This year I have made several visits back to my native land of north east England. During my most recent visit I came across the resting places of two influential historical figures, Lord William Beveridge and Emily Wilding Davison.
I ventured up to the village of Thockrington in Northumberland. Not a great deal of the village remains apart from a farm and the church of St. Aidan. The church was built in 1100AD by the Norman Umfraville family. The village disappeared around 1847 after a cholera epidemic apparently brought back by a sailor.
I ventured up to the village of Thockrington in Northumberland. Not a great deal of the village remains apart from a farm and the church of St. Aidan. The church was built in 1100AD by the Norman Umfraville family. The village disappeared around 1847 after a cholera epidemic apparently brought back by a sailor.
Lord Beveridge was an economist and social reformer and is best remembered for the Beveridge Report, which was the basis of the welfare system put in place by the Labour government elected in 1945. Perhaps the best known reforms introduced were the expansion of National Insurance and the founding of the National Health Service. He is buried alongside his wife, (Jessy) Janet.
The writer Tom Sharpe's father had been a preacher at Thockrington and his ashes were interred here after his death, although I was not able to find any visible marker for these.
Also buried here is Constance Leathart, who was a pioneering female aviator. She flew RAF aircraft on transit flights in Word War two. On her return to the UK she retired to a farm in Northumberland and cared for rescued donkeys. Again, there is no clear indicator as to her grave although later research indicates it is marked by a stone engraved with her initials that was used to enter her swimming pool.
The writer Tom Sharpe's father had been a preacher at Thockrington and his ashes were interred here after his death, although I was not able to find any visible marker for these.
Also buried here is Constance Leathart, who was a pioneering female aviator. She flew RAF aircraft on transit flights in Word War two. On her return to the UK she retired to a farm in Northumberland and cared for rescued donkeys. Again, there is no clear indicator as to her grave although later research indicates it is marked by a stone engraved with her initials that was used to enter her swimming pool.
There are beautiful views of the surrounding countryside from the elevated area where the church is situated and as it was lambing season, some delightful lambs in the nearby pasture. On a hilltop not far from Thockrington the remains of a dovecot (near Hamilton Farm) can be seen.
My next churchyard visit took me to the market town of Morpeth, some 13 miles north of Newcastle Upon Tyne. The 14th century church of St. Mary the Virgin lies just outside the town centre. The tower incorporates some of the oldest architecture of the church.
The main purpose of my visit was to seek out the resting place of Emily Wilding Davison, the militant suffragette. On 4 June 1913 she 'stepped in front of' King George V horse, Anmer, at the Epsom Derby and suffered fatal injuries, dying on 8 June. She had been carrying the banner of the Women's Social and Political Union (WSPU). Prior to this she had been arrested and imprisoned several times for her militant activities as a member of the women's suffrage movement.
After a service in London she was buried in the family grave in Morpeth. Her gravestone bears the motto of the WSPU 'Deeds not Words'.
After a service in London she was buried in the family grave in Morpeth. Her gravestone bears the motto of the WSPU 'Deeds not Words'.