Seeking location of MI in old family photo

[talisman]

I have a photograh in my possession of a memorial tablet commemorating the death of an ancestor of mine which I assume must be in a church in Dover, Kent or nearby but I'd very much like to know where.

It reads: "In loving memory of CHARLES ALEXANDER GORDON aged 18 years who sailed in the ship 'Benlomond' from the Tyne 18th September 1872 for Callao. That ship was last spoken of 11th October 1872 in LAT: S.N. LON: 35W.

This tablet is erected by request of his bereaved parents Surgeon-Genaral Charles Alexander Gordon CB (my great grandfather) and his wife Anne. 1891."

The photographer was Charles Steven Harris (c 1865-c1939) whose studio was at Odo Lodge, 77 London Road, Tower Hamlets, Dover. I have already researched him but no negative/photo archive of his exists.

Any help in locating this tablet would be much appreciated and so would any further information about what befell the ship Benlomond.

Alistair Gordon

[Peter Goodey]

in LAT: S.N. LON: 35W.

I think that perhaps should be 8N Lon, 35W. The ship appears to be the Ben Lomond. See 19th century newspapers online through your local library service.

This research guide may be of help
https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/r...shipwrecks.htm

I would look first in the parish church of where the parents were living in 1891.

[Peter Goodey]

where the parents were living in 1891

I can see that they were on holiday (or whatever) in Lynton, Devon in 1891 but what was their permanent address? Was it 25 Westbourne Square? Westbourne Square was in the parish of St Mary.

[Waitabit]

Is this the Parents in 1861?
Charles Alexr Gordon
Age:7Estimated Birth Year:abt 1854
Relation:Son
Mother's Name:Anne Gordon
Gender:Male
Where born:East Indies
Civil parish:
Stoke Damerel
1861
RG10; Piece: 2007; Folio: 82; Page: 20;
Father charles A. Head of Hospitals in China.

Charles in 1871?
1871
Charles Gordon Age:16
Estimated Birth Year:abt 1855
Relation:Boy 2nd Class (Boy)
Gender:Male Where born:London, Middlesex, England
Civil parish:Vessels Town:Portland Harbour
County/Island: Dorset Country:England
Registration district:Weymouth
Sub-registration district: Isle of Portland
RG10; Piece: 2007; Folio: 82; Page: 20;
(Crown copywrite held at TNA)

If you google Charles alexander Gordon Surgeon. some great photos & info pop up.

https://www.britishmedals.us/people/chasgordon.html
may help to find later info.

[Peter Goodey]

Do you have his will?

1899 (the year of Charles Alexander Gordon's death) is missing from the partial probate calendar on Ancestry.

[talisman]

Sorry about the typo, you are right, it should have been 8N Lon, 35W etc

[malcolm99]

This tablet is erected by request

This strikes me as an odd sort of words for a memorial in a church. I wonder if it was in some sort of 'memorial place' for lost seamen?

There is some family history here>
https://www.smogs.
org.uk/Autobiography/mother.html

[Pam Downes]

This strikes me as an odd sort of words for a memorial in a church. I wonder if it was in some sort of 'memorial place' for lost seamen?

I wondered that too, Malcolm.
But I've just had the thought that if the tablet is in a church it may have been 'by request' because Charles junior isn't actually buried there, nor does he seem to have any connection with the parish. Which is usually the case. For instance, I know of a tablet in one church 'erected to the memory of Fred, drowned in the Atlantic Ocean 1 Jan 1866, son of the Rev E C F Smith, vicar of this parish'. (Not quite the exact names and wording, but you get the idea.) Plus Fred had lived the village when he was younger.

