Remembrance: Owen Gilbert Newman (1919-1944) who died when the Japanese ship he was on, was torpedoed and sunk by American forces.
Owen Gilbert Newman (2009982) served as a Sapper with the 288 Field Company of the Royal Engineers during the Second World War.
Sadly he was taken Prisoner of War by the Japanese and joined 900 other British troops onboard the Kachidoki Maru ship, heading to Japan.
The ship was torpedoed and sunk by USS Pampanito, just North East of Hainan Island, near China on 12th September 1944.
400 British soldiers were on-board and subsequently lost their lives.
Remembrance: Ernest Edward Thomas Dewey (1896-1991).
Ernest lied about his age in order to sign up to the Suffolk Yeomanry
Ernest was a year younger than was permitted – a scenario which was actually quite common amongst men who were keen to fight for their country.
He fought in the First World War and travelled to France and Egypt whilst part of the Yeomanry.
Unlike so many of his comrades, he survived the First World War and went on to live until he was 94 years old.
Due to his work with the Yeomanry, he married after an 11 year courtship to Susan Jane Moden of Ely.
Remembrance of Albert Martin (1899-1918) who died in a hospital in Germany.
Albert Martin (65727) enlisted as a Private for the 1st/5th Batallion of the Northumberland Fusiliers.
He went to fight in the First World War but was sadly taken prisoner during the German’s third offensive that swept through Fismes, France on 27th May 1918.
Records from the Comité International de la Croix-Rouge (CICR) revealed that he was captured the following day at Fismes.
He is recorded as present at a Prisoner of War (POW) camp in Dülmen, coming from Laon on 19th July 1918. He then appears at the POW camp at Münster II on 20th August 1918.
He died 10 days later in the “Res.Laz.Abtl.Krankenhaus” (hospital) at Homberg, Germany.
He was buried in an English cemetery in the same place “Feld” 21, Nr.64.5″
Remembrance of Private Herbert Martin, 1884-1917.
Herbert Martin (40572) enlisted as a Private of the 7th Battalion of the Northamptonshire Regiment.
He was tragically killed on his way home towards the end of the First World War in a train accident in France.
His name is featured on the Little Downham war memorial and was until recently also on a stone in the cemetery, along with his sister Emma and her husband John William Goodge.
Herbert is named in the Cambridge Regiment’s instalment in St. George’s Chapel in Ely Cathedral, where it lists the names of the brave who died during the two world wars.
A series of images of brave soldiers who fought in the First and Second World Wars.
Owen worked as a Postman and had to carry mail to the front lines during the 1st World War.
It was during the battle at Cumbrai, France, that he was sadly killed. None of his personal possessions were recovered.
He served with the 5th Suffolk Regiment and the 1st Battalion Post Office Rifles.
Hallowe’en Special: Could the dead help you grow your family tree by contacting you from beyond the grave?
So, as nights draw in on Hallowe’en, people will be telling ghost stories by candlelight in a bid to frighten others, but perhaps the spirit world may have much more to offer to family historians?
Ghostly figures of Anne Boleyn and Mary, Queen of Scots are almost common sights through-out the country, appearing in all manner of stately homes and castles. These women must be busier in death than they were in life.
However, amongst all these claims of other-worldly connections with those from beyond the grave, it makes me wonder – has anyone ever managed to further their family tree by participating in a séance or by enlisting the help of a Medium?
Perhaps that sounds like a stupid question? But when there’s so many claims that spirits communicate with the living in various ways, why shouldn’t some of these encounters involve a topic of conversation?
As a Spiritualist Medium for more than 30 years, and a Genealogist for over 20 years, Pat Peacock from West Sussex has found that the two areas have often complimented each other.
“Sometimes I think I should call myself a ‘Reunionist’ as I am able to connect people with their loved ones in the Spirit World and reunite them with family members on the Earth.” – Pat Peacock
Pat who is President at Chichester Christian Spiritualist Church, explains that she has been contacted by many people who are trying to research their family tree or to find a family member who has disappeared;
“…[They] tell me that they have consulted a Medium or Psychic who has given them some information. They usually say that I may find them strange asking me to check information obtained in this way and I respond by saying I am a Medium myself.”
Pat, as an experienced genealogist knows that consulting vital records is crucial, but does go on to say that “The information they have been given is mostly accurate and has resulted in further information being found through genealogy research.”
