Swastika Symbol on Scottish Gravestone

I found this swastika headstone in Gareloch Cemetery, Scotland. From memory, this symbol, appearing above the inscription of Mary C Browne who died in 1930, represents the Scouting movement. I understand, also, that the swastika was/remains a good luck symbol in India. More on the background of the swastika symbol can be found HERE.

A Nurse's Grave

I used  to visit the Aldershot Military Cemetery very frequently. Here is a VAD nurse's gravestone that caught my eye. The Canadian Great War Project records the following:

Daughter of Pearson Gill Twist and Julia Twist, of Shawnigan Lake, British Columbia.

Dorothy Pearson Twist was a Voluntary Aid Dispenser, not part of the Canadian Army Medical Corps. Hers was the only death among the 324 Canadian VAD's that participated in the Great War.. - see Bertha Bartlett, Newfoundland (then a separate country)  (This website lists 8 deaths although there could be a debate about one or more. Also there were about 2,000 Canadian VADs of whom over 800 have been identified)

Died of influenza pneumonia. She was buried with full military honours at Aldershot.

Gurkha Midwife's Grave

During an assignment to Hong Kong in the 1990s, I had the honour of being permitted to visit the Ghurka married quarters to visit families. I was surprised to find a small cemetery and saw this Ghurka midwife's grave dating from 1966:

Carthusian Monk Burial Scene

This old postcard shows a procession of Carthusian monks after a burial in the graveyard at St. Hugh's, Charterhouse. Find A Grave has some details of the burial ground, HERE, and a BBC link gives more details of the Order, HERE.

Flowers for a General

An impressive display of floral tributes to Major General Frederick Edward Sotheby. He was seasoned campaigner in Victorian times and a description of his service accompanying the sale of his campaign medals can be found, HERE. General Sotheby's connection with the Ecton Estate, which makes interesting reading is HERE.

Mystery of Graves

Among the many remarkable memorials to be found in Bolton's Tonge Cemetery is a pair of Gravestones marking what appears to be two collective graves of different church ministers from the town. I have yet to discover why the burials took place this way . . .

Gravestone 1 (right)
Mary Sophia, infant daughter of Rev. John Martin 5 July 1861

Annie Mary, daughter of the Rev. George Wood, died 6 April 1865 aged ten months

John Wilfred, second son of the Rev. T Moorhouse Thorp, died 2 Oct 1868 aged 11 months

"Such is the Kingdom of Heaven"


Gravestone 2 (left)
William Levi, fourth son of the Rev. L Waterhouse, Wesleyan Minister, Bridge Street Circuit, died 29 December 1866 aged 11 years

Herbert George, infant son of the Rev. H W Jackson BA, born 16 Nov and died 3 Dec 1870

Albert John, son of the Rev. W Humphries,  died 11 Sep 1878 aged ten months

"The Short Lived Beauties Die Away"

Cemetery's Oldest Inhabitant

Tonge Cemetery in Bolton, Lancashire opened on New Year's Eve 1856. It contains more than 116,000 burials. A helpful groundsman showed me where to find its oldest inhabitant.

Esther Holden died on March 12, 1858 in the 105th year of her Age. She was a resident of Edgworth.