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Great Malvern Cemetery
Tour 6
Overview
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On Tuesday 26th June 2018 we visited the cemetery to
search for the graves of more past residents mentioned in our local history
stories. It is amazing how memorials you have glimpsed 'disappear' when you
return to take a photo! The weather was very hot, and we were resting in the
shade when suddenly the sound of bagpipes playing a Scottish lament came
through the trees from the direction of the memorial to Henry Ward VC making
our hairs stand on end.
It happened our visit had coincided with the annual tour
of the cemetery, by Malvern Civic Society, and Carleton Tarr who led one of
the groups, had hired two members of a Cheltenham Pipe Band to play. Another group
was led by local historian Brian Iles. The pipers added a lovely atmosphere
to the event; we had a chat with them while they had a rest.
Cemetery tour and Cheltenham pipers (click to enlarge)
On Friday 21st September 2018 we returned to the cemetery
to photograph the graves of Norman May and the MacKenzie family which had
very kindly been found for us by the cemetery manager. It was a grey
blustery day and gusts of wind threatened to blow us off our feet. Nearby we
came across the memorials of Christopher Dove Barker and Francis Alfred Hooper
who are also mentioned in our stories.
Plot numbers mentioned relate to the
map at the bottom of
the page.
The Great Malvern cemetery information board
 Index
Amy East
Charles Harry East
Janet Grierson
Richard Arthur Hollins
Edith Hollins
Emmie Rudd
Norman May
James Mackenzie
Christopher Dove Barker
Francis Alfred Hooper
Cemetery map
Brian Iles with tour group, June 2018
Amy, born in 1863, was the daughter of Rev Henry Nassau
Rynd and Elizabeth Kennedy. She met Charles Harry East MD while working as a
nurse in London and they married on 1st November 1890. The couple had a son
and a daughter and came to live at St Clare in Priory Road Great Malvern
(ref 10).
Click to read our history of
the houses in Priory Road
The memorial to Amy and Charles East
Sadly Amy East died on December 20th 1911, aged only 48
years, and was buried in Great Malvern cemetery, not far from the lodge at
the Wilton Road entrance. To find the memorial turn right past the lodge and
then left.
The tall memorial cross has toppled and is now lying flat on
the grass and some of the lead lettering on the pedestal is missing. The
inscription reads:
Amy East
December 20th 1911
'We will remember thy love'
Charles Harry East MD
December 22nd 1945
General Practitioner Charles Harry East MD was born at
Kettering, Northants in 1861. In Great Malvern he was the doctor for
Lawnside Girls' school and worked as a surgeon at Malvern hospital.
Lawnside school was then closely associated with the 'arts'
and perhaps it was no coincidence that the school doctor, Medical
practitioner Charles Harry Hanger East was a nephew of the Victorian
landscape painter Sir
Alfred East, who became President of the Royal Society of British
Artists. Madame Laura Robinet, who was a principal of Lawnside Girls' School in 1911,
was the wife of French painter Paul Robinet.
Inscription on pedestal of East memorial
After his first wife Amy died, Charles married second
widow Mabel Gray Momber in 1916. Mabel was the daughter of banker
Christopher Dove Barker who had lived nearby at Radnor House in College
Road.
Charles Harry East died at Bagshot in 1945, and Mabel at Ascot in 1950.
A more detailed account of their lives can be found in an
interesting local history book 'Thorpe House to Priory Gardens' (ref 10)
which mentions some of the other residents and homes in Priory Road.
Janet Grierson came to our notice as the author of a book
about the water cure and temperance Doctor
Ralph Barnes Grindrod. She had also written a lovely little book about
Dr Wilson and his Malvern Hydro, distributed by Malvern
Museum. In later life Janet had lived in a block of apartments known as Park
View which was once the Hydro that she wrote so knowledgeably about.
View showing the location of Janet Grierson's memorial
Janet's memorial lies at the SW corner of plot 17 and has
been recorded on the
Find a Grave website, where details can be found of her
Irish parents.