Perhaps this suggests that a medium or séance could be on par with oral interviews – scattered with truths and opinions, but useful for leading the researcher towards vital clues?
Sally Holmes, a Spiritual Sensitive from Cambridgeshire, recalls an encounter that briefly re-connected some of her family members:
“Many years ago one of my cousins ran to her mum telling her to get ‘the man with the dark eyes and the hat’ away from her. She never knew my mum’s grandad, but it was him that she was describing. He was blind and wore dark glasses, and he used to sit in the very same chair. We can only conclude that he was there watching over her.. just as he would have done if he was alive.” – Sally Holmes
This encounter was shocking at first for the youngster, but the feeling that a late relative was present in their lives became somewhat comforting in hindsight.
Was it really who they thought it was, or did luck simply turn up a description that stirred up a match for an identity and associated memories of a long-gone relative?
If there really are visitations from the spirit world, why do they rarely help to solve our family puzzles? Couldn’t they just give a hint where someone was born or where that great aunt moved to?
Maybe as Pat suggests, they do sometimes provide some pieces of information that can be corroborated with historical documents, leading a genealogist into new lines of research.
So, when you next hit that genealogical ‘brick wall’ and can’t find that elusive relative, just take a look over your shoulder.
Perhaps there is someone who could help you after all?
This large mound in the city cemetery at Ely, Cambridgeshire is believed to be the mass grave for many people who died during an epidemic. It may have been something like cholera, which swept through the city numerous times through history.
The mound certainly seems to be man-made, and has an almost ‘ceremonially’ placed tree on top.
Information about the CROSS family from Ely, Cambridgeshire and their impact on the city, and travels to Australia.
Four centuries living in Ely, the Cross family is also one of the largest and most far-reaching.
With one of the earliest mentions of the family being a baptism in 1669 at Ely’s Holy Trinity Church, the Cross family went on to rapidly grow in to one of the largest families I have researched.
My most recent Cross ancestor was my Great Great Grandmother, Mary Ann Cross who was born in ‘Buggs Hill’ (Cambridge Road), Ely in 1870, as the daughter of George Cross and his wife Sabina Steadman “Vine” Taylor. Following on with her parents’ business skills, she opened a shop on the corner of Barton Road and Cambridge Road in Ely which she traded from until her death in the 1950s. The shop closed in the 1980s and is now a private house.
Whilst Mary Ann was just the only one of George and “Vine”‘s two children to survive into adulthood, her father was one of 12 children. His father Jacob Cross, was in turn one of 11 children, and his father Philip Cross was one of around 15 children! As you can imagine, the potential for descendants from all of these children from the 3 generations is high and resulted in a large Cross population in and around Ely during the 1800s.
For some though, Ely was perhaps too small with all these relatives around in the mid 1800s. Cross family groups like that of (another) George Cross and his wife Julia decided to start afresh in Australia. In 1855 they emigrated, following their older son Matthew who had already gone there to mine for gold. Julia was literate and a great letter writer, and a book of letters that she wrote to her mother back in England has been compiled and is now sold at Ely Museum.
Descendants of the Australian Cross families are many, but one – Pamela Phyllis McClymont – decided to set up the ‘Cross Family History Society’. Sadly Pam died several years ago, but she was pleased to pass a lot of information on about the family, including her own book ‘Who’s Who: Cross Family (Volume One, 1997)’ which details no less than 372 descendants from that 1669 baptism.
One of the Ely’s Cross residents, Frederick Vernon Cross (known as just Vernon Cross) took on his father’s thriving bakery business on Forehill in the centre of the city. He transformed the business from being just a bakery into what is seen as Ely’s first tea shop, running regular advertisements in newspapers for delicious cakes and tea.
Part of the shop also became a space for Vernon to display the artefacts that he had found with his father at nearby Roswell Pits. These included many fossils and bones and his growing collection had begun to dominate the shop. On Vernon’s death in 1976, his private collection was saved by the then recently founded Ely Museum Trust. Today, the museum marks Vernon’s contribution to the collection with ‘The Vernon Cross Meeting Room’. Vernon also published an autobiography titled ‘Cross Words’, detailing his family, childhood, the bakery and his time at war.
The shop is now part of The Royal Standard public house, but if you go in, you’ll find that there are photographs on the wall of the old shop and even one of the shop signs is hanging on the wall as a nod to its history.
Check out the CROSS family at The Family Tree UK.
History Repeating 