CFHS code : AL221
Parish : St Andrew the Less
Inscription : In Loving Memory of ALICE ELIZABETH beloved wife of FRANCIS HOLMES d June 18th 1945 aged 72 also FRANCIS HOLMES beloved husband of the above entered into rest Nov 5th 1949 aged 69 also HENRY CHARLES THOMPSON eldest son of ALICE ELIZABETH b Nov 3rd 1894 passed away in infancy
Monument : Stone cross/Kerb stones (broken)/Flowerholder
Above information from Cambridge Family History Society Survey
Monument
This broken cross set within kerbstones, in the parish of Andrew the Less, is located 2 rows east of the east path just before it bends to become the north path. It is close to the east wall in an area that is usually left to grow wild and hidden by brambles. However the inscriptions of metal letters on the plinth are in good order.
Inscription
west face
In Loving Memory of ALICE ELIZABETH beloved wife of FRANCIS HOLMES who passed away June 18th 1945 aged 72 years
Also FRANCIS HOLMES beloved husband of the above entered into rest Nov 5th 1949 aged 69 years
Thy will be done
south face
Also HENRY CHARLES THOMPSON eldest son of ALICE ELIZABETH born Nov 3rd 1894 passed away in infancy
Alice Elizabeth Holmes (née Smith) (formerly Thompson) (1 January 1873 – 18 June 1945)
Alice was the eldest daughter of Benjamin and Amelia Smith and was born in Elsworth, a village nine miles north west of Cambridge. Her father was an agricultural labourer, her mother a dressmaker and aged 18 Alice was working as a domestic servant for Rev. Arthur Heaton, the vicar of Papworth St. Agnes. She married Robert James Thompson (known as Bob) (1872-1902) in 1894 and they had four children: Henry Charles (1894-1895), Private Benjamin Robert (1896-1916), Gertrude Alice (1898-1931) and Walter Edward (1901-1973). Bob was from Papworth St. Agnes, and the couple moved to Cambridge where he worked as a police constable. They lived at 24 Hooper Street, and then 1 Rosa Terrace, Abbey Walk (1901).
She was widowed in May 1902 and the police community supported her. As Bob had served over ten years with the force, the Police Watch Committee granted her the maximum gratuity possible. In August 1902 a Police Fete was held in the Fellows’ Garden of Trinity College in aid of Alice and her children. The programme included ‘selections by the Police Band, the Chorister Glee singers, performances by Professor Dewar’s performing dogs and cats, mystical novelties by Mr. Gambling, a sketch by members of the Bijou Amateur Dramatic Club, and a cinemograph display’. The original date for the Fete was to have been in June but was postponed due to the King’s illness. The Cambridge Daily News reported that many people attended and that ‘it would have been very difficult even if anyone were so inclined to have found any fault with the arrangements’. One of the highlights was the lighting of the gardens after dark, and ‘festoons of Chinese lanterns were hung from tree to tree, and a very pretty effect was produced by crosses of red, white, and blue fairy lights against the dark background of shrubs and trees…. another very effective piece of work was the arms of Trinity College in fairy lights of red, white and blue’.
Alice married for a second time in 1906 to P.C. Francis Holmes and they lived at 21 Stockwell Street (1911), 28 Green’s Road (at least 1914 – 1927) and 23 Madras Road (1928 onwards). Alice died at home aged 72 years old.
Francis Holmes (4 April 1880 -5 November 1949)
Francis was born in the village Leverington , just to the north of Wisbech. He was the son of Thomas and Elizabeth Holmes and his father was an agricultural labourer. Francis also worked as an agricultural labourer (1901) before joining the Cambridge police force as Constable number 44 in 1903. He had retired by 1939 and died in Leverington aged 69 years old.
Henry Charles Thompson (3 November 1894 – January 1895)
Henry died at 24 Hooper Street aged 2 months old and was buried at Mill Road Cemetery on 15 January.
Sources:
Ancestry
Newspaper archives
Parish burial records transcribed by CFHS
by Claire Martinsen
[If you have any information about this family, please contact us at Friendsofmillroadcemetery@gmail.com]