made a point of visiting the church every Sunday and doing their best to shield the clergy from violence. But on the other side were the churchwardens and the congregation, or rather the parishioners, to a man. We need not describe the painful scenes of riot that ensued. The hopeless struggle was carried on for some time. The churchwardens appointed a lecturer at the church, who was of the exactly opposite school to the rector, and this step only inflamed the animosity already existing, and the clergy, who had carried on the contest with firmness and good temper, were almost glad to be relieved of their duties.
Bryan King was in 1863 appointed to the vicarage of Avebury, in the diocese of Salisbury. Rev. Mackonochie, in 1862, was chosen as the first incumbent of the new church of St. Alban the Martyr, which had just been built at the expense of Mr. John Hubbard, now Lord Addington. Here at least Rev. Mackonochie had no mob to deal with. The parish was almost as poor as that which he had just left, but the parishioners were for the most part of a different character. His clergy house soon came to be regarded as the place where all could find relief and comfort in their troubles, physical and spiritual. This living Rev. Mackonochie held for 20 years, during which he gave his taste for high ritual the fullest scope. So far did he go that Mr. Hubbard, the Founder of the church, publicly protested against the proceedings of the incumbent. Protests, however,from whatever source they came, had little effect on Rev. Mackonochie.
But the "aggrieved parishioner" was set in motion, and for some years the Courts were full of the case of "Martin v. Mackonochie". It was understood that the proceedings were taken by the Church Association. Rev. Mackonochie systematically set the decrees of the Courts at naught; and the trouble was only brought to an end by an exchange of livings between Rev. Mackonochie and the Rev. R. A. J. Suckling, vicar of St. Peter's, London Docks. This exchange was made with the approval of the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr. Tait, and the Bishop of London, Dr. Jackson, both of whom, though by no means willing to sanction what they thought his extreme ritual, had learned to respect him as a high-minded, conscientious, hard-working man. He did not stay long at St. Peter's, as he was again attacked by the Church Association.
His health had long been failing, and a telegram was received on Saturday night at the St Alban's Clergy-house announcing his death while on a visit to the Bishop of Argyll. Following this news, Fr. Russell, one of the curates of St. Alban's, made a hasty journey to Scotland, and on his arrival sent the following telegram from Ballachulish to his colleagues at St Alban's:-
"He went Thursday morning to walk to head of loch, ten miles off, with two dogs, deerhound and terrier. Snowstorm came on and darkness, lost trail, wandering miles up into mountains, lay down, dogs watched two days and nights; would not let searchers approach. Found 17 miles from home, head frozen into snow. Hat off. Lies in Bishop's chapel; no trace of suffering upon face. I start early to-morrow as no boat to-night. Arrive at Euston early Wednesday. Will telegraph exact time from Oban to-morrow. Bishop tied here by duty, greatly regrets cannot come."
ARTHUR CATES (1829-1901) was an architect.
Arthur Cates was born in London on 29 April 1829. He was educated at King's College School, Strand, and then became a pupil of Sydney Smirke. He was elected an Associate Member of the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) in 1856, and a Fellow in 1874; and was sometime member of the Council, and Vice-President during the period 1888-92. Cates was elected a member of the Architectural Association in 1847. He was also a Fellow of the Surveyors Institution.
In 1870 Cates succeeded Sir James Pennethorne as Architect to the Land Revenues of the Crown, under the Commissioners of H.M. Woods and Forests. As Surveyor to the Honourable Society of the Inner Temple he designed the archway and gate-house which forms the entrance from Tudor Street into King's Bench Walk. For some while he was honorary secretary to the Council of the Society of Biblical Archaeology, and honorary secretary to the Architectural Publication Society, who issued The Dictionary of Architecture. He also served as chairman of the Board of Examiners, RIBA, and was appointed a member of the Tribunal of Appeal under the London Building Act, 1894. Cates was reappointed to that office for a period of five years from January 1 1900, under sections 175-6 of the Act, by the Council of the Institute. In 1900 he founded a prize, to be awarded by the Architectural Association, for a descriptive and illustrative account of the Paris Exhibition (1900), in the form of a Paris Exhibition travelling studentship of £20 to a member of the Architectural Association; the prize being awarded to E. W. M. Wonnacott. He also founded the Arthur Cates Prize, consisting of books to the value of ten guineas, for students admitted to the Final Examination. He was well known for his active and warm interest in all matters relating to the professional education of architects is well known, and he wrote an interesting article on "Architectural education in the United States of America" for volume six of the RIBA Journal.
