Friday 17 January 2014

Victim of Drowning

This spectacular memorial can be found in Bristol's Arnos Vale cemetery. It is topped with sculpted group of a funerary urn with a coat of arms, enwrapped in a Union Flag. At its base is an officer's shako [helmet] and sword belt. It is Grade II listed.

An inscription reads:
In memory of Lieutenant James Anthony Gardner, late of HM 7th Royal Fusiliers. The beloved and only child of James Anthony Gardner and Eliza, his wife, who was accidentally drowned whilst bathing at Alwaye, Cochin Malabar Coast, East Indies, October 26th 1861, aged 30 years. Interred in the Protestant burial ground at Cochin, October 27th, 1861, and removed to beneath this spot by his, bereaved parents, March 18th 1863.

Gardner, who father was Governor of Bristol Gaol, joined the Regiment in the Crimea before the Battle of Sebastopol. He was awarded the Crimea Medal with Sebastopol clasp and retired in 1860.





2 comments:

Billy Blue Eyes said...

A sad story which seems to happen all to offten

Jen said...

Very striking monument.

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