Category Archives: Sussex

Bedfordshire, Captain, Commonwealth War Graves, Great War, history, India, Isle of Wight, Lieutenant, photography, Royal Marines, story, suicide, Sussex, war

Captain Guye Lushington

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Captain Guye Lushington

Guye Wellesley Lushington was born in India on 6th November 1880. The oldest of four children, his parents were James and Bessie Lushington. James was a worked in the Bombay Uncovenanted Civil Service and, while it’s not possible to track his location through census records, by the time of the 1891 census, Bessie had returned to Britain with the children. The document found them living at 31 Clarendon Street in Bedford, Bedfordshire.

Guye’s background stood him in good stead when it came to building a career. His chosen profession was the army and, by January 1898 he had landed a commission in the Royal Marine Artillery. Lieutenant Lushington continued to do well and, on 13th March 1908, he received a promotion to Captain.

Full details of Guye’s military service have been lost to time, but by the time war broke out, he was attached to the dreadnought battleship HMS Bellerophon. The stress of the Great War was to take its toll, however, and he was diagnosed with neurasthenia. In 1916, he was admitted to the King Edward Convalescent Home at Osborne House, on the Isle of Wight. Captain Lushington’s condition, however, was to worsen.

The Isle of Wight Coroner yesterday held an inquest respecting the death of Captain George [sic] Wellesley Lushington, 35, of the Royal Marine Artillery, sone of Mr James Law Lushington, of Briar Bank, Grove-road, Worthing [West Sussex], who was found dead… on Tuesday, having apparently thrown himself over an iron staircase fire escape into the courtyard.

Colonel Douglas Wardrop, house governor and medical superintendent, said the deceased arrived at Osborne House from Haslar on the 5th inst… He was rather depressed and worried about his loss of will power. He had been four years on the “Bellerophon” and on active service with the Grand Fleet. There was nothing in the deceased’s manner to suggest suicide. He slept on the top floor of the south wing. At two o’clock on Tuesday morning, the night nurse reported that the deceased had not slept in his room. Search was made, and the deceased was found lying in the courtyard between the kitchen and the south wing. He must have jumped from the fire escape – which was an iron staircase with platforms outside each landing – onto the flag stones below, a distance of 45 feet. His skull was smashed to pieces. There was a railing 3 feet 6 inches high round the staircase, and deceased could not have accidentally fallen over.

Two letters were found in deceased’s room, one addressed to his father and the other to his sister. His father identified the writing. The letter to the deceased’s father was as follows:

“Osborne House, Sunday.

“My dear pater, Since I broke down a month ago, I feel I shall never pick up again. I am afraid this will rather surprise you, but I cannot stand the tension any longer. I am always wondering what is going to happen to me. Give my love to Daisy. If one has to die, it is better quickly than slowly. With lots of love – GUYE”

Nursing sister Arkins, who had charge of the deceased, said he was quiet, bur showed no suicidal tendency.

Lieutenant George Stewart Manisty, of the Indian Army Reserve, attached to the 7th Bengal Lancers, said he played bridge with the deceased up till 10:30 on Monday night, and for three nights running. Deceased seemed quite friendly and in good spirits.

A verdict of “Suicide while of unsound mind” was returned.

The Coroner said that was the third suicide within a week on the Isle of Wight, either directly or indirectly due to the war.

[Sussex Daily News: Thursday 11th May 1916]

Captain Lushington’s full state of mind on the night he took his life will never be know. The family had suffered three early deaths in a matter of years: Guye’s oldest sister, Violet, had died in 1899, at the age of 18; his brother Hubert had died in 1905 at the age of 19; his mother Bessie passed away in 1911 at the age of 58. Guye had taken his life on 8th May 1916, aged 35 years old.

The body of Guy Wellesley Lushington was taken to Worthing, West Sussex, for burial. He was laid to rest in the town’s Broadwater Cemetery.

accident, Army Pay Corps, Commonwealth War Graves, Great War, history, Lieutenant, photography, Royal Air Force, story, Sussex, war, Warwickshire

Lieutenant Frederick Bravery

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Lieutenant Frederick Bravery

DISASTROUS FLYING ACCIDENT

Seven Airmen Killed

Lieutenant FJ Bravery’s “Great Skill and Fearlessness”

A sad bereavement has just been sustained by Mr & Mrs T Bravery, of 83, Chapel-road, in the death of one of their soldier sons, Lieutenant FJ Bravery, of the Royal Air Force, as the result of a flying accident near Birmingham in the early part of last week.