In 1890 Cates was elected honorary treasurer to the Architects Benevolent Association, and institution in which he took great interest; he was re-elected to this role in 1895-6. In 1900, following the death of Henry Currey, Cates was appointed a Trustee of the Association. He was also nominated by the Senate of the University of London as member of the Board of Studies for Fine Arts, including architecture, as representative of the Institute; his colleagues elected him chairman of the Board.
ARTHUR HENRY STANTON (1839-1913) was a priest and a noted and eloquent preacher.
The death of the Rev. Arthur Henry Stanton, of St. Alban's, Holborn, which took place early on 28 March, 1913 at Upfield Lodge, Stroud, will bring genuine sorrow to thousands of people and will excite feelings of regret in the hearts of many who radically differed from the views which he so faithfully represented. Whatever may be said i about these views, this at least is certain, that the section of the Church holding them has been conspicuous for the devoted and unselfish services rendered to the cause of religion by its members, and that among these the 50 years of ceaseless toil as a licensed curate in an unlovely district off Holborn, which go to constitute Arthur Stanton's personal record, represent a story for which any Church may be proud and grateful.
Fr. Stanton was born on June 21, 1839. He was the third son of Charles Stanton, of Upfield, Stroud, Gloucestershire, by his marriage with Miss Holbrow, of Badbrook House, and brother of Walter Stanton, of the same county. He was educated at Rugby under Goulburn, and proceeded to Trinity College, Oxford, where he graduated in 1862. His decision for Tractarianism was made in early life, and at Oxford he was of those who would go to Dr. Liddon's lodgings at the House on Fridays and say the Penitential Psalms instead of dining in hall. Therefore, when he left Oxford he made straight for the thick of the fight, joining (no doubt at Liddon's instigation) the staff which Rev. Mackonochie was gathering round him at St. Alban's, Holborn.
That splendid edifice, due to the munificence of the late John Gellibrand Hubbard, afterwards Lord Addington, was not then, finished, but, on Liddon's refusal to be the first vicar, Rev. Mackonochie had been appointed and was holding services, sometimes over a shop, sometimes below ground. Fr. Stanton was ordained deacon in 1862 and priest in 1864, so that when Tait consecrated the church Fr. Stanton was still a deacon, and thenceforward St. Alban's was his life and his home. Tait told him at the time that he must not look for preferment, considering the church to which he was going, and in course of time he received more inhibitions than offers of promotion.
As an unbeneficed curate he had no direct responsibility for the early and steady development there of elaborate Roman ritual; nor is it necessary here to repeat what is written in the chronicles of Archbishop Tait and others; but Fr. Stanton, as enthusiast, teacher, director, was at the back of it all, and it is no indignity to the two vicars to say that what St. Alban's is he chiefly made it. Thus at the critical time of Rev. Mackonochie's withdrawal, when Bishop Jackson sent in 1875 for Fr. Stanton as curate-in-charge and forbade the further use of certain practices, it fell to the curate to decide on suspending the celebrations, the congregation attending the church of St. Vedast, Foster Lane.
Two sides of Fr. Stanton's work call for more particular comment. One is the Guild of St. Martin for postmen, which received the blessing of Archbishop Tait, who wrote of the "immense credit'' which Fr. Stanton deserved for organizing the guild and the sadness "that men like Stanton should be mixed up" with "quarrels in the Church". The success of this organization was largely a matter of the vivifying influence of the organizer's personality. The other side that calls for mention is his Sunday morning sermon at St. Alban's, a practice continued, with rare intermission, throughout his long association with the parish (to which should be added a mention of his sermons on the Monday evenings in August). It is not easy to describe the preacher to those who never heard him, and there was almost nothing in London like these sermons. Morning prayer, it may be noted, has been "said", but not gabbled, at 10.30 a.m., and "Mass" begins at 11.
