CFHS code : MG52
Parish : St Mary the Great
Inscription : To the Memory of SUSANNAH ELIZABETH CHANDLER a devoted wife and mother Sept 1855 – March 1928 wife of ARTHUR BEARD CHANDLER also In Affectionate Remembrance of ARCHIBALD BEARD CHANDLER eldest son of above d [after an accident] Feb [ ] 1905 in his 20th year interred at Birch Essex and In Loving Remembrance of ARTHUR BEARD CHANDLER who was called to higher service 13th March 1942 aged 81
Monument : Headstone/Kerb stones
Above information from Cambridge Family History Society Survey
Lat Lon : 52.202281, 0.13764583 – click here for location
Monument
The Chandler headstone is located 9 rows west of the central path, on the northern border of the parish area of St Mary the Great. It was cleared in November 2023 as part of routine scrub clearance. The inscription is still legible. The large branches of ivy were left in place as removing them might destabilise the stone. The kerbstones are in place but were not uncovered.
Inscription
To the Memory of SUSANNAH ELIZABETH CHANDLER a devoted wife and mother (Sept 1855 – March 1928) wife of ARTHUR BEARD CHANDLER
Such as are gentle, them shall we learn his way [P]s XXV .8
Also In Affectionate Remembrance of ARCHIBALD BEARD CHANDLER eldest son of above who died (after an accident) Feb. [24] 1905. In his 20th year. Interred at Birch Essex
“Loved and lost awhile”
And In Loving Remembrance of ARTHUR BEARD CHANDLER who was called to higher service 13th March 1942 aged 81 years
“Loved ones are re-united”
Arthur Beard Chandler (23 August 1860 – 13 March 1942)
Arthur was born in Cambridge, the third of the six children born to John and Jemima Chandler. John Chandler was a wood turner and the family grew up at 81 Russell Street. In 1881 he was 20 years old and studying to be a teacher at St Peter’s College in Peterborough.
He married Susannah Mackley in Hartismere, Suffolk in 1883. They had six children: Archibald Beard [1885-1905], Reginald John [1887-1944], Winifred Elizabeth [1889-1964], Marjorie Walden [1890-1973], Irene Mackley [1897-1919] and another child who died young.
From at least 1888 the family lived at the School House in Mendelsham, where Arthur was the school master. By 1898 they had moved to Birch in Essex, and were living at the School House. By 1911 the family had moved to Cambridge and were living at 82 Russell Street, which was next door to where Arthur’s widowed father and four sisters lived.
Arthur was the head master of St Paul’s School, but in December 1916 was appointed head master of Milton Road School. By 1920 Arthur and Susannah had moved to 32 Tenison Avenue.
Susannah died in 1928, and Arthur continued to live at Tenison Road with his daughters Winifred and Marjorie – both of whom were head teachers like their father. In 1939 he was described as a retired school master. Arthur died aged 81 years old.
Susannah Elizabeth Chandler (née Mackley) (1855-30 March 1928)
Susannah was born in Peterborough and was the daughter of Samuel and Elizabeth Mackley. She grew up at 44 Lincoln Road in Peterborough where her father was a butcher [1861] and later Crown Street in London [1871] when her father was working as a warehouseman.
The couple had at least five children; Archibald Beard ( 1886-1942) Reginald John (1887-1944) Winifred Elizabeth (1889-1964), Marjorie Walden (1890-1973) and Irene Mackley (1897-1919).
Susannah died at 32 Tenison Road aged 67 years old.
Archibald Beard Chandler (1885 – 24 February 1905)
Archibald was the eldest child of Arthur and Susannah Chandler. He was born in Mendlesham in Suffolk. In 1901 aged 16 he was living with his maternal grandparents at 5 Percy Circus in Clerkenwell.
He died in fatal accident at the Standard Ironworks at Colchester, where he was working as an engineer’s apprentice. An inquest was held into his death. Archibald and a fellow apprentice has been removing the flywheels of a 20 hp gas engine. They had removed one wheel, and were in the middle of removing a second when the whole engine fell on top of Archibald. The other apprentice escaped. Twenty men were said to have tried to lift the engine, and eventually had to use a crane to release Archibald. Witnesses at the scene said he did not complain and was more worried that he had broken the wheel. He was taken to hospital by ambulance. He was operated on for a ruptured bladder. He was said to have died of shock and heart failure following a fractured pelvis and ruptured bladder.
The jury returned a verdict of accident and the company were not found to be at fault. Standard Ironworks were advised that apprentice’s were not competent enough to be in charge of tasks such as the one under taken and should receive more supervision going forward.
Archibald was buried in Birch on 3rd March 1905. He was 19 years old.
Source:
Ancestry
Newspaper archives
by Claire Martinsen
[If you have any information about this family, please contact us at Friendsofmillroadcemetery@gmail.com]