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Showing posts from March, 2019

Tuesday 9 April - Pete Lowden, 'The Rise and Fall of Hull General Cemetery'

Pete Lowden 's story of Hull General Cemetery , offers a fascinating insight into Victorian Hull. In the late 1840s a group of far-sighted entrepreneurs sought to solve one of the worst problems of their era - how to dispose of the urban dead in a decent and dignified way.    On Spring Bank - then on the edge of town - they opened a cemetery as a private venture, unashamedly aiming to make a profit by providing this public service.    Notables instrumental in Hull's nineteenth-century growth as a town and port are buried there - among them sculptor Thomas Earle and shipowner Zachariah Pearson - and the last burials took place in the 1970s.    A guided tour of Hull General Cemetery and its memorials will follow on Tuesday 9 July .   Books available for purchase : Hull General Cemetery 1847-1972: a Short Introduction (£5); The War Dead of Hull General Cemetery (£8)  New members always welcome !  More information : hedon.history@gmail.com