Charles Nottage was born in 1852 and was the only son of Lady Christiana Nottage and the late Lord Mayor of London, Charles Swan Nottage. He was educated at Jesus College, Cambridge and was called to the bar at the Inner Temple in 1881. He later enrolled in the militia. As Captain Nottage, he served in the Devon Artillery Militia from 1885-94. He kept himself quite up to date in military affairs, just as he did in every other occupation in which he was concerned.
However it was as a yachtsman that he was more widely known. He figured prominently in the yachting world during the last fifteen years of his life.
His yachting was done on what he would term the "intelligent" principle, and he had not applied himself to the pastime a month before be had all the Yacht Racing Association rules at his fingers' ends.
He first came prominently before the yacht racing world by the very complete manner in which he raced the cutter Foxhound, 35 tons. Subsequently he built the Deerhound, and established the 40-rating class. This yacht he raced most successfully at home and in the Mediterranean, but during the last four seasons he was compelled to relinquish racing, although occasionally he was to be found as a passenger on board a friend's yacht in a match.
He was a member of the Council of the Yacht Racing Association, and took more interest in that body than the outside world was generally aware. One of his last acts was to endeavour to strengthen the position of the Yacht Racing Association in a practical way.
Rare first edition of Charles Nottage's In Search of a Climate. Published by Sampson Low in 1894. It contained illustrations by the London Stereoscopic & Photographic Company, founded by his late father.
He then became a great traveller, and his experiences are recorded in a very charming work from his pen In Search of a Climate.
Charles Nottage died at the Palace Hotel, Kensington, on Christmas Eve 1894. He bequeathed a sum of £13,000 to establish "The Nottage Institute" (see link below) for instructing yachtsmen and other sailors in the science of navigation. He also left £2,000 for "The Nottage Cup" for yachts, but this was declared invalid.
You can read more on Captain Charles Nottage on the Wivenhoe's Nottage Maritime Institute Webpage
EDWARD ENFIELD (1811-1880) was an educationalist and philanthropist.
Enfield was born in Nottingham on 15 May 1811. He was the grandson of William Enfield (1741-1797), the compiler of "Enfield's Speaker". He entered Manchester College, York, as a literary student in 1826.
Enfield was subsequently appointed one of the moneyers of the Royal Mint. He was one of the most active members of the corporation, until, on the reorganisation of the Mint in 1851, he retired with a pension.
From then on he gave his time to works of education and philanthropy. He was a member of the Council and Committee of Management of University College, London; and was President of the Senate from 1878. He was also a member of the Council of University Hall, Gordon Square. From 1867 he acted as Treasurer and Chairman of University College Hospital. Most of the sanitary and structural improvements to the hospital were under his supervision.
As a Unitarian dissenter he took a large part in the conduct of the non-sectarian efforts for the improvement of the poor in East London, carried on by the Unitarian Domestic Mission Society.
In 1857 he was elected a trustee of the nonconformist endowments embraced in Dr. Daniel Williams's Trust, and became a member of the Estates and Audit Committees. At the time of his death he was president of Manchester New College, London.
He died at his residence, 19 Chester Terrace, Regent's Park, on 21 April 1880. His funeral was attended by members of the Council and Senate of University College London.
FREDERICK ROBERT SPOFFORTH (1853-1926) was an Australian cricketer. He was regarded by many as the greatest bowler who ever lived.
The death of Frederick Spofforth removes from the company of living cricketers the physical presence of an immortal. So long as the game is played he will take rank with Dr. W. G. Grace, Victor Trumper, Alfred Shaw, and a very few other heroic personages as a maker of history. It may be that, if he could be reincarnated as he was in 1878, the year in which he first visited England, and if he bowled precisely as he then did to modem batsmen, they would walk in front of all three stumps and use his quick break-back to turn the ball round the comer to the boundary on the leg side. That is beside the point, which is that he was beyond question the greatest bowler of his generation. He was called "the Demon", not by some ingenious journalist, but by the batsmen who played against him, and of him "W. G." said that, however well he might be set, he was never sure that "Spoff" would not bowl him out next ball.
