Hove Cemetery gravesite photo

[Liz_in_Sussex]

Hi,

If you're OK waiting for a couple of weeks I'll go and have a look for you but it would be after we break up for the School holidays ... I'm a teacher and it's a bit busy at the moment!  If no one else gets there before - I can go during the week beginning 11th July - I live just over the Downs and am often down that way so it wouldn't be a problem (I know the cemetery well!).

Liz 

PS Definitely become a member of SFHG though if you have an interest in Sussex ancestors!

[treeshaker]

artifis, thanks for your further input, much appreciated.
Liz, that is just wonderful! Thank you so very much for your offer to go to the cemetery and of course I don't mind waiting at all until it's convenient for you, I couldn't have hoped for anything better! I do hope there is a gravestone there for you to discover. I'm sure William Mondelet would have had prestige among the community. I did find an Aug 2, 1913 article in the British Medical Journal (annual meeting notes) giving details about his being part of a group of 20 people who embarked from Brighton on a 4-hr cruise over to Boulogne, France for a ceremony with other (French) medical men. Once there, they met at the town hall, sipped champagne and Dr Mondelet of Hove expressed sentiments (in French) on behalf of those who had made the voyage.

[artifis]

That sounds very promising treeshaker, someone of his importance in the community is certainly likely to have had either a memorial or a headstone.

I don't know what Brighton & Hove Council's approach is but unfortunately a many cemeteries if a headstone or monument starts to lean it is taken down for 'safety' and either stored in a spot remote from the grave or thrown away.  Seeing from the aerial and birds eye views there does seem to be lot of headstones and monuments still standing and I know it's the same for the cemeteries surrounding the crematoria off Lewes Road when my mother and father in law lie.

The parish church where my ancestors from the early 1700s are buried has a policy of clearing any 'suspected' unsafe headstone/monument and simply throwing them away, all in the drive to get a flat area that can be mown by sit on motor mowers.  They're also interring cremation remains over older burials - some only 75 years old - and taking down monuments/headstones to facilitate this.  Shame for ancestry researchers now and in the future - this church under its current rector seems to have a totally cavalier attitude to its predecessors.

I will be interested to see what Liz can find as I have a friend just starting on her family research who has ancestors buried there for several generations.

[Jo Harding]

Hello treeshaker,

My gt gt grandmother is buried in this area of Hove cemetery (died 1903). Three of her children are buried with her. I enquired about the grave when I lived in Hove. Like you, the council gave me the plot numbers and a map but they don't hold information on gravestones.

I went to visit and was astounded to find a beautiful monument with much writing on it. Hove cemetery has some wonderful monuments and it is fascinating to spend time there looking round. There are some very interesting people buried there. I used to think it would be good material for a book. I had plans but they came to nothing.

One recommendation would be that whoever goes to look and take a photo needs to have the official cemetery map with them.

Jo.

[treeshaker]

artifis, how unfortunate that some old monuments are being removed and/or thrown away as in the case of the parish church you mentioned, I do hope your ancestors' headstones which go back to the early 1700's still remain, what a treasure.

Jo, what a wonderful experience that must have been when you visited Hove south cemetery and discovered a beautiful monument with much writing to your gt gt grandmother and three of her children. If you would have written that book about some of the interesting people buried at Hove, which no doubt would likely have included photos of their monuments, how I would have loved to have read it! If not a full book, perhaps you will still put something together at some point?

The RD section where the Mondelets are buried does look (from the aerial and street view photos) like it has a lot of monuments still standing and it will be great to hear what Liz discovers when she goes there in a couple of weeks.

[Jo Harding]

Hello treeshaker,

Yes, I was amazed to find the monument, plus the fact three of her children were buried with her. It was good to send photos to her descendants in New Zealand.

I wondered whether you had pursued other sources of information on your ancestors. I should think there must be some information in the Susses Archives. Also, as a prominent person, have you found an obituary for him?

Jo.

[treeshaker]

Thanks Jo, although I am now registered online with the Keep, the only thing that comes up in a search for "Mondelet" is a Deed of Covenant permitting William Henry Mondelet to practise as a surgeon in Brighton (dated 30 Jan 1906). I imagine there may have been mention of him in the Brighton/Hove newspapers over the years and possibly an obituary but it looks like newspapers can only be viewed on microfilm in person. On Ancestry I've found his 1884 London marriage to Elizabeth Elsie Payne, so far no record of them on 1891 census, on 1901 census he and Elizabeth are living in Brighton at 9 St George's Place (including a servant named Annie Marriette), on 1911 census they are living in Hove at 3 Blatchington Road. I did find an 1894 Obstetrical Society London mention where he was elected as a Fellow of the Society his address being 1 Gladstone Terrace, Brighton. Also found on Ancestry his death index of 1921 (4th quarter) and the 10 Feb 1942 death record for Elizabeth Mondelet with mention from her 1940 will that she is a Nursing Home Proprietress at 45 Norton Road, Hove and wishes to be buried at Hove Cemetery with late husband William Henry Mondelet. That is what led me to posting on here to see if I might find someone who could take a photo of their gravesite hopefully with a headstone still standing and will await Liz's findings on that in a couple weeks. Thanks for your interest and input.

[Jo Harding]

It is a small world as my ancestors lived a little further along Blatchington Road, Hove, for some years!

There should be an obituary for William Mondelet. The street directories which are online for some years, show he lived at 3 Blatchington Road until 1918 at least.

I live a long distance from Hove at the moment but in the event I return for a visit, I will see what I can find for you.

Jo.

[treeshaker]

Jo, it sure is a small world with your ancestors having lived a little further along Blatchington Road in Hove. If that was during the time that the Mondelets also lived there, then perhaps they even knew each other! And thanks, it would be great if you were able to find an obituary for William Mondelet (in the event you ever returned to Hove). His burial date was 18 October 1921 so, if an obituary does exist, it would likely have been published around that time and would hopefully give his death date among other info. Once Liz goes to the cemetery, and if a headstone exists, it might have his actual death date as well.