Category Archives: Communications

St Mary's Church, Fetcham, Surrey, England

Memorial at St Mary’s Church, Fetcham commemorating Admiral Sir George Henry Richards d. 1896

Location

St Mary's Church, Fetcham, Surrey, England

Details

Type: Tablet
Position: North aisle

People

Richards, George Henry
Age: 76
Date of Death: 14/11/1896
Cause of Death: Unknown/None
Rank / Occupation: Admiral
Organisation: Royal Navy

Extra

Notes: Head of the Admiralty Hydrographic Department and later the Managing Director of the Telegraph Construction and Maintenance Company.
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All Saints Church, West Bromwich, Staffordshire, England

Gravestone at All Saints Church, West Bromwich commemorating Captain James Eaton RN d. 1857, a veteran of Trafalgar

Location

All Saints Church, West Bromwich, Staffordshire, England

Transcript

'SACRED TO THE MEMORY OF / CAPTAIN JAMES EATON R.N. / OF HILL HOUSE, WEST BROMWICH / WHO DIED OF FEB 28th 1857 / AGED 71 YEARS. / HE WAS A GALLANT OFFICER AND / AN AFFECTIONATE HUSBAND / HE WAS SIGNAL MIDSHIPMAN / AT THE BATTLE OF TRAFALGAR / OCT 21st 1805 / AND HAD THE HONOUR OF REPEATING / FROM THE VICTORY NELSON'S LAST / IMMORTAL SIGNAL: / ENGLAND EXPECTS THAT EVERY / MAN THIS DAY WILL DO HIS DUTY.'

Details

Type: Gravestone
Position: Churchyard

Event

Battle of Trafalgar

Event Date

1805

Event Category

1803-1815 Napoleonic War

People

Eaton, James
Age: 71
Date of Death: 28/2/1857
Cause of Death: Unknown/None
Rank / Occupation: Captain RN
Organisation: Royal Navy

Extra

Bibliography: Graham Dean and Keith Evans 'Nelson's Heroes' (Norwich, 1994) pp. 86-7.
Recorder: Alex Chatwin, 1981
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Church of St Michael and All Angels, Sunninghill, Windsor and Maidenhead, England

Memorial at Church of St Michael and All Angels, Sunninghill, Windsor and Maidenhead commemorating Rear-Admiral Sir Home Riggs Popham d. 1820

Location

Church of St Michael and All Angels, Sunninghill, Windsor and Maidenhead, England

Transcript

[On each of four sides of base] 'Copenhagen', 'Buenos Ayres', 'N coast of Spain', 'Cape of Good Hope', 'In memory of Rear Admiral Sir Home Riggs Popham, KCB, KCG, KM, FRS, who died at Cheltenham September 11th 1820 aged 58 years. Affection's fondest terms are found too weak to state his conduct as husband or as a father, and as a friend 'twere difficult to do him justice, yet memory retains what language fails t'express. His public services were great and various but those let history tell. This page posthumous has to record still nobler triumphs, these his great successes exited envy and envy persecution but both were foil'd in their attempts upon his character, for truth was supreme and justice found the verdict while he added most feelingly this last, the best & strongest confirmation-forgiveness'

Details

Description: Plinth and broken column surmounted by a flaming urn. West panel depicts semaphore, signal flags and an open book.
Type: Memorial
Materials: Portland stone

People

Popham, Home Riggs
Age: 57
Date of Death: 11/9/1820
Cause of Death: Unknown/None
Rank / Occupation: Rear Admiral
Organisation: Royal Navy

Extra

Notes: Now illegible. Epitaph of his wife d. 12/3/1866, and their granddaughter (daughter of Adm Pakenham) d. 5/4/1878 on another panel. Popham was court-martialled for attacking Buenos Aires without orders in 1806 and for leaving the Cape of Good Hope undefended. Popham was the author of a vocabulary code using Admiralty signal flags published in 1803 and used to send Nelson's Trafalgar signal 'England Expects'.
Bibliography: G.H. Hughes 'A history of Windsor, Sunningdale and Great Park' 1890; H.P. Mead 'Sir Home Popham', 'Mariner's Mirror' vol. 42, p. 79 (Cambridge, 1956).
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Gibraltar Hill, Railway Street, Chatham, Kent, England

Statue on Gibraltar Hill, Railway Street, Chatham, Kent commemorating Lieutenant Thomas Waghorn, RN d. 1850

Location

Gibraltar Hill, Railway Street, Chatham, Kent, England

Transcript

'THE OVERLAND / ROVTE' [On map] 'LIEVTENANT . R.N. / PIONEER . AND . FOVNDER . OF. THE . OVERLAND . ROVTE / BORN . AT . CHATHAM . 1800 / DIED . JANY . 7TH . 1850'

Details

Description: A full-length figure holding a map in left hand and pointing with right hand
Type: Statue
Position: Gibraltar Hill
Materials: Bronze
Date Erected: 1888
Artists: H.H. 'Armstead'

People

Waghorn, Thomas
Age: 50
Date of Death: 7/1/1850
Cause of Death: Unknown
Rank / Occupation: Lieutenant RN
Organisation: Royal Navy

Extra

Notes: Buried at Snodland, Kent. Waghorn pioneered an overland mail route between Cairo and Suez. Statue unveiled by the Earl of Northbrook. Figure points north instead east to India as intended.
Bibliography: David Saunders 'Maritime Memorials & Mementoes' (Yeovil, 1996), p. 35 (illustration).
Recorder: B. Tomlinson
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Kensal Green Cemetery, Kensal Green, London, England