Spofforth was born at Balmain, Sydney, on September 9, 1853. He came to England with each of the first five Australian teams that visited this country, and eventually settled here in 1888, taking part in several matches for Derbyshire in 1890, but being chiefly associated with the Hampstead Club. In 1878, when a considerable proportion of the Australians' programme consisted of matches against odds, he took 352 wickets, and in 1880, when they played only five eleven-a-side games up to the end of August, his wickets in first-class matches numbered only 46. In 1882 he took 188 wickets for 12 runs apiece, and in 1884 216 wickets, also for an average cost of 12 runs. Altogether in the five tours he obtained 662 wickets in first-class matches for about 12½ runs apiece.
Among his most memorable feats may be mentioned that at Lord's in 1878 on the occasion of the M.C.C. being beaten in a single day, when he took ten wickets for 20 runs, while Harry Boyle took nine for 17. This match with its startling result - for the M.C.C. team included several of the leading batsmen of the day - went a long way to make the fame of Australian cricket. Four years later, when Australia beat England at the Oval by seven runs, the triumph was primarily due to Spofforth, who took 14 wickets for 90 runs. In a game with an Eleven of England at Birmingham in 1884, when four hours' cricket was sufficient to decide the issue, Spofforth took seven wickets for 34 runs in the first innings and seven for three runs in the second. It is also on record that in 1878 against Eighteen of Hastings he took nine wickets in 20 balls, and in 1880 against Eighteen of Burnley 12 wickets in 18 balls.
The legends told about legendary heroes are seldom correct in every detail. It is commonly believed nowadays that Spofforth earned his nickname by his terrific pace. He was not, however, a fast bowler, because a fast bowler, properly so called, is one who cannot bowl a ball of bad length provided that the ball hits the ground. Spofforth never touched that measure of velocity, though he could send down a fast ball, and on occasions bowl for an hour or more without a man in the deep field to batsmen who by nature and training regarded the drive as one of the essential strokes in the game. His average pace was probably less than, that of Maurice Tate, but his variations of pace were greater than Tate's, though less violent than those by which Albert Trott made the lives of wicket-keepers a burden to them.
Spofforth stood over 6ft. in his socks. He looked as if ho got no nourishment from his food, but probably weighed a stone more than a casual observer would guess him to weigh. He took rather a long run up to the crease, crossed his feet at the moment of delivery, and almost brushed his right ear with his biceps. His long, skinny arm cut through the air like a whip-lash, and the sharpest sight was needed to detect the pace at which it was moving. A cricket ball, as delivered by Spofforth's flexible wrist and long, sinewy fingers, seemed to take on some of the hostile purposefulness which filled the soul of the bowler. Horan, the most trustworthy historian of Australian cricket in the days of its youth, rightly attributes to Frederick Spofforth and William Murdoch responsibility for its transition from crude mediocrity to formidable efficiency.
Horatia Nelson Johnson was born on 24th November 1832. She was the seventh of nine children and was named after her mother, Horatia Nelson (1801-1881), Nelson's child by Emma Hamilton. Her father was the Rev. Philip Ward (1795-1859).
Horatia inherited her sisters' pensions provided under the Civil List and received the full £300 per year until her death on 11 October 1890. She is buried with her husband William, who died on 6 March in the following year.
[3] Emma Hamilton died in poverty in Calais in January 1815 and is buried there. The young Horatia was sent back to England to be cared for by relatives.
Owen, William Benjamin. William Stewart Ross. In Lee S (Ed.) Dictionary of National Biography. (2nd supplement). London: Smith, Elder & Co, 1912, p. 232.
Peter Geoffrey Morris, aged nearly 21, was shooting for the London Rifle Brigade in The Territorials' Daily Telegraph Cup at Bisley, on 25th May 1930, when his heart gave out and he died on the rifle range. It was an important competition and all the Territorial Regiments were taking part.
At the subsequent inquest a doctor reported that his death was due to syncope, and the Coroner returned a verdict of death by natural causes.
Peter Morris lived at Green Lanes, Finsbury Park, and was a member of the London Rifle Brigade. He was the son of Robert Edmund Morris and Eva Blanche Caroline Morris. His family was devastated by his death, and many wreaths were placed on his grave following his burial. The London Rifle Brigade sounded "The Last Post" over the grave.
