London Farewell

My last morning in England

Kathy and I took advantage of the hour I had before leaving for the airport for my flight home to walk over to Brompton Cemetery. This was my second tour of the park-like grounds. The cemetery was opened in 1840. The grounds consist of 39 acres, running from Fulham Road on the south to Old Brompton on the north. See this link for a list of famous occupants. I wasn't aware of the cemetery's historical significance, and was just out for a nice walk.

According to the Wikipedia article: "The American Sioux Indian chief, Long Wolf, a veteran of the Sioux wars was buried here on June 13, 1892 having died age 59 of bronchial pneumonia while taking part in the European tour of Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show. He shared the grave with a 17 month old Indian girl named Star Ghost Dog believed to have fallen from her mother's arms while on horseback. 105 years later a British woman named Elizabeth Knight traced his family and campaigned with them to have his remains returned to the land of his birth. In 1997, Chief Long Wolf was finally moved to a new plot in the Wolf Creek Community Cemetery (ancestral burial ground of the Oglala Sioux tribe) at Pine Ridge, South Dakota. His great grandson John Black Feather said 'Back then, they had burials at sea, they did ask his wife if she wanted to take him home and she figured that as soon as they hit the water they would throw him overboard, so that's why they left him here.' "

The photo above shows Stamford Bridge, the home grounds for Chelsea Football Club. I thought its view from the cemetery was appropriate, as the team had suffered a disappointing defeat at home to Arsenal the day before. What I did not know is that both the founder and the first chairman of the Club are buried in Brompton.

A view of the chapel, which is dated 1839.

Looking into infinity?













































At first, I thought I might be looking at my own grave!

This interesting grave marker was pictured in Kathy's September 11 post on her blog. But I just had to take my own photo! As it turns out, the story of Reginald Alexander John Warneford, a recipient of the Victoria Cross, is quite fascinating, so I guess I am to be forgiven for the duplication. You may want to left click on the photograph to see an enlarged version.

Because of its unusual composition of cannon balls, I thought that this grave marker for General Alexander Anderson of the Royal Marine Light Infantry fit in well with the title of my blog. Unfortunately, it looks like he has lost one of his balls! General Anderson was born in 1807 and died in 1877. The "C. B." after his name apparently refers to his status as a Companion of the Order of the Bath, a British order of chivalry founded by King George I in 1725. I assume that the "Beyrout" inscription on the cannon ball in front on the right means that the general served in what is now Beirut, the capital of Lebanon. None of the other balls are inscribed.

A last view of the Finborough Road apartment building which has served so well as Kathy's home away from home. Note the barely-visible dormer windows on fourth floor.

A farewell wave to her final guest.