Together with a young Canadian Officer, Lieutenant Macbeth, of Toronto, and five air mechanics, Lieutenant Bravery was testing a large aeroplane, when, according to a farmer who was an eye-witness of the accident, the machine was seen to come nose down out of a cloud at great height.

The machine then righted itself and went about a mile, when it turned over while flying at a comparatively low altitude, and fell straight to earth, all seven occupants being instantaneously killed.

An inquest was held at a small town in the vicinity of the accident on Thursday afternoon, when evidence was given that both Lieutenant Macbeth (who was in charge of the machine) and Lieutenant Bravery were experienced pilots and accustomed to the type of machine they were flying, and that tests made with the machine before the flight was started were all satisfactory.

The Jury, in returning their verdict of “Accidental death” were unable to state the specific cause of the accident.

Lieutenant Bravery, who was only twenty-two years of age, joined the Army Pay Corps at the end of 1914, bur subsequently transferred to the Royal Flying Corps, where he had been engaged in flying for a little more than a year. A capable and experienced pilot, he had latterly been attached to the Central Dispatch Pool, where his duties mainly consisted of ferrying machines over to France; and his Commanding Officer, in a letter of sympathy to the bereaved parents, wrote that “he had done excellent work by his great skill and fearlessness. He was always popular and loved in his mess; and was absolutely unselfish, and a very brave gentleman.”

The funeral of the other victims of the tragedy took place on Friday near the scene of the accident: but the body of Lieutenant Bravery was brought home to Worthing, and was buried yesterday afternoon, at Broadwater Cemetery, with full Military honours.

[Worthing Gazette: Wednesday 28th August 1918]

Frederick James Bravery was born on 4th January 1896 in Brighton, Sussex. One of seven children, his parents were Thomas and Eugenie Bravery. Thomas was a pork butcher, and the 1901 census found the family lived at 3 Grenville Street in the centre of the town. Frederick and two of his sisters, meanwhile, were staying with their paternal grandparents on New Church Road in Aldrington.

By the time of the 1911 census, the Bravery family had taken a massive step up. They were now living in a 10-roomed Victorian villa at 15 Clermont Terrace in the Preston area of Brighton. Thomas was noted as having no occupation, and while three of Frederick’s older sibling were working – one as a milliner’s assistant, one as a chemist’s cashier and one as a clerk for a piano shop – their salaries would not have been enough to support such a change in status.

There is little that can be added to the newspaper’s account of Frederick’s military service. He seemed keen to enlist, and what remains of his army and air force documentation suggests that he added two years to his age. He was, therefore, just 22 years of age when he died, on 19th August 1918.

The body of Frederick James Bravery was laid to rest in Broadwater Cemetery, Worthing, Sussex, just a short walk from where his parents were now living in Chapel Road (Thomas now listed as being a sauce maker and pork butcher).

The newspaper report only highlighted the deaths of the two Lieutenants killed in the fatal accident. Alongside Lieutenant Bravery, the full list of crew lost were Air Mechanic 3rd Class George Greenland (buried at Tower Hamlets Cemetery Park, London); Air Mechanic 1st Class James May (buried in Basford Cemetery, Nottinghamshire); Air Mechanic 3rd Class Charles Offord (buried in Acton Cemetery, Middlesex); and Aircraftman 2nd Class Horrace Simmonds. Simmonds and Lieutenant Robert Macbeth were both laid to rest in St Michael’s Churchyard, Maxstoke, not far from the site of the crash.

Able Seaman, Boy, Commonwealth War Graves, Great War, Hampshire, history, Kent, killed in action, Leading Seaman, Ordinary Seaman, photography, Royal Navy, story, Sussex, war

Leading Seaman Dan Pierson

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Leading Seaman Dan Pierson

Dan Pierson was born in Liss, Hampshire, on 14th February 1884. One of eleven children, he was the third of four sons to Daniel and Annie Pierson. Daniel was an agricultural labourer, but his son wanted a more guaranteed career and, on 21st February 1901, he joined the Royal Navy.