His memorial cross is made of granite and bears the London Rifle Brigade crest inset into the granite. It is unfortunately now worn due to the passage of time.
Ramadan Houssein Guney was born in Cyprus in 1932. After leaving school, he served in the British army and police on the island. In 1958 he emigrated to Britain and set up a music publishing business which continues to sell recordings of ethnic music to the Turkish communities in London. He helped found and run the first Turkish Cypriot Mosque in London, and worked on a variety of social and community projects, arising from his work with the UK Turkish Islamic Centre.
Mr Guney's ownership of the cemetery was initially contentious but ultimately successful. He cleared some areas of trees and undergrowth, partly to correct the problem of a rising water table (which was causing areas to flood), and partly to create new burial space. Brookwood was never designed to be the dense woodland it reverted to in places due to years of neglect by previous owners, who had sold off land under the 1975 Brookwood Cemetery Act. Profits from these land sales were meant to be used for restoration, but this never happened.
Mr Guney's maintenance programme was a slow and frustrating process, undertaken without any external funding support. It included the restoration of the Muslim and Catholic sections (where the majority of burials are now taking place), whilst working on key areas of the wider cemetery as funding and staffing permitted. He also digitised the burial records.
Mr Guney's vision for the cemetery was to recreate its beautiful park-like setting. As Chairman of the Brookwood Cemetery Society I benefited from his experience, advice, practicality, sense of humour, and a friendship that developed over the years. The Society worked with Mr Guney to promote the cemetery and to assist with restoration projects as funding and volunteers allowed. The highlight of his ownership was the special celebration he arranged for the 150th anniversary of the cemetery on 5th September 2004. Attended by over 100 guests from around the world it was a truly multicultural celebration. Mr Guney also launched his own restoration fund for the cemetery he owned, admired and appreciated.
Ramadan Guney (left) during the celebrations of 150 years at Brookwood Cemetery, 5 September 2004. He is standing with (from left to right) Prince Nawab Mohsin Ali Khan of Hyderabad, Lieutenant Colonel ben Coffey of the American Embassy, Brigadier-general William Neumann, Commander, Canadian High Commission, Colonel Salvatore Farina, and Khawaja Rashiduddin Qamar of the Morden Mosque.
Mr Guney had 2 sons and 4 daughters with Suheyla, who passed away in 1992. Mr Guney has been buried at Brookwood Cemetery in his family vault.
The following is an article on the case, written by Professor René Weis for publication in the Times to mark the 70th anniversary of Mrs. Thompson's execution in 1993. It is reproduced here with his permission.
"Edith Thompson was innocent of murder. Her sentence was unjust. Her name must be cleared."
On 9th January 1923, Edith Thompson and Frederick Bywaters were hanged in London, she at Holloway, and he at Pentonville. They were both found guilty of her husband's murder in a quiet street in Ilford one late night in October 1922. Edith was 29 when she died, her lover only 20. The Crown "proved" at the trial at the Old Bailey that although it was Bywaters who stabbed the 32 year old Percy Thompson to death, Edith had set it up. She must have masterminded it because she was a successful business-woman in London, whereas the much younger Bywaters was a mere merchant sailor.
But there was no colourable evidence to connect Edith Thompson to the crime. Instead, there was a rash and fanciful wish, repeatedly expressed in her many letters to Bywaters, to be rid of her husband. From such references the Crown inferred poison, and exhumed Thompson's body. However, the two most distinguished pathologists in the country independently concluded that there had been no attempt at poisoning.
If the "Messalina of Ilford", as the popular press dubbed her, could not be found guilty of poisoning, then she had to be found guilty of aiding and abetting the murder. Accordingly the Solicitor General scandalously misled the jury when he stated that Edith Thompson's correspondence contained the "undoubted evidence" of a "preconcerted meeting between Mrs. Thompson and Bywaters at the place" - meaning the spot where Thompson was murdered. There is no such evidence in the letters, but the jury could not know this, because only half of Edith Thompson's correspondence with Bywaters was submitted in court. The jury had to assume either that the Solicitor General was lying, or that explicit conspiracy to murder was spelled out in one of the withheld letters.
