British Cemetery and Cremation Records from Deceased Online

As today, 26 August 2020, is International Dog Day we take a closer look at the canine connections in the Deceased Online database Monument to William French and the dog he rescued in St Pancras Cemetery, north London Pet & Family Lifestyle Expert, Animal Rescue Advocate, Conservationist, Dog Trainer and Author,  Colleen Paige began  International Dog Day in 2004. It is now  celebrated annually on  August 26th. In honour of the day, we wanted to celebrate the bravery and canine love of 50-year-old  William French  who drowned 13 July 1896 while rescuing a dog in Highgate Ponds on the east side of Hampstead Heath, now in the London borough of Camden.  The Referee newspaper of 19 July 1896 gave details of the inquest, held the previous Wednesday:  He had gone with some  companions to the ponds near Parliament Hill, Highgate, and had taken with him the dog of his employer. The dog, a Manchester terrier, after swimming a short distance, see...

Following on from last week's introduction to the vast St Pancras and Islington Cemetery, in today's post I explore some of the well-known people who have been buried here since its opening as Britain's first public cemetery in 1854. Mathilde Blind (1841-1896) was born Mathilde Cohen in Germany but sought refuge in London after her stepfather, Karl Blind was involved in the Baden insurrection of 1848. In England she grew up around European refugees and revolutionaries, including Giuseppe Mazinni. Her brother, Ferdinand, committed suicide after failing to assassinate Otto von Bismark. Her political upbringing manifested itself in her poems, and she frequently tackled the subject of social injustice, including her attack on the Highland Clearances, 'The Heather on Fire'(1886). This monument to Blind (see below) was erected by the industrialist Ludwig Mond and features her likeness along with Greco-Romanesque images now partially obscured by ivy. A close frien...