Category Archives: Royal connection

Francis Robertson and the Death of Kings

The very first post on this site pondered the origins of the Bound Man – a lowered box tomb bearing these little figures beneath a coat of arms, but too worn to make any sense of it. Advice given at … Continue reading

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Life Before Death and the Final Status Update

Many aspects of life have been touched by technology and changed irrevocably, and it seems reasonable that this should also hold for aspects of death. If the life of Sake Deen Mahomed (for example) had coincided with the advent social … Continue reading

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A Life Too Full To Fit – Sake Dean Mahomet

Sake Dene Mahomet is remembered by a monment in the enclosed area at the rear of the church. He was the first Indian to write and publish a book in English, opened the first indian restaurant in London and invented … Continue reading

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Within the Vaults – Outlaws and Others

The Rest Garden is dominated by the series of raised vaults which were designed by Amon Henry Wilds as a part of his initial layout. The inscriptions were recorded by the council in the late 1940’s as part of the … Continue reading

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Sir Matthew Tierney: ‘The Bloody Baron of Brighthelmstone’

MATTHEW  TIERNEY, was the eldest son of John Tierney, a  farmer and weaver from Ballyscandland, co. Limerick. The family was not wealthy and   Tierney’s  education comprised what he could pick up at the local Hedge School.  Tierney was apprenticed to … Continue reading

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Smoaker Miles: Phantasmagoria, Swimming with Dr Johnson and other stories

John ‘Smoaker’ Miles (1721-94) In Georgian Brighton, sea bathing was a highly regulated affair, with men and women separated to different times and locations and to protect modesty further, compelled to use bathing machines. These were wooden structures where bathers … Continue reading

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The Double Death of Anna Maria Crouch

Born in Grays Inn Lane in April 1763, Anna Maria was destined to the stage, giving private performances of her ‘fine toned’ voice by the time she was ten, and by fourteen  performing at the Drury Lane Theatre and earning … Continue reading

Posted in Actor, Churchyard, Royal connection, St Nicholas | 9 Comments