Proper Respects/Funerals

Apologies for the mawkish subject of this week’s blog. Not a subject for the fainthearted, but perhaps worthy of asking a few questions

We’re so used to using a local funeral director at the sad time of bereavement that perhaps you’ve never given much thought to what happened in earlier times

In the village, we have churchyards at St Mary’s and Ararat, old St Mary’s graveyard and Pantmawr cemetery. Further afield there is Thornhill and the ancient church at Eglwysilan (but Cathays, a Victorian cemetery, covered Cardiff)

What happened at Tongwynlais, Llandaff North or Rhiwbina? Does anyone know?

We’re so used to fantastic healthcare and palliative care these days (even with the incredible pressures on our NHS), we tend to wear ‘blinkers’ when it comes to end-of-life. It wasn’t so long ago that there were childhood illnesses, infant mortalities, industrial and farming accidents (no health and safety then), and of course heavy smoking, alcohol consumption and the local water quality. Extreme old age seemed to be very unusual for folk in the village

I can remember family stories about ‘the deceased’, grandparents, uncles or aunts being ‘laid out’ in the best room of the house, with family, friends and neighbours wanting to ‘pay their respects’. I’m sure that there are many Whitchurch stories to be told

Who were the funeral directors in the village back then? Ernie Broad talks about Tom Evans and his son Huw, who traded as undertaker and builder. They had workshops behind Barclays Bank in the village. They had 2 black horses and a glass-sided hearse. I wonder where they were kept?

The incredible photograph below from Denise shows DJ Evans & Sons on the Philog just after WW1, with their fleet of motorised and horse-drawn hearses (and their van!); a different age. Were DJ Evans the same family as Tom and his son?

Who was the local coffin maker? Coffins tended to be made from elm, and there were plenty of elm trees in the village and countryside around. We know that the local blacksmiths could turn their hand to many things, so probably the local carpenters would be called upon too

In Pantmawr Road was a large house built in the late 19th century called Llwyncelyn, as the family home of the Mossfords. I wonder if they were the family of monumental masons that started in 1821? We’d love to know

I’m told that, in every village there would be lady (always a lady), who knew how to wash and lay out the deceased, and was always called upon. Who was this in the village, in years gone by?

In the 19th century, old St Mary’s graveyard was becoming very full after hundreds of years, and there were stories in the local newspapers about preventing people who were not ‘local’ being buried there. In fact, there is one story where family from ‘away’ were buried there and grumbling meant that the bishop had to intervene to prevent the graves from being dug up! By the early 1880s, land for a new graveyard had been acquired and opened to relieve the problem

By 1931, the new cemetery at Pantmawr had opened

Today, there are many family graves in the village, most of them full (and sadly many forgotten), although AWEN are fortunate in having some good records donated by Jean. How about having a session sometime at the library, to help locate long-lost family graves and discover some family history?

We had a sculptor, Eli Evans who lived on the common in the 1840s and 50s who carved many of the decorative headstones at old St Mary’s and Ararat. Eli was the man who designed and constructed the Booker family mausoleum. Chris Soughton has given me a photograph of an elaborate headstone at old St Mary’s, where Eli has signed his name in the corner. What an artist!

Ernie Broad tells some hair-raising tales of the local gravediggers between the wars. Does anyone know who they were?

When I was young, respect for the departed was very important in the community. Men would stop in the street and remove their hat when a funeral procession passed. Neighbours would always keep their curtains drawn, and most folk would wear black (widow’s weaves)

I’m told that older traditions at funerals included stopping clocks in the room (to prevent bad luck), covering mirrors (so their soul wouldn’t get trapped in the glass), and even turning family photographs face-down (so that people in them wouldn’t be possessed by the spirit of the dead!). Does anyone have any other sayings or customs?

Was there ever a tradition for holding a funeral wake in the village? Does anyone know? I know that the Ffynnon Wen pub now has a reputation for holding funeral ‘celebrations’ today, but this is probably due to its location opposite the cemetery entrance on Thornhill Road

To finish, AWEN were given some old photographs a few years ago. One was of the interior of a church with an open coffin in the front. The occupant was clearly visible! We were asked if we could identify the church. We’ll keep on looking

If you’ve found this blog a bit hard going, apologies. Next time we’ll consider something a little ‘lighter’

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