Memorial at Kensal Green Cemetery, London commemorating David Thomas King d. 1874 in the wreck of ‘La Plata’

Location

Kensal Green Cemetery, Kensal Green, London, England

Transcript

'IN / MEMORY OF / THE REV. DAVID KING LLD / BORN IN MONTROSE MAY 20 1806 / DIED LONDON DEC 20 1883 / 'I SHALL BE SATISFIED WHEN I AWAKE / WITH THY LIKENESS' PSALM XV11.16 / DAVID THOMAS KING / SECOND SON OF DAVID AND ELIZABETH KING BORN IN GLASGOW MAY 31 1853 / DROWNED IN THE WRECK OF THE LA PLATA / NOVEMBER 29 1874 'IT IS I. BE NOT AFRAID' MATT X1V17 / ALSO OF THE ABOVE NAMED / ELIZABETH KING / DAUGHTER OF JAMES THOMPSON LLD / LATE PROFESSOR OF MATHS / IN THE UNIVERSITY OF GLASGOW. / BORN BELFAST AUGUST 9 1818 / DIED IN LONDON JULY 23 1896. /'THY RIGHT HAND SHALL HOLD ME' PSALM 139.10'

Details

Description: Triangular topped headstone on a rectangular pedestal. Curbed with railings.
Type: Gravestone
Position: Section 21
Materials: Pink granite
Vessel: 'La Plata'

People

King, David Thomas
Age: 21
Date of Death: 29/11/1874
Cause of Death: Vessel Loss
Rank / Occupation:
Organisation:

Extra

Notes: 'La Plata' of London was under charter by Siemens Brothers to repair telegraph cable and bound from Gravesend for Rio Grande. She foundered off Ushant on 29 November 1874. 15 survivors in a boat were picked up by 'Gareloch' of Glasgow next day.
Bibliography: 'Lloyd's List' 4 December 1874.
Photographer: Lucy Saint, Eleanor Baugh ©RMG
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All Saints Church, East Pennard, Somerset, England

Plaque in All Saints Church, East Pennard, Somerset commemorating Arthur Frank Bryant RN d. 1941 in the loss of HMS ‘Barham’

Location

All Saints Church, East Pennard, Somerset, England

Transcript

'To Arthur Frank Bryant sometime Chorister killed in action on H.M.S. BARHAM 25 November 1941'

Details

Type: Plaque
Position: Credence table, sanctuary
Materials: Brass
Vessel: HMS Barham

Event Category

1939-1945 Second World War

People

Bryant, Arthur Frank
Age: 18
Date of Death: 25/11/1941
Cause of Death: War casualty
Rank / Occupation: Ordinary Signalman
Organisation: Royal Navy

Extra

Recorder: The Arts Society (NADFAS) 1984
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All Saints Church, Snodland, Kent, England

Memorial in All Saints Church, Snodland, Kent commemorating Lieutenant Thomas Waghorn, RN d.1850

Location

All Saints Church, Snodland, Kent, England

Transcript

‘Erected / To the Memory of / THOMAS FLETCHER WAGHORN / Lieut., R.N., / who departed this life / January 7th 1850 / aged 49 years / Also of Harriet / widow of the above / who departed this life / January 19th, 1856, / aged 54 years.'

Details

Position: Interial

People

Waghorn, Thomas Fletcher
Age: 49
Date of Death: 7/1/1850
Cause of Death: Unknown
Rank / Occupation: Lieutenant RN
Organisation: Royal Navy

Extra

Notes: Waghorn served in the Royal Navy (1812 - 1817), the merchant navy and the Bengal marine pilot service. He pioneered the overland route between Cairo and Suez.

Bibliography: John K. Sidebottom 'The Overland Mail' (Perth, 1948) p. 127
David Saunders ‘Britain’s Maritime Memorials and Mementoes’, 1996, p.111
www.snodlandhistory.org.uk/thomas-fletcher-waghorn-1800-1850/

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St Paul's Cathedral, London, England

Wall tablet in St Paul’s Cathedral, London commemorating Admiral of the Fleet, Henry Bradwardine Jackson d. 1929

Location

St Paul's Cathedral, London, England

Transcript

'IN MEMORIAM / HENRY BRADWARDINE JACKSON, / G.C.B., K.C.V.O. R.N., F.R.S. / ADMIRAL OF THE FLEET. / BORN 1855 DIED 1929. / MADE A FELLOW OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY / IN RECOGNITION OF ORIGINAL RESEARCH / ON WIRELESS TELEGRAPHY AND ITS APPLICATION FOR USE / BETWEEN SHIPS AT SEA. / CHAIRMAN OF THE RADIO RESEARCH BOARD 1920-29. / ALSO TOOK A LEADING PART IN THE DEVELOPMENT / OF THE SCIENTIFIC SIDE OF NAVAL WARFARE / HIS SERVICES INCLUDED / CONTROLLER OF THE NAVY / PRESIDENT OF THE ROYAL NAVAL WAR COLLEGE / CHIEF OF ADMIRALTY WAR STAFF / FIRST SEA LORD 1915-1916 / FIRST AND PRINCIPAL A.D.C. TO H.M. KING GEORGE V'

Details

Description: Inscription tablet with a coloured coat of arms.
Type: Wall tablet
Position: Crypt
Materials: Limestone?
Artists: John Knapp

People

Jackson, Henry Bradwardine
Age:
Date of Death: 1929
Cause of Death: Unknown/None
Rank / Occupation: Admiral of the Fleet
Organisation: Royal Navy

Extra

Notes: Buried on Hayling Island.
Recorder: B. Tomlinson 1982
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