help finding a grave please

[Joyce]

I am trying to find the grave of Augustus Robert Martin editor of the North Wales Chronical, he died in 1859 Bangor but I can't find the grave

The main cemetery's for Bangor didn't open till 1862 so I think his grave will be in a parish church, but can't find any for the area. If his stone is still there it will be easy to spot as it is over 6ft high

thanks for reading

Joyce  

[Admin (Matt)]

Hi Joyce  

Quite happy to take and e-mail you pictures, if we can pin down where he is.

You're quite right in saying Glannada the 'old' cemetery started in c1862, The Bangor Burial Board was set up in 1859 and ran the Glanadda Cemetery until Bangor Council took over by Act of Parliament on March 31, 1899. ... although some older graves may have moved there as smaller cemeteries were developed.

Are there any clues on his death certificate?
do you know where he lived at this time?
where did you find out about the sizable gravestone?

Most if not all of the parish churches are c1860 > Bangor going through a boom in road then rail travel, followed by education and health 'industries' taking off supplementing the declining slate and shipping dominated economy prior to that. This resulted in the building of parish churches and general housing booms - effectively creating an 'upper bangor' (with St James Church) and Railway area (with St Davids) and St Marys, in Hirael... As such pre 1860 it may well have been in the hands of the Chapels.

[Admin (Matt)]

"the law allows graves to be considered as fresh ground after a period of fourteen years"

...I'm not sure where we stand with this, a family historian might provide better assistance. The Chapels these days are mostly renovated into Pubs, Residences and Businesses, there are a few undertaking some form of worship however none within the city have existing grave yards.


XD/39/62.

LETTER: P. Constable Ellis, Llanfairfechan Rectory to (Evan) Davies, Llanllechid Rectory, Bangor. He expresses his disillusion with consecration of burial ground for Christians: the law of the land already provides and protects land for the burial of all bodies, not necessarily Christians, it permits the burial’ in a family grave of any person, not necessarily a member of that family. He believes also that the law allows graves to be considered as fresh ground after a period of fourteen years. Therefore, little can be gained from the consecration of burial ground.

[David Price]

Hi Joyce

The ground around the cathedral was the main burial ground in the parish of Bangor for many centuries. As the population of the town grew very rapidly in the early 19th century, the graveyard became full and in 1840 an extension was opened nearby at Tan-y-Fynwent. A public cemetery was opened at Glanadda in 1862.  

The cathedral graveyard was closed to new burials in 1855, so Augustus Martin was probably buried at Tan-y-Fynwent. Between 1948 and 1951 the majority of gravestones were removed and buried. A selection of the more interesting stones from the cathedral yard were retained and laid down in the cathedral grounds, but unfortunately none have survived from the Tan-y-Fynwent area.

However, all the graves were recorded in 1948; these are in two volumes at the Dept. of Archives, Bangor University Library - reference nos. Bangor MS 7345 and 7346.  If you live near Bangor, you can easily call in there to check for Mr. Martin.  If that's not possible, I could have a look for you next time I'm at the library. You could also look for his burial in the parish registers (at Caernarfon Record Office).  I've already checked the Pentir churchyard burials and he's not there (Pentir village was in the parish of Bangor until 1888).

Best wishes

David Price

[Joyce]

firstly, thank you all so much for helping me, I am still waiting for his death cert, it seems there is a backlog because of the price increase

David if it's not to much trouble I would love you to check the library as I don't live in Wales, thank you

I got my information about the gravestone from google, it would seem Augustus Robert Martin was high up in the freemasons, and he owned the North Wales Chronical, before that he owned the Liverpool Mail newspaper

from google

North Wales Chronicle (Bangor, Wales), Saturday, October 19, 1861; Issue 1801 ~

THE LATE MR AUGUSTUS ROBERT MARTIN - We
Were pleased to find this week that a handsome tomb-
stone, of Ketton stone, 6ft 7in in height, has been
erected over the grave of the above lamented gentleman,
(late proprietor of the NORTH WALES CHRONICLE) sub-
scribed for chiefly by the brethren of the St David's
Lodge of Freemasons, of which he had been a faithful
and persevering member for several years. The upper-
most part represents a broken column, denoting the
frailty of life; and it has on one side a very neatly
carved masonic emblem, beneath which appears the fol-
lowing inscription: -
Sacred to the Memory of
(Brother)
AUGUSTUS ROBERT MARTIN,
Who died November 13,
1859,
aged 55 years.


also someone from another forum sent me this

There's this (Deaths) notice:
The Morning Chronicle (London, England), Wednesday, November 16, 1859; Issue 28969

MARTIN - On the 13th inst, aged 55 years, at his residence, Cax-
ton-house, Bangor, Mr Augustus Robert Martin, Proprietor
and Editor of the " North Wales Chronicle "
The same notice (probably - but the image doesn't show properly) is also here:
Cheshire Observer and General Advertiser: for Cheshire and North Wales Saturday, November 19, 1859;
pg. 7; Issue 299.

he has a full obituary  on the back back (page 8) of this issue:
North Wales Chronicle (Bangor, Wales), Saturday, November 19, 1859; Issue 1702.

does anyone know if you can buy copies of this newspaper?

Joyce

[David Price]

I will look for the inscription next time I'm at the university library, but that may not be for a few weeks.

You can easily print off the 1861 piece from the NW Chronicle from the wonderful 19th Century British Library Newspapers website.

Regards

David

[Admin (Matt)]

North Wales Chronicle is archived at the University too, I'm not sure whether the the paper themselves have an archive, certainly the online one runs only back to 2005

1850-1949 are on microform although they do have many bound originals in 'the stack' a room in the basement/ground floor - accessible to all without fees or notification.

Search the University Catalogue 

Gwynedd Council Archives have...

XB9/19/14

LIST of graves affected by proposed new conveniences at Tan-y-Fynwent, Bangor. Plan of Tan-y-Fynwent Garden of Rest showing grave positions and the proposed new building, drawn by the City Engineer Cyril Richard

- The plan can be seen here: http://www.bangorcivicsociety.org.uk/pages/hisso/i109.htm
The Graveyard today

[Admin (Matt)]

http://newspapers.bl.uk

That's excellent, I didn't know they'd done this!

[Joyce]

thanks for the links guys, I have searched the papers and none say where he is burried, so back to the drawing board...

 On a brighter note, I found the death of Augustus's mother while searching those papers, she died in Cheshire, I would never have looked there.

Joyce

[David Price]

Hi Joyce

As promised, here is the inscription of Augustus Martin's grave, as recorded c.1948.

Sacred to the Memory of/ (brother)/ AUGUSTUS ROBERT MARTIN/ who died November 13/ 1859/ aged 35 years.

The recorders in 1948 obviously misread his age - it should be 55 years. 'Brother' refers to his membership of St. David's Lodge of Freemasons.  See the description of the grave in the North Wales Chronicle, 19 Nov 1861.

There was also a grave:
EMILY MARTIN / died 22 March 1957/ Aged 51.

Regards

David