Category: People
-
The Fertile Grave of Victor Noir
The frankly massive bulge in Noir’s trousers made his memorial a popular destination for women visiting Père Lachaise for over a century…
-
The Tiny Grave of Tom Thumb
According to local legend, the Tom Thumb of Tattershall measured just over 18 inches tall and had reached the grand old age of 101 upon…
-
Nanette Stocker, the Smallest Woman in the Kingdom
Nanette (incorrectly recorded as ‘Nanetta’ on her stone) is a forgotten music hall star and little person who died with a huge following.
-
The Mosaic Grave of Rudolf Nureyev
Representative of the dancer’s ‘nomadic life,’ Nureyev’s Kilim rug is a phenomenal memorial to his talent.
-
William Mackenzie’s Liverpool Pyramid
The idea of a hunched poker-playing corpse inside a pyramid has a undeniable more public appeal.
-
A Trip to Avebury Church: Henge Not Included
Sitting in the metaphorical shadow of Avebury’s mystical stone circle is the little modest structure of St James’ Church.
-
A Preacher and a Horse Walk into a Bar
I don’t know about you, but when I think about Methodism, the first thing that springs to mind is a horse skeleton.
-
“I decided to hide Charlie Chaplin’s body and solve my problems…”
On 12th December 1978, Roman Wardas, a 24-year old Polish refugee took to the stand in Switzerland, accused of stealing Chaplin’s body.
-
Andrew Hyslop; Covenanter, Martyr.
One postcard lead to a story of a murdered covenanter who ended his days in a field in Dumfriesshire
-
Uri Geller: Spoon Bender
Uri Geller. Illusionist, Magician, Icon. There’s been many more terms hurled his way, but let’s stick with those.
-
Kim Cattrall: The Unwelcome Cleopatra
What, so you thought I couldn’t link Sex and the City with bizarre grave controversies? Bet your finest patent heels I can.
-
Love Me, Love My Dead Husband’s Calcified Heart
Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley was not simply a literary force, but a tragic, romantic, gothic icon whose exploits in sex and death put the rest of…
-
Window Shopping with Queen Victoria
Some of Queen Victoria’s mourning jewellery is going up for Auction on March 24th 2021 and if you can’t treat the catalogue as the ultimate…
-
The Grave of Clasped Hands: Love Conquering Death
It’s a twee little statement that love can conquer death, but one that rings romantically true in the adjoining graves of a Dutch Colonel and…
-
A Trip to Brompton Cemetery
Brompton Cemetery is a sprawling necropolis, nestled in the busy – and terribly posh – London Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea.
-
The Grave of the Potato King: Friedrich Der Große
Friedrich Der Große’s grave is rather unusual, and not just for that of a royal. Why? There are always potatoes nearby.
-
Mourning Gems: Hester Ann Barfield
A hair brooch, a name and a cross-continental journey. Hester Ann Barfield 1853-1856.
-
Collection Feature: Ernest Frost
Ernest was a country boy, raised in the fields of Derbyshire, before finding love, achieving a very modern job and dying far too young.
-
Thomas Lynn Bradford – Dying for Eternity
Professor Thomas Lynn Bradford died on February 5th, 1921. Afterwards, the world waited for his message.
-
The Stowmarket Guncotton Explosion of 1871
The Stowmarket Guncotton Explosion occurred on a Friday afternoon, on 11thAugust 1871. The explosion killed 28 and injured a further 70.
-
The Funeral of Fireman Wale
Fire Constable Arthur Wale lost his life aged 46 in the Derham Boot Factory fire of 1906…
-
Annie Fairlamb Mellon: The Geordie Medium.
Annie Fairlamb Mellon was one of the UK’s greatest materialisation mediums and is so rarely celebrated for her weird and wonderful claims.
-
Stanisława Tomczyk, Medium – Running with Scissors
Tomczyk’s main draw as a medium was her claim that she could levitate objects with the power of her mind, stop clocks and ‘influence the…
-
Mary Toft: The Woman Who Birthed Rabbits
In 1726, when the rest of the country were dealing with periodic harvest failures, Mary Toft sat at home and gave birth to rabbits.
-
A Sensation in Quebec!
‘A Quebec Woman Creates a Sensation, Riding Through St. John Street in a Hearse, Reclining on the Coffin-Bed, and Smoking a Pipe…’
-
The Thief’s Arm of Prague
The 400 year old arm, impaled on a meat hook, serves as a warning to all future criminals considering robbing the church.
-
Love in the Time of COVID-19
As we adapt to our new, restricted lifestyles, we find ourselves altering the way we connect with our wider community.
-
Collection Feature: Rev. Timothy Carey
This week, with the help of some wonderful WWI archive websites, I hope to share a little of the life of the Reverend Timothy Carey.
-
Nancy Luce, The Chicken Lady
For company, Nancy may not have had humans, but she had her chickens…
-
The Peterloo Massacre: Culpability and City Memorials
The Peterloo Massacre was as a result of police brutality during a protest. A protest that essentially occurred as a result of two public issues…
Burials & Beyond 