Having only just turned 17, Dan was too young to formally enlist, and so was given the rank of Boy 2nd Class. He would spend the next year on training ships – HMS Northampton and HMS Calliope – and was also billeted at HMS Victory, the Royal Naval Dockyard in Portsmouth, Hampshire. Just two months after joining, he was promoted to Boy 1st Class and, when he came of age in February 1902, he was fully enrolled into the navy, and given the rank of Ordinary Seaman.

Dan was assigned to the gunboat HMS Redbreast by this point, and his service records show the young man he had become. He was 5ft 6ins (1.68m) tall, with dark brown hair, grey eyes and a fresh complexion. He also had two tattoos: one of a woman on his right arm, and another of a swallow on his left.

Ordinary Seaman Pierson’s contract was for twelve years and, over that time, he served on board eight different vessels. His annual reviews commented on his very good character and his superior ability, both of which backed up his progression through the ranks. On 11th June 1903, towards the end of his three years aboard Redbreast, he was promoted to Able Seaman, and on 1st December 1913, just a couple of months before the end of his initial term of service, he rose to Leading Seaman.

By this point, Dan had married. His new wife, Edith, was a railway worker’s daughter from Harting in Sussex. She was working as a housemaid for Reverend John Leake and his wife Helena at the time of their wedding.

When his contract came to an end, Leading Seaman Pierson immediately renewed it. His papers show that he had grown to 5ft 9.5ins (1.77m) in height but that he had been injured in the intervening years: it was noted that the little toe of his right foot was missing, and that he had a scar on his left leg.

By the time war broke out, Leading Stoker Pierson was assigned to the pre-dreadnought battleship HMS Bulwark. During the summer of 1914, she was one of the Channel fleet used to protect ships transporting troops across to France. He was on board Bulwark when, on the morning of 26th November 1914, an explosion ripped through the ship while it was moored near Sheerness, Kent, tearing it apart and sinking it. In all 741 souls were lost, Dan amongst them. He was 30 years of age.

Dan Pierson’s body was recovered and identified. He was laid to rest in Woodlands Cemetery, Gillingham, Kent, not far from Chatham Dockyard.

Edith’s brother Ernest Pay was also serving in the Royal Navy. Attached to HMS Bulwark as well, Leading Stoker Pay was also killed in the explosion: he was 28 years of age. Tragically for Edith and her parents, Ernest’s body was never recovered. His loss is commemorated on the Portsmouth Naval Memorial in Hampshire.

accident, Commonwealth War Graves, Great War, history, Kent, Leading Stoker, Petty Officer, photography, Royal Navy, Stoker, story, Sussex, war

Stoker Petty Officer Henry Weller

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Stoker Petty Officer Henry Weller

Henry Weller was born on 13th January 1877 in the village of Ashurst Wood, Sussex. The second of four children, his parents were John and Mary Weller. John was a farm labourer, and the 1881 census found the family living in a cottage on Brooklands Farm in East Grinstead.

Times look to have been tough for the Weller family. By the time of the next census, John, Mary and three of their children were lodging with Hartfield family. Henry, meanwhile, was living in Deptford, Kent, with James and Susannah Weller. He was noted as being a ‘cousin’, although his exact relationship is unclear. James’ nephew Joseph Weller, was also living with them. Just fourteen years of age, Henry was working as a general labourer, and the family were living at 21 Adolphus Street.

Labouring was an irregular way to being in money, and so Henry sought out a more regular career. On 18th November 1896 he signed up to the Royal Navy as a Stoker 2nd Class. His service records show that he was 5ft 4.5ins (1.64m) tall, with brown hair, brown eyes and a fresh complexion. He was also noted as having the letters HW tattooed on his left forearm, and shaking hands on his upper left arm.

Stoker Weller was sent to HMS Pembroke, the Royal Naval Dockyard in Chatham, Kent, for his training. He spent the next nine months split between there and HMS Wildfire – Sheerness Dockyard – learning his trade.

On 8th June 1897, Henry was assigned to the battleship HMS Victorious. Promoted to Stoker 1st Class three months after boarding, she would remain his home for the next three years. After a month aboard another battleship – HMS Revenge – he returned to Chatham.

Love blossomed and, on 8th July 1900, Henry married Alice Beldham, a dock worker’s daughter. The couple exchanged vows at All Saints’ Church, Rotherhithe, Kent, and moved in with Alice’s widowed father, George, at 12 Osprey Street. They went on to have three children: Henry, Harold and Ivy.

