Notable Biographies & Stories
Abraham Hodgson Martin (1818 – 1873)
Abraham was born in 1818 and baptised at Holy Trinity on the 23rd June, the son of Jane Martin, spinster. In later marriage records his father is also named Abraham. In the 1841 census he is aged 20 and living with his mother at Finkle Street, his mother is a charwoman, and he is a cordwainer (shoemaker).
David Hamilton
Rev Albert William Wardle (1874 – 1943)
The Rev Albert W Wardle was another of the ministers officiating at burials in the Hull General Cemetery. He arrived in Hull sometime before we find him in the 1911 census at 50 Louis Street, Springbank, a Wesleyan Methodist Minister along with two servants. He evidently travelled widely around Yorkshire as by 1921 he is in Bradford with his wife Florence and their two children.
David Hamilton
The Lawrence Family Grave
Quite often a name catches my attention which prompts me to think there must be an interesting story there. Barnabus Tongue (1835 – 1903) is recorded as the husband of Mary Jane, nee Lawrence, who died on the 4th March 1862 of heart disease and asthma aged just 20 years.
David Hamilton
Gough & Davy Limited
In late 1859 two gentlemen from London bought the piano forte and music business which had been run by Mrs George Atkinson at 29/30 George Street, Hull. Mrs Mary A. Atkinson had continued to run the business founded by her late husband George following his death in 1841 at the age of 40. Following her attempt to redevelop the premises in 1856 which involved the sale of much of her stock, she finally sold the business In July 1859.
David Hamilton
George Atkin MD. (1815 - 1861)
Towards the northeast corner of HGC is the last resting place of George Atkin MD, an orthodox medical
doctor who introduced the practice of Homeopathy to the town of Hull in 1849.
George Atkin was born in 1815 in Morpeth, Northumberland, the son of the Reverend George Atkin, a
Presbyterian Minister, and his wife Frances Coates nee Patterson. He studied medicine at Edinburgh
University, qualified in 1838 and became a medical tutor in the Portobello area of Edinburgh.
David Hamilton
Grayson Family Grave
While investigating the area to the north of the Quakers’ burial ground our volunteers uncovered a fragment of a headstone. The leaded lettering shows the name “GRAYSON” and the date 17th February 1914 and we identified it as part of an early headstone since replaced. We often say there is a story under every stone, this small fragment tells an amazing story.
David Hamilton
Rev. John George Patton (1864 - 1948)
The Rev. J George Patton was one of several ministers officiating at the burials in Hull General Cemetery from around 1898 to 1929. He was born on the 19th December 1864, the eldest son of George Patton and his wife Hannah. In 1871 they were living at 10 Byron Street, Newcastle-Upon-Tyne, George is recorded as being a plumber and brass-founder employing three men and three boys. He occupied premises in Neville Street and several adverts for his services appeared in the local press.
David Hamilton
Jesse Brown, a tragic death
John Nicholson was born in Ramsgate Kent in 1818, the eldest son of George and Sarah (nee Norton) who were married at St Lawrence in Thanet on the 5th August 1817. John was baptised on the 22nd November 1818 and worked as a fisherman with his father. On the 2nd November 1839 he married Lavinia Perkings in St George’s Church, Ramsgate,
the daughter of a Brixham fisherman, and they had 3 children born in Ramsgate.
David Hamilton and Bill Longbone
Freddy Krüger Revealed
The gravestone located in Hull General Cemetery had long been hidden beneath a thick bed of ivy and other vegetation. The “Friends” of the cemetery often referred to this plot as “Freddy Krüger’s Grave. Late in 2021, the volunteers decided to clear the plot and liberate the headstone from the vegetation; in doing they found the stone was in two pieces, one of which was lying face down. Once the two parts had been reunited the inscription was clear and the following story unfolded.
David Hamilton
The Third “Eleanor” Cross
Of the three cast iron memorials in the Hull General Cemetery the smallest has been the subject of intrigue over many years. Although it shares many of the Victorian Gothic features of the two larger Stather and Mason memorials, the smallest of the three is simpler and has no obvious connection to its location.
David Hamilton
Pehr Johan Bergforss
We often encounter graves which reflect the history of the City of Hull as an international trading port. At the western end of the cemetery near the Quakers’ Burial ground is a lone headstone with the following inscription in Swedish:
Här hvilar
Styrmand. Pehr Johan Bergforss
Född i Gefle 1837 dödd i Hull 1859
Since I wrote this biography in January 2023 I have contacted the Gavle Municipal Archives and I have been able to update the biography with lovely photographs and more information on the family.
David Hamilton
Henry Moses - Undertaker
Photographs courtesy of Ted Dodsworth "Hull & East Riding Early Days on the Road"
Karen Towner June 2023