Inscription on memorial to Janet Grierson
In loving memory of
Janet Grierson
10th April 1913 - 31st July 2011
Praise to the Holiest in the height
Robert Arthur Hollins was a cotton spinner who retired
with his wife Edith to a 'fairy tale' mock Gothic house named South Bank in Abbey Road in
Great Malvern. You will find his story on our web page
A stroll down Abbey Road.
His memorial can be found on the right as you walk from
the Wilton Road entrance, just before the cemetery buildings.
View showing location of Hollins memorial
The inscription reads:
Sacred to the beloved memory of
Robert Arthur Hollins
Born November 14th 1837
Died September 18th 1919
Robert's wife Edith was active in town affairs; in 1906
she had arranged a Christmas concert to raise money for Malvern's hospital
and during the Great War she took charge of the British Red Cross Depot set
up at The Exchange on the corner of Graham Road coordinating the work with a
team of volunteers. For her war work she was awarded the OBE.
Inscription on Hollins memorial
And of his wife
Edith Blanche OBE
who died
14th July 1951 aged 95
More information about Edith Blanche Hollins life can be found at Malvern
museum; mention research by Cora Weaver.
Emmie Agnes Rudd was the eldest daughter of Frank Rudd
the landlord of the Nag's Head. In 1927 at London she had married Joseph
Rothwell who we think had divorced his first wife Dorothy Milbourne and was
the founder of Rothwell
and Milbourne's garage on the Worcester Road.
Tragically Emmie died in 1931, following an
operation, and you will find her buried in Great Malvern cemetery with her
mother under the shadow of a large tree not far from the Wilton Road
entrance.
Her funeral was very well attended and reported in the Malvern
Gazette. Emmie had a younger sister, Olive, who married, moving to
Argentina, where she died in 1956, survived by a son and daughter.
Distinctive memorial to Emmie Rudd and her mother Agnes
In loving memory of
Agnes Bertha (Addie)
The beloved wife of Frank Rudd
Who entered into rest
July 6th 1916
Aged 42 years
Not gone from memory, not gone from love
But gone to our Father's home above
Also of their elder daughter
Emmie
The dearly beloved wife of
Joseph Rothwell
Died March 2nd 1931
Aged 32 years
A few yards back and to the right of the photo you will see a similar
memorial in memory of Emmie's grandfather William Rudd.
Memorial to William Rudd
In Loving memory of
William C (Crand) Rudd
Beloved father of
Frank Rudd
Who passed away
August 31st 1935
In his 99th year
At rest - In peace
The cemetery office can be glimpsed at the top right hand
side of the photo.
We had searched the cemetery, without success, for the
grave of photographer Norman May who had founded Norman May's studio in
Church Street circa 1879.
Norman John May was born in Cowgate Street, in the St
Paul's district of Norwich, Norfolk on 13th October 1851, the son of John
May, then a schoolmaster, and Hannah Priscilla Harris.
Norman, who had become a Freemason, was buried on 22nd
June 1889 aged only 37 years and his funeral was reported in the Malvern
Advertiser.
We found his entry in the burial register transcribed by
the Malvern Family History Society and using that information the cemetery
manager was able to locate Norman's memorial, which lies SE of the Anglican
chapel in the NE corner of plot 4. His memorial is a toppled polished red granite
cross, which sadly often lies unseen in the long grass. It looked as though
the inscription is on the underside, protected from the weather, but not
visible to passers by.
The memorial of photographer Norman John May
This photo was taken from the grass path on the edge of
plot 4. Venturing into the long grass is dangerous as you could trip,
fracture your skull on the corner of a memorial, and die; so it would be
nice if the grass could be cut back now and then to allow the memorials in
this section of the cemetery to be recorded and viewed by both descendants
and local historians.
Another view of Norman May's memorial
Click here to read the biography of
Norman John May. Shortly before he died Norman changed his name to John
Norman Lindley Norman with a view to pursuing a new career as a Barrister.
We suspect he may have been a victim of tuberculosis.
We have written a biography about
James MacKenzie who was born
at Stornaway on the Isle of Skye, spent most of his working life in China,
and retired to a house of great character named Daresbury in Priory Road,
Great Malvern.
Very sadly his youngest daughter Alice Sheena Bethune
MacKenzie died at Malvern in 1911 aged 20 years, and it seems James took the
opportunity to purchase a premier plot in the cemetery for his family on the
approach to the Anglican chapel from the Wilton Road entrance (NW corner of
plot 4CP).