Newly settled, Henry seems to have voiced a preference to remain closer to home and, for the next couple of years he would remain based at HMS Pembroke. Alice relocated, and the family set up home at 51 King Edward Road, Gillingham, Kent. Close to the River Medway, the Wellers’ neighbours were all based at the docks, and, during her husband’s future absences, it is likely that Alice felt a sense of community.

After leaving HMS Pembroke, Henry was attached to the cruiser HMS Bacchante. Promoted to Leading Stoker 2nd Class, over the next six years, he would serve on three more ships, spending six-month stints back in Chatham in between assignments. In July 1903 he was promoted to Leading Stoker 1st Class, although he reverted to 2nd Class nine months later. Promoted again in June 1905, he took the rank of Stoker Petty Officer a year later.

Henry’s initial term of service came to an end in November 1908. He immediately re-enlisted, and remained in service until the spring of 1918.

By this point Stoker Petty Officer Weller had been assigned to the torpedo gunboat HMS Hebe for more than thirty months. Patrolling the North Sea coast, on 12th April, she moored at the Alexandra Dock in Hull, Yorkshire. A later inquest outlined what happened next:

Joseph Taylor, a chief petty officer, said that about 11:55pm… [Henry] and he were going from the town to their ship… Witness struck a match to light his pipe. [Henry] walked on for about two yards, and then disappeared. Witness raised the alarm, and went tot he bottom of the dry dock, into which he found [Henry] had fallen, a distance of about 50 feet. They did not know the docks, has they had only come in that morning… If he (witness) had not struck the match they would both have gone over.

[Hull Daily Mail: Wednesday 17th April 1918]

Alive, but severely concussed, Stoker Petty Officer Weller was quickly taken to a local hospital. He was operated on, but his injuries were too severe. Henry passed away on 16th April 1918: he was 41 years of age.

The body of Henry Weller was taken back to Kent for burial. He was laid to rest in Woodlands Cemetery, Gillingham, a short walk from where Alice and their children were still living.

Cadet, Commonwealth War Graves, Great War, Gunner, history, illness, Middlesex, photography, Royal Garrison Artillery, Sergeant, story, Sussex, war

Cadet Sergeant Henry Clark

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Cadet Sergeant Henry Clark

Henry John Clark was born on 17th January 1885 in Tufnell Park, Middlesex. The oldest of five children, his parents were wire worker and brass finisher Henry Clark and his wife, Louisa.

The 1891 census found the family living at 51 Cromwell Avenue, Highgate, Middlesex, and this would certainly remain Henry Sr and Louisa’s house for the next ten to fifteen years at least. Henry Jr – who was better known as Jack – is missing from the 1901 census, but by the next document, taken in 1911, he had moved back in with the family.

By this point the Clarks were living in a thirteen-room house on Shepherd’s Hill, Highgate. Henry Sr was now listed as an employer, manufacturing fenders, fire guards and metal good generally, with Jack and his brother, Cyril, also working in the business. The family were supported by two servants, with Henry Sr’s niece and another boarder living with them. Tragically, the census records that Louisa had had five children, although only Jack and Cyril were still alive.

The family business, according to De Ruvigny’s Roll of Honour, Messrs. J Clark, Ltd, of High Street, Bloomsbury, and Jack was one of the directors. The publication also notes that, in his spare time, Jack was “a prominent and active member of the Kit Marlowe Dramatic Club, and the Vaudeville Dramatic Club, and was a popular member of the Highgate Special Constabulary, which body he joined as soon as it was formed.”

On 19th June 1912,Jack married Alice King. Born in Finsbury Park, she was the daughter of a wine and spirit valuer and merchant. The couple exchanged vows at St George’s Church, Hanover Square, London, and would go on to have a child, John, in 1916.

When war broke out, Jack was called upon to play his part. He enlisted on 4th December 1916, joining the Royal Garrison Artillery as a Gunner. His service papers note that he was just over 6ft 2ins (1.89m) tall, and weighed 159lbs (72.1kg).

Gunner Clark served with the British Expeditionary Force from March 1917, returning to home soil just three months later. He had obviously impressed his superiors, as he was sent to the No. 2 RGA Officers’ Cadet School in Uckfield, Sussex, to be trained as a Sergeant.

