I visited the Hollywood Cemetery today in Richmond VA (https://www.hollywoodcemetery.org), a historical cemetery of beautiful headstones where two American Presidents are buried.
As I wandered the grounds, I very randomly spotted this large monument with that phrase "Sydney, Australia"....
THOMAS ALSOP M.D.
Son of Boswell Alsop and Maria Temple Pollard
Born Oct 14 1872 Richmond VA
Died Jan 15 1934 Buried Sydney, Australia
As Thomas Alsop was buried in Sydney Australia, the engraving on the monument is a memorial. Around the other side of the monument is Thomas' parents, who are buried in the plot.
Boswell Alsop
Born Stafford Co VA, April 13 1839 - Died Sept 16 1912
His wife Maria T Pollard
Born Henrico Co VA, Aug 19 1843 - Feb 12 1925
Given that Thomas died after his parents, someone (a sibling) had Thomas added to the monument. Boswell was a civil war veteran according to the Hollywood burial records. Interestingly (but logically) Thomas Alsop does not appear in the burial records for Hollywood as he was not buried there! So it is truly an index of burials, not monuments.
So who was Thomas, buried so far from home in Sydney Australia?
The New South Wales Births Deaths & Marriages index certainly confirms that Thomas died there:
Index entry: 3576/1934
Name: ALSOP, THOMAS
Father: BOSWELL
Mother: MARIA T
Registration district: WOOLLAHRA
Thomas' death and funeral notices were posted in the Sydney Morning Herald for Tue 16 Jan 1934.
ALSOP - January 15, 1934, at Miramar, 740 New South Head-road, Rose Bay, Thomas Alsop MD., aged 62 years. Requiscat in pace. Private interment.
ALSOP - A Requiem Mass for the Repose of the Soul of the late Dr. THOMAS ALSOP will be celebrated at St Mary Magdalene's Church, Rose Bay, This Tuesday morning at 9 o'clock. W.N. BULL LTD, Funeral Directors
The Miramar apartment building in Rose Bay is still standing:
Looking at newspaper articles for signs of Dr. Alsop in Australia:
Evening News (Sydney, NSW : 1869 - 1931) Sat 29 Apr 1922
Dr. Thomas Alsop has been appointed Government Medical Officer at Binalong, in place of Dr. Newbury-Brown, who has resigned.
And yet, the American newspapers state in the Richmond times-dispatch, November 04, 1921:
IN AND OUT OF TOWN
Dr. and Mrs. Thomas Alsop, of Atlantic City, are visiting their mother, Mrs. Boswell Alsop, at S11 Cathedral Place.
So perhaps Thomas (and his wife?) moved to New South Wales in the early 1920s. I can't find more about Thomas at the moment, and am particularly surprised to discovery I cannot find Thomas' burial in Sydney in the usual places: Eastern Suburbs cemetery, Rookwood, and Waverley Cemetery.
.jpg)
No comments:
Post a Comment