CFHS code : MG130

Parish : St Mary the Great

Inscription : In Loving Memory of ELIZABETH wife of HENRY MODEN d Feb 15 1912 aged 63 also of HENRY the beloved husband of the above d April 4 1929 aged 77 also of SIDNEY youngest son of the above aged 27 of the 3RD Batt Rifle Brigade reported missing in France Sep 1916

Monument : Headstone/Kerb stones

Above information from Cambridge Family History Society Survey

Lat Lon : 52.202101 0.13812016 – click here for location

Moden grave
Moden headstone

Monument

This handsome headstone with kerb stones, in the parish area of St Mary the Great, is located beside and to the west of the eastern path.

Inscription

‘In loving memory of Elizabeth wife of Henry Moden
who passed away Feb 15 1912 aged 63 years’
“Peacefully resting.”

‘Also of Henry, the beloved husband of the above
who died April 4 1929 aged 77 years’

‘Also of Sidney, youngest son of the above aged 27 years
of the 3rd Batt Rifle Brigade reported missing in France Sep 1916’

Sidney Fred Moden (1889–1916)WW1 soldier – see also Life Story page

Sidney was born in 1889 in Cambridge. He was the youngest of seven children born to Henry Moden and Elizabeth Moden, formerly Peacock (née Rich). Sidney worked as a chef together with his older brother, Percy, in his father’s public house, The Wheatsheaf at 3 Market Hill, Cambridge. He enlisted on 11 February 1916 in Bloomsbury, London and became Rifleman (S/15364) of the 3rd Battalion, Rifle Brigade (The Prince Consort’s Own). At the time of enlistment he was living at 78 York Road, Lambeth, London. Shortly after enlisting he married Rachel Elizabeth Newman (1889–1968) in Cambridge. Sidney was killed in action on 19 August 1916 in France. He was entitled to the British War medal and the Victory medal. Sidney’s widow remarried in 1924 to a Percy C. Madgwick (c1892–1960).

Moden "Victory Day in Cambridge"
Moden “Victory Day in Cambridge”

Sidney had an older brother, Harry Allen Moden (1881–1960) (not buried here). Between 1903 and 1914 he was a prolific self-taught artist of cartoons depicting life in Cambridge and in particular the University. He sold his art predominantly to local shops in the form of postcards. However, he also took on commercial work for firms such as Mackintosh’s Toffees, Beechams Pills, Saxon Portland Cement (on Mill Road), and Chiver’s Jams (Histon). The Cambridge Folk Museum held a Spring Exhibition of his work after his death, in 1975. Due to ill health Harry did not continue with his artwork although he did create a postcard in celebration of the Armistice in 1918 together with a couple more pieces through the years. (See illustration) [See downloads on Harry’s work.]

Harry Allen Moden exhibition

Newspaper Memoirs of Harry Allen Moden

Henry Moden (1852–1929)

Henry was born in 1852 in Cambridge, Cambridgeshire. He was one of at least eight children born to Henry Moden and Sarah Moden (née Hart). His father was a grocer and brewer. He brought up his family at The Tiger, on the corner of East Road and Bradmore Street, Cambridge. His father died when Henry junior was 15 years old, and his mother carried on the business at The Tiger before it passed from father to son. He followed in his father’s footsteps and became a grocer and brewer and then a licensed victualler. Henry junior married Elizabeth Peacock (née Rich), a widow with four young children, on 7 August 1877 at St George Hanover Square, London. They had seven children of their own: Maud Elizabeth (1877–?); Eveline Edith (1879–1976); Harry Allen (1881–1960); Minnie May (1883–1908); Arthur Henry (1884–1961); Percy Victor Jubilee (1887–1980); and Sidney Fred (1889–1916). Henry ran a series of public houses including: The Tiger, East Road; The Osborne Arms, Hills Road; The Wheatsheaf, 69 St Andrew’s Street; The Log Hut, Hills Road; and The Wheatsheaf, 3 Market Hill, Cambridge. Henry died on 4 April 1929 at 43 Devonshire Road, Cambridge having been retired for ten years.

Elizabeth Moden, formerly Peacock (née Rich) (1847–1912)

Elizabeth was born in 1847 in Fen Drayton, Cambridgeshire. She was baptised on 26 September 1847 in Fen Drayton. Elizabeth was one of at least eleven children born to Allen Rich and Ann Rich (née Brasher). Her father was a confectioner and baker. He brought up his family in Fen Drayton. Elizabeth married Thomas Peacock in 1868. They had four children. Unfortunately, Thomas died on 28 October 1874 in Cambridge just after their youngest child was born. Thomas had been an innkeeper at the King William on Huntingdon Road, Cambridge and at the time of his death he was the innkeeper at The Marquis of Granby at 36 Bridge Street, Cambridge (today it is The Pickerel). Three years later Elizabeth remarried to Henry Moden on 7 August 1877 at St George Hanover Square, London. They had seven children of their own: Maud Elizabeth (1877–?); Eveline Edith (1879–1976); Harry Allen (1881–1960); Minnie May (1883–1908); Arthur Henry (1884–1961); Percy Victor Jubilee (1887–1980); and Sidney Fred (1889–1916). Elizabeth died on 15 February 1912 at 3 Market Hill, Cambridge.

Sources:

NB:  this grave was located and recorded by the Sixth-formers of the Parkside Federation, Cambridge on 14 November 2012.
The War Graves Photographic Project
www.forces-war-records.co.uk
www.ancestry.co.uk
Census returns for England: 1841, 1851, 1861, 1871, 1881, 1891, 1901, 1911
England & Wales, FreeBMD Birth Index, 1837–1915
England & Wales, FreeBMD Marriage Index, 1837–1915
London, England, Marriages and Banns, 1754–1921
England & Wales, FreeBMD Death Index, 1837–1915
England & Wales, Death Index, 1916–2007
England & Wales, National Probate Calendar (Index of Wills and Administrations), 1858–1966
UK, Soldiers Died in the Great War, 1914–1919
British Army WWI Service Records, 1914–1920
“Moden” Street Directory Entries listed by Miss Enid Porter in 1975 (Cambridgeshire Collection)
Cambridge Folk Museum Spring Exhibition, 1975: – “H. A. Moden–Cambridge Cartoonist” (Cambridgeshire Collection) [See download]
Cambridge Evening News, 28 June 1985 (Cambridgeshire Collection) [See download]
Cambridge Weekly News, 16 October 1986 (Cambridgeshire Collection) [See download]
The Magazine of the Cambridge Society, May 1997, pp105–106 (Cambridgeshire Collection)

Communications from Robin Mansfield, maternal half-second cousin to Sidney Fred Moden

By Emma Easterbrook and Ian Bent

Elizabeth Moden; Henry Moden; Sidney Fred Moden