The judge failed to set the records straight in a summing up that was notoriously unfair to Mrs. Thompson. During the trial he scribbled on his note pad "great love ... nonsense. Great and wholesome disgust." The judge could, and should, have told the jury the reason why parts of Edith Thompson's correspondence were withheld: her letters were deemed too explicit about "women's things" such as her periods (or lack of them), her two pregnancies (resulting in one abortion and one miscarriage) and, yes, a sexual climax in Bywater's arms al fresco in Wanstead Park. This was the sort of thing that might have happened to Hollywood starlets, but not to restless British housewives.
Edith Thompson paid a terrible price for daring to be ruled by her passions, and for behaving out of her social class. If confirmation were needed that it was her perceived immorality that brought her to perdition, it is provided by the foreman of her jury. "It was my duty to read them [the letters] to the members of the jury ... ‘Nauseous' is hardly strong enough to describe their contents ... Mrs. Thompson's letters were her own condemnation."
Edith's famous letters were not at all about sex, or her loathing for her husband. In fact, the bulk of them chronicled her daily life and fantasies for her lover's benefit, to keep him involved in her suburban routines while he was sailing the oceans of the world. Edith's natural gift for written expression allowed her to articulate her feelings with remarkable fluency. She devoured books, and substantial parts of her correspondence consist of discussions of sentimental and risqué novels, such as Bella Donna by Robert Hichens. She was the Madame Bovary of North-East London.
A million people signed the petition for the reprieve of Edith Thompson and Freddy Bywaters, particularly for his sake, as he had become something of a hero during the trial for his loyalty to her. His last words to his mother the day before he died, as she left the death cell at Pentonville, were "give my love to Edie". Bywaters died fearless, Edith Thompson disintegrated on the gallows. Rumours about the circumstances surrounding her death began to circulate at once, giving reason to suspect that she may have been pregnant, and that the observations about her "insides falling out" was a euphemism for a miscarriage. It certainly seems odd that her weight increased dramatically from 119 to 133 pounds between the day she was sentenced to death, 11 December 1922, and the day she died, 9 January 1923, even though she ate very little during her last two weeks in prison, and next to nothing during the four days before her death.
Edith Thompson continues to exercise imaginations, and above all consciences. Occasionally I return to East Ham and Ilford, mostly to show friends where Edith Thompson grew up, her school, the church she was married in, her house in Ilford, the parks nearby, the station through which she commuted, even her bank. She was a truly ordinary woman. The gulf between the legal cataclysm that destroyed her and her own sense of position is best revealed by her reaction to the sentence. As her family entered her cell in the bowels of the Old Bailey immediately after the verdict, Edith rushed towards her father, crying "Take me home, Dad!", as if he could.
One cannot avoid feeling that a wider and sinister logic operated against Edith Thompson: her husband was dead, her killer would die, and this woman needed to atone for the loss of the two men. She became the first woman in sixteen years to be hanged in Britain. Edith Thompson was innocent of murder. Her sentence was unjust. Her name must be cleared.
René Weis Criminal Justice: the True Story of Edith Thompson (Hamish Hamilton, 1988; re-issued by Penguin Books in 1990 and February 2001).
Another Life, a film based on the life of Edith Thompson, was on general release from 15 June 2001 and released by Winchester Films.
You can read a contemporary account of the trial edited by Filson Young Trial of Frederick Bywaters and Edith Thompson (London: Butterworth, 1923).
You can read an account of the special service to dedicate the permanent memorial to Edith Thompson and others.
Mr Samuel Prentice QC died at his residence, "Greystoke", Christ Church Road, Surbiton on 17 December 1893. He was an ex-County Court Judge.
SIR HENRY FITZHARDINGE BERKELEY MAXSE (1832-1883) was a distinguished soldier, and latterly Governor of Newfoundland.
