22 September 2012

Records for Charleton cemetery, Greenwich, now on deceasedonline.com

A note from Richard Gray of deceasedonline.com informs that Charlton Cemetery in Greenwich has now been added to their rapidly growing stable of cemetery records from the London area and beyond.

Being in Greenwich located near the Royal Observatory, the site of the Woolwich Arsenal, the Old Royal Naval College, the National Maritime Museum and the Dreadnought's Seamen's Hospital his note characterize Charlton as a "maritime and military memorial treasure trove". He mentions two admirals who served with Nelson; governors of Burma, Malta and Gibraltar; and servicemen who fought in numerous (some obscure) military campaigns including the celebrated Major General Orde Wingate.

When I think of Greenwich I think first of the Greenwich time signal, the pips used to signal the exact time on BBC radio, and second the Greenwich Observatory which marks the zeroth meridian and near which there is a statue of James Wolfe, hero of the British victory at Québec in September 1759.

I wondered if Wolfe was buried at Charlton but a quick Google told me he's interred at nearby St Alfege Church which also contains the remains of composer Thomas Tallis (d. 1585) and English-born explorer of Canada Henry Kelsey (d. 1724).

I confess Henry Kelsey is not someone I recall knowing about previously, confession of ignorance is good for the soul. There's a quick study piece on Kelsey at Wikipedia noting a passing reference in Stan Rogers song Northwest Passage.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

"Records for Charleton cemetery, Greenwich, now on deceasedonline.com"

Is it Charleton or Charlton or does it matter?