View of Mackenzie family plot
In the foreground is a small decorated cross. On the base is the
inscription,
In loving memory of
Alice Sheena
The wording below is now hidden by the turf.
We wondered if Alice's cross once stood on the large
plinth behind. The inscription on that seems to be largely hidden by turf,
but we were relucant to investigate as there was some sinkage in places.
Memorial to Alice Sheena Bethune MacKenzie
Close up of inscription to Alice
The National Probate Calendar records that Alice's
father, James MacKenzie, died at his second home Woodham
House, Woking, Surrey on 4th February 1916. His executors were his widow
Jane, his elder daughter Annabella and then surviving son Eric, a captain in
HM Army.
James MacKenzie's body was returned to Great Malvern to
be buried near his youngest daughter Alice in Great Malvern Cemetery on 8th
February 1916; the funeral was reported in the Malvern Gazette on 12th
February.
Alice's maternal grandmother Annabella Catherine
Bethune died at Malvern, aged 90 years, and was buried near her
grand-daughter Alice in Great Malvern Cemetery on 10th July 1925.
Alice's mother Jane Bethune MacKenzie
(widow), aged 71 years, of Daresbury, was buried in Great Malvern Cemetery
on 3rd March 1930 next to her mother, husband and youngest daughter Alice.
We did not see an inscription for James, Jane and
Annabella Bethune, but noted there was a stone which seemed to bear an obscured
inscription sunken into the turf.
At the back of the plot there is a modern memorial in
memory of James MacKenzie's eldest daughter Annabella named after her
grandmother.
Inscription on the base of Annabella Paterson's memorial
In loving memory of
Annabella Katharine Bethune
Daughter of James and Jane
Bethune MacKenzie
of Daresbury, Malvern
and wife of
Canon HD Noel Paterson
Died 15th March 1956
One of the graves in the plot lies empty. Sadly both James MacKenzie's sons
Keith and Eric, educated at Malvern College, were killed in the Great War; their
names are remembered at Malvern College and on the
Priory war
memorial.
The large memorial to banker Christopher Dove Barker can't be missed as it
stands on the corner of the path from Wilton Road and the tarmac path
running at right angles close to the cemetery buildings.
View showing location of memorial
Inscription on memorial
In loving memory of
Christopher Dove Barker
of Radnor House Malvern
Born 27th February 1829
Died 3rd September 1905
Christopher Dove Barker, ship owner and banker,
originally of North Shields County Durham, was a magistrate and member of
Malvern College Council. He married Alice Gray Elmslie the cousin of
architect Edmund Wallace Elmslie.
Alice died at St Ronan's in Priory Road in 1918, two years after their
daughter Mabel's second marriage to widower Charles
Harry East MD.
Their daughter
Alice Florine Maud Bate and grandson Captain
Alan Charles Lorraine Bate are also buried in Great Malvern cemetery.
The Census records that retired schoolmaster Francis Alfred Hooper lived
at Chesfield in Abbey Road Great Malvern. His memorial is just
behind that
of Christopher Dove Barker.
View of Hooper memorial
Inscription on Hooper memorial
In loving memory of
Francis Alfred Hooper MA
Fellow of Trinity College Oxford
Born 4th August 1836
Entered into rest 21st April 1919I am the resurrection and the life
...
The cemetery manager supplied this map showing the
numbered sections into which the cemetery is subdivided (click to enlarge).
Map of the sections of Great Malvern municipal cemetery
References
- The Times Digital Archive
- England and Wales census
- Great Malvern Victorian Cemetery, printed by Aspect Design 2013 (a
booklet published by Malvern Civic Society).
- Oxford Dictionary of National Biography.
- Who's who
- Malvern Gazette, microfilm archive, at Library
- Newseum, a publication of Malvern Museum
- Great Malvern cemetery burial register
- National Probate Calendar
- Howes Doreen & Thomas Louis David, Thorpe House to Priory Gardens,
160 years at 34 Priory Road Malvern, printed 2013 by Aspect Design, ISBN
978-1-909219-07-6
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