Sir Henry Maxse was born in 1832, the eldest son of the late James Maxse of Eggingham Hill, Surrey. His mother was Lady Caroline Fitzhardinge Maxse (1803-1886), daughter of the 5th Earl of Berkeley. He entered the Army in 1849 as a Lieutenant in the 13th Light Dragoons. He also served in the 2nd Battalion of Coldstream Guards. During the Crimean War her served as Captain, but obtained the brevet rank of Major in July 1855, as aide-de-camp to Lord Cardigan. He fought at the battles of the Alma and Balaclava. The gallantry of "Maxse's Ride", in carrying a message alone, through the Russian lines from the British Commander-in-Chief to Admiral Lord Lyons, was celebrated at the time in prose and poetry. He was wounded during the famous charge of the Light Brigade at Balaclava. He received a medal and three clasps and the Order of the Medjidie for his services in the Crimea.
Maxse was promoted to Lieutenant-Colonel in 1858 and was appointed Lieutenant-Governor of Heligoland in 1863. In 1878 he published an English translation of Prince Bismarck's Letters to his Wife and Sisters: 1844-1870. He remained in Heligoland until the spring of 1881 when he was promoted to be Governor of Newfoundland.
Ameer Ali received the C.I.E. in 1887, and was an honorary LL.D. of Cambridge University. He married Isabelle, a daughter of the late H. Konstam, and a sister of the distinguished actress, Gertrude Kingston, and of Mr. E. M. Konstam, K.C. They had two sons, of whom served in the Indian Civil Service in the United Provinces, and the younger ran a successful practice at the Calcutta Bar, acting also as Legal Remembrancer to the Bengal Government.
In private life Ameer Ali was held in high esteem by a large circle of English and Indian friends. He was a charming host, and his house in Cadogan Place was for a long time a pleasant, centre of all that was best in the British-Indian world. The position that he had won for himself was unique in the history of his race. He died on August 3, 1928.
Job Titles:
- Historian of Brookwood Cemetery
Thomas Hawksley was a leading engineer in the water and gas industries during the nineteeth century.
He was born on the 12th of July 1807, at Arnold, near Nottingham. He was educated at Nottingham Grammar School until the age of fifteen, but was indebted to his private studies for his knowledge of mathematics, chemistry and geology. In 1822 he was articled to an architect in Nottingham, subsequently becoming a partner in the firm, which also undertook engineering work.
In 1852 he moved to London, and established an engineering practice in Great George Street, where he continued in active practice till he was well past eighty. His work was chiefly concerned with water and gas supply, and with main-drainage. Towards the end of his life he reckoned he had constructed around 150 waterworks, and a long list might be drawn up of important towns that owe their water to his skill, including Liverpool, Sheffield, Leicester, Leeds, Derby, Darlington, Oxford, Cambridge and Northampton in England; and Stockholm, Altona and Bridgetown (Barbados) in other countries.
He was water engineer to his native town of Nottingham for fifty years, and the system he designed for it was noteworthy from the fact that the principle of constant supply was adopted for the first time. The gas-works at Nottingham, and at many other towns for which he provided water supplies, were also constructed by him. He designed main-drainage systems for Birmingham, Worcester and Windsor among other places, and in 1857 he was called in, together with G. P. Bidder and Sir Joseph Bazalgette, to report on the best solution of the vexed question of a main-drainage scheme for London.
He was the first President of the Institution of Gas Engineers and Managers. In 1872 he was elected President of the Institution of Civil Engineers - an office in which his son Charles followed him in 1901. He died in London on the 23rd of September 1893.
In 2007, the bicentenary of his birth, MWH Global approached Brookwood Cemetery Ltd for permission to erect a permanent memorial on his grave. Previously there had been no memorial on what is a large private family plot in Brookwood Cemetery. This was agreed and a handsome granite memorial was put in place in time for members of the company to pay their respects on 5 December 2007. The granite memorial was designed and fitted by Tudor Rose Memorials.
Also in connection with the bicentennial celebrations, MWH released a DVD highlighting Thomas Hawksley's career and the projects the company is currently involved in. They also released a commemorative booklet celebrating his life and times.
William Mahurter's trial was heard at the Kent Assizes on 30 November 1917. He admitted he was drunk at the time of the incident, having been drinking rum during the course of the evening. His counsel told the court that he had been fighting in France and had been wounded several times. He had a good character in the Army. Mahurter was sentenced to six weeks' hard labour. One local newspaper headline noted "RUM DID IT - SOLDIER'S LIGHT GET OFF".