While here, however, Jack came down with pneumonia, and was admitted to the No. 2 Eastern General Hospital in Brighton. The condition was to get the better of him, sadly, and he passed away on 16th January 1918, the day after his 33rd birthday.

Henry John “Jack” Clark was taken back to Middlesex for burial. He was laid to rest in the majestic Highgate Cemetery, a short walk from his grieving family.

Cadet Sergeant Henry Clark
(from De Ruvigny’s Roll of Honour)
Commonwealth War Graves, Corporal, Farrier, Great War, history, illness, Life Guards, Middlesex, photography, story, Sussex, war

Farrier Staff Corporal Reginald Lambert

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Farrier Staff Corporal Reginald Lambert

Reginald Harold Lambert was born in the spring of 1878 in Hurstpierpoint, Sussex. One of eight children, his parents were Henry and Elizabeth Lambert. Henry was a surgeon dentist, who had five more children from first marriage, giving Reginald a total of twelve siblings.

When Reginald finished his schooling, he took up work as a dental assistant, presumably under his father’s tutelage. Away from this, he volunteered for the Royal Sussex Regiment, and the military life drew him in. On 8th July 1897, he joined the 1st Life Guards: based in London, he took on the role of Farrier, tending to the regiment’s horses and looking after their hooves in particular.

On 25th April 1909, Reginald married Lilian Burns at St George’s Church in Tufnell Park, Middlesex. There is little information about her background, but she was the daughter of a grocer and, at 38 years old, seven years her new husband’s senior.

As the point of his marriage, Reginald was listed as a Corporal, and gave his address as Knightsbridge Barracks. By the time of the 1911 census, however, he and Lilian had set up home in second floor rooms at 6 Princess Road, Camden.

When war broke out in 1914, Corporal Lambert was called upon to play his part. His service records are long since lost, but the 1st Life Guards fought in some of the key battles of the conflict: at Ypres in both 1914 and 1915, at Loos in 1915, and at Arras in 1917. Exactly where and how Reginald served, however, is unknown, but by the end of the war he had risen to the rank of Farrier Staff Corporal.

The next record for Reginald is that of his death, which was registered in Islington, Middlesex. It seems likely that he either returned home, or was hospitalised close to home. He passed away through illness on 4th September 1918, at the age of 40 years old.

Reginald Harold Lambert was laid to rest in Highgate Cemetery, not far from where his widow still lived. His epitaph gave a nod to her pet name for him: In loving memory of dear Rex. Apart yet not afar.

Commonwealth War Graves, Great War, history, illness, Middlesex, photography, Royal Fusiliers, Sergeant, story, Sussex, war

Serjeant William Shanly

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Serjeant William Shanly

William Michael Shanly was born in Hampstead, Middlesex, in the summer of 1892. The fourth of eight children, of whom three died in infancy, he was the eldest son to Michael and Mathilde Shanly. Michael was the owner of a coffee and refreshment company.

The Shanly family lived at 78 Sumatra Road, Hampstead, but by the time he was nine years old, William had been sent to Sussex, and was boarding at the Xavarians Brothers School in Uckfield.

There is little further information available about William’s life. His epitaph on the family headstone suggests that he died on active service and was a Platoon Sergeant of the 18th Battalion of the Royal Fusiliers. His unit was also known as the 1st Public Schools, although exactly what role he held is unclear. His entry on the Commonwealth War Graves Commission Grave Index suggests that he was attached to the 15th (Reserve) Battalion, but his military records no longer exists, so it isn’t possible to confirm either way.

Serjeant Shanly died on 5th February 1915, aged 22 years of age. He had had an operation for appendicitis five days earlier, but had succumbed to peritonitis.

William Michael Shanly was laid to rest in the family plot in Highgate Cemetery, not far from where his grieving family were living.

Commonwealth War Graves, Great War, history, illness, London Regiment, Middlesex, photography, Private, story, Sussex, war

Private Albert Bentley

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Private Albert Bentley

Albert John Bentley was born in St Pancras, Middlesex, in the spring of 1885. The second of six children, his parents were John and Eleanor (also known as Elizabeth) Bentley. John was a piano maker, and the family lived at 27 Hampshire Street in St Pancras.

When his father died in 1910, Albert had already started to follow in his footsteps. The following year’s census recorded him living with his mother and three younger siblings. Employed as an organ builder, his was one of three wages being brought into the household.

