Comments on: Chapter 3. A Funeral at Christmas

By: Brenda Armstrong

Brenda Armstrong — Tue, 12 Feb 2013 21:55:19 +0000

I have recently been tracing my family tree and believe I am distantly related to Sgt. Robert Bentley’s wife Louisa, having read about the Goddard family

By: Byrnsweord

Byrnsweord — Mon, 07 Feb 2011 20:36:37 +0000

I have visited these men’s graves to pay my respects, so it is fascinating to see their funeral procession. An excellent entry on a fine blog.

By: Joan Dibble

Joan Dibble — Sun, 02 Jan 2011 01:43:41 +0000

That was so moving to read. I am the g.g.niece of Robert Bentley, one of the fallen officers. It’s heartbreakingly sad that Robert’s widow probably wasn’t able to attend the funeral having given birth to their second child, a son, in the days between his death and the funeral.

I was told many years ago that the picture taken of the funeral was probably from newsreel film.

By: the gentle author

the gentle author — Sat, 01 Jan 2011 14:31:58 +0000

In reply to Lou. Thanks Lou, the primary sources for these reports are the newspaper accounts, collected together in a huge scrapbook by Frederick Wensley, that I will show you in the next few days, and which is now held in the archive at the Bishopsgate Institute. The account of the funeral of the policemen you refer to was from an unattributed newspaper cutting in the album.

By: Lou

Lou — Sat, 01 Jan 2011 11:20:17 +0000

Truly gripping stuff, which I am enjoying reading… but don’t you think you should cite your sources? “A contemporary newspaper report” — but which one?