Good Evening List, I am new to the list please see below. Regards Katie -----Original Message----- From: Katy <katy@cwcom.net> To: Barbara Crowther <barbara@crowther-york.freeserve.co.uk>; KENT-ENG-L@rootsweb.com <KENT-ENG-L@rootsweb.com> Date: 01 February 2001 20:23 Subject: Re: Roll Call - Woodgrange Park Cemetery - East London >Hallo List > >This seems a good time to introduce myself, I am Katie and joined the list >last week. I have Filer/Mason, Hurley, Drain and Moss relatives in >Kent/East London. It is the Hurley family that is the topic for this >message, among other names. > >The Roll Call is to all relatives of the deceased who are buried at >Woodgrange Park Cemetery, Forest Gate, Manor Park, East London. You may >remember seeing in the National News last year, the astonishing news of >14,000 human remains being "removed from their graves" by mechinal means, >put in bin bags and buried in a mass grave in the cemetery to provide land >for housing development. Well, I have or had at least four family graves >among those 14,000, my great grandfather, one of sons, his son's wife and a >young child. Now they are in a mass grave with no burial service and the >grave is a road which vehicles to the building site are allowed to travel >over. A year ago I started to investigate how this was allowed to happen. >The reason was the 1993 Woodgrange Cemetery Act of Parliament, a private >Bill, which overturned the law to allow this. > >The Cemetery is in a terrible state and for years the previous owner was >clearing graves under the (year and 1 day) ruling, if you do not keep the >grave cleared for that period of time the Cemetery has the right to take >down the headstone and resell the plot, with a new grave and headstone being >placed on top. There are areas being cleared now. During the last year I >have written endless letters to Newham Council, the Home Office and one MP >to get answers to my questions. Last year I visited the Cemetery with >representatives of the above and was shocked to find that a "clean" site >ready for building was scattered with "human remains", in fact we were >walking on them. I am sorry if this shocks you but it is the truth. > >My aim now is to alert any relatives who came from that area and may have >relatives buried there. Some of the graves are less than 30 years old. >When the Act was passed one grave had been there for two years. > >I am the Co-ordinator of the Woodgrange Support Group, see my website >www.woodgrange.freehosting.net. If you have relatives you can add your >support to the relatives and if you do not you can also add your support. >We are gathering a petition to ask that our families are treated with >dignity in their death, that the mass grave is made into the memorial garden >promised, now not in three years time, which is the plan and that the grave >is treated as such and that the vehicles are stopped immediately. It is not >much to ask for our relatives who have been treated with such lack of >respect, as though they were unwanted rubbish. > >My second aim is to help people who still have relatives buried to ensure >that their graves remain intact. During my visit there were many headstones >that had been damaged some beyond repair by the site workers, yet under the >Act of Parliament, no one is responsible for the repair of these headstones. >When London and surrounding area is short of burial space this should never >have been allowed to happen. Please add your name to my petition if you >feel you can support our request. > >Regards > >Katie >-----Original Message----- >From: Barbara Crowther <barbara@crowther-york.freeserve.co.uk> >To: KENT-ENG-L@rootsweb.com <KENT-ENG-L@rootsweb.com> >Date: 01 February 2001 19:24 >Subject: Pat's roll-call > > >>Hello List >> >>I just wish to add my name to the list of all the people who have written >in admiring Pat's efforts over the past few weeks. >> >>Much appreciated Pat, I am full of admiration, I wouldn't know how to start >on a task such as that. >> >>Also thanks to Karen, who started the ball rolling, enabling this list to >be assembled. >> >>Best Wishes >> >>Barbara >>barbara@crowther-york.freeserve.co.uk >> >> >>==== KENT-ENG Mailing List ==== >>The Guild of One-Name Studies >>www.one-name.org/ >> >> >