Albert stepped up to play his part when war broke out. Full details of his military service have been lost to time, but it is clear that he enlisted in the London Regiment, and was assigned to the 1st/19th (County of London) Battalion (St Pancras).

It is unclear whether or not Private Bentley spent any time overseas. By the summer of 1918, however, he had fallen ill, and was admitted to a military hospital in Shoreham-by-Sea, Sussex. He succumbed to a combination of influenza and pneumonia on 28th June 1918: he was 33 years of age.

The body of Albert John Bentley was taken back to Middlesex for burial. He was laid to rest in the sweeping grounds of Highgate Cemetery.

Commonwealth War Graves, Great War, history, injury, Kent, Middlesex, photography, Private, Royal Army Medical Corps, story, Sussex, war

Private Frank Belthle

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Private Frank Belthle

Frank Hermann Belthle was born in Dartford, Kent, on 25th June 1893. The oldest of four children, his parents were German-born Frederick Emil Hermann Belthle and his wife Elizabeth, who came from Surrey.

Frederick – who was better known as Hermann – was a manufacturer compressed tablets and pills. By the time of the 1901 census, he had moved his family to Aldrington, Sussex, were the set up home at 58 Westbourne Street. They had the house to themselves, unlike their neighbours, with two or three families sharing each property.

Hermann took the family to where work required him, and between 1903 – when Frank’s youngest sibling was born – and 1911, they relocated to London. Now seventeen years old, Frank was assisting his father in the business, and that business was obviously paying dividend: the Belthles’ new home was the 8-roomed house at 106 Barnsbury Road, Islington. Again, they occupied the whole building, while others in the street renting just a couple of rooms.

The outbreak of war must have had an impact on German national Hermann and his family. Frank looks to have stepped up to play his part, however, joining the Royal Army Medical Corps, possibly because of the medical training he had picked up through the family business.

There is little documentation about Private Belthle service, although he was awarded the Military Medal. By the summer of 1917, his unit – the 14th Field Ambulance – was supporting troops at Arras. While here, on 9th May, he was badly wounded, and medically evacuated to Britain for treatment. His injuries were to prove too severe, however, and, on 25th June 1917, he passed away: it was his 24th birthday.

Frank Belthle was laid to rest in the majestic Highgate Cemetery.

After the war, Hermann continued with his business. Things were more difficult for the family, however and, while they had moved to the prestigious Lonsdale Square, Islington, they were one of six families taking rooms in the large Georgian terrace.

Hermann passed away in the autumn of 1932, at the age of 70: he was laid to rest alongside his son in Highgate Cemetery.

Able Seaman, Commonwealth War Graves, Great War, Hertfordshire, history, killed in action, Merchant Navy, Middlesex, photography, story, Sussex, war

Able Seaman F Hall

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Able Seaman F Hall

In Highgate Cemetery, Middlesex is a headstone dedicated to Able Seaman F Hall, who served in the Mercantile Marine during the First World War.

Able Seaman Hall served on board the cargo ship SS Cairndhu, which transported coal from Northumberland to Gibraltar. At 9pm on 15th April 1917, while 25 miles west of Beachy Head, Sussex, she was torpedoed by the German submarine U-40.

Cairndhu immediately began to list, and her captain, Robert Purvis, ordered all 38 of his crew into the lifeboats. He took charge of one of the boats, while the Third Mate, Thomas Healy, was given responsibility for the second.

The German submarine, captained by Oberleutnant Karl Dobberstein, had moved away, but returned a few minutes later. In a seemingly deliberate act, it rammed into Healy’s boat, cutting it in half and throwing most of those on board into the water.

A passing ship reached the site and rescued what remained of the Cairndhu’s crew. Eleven men had been lost.

What role Able Seaman Hall had in the incident is unclear. The survivors were taken to safety in the Sussex port of Newhaven, and it is evident that he was one of those who had perished.

Able Seaman Hall’s name does appear on the Register of Deaths of Passengers and Seaman at Sea. This confirms his connection with the Cairndhu, and give his age as 20 years old. His birthplace is noted as Hertfordshire, and records his last address as 7 Clarendon Road, Leeds, Yorkshire. However, even with this additional information it has not been possible to pinpoint any exact details about his life, or his connection to the North London cemetery in which he was buried.