Job Titles:
- Historian of Brookwood Cemetery
- Member of the Gympie
William Smyth was for fifteen years a member for Gympie in the Legislative Assembly of Queensland, Australia. He died in London following an operation.
William Smyth was one of 12 children. His father, who had emigrated from Ireland to Australia, ran a corn chandler's business in Sydney until the late 1850s. His father then decided to try his luck in gold prospecting, and the family moved 300 miles south of Sydney. William worked with his father at Braidwood gold field, from 1861, worked as a miner at Araluen for six years, and followed the gold rushes at Lachlan and Weddin Mountain.
William arrived in Gympie in 1868, where another gold field was discovered. He worked in the mines, and began to build a reputation as an efficient manager. Over the years he was manager at West Inglewood 2 & 3, Smithfield South and NZ Junction mines; Manager and Director of Great No 1 North Phoenix mine (holding 7,000 shares in the mine); had interests in Nos. 3 & 4 North Glanmire, 2 Great Eastern, Harkins, and 3 & 4 Phoenix mines. His wider business interests were reflected in his involvement with alluvial and quartz mining, and his being appointed a Director of the Royal Bank of Queensland, of the Gympie Gas Company and of the One Mile Sawmill.
By now a successful businessman, William entered the Legislative Assembly of Queensland as the member for Gympie. He remained a member for the rest of his life. He was recognised as the authority on mines and mining in the Assembly, and was nicknamed "Bill, the Miners' Friend" as he introduced a number of reforms in the industry.
William Smyth travelled extensively - including to England - to recruit mine managers and to set up new business connections. At home he was actively involved in establishing a hospital, school, Masonic Lodge, library and School of Arts in his district. He always had the welfare of his own community close to his heart.
What proved to be his final voyage to England would have been just another business trip for him. He travelled with his wife and a niece, arriving in London in early May, 1899. He also travelled as the honorary representative of the Government of Queensland to the Greater Britain Exhibition at Earls Court Exhibition. The exhibition included mineral displays by Queensland and Western Australia, and a model gold mine.
But William fell ill on his arrival in London, and symptoms of blood poisoning were diagnosed, possibly the remains of dengue fever contracted years before. Despite having access to the best doctors in London, his condition worsened. Finally, two eminent surgeons were engaged to carry out an investigative operation at the Chelsea Hospital, after which he was moved to the Belgrave Nursing Home to recuperate. Here he died suddenly almost immediately after the operation.
WILLIAM STEWART ROSS (1844-1906), was one of the most interesting figures in the English free-thought movement, and a prolific author.
Ross was born at Kirkbean, Galloway, in 1844. He graduated from Glasgow University and became a parish schoolmaster in his native county. He subsequently drifted into journalism at Dumfries under the aegis of Thomas Aird, the poet.
Ross subsequently moved to London. Although originally intended for the Scottish ministry, he drifted into the free thought movement, becoming associated first with the National Reformer under Charles Bradlaugh and Mrs Besant; and later with the Secular Review under George Holyoake and Charles Watts. Later he became editor of the Agnostic Journal, to whose columns he was a prolific contributor under the pen name "Saladin".
Though much of Ross's literary career was spent in the polemical controversies of orthodox religion and free thought, he had earned a reputation in other areas of English literature. He was author of A System of Elocution for Pupil Teachers (1878), and volumes on The Last Century of British History (1871), Practical Text-Book of Grammatical Analysis (1870), a History of Scotland and other works.
As a disciple of the romantic school of poetry inaugurated by Sir Walter Scott, Ross was widely known for the patriotic fervour and picturesque descriptions of incidents and scenes in the old days of chivalry. His poems include Lays of Romance and Chivalry (1884), Isaure and Other Poems (1887), and The Harp of the Valley (1868).
Ross was an indefatigable worker in the free thought movement, both by speech and pen. Among his better known works, which were translated into other languages are God and His Book (1887), Woman: Her Glory and Her Shame (1894), and The Holy Lance.