Event from: Miscellaneous 2019

Pauper Graves Memorial Unveiling

1.00pm, Wednesday May 8th, Avonview Cemetery, Beaufort Road, St. George, Bristol, BS5 8EN

Event Details
Date: , 2019
Time:
Series: Miscellaneous 2019
Page Details
Section: Events
Projects: Eastville Workhouse
Subjects: Workhouses & Poverty Laws
Tags: , , , , ,
Posted: Modified:
Site of unmarked common graves of the remains of more than 4,000 paupers at Avonview Cemetery

In 2012 Bristol Radical History Group launched a project to research into the thousands of unmarked graves of paupers from the Eastville workhouse (at 100 Fishponds Road) who were buried in nearby Rosemary Green. In 2014 the Eastville Workhouse Memorial Group (EWMG) was formed to commemorate and memorialise the 4,084 people who lived and died in Eastville workhouse and were interred at the site between 1851 and 1895, along with another 118 inmates’ bodies which were sold to medical schools. In November 2015 EWMG unveiled a standing stone memorial at Rosemary Green to mark the burial ground and the forgotten paupers.

Unveiling of memorial at Rosemary Green pauper burial ground in November 2015

In 1972 the Eastville workhouse buildings (an elderly peoples home) were demolished in preparation for the construction of the East Park Housing Estate. Our research has shown that there was a crude disinterment of the burial ground during the demolition, with 167 boxes of large bones moved to unmarked common graves at Avonview Cemetery, St George. EWMG have always felt that the last resting place of the paupers should be marked. Thanks to donations from the EWMG, the Church of England dioceses of Gloucester and Bristol and Bristol City Council a gravestone has been designed, carved and installed by local mason Matthew Billington.

The new memorial in production thanks to the work of stone mason Matthew Billington

The unveiling ceremony will take place on Wednesday, May 8th 2019 at 1.00pm at the western end of Avonview Cemetery (off Blackswarth Road and Beaufort Road) in St George. All welcome.

 

2 Comments

  1. Janet (Alexander) White

    Delighted about this memorial,my gr grandmother Ann Alexander died in the workhouse she was in her 80.
    Also I believe her granddaughter Virtue is buried in a paupers grave she died aged 18 in 1918 from the Spanish flu epidemic.

  2. My great gran was buried here .it is my understanding it was a paupers grave with no headstone.her name was lilian stapleford.she was born in 1884.any help or information will be greatly received.thankyou

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

You may use these HTML tags and attributes: <a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <cite> <code> <del datetime=""> <em> <i> <q cite=""> <s> <strike> <strong>

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Pin It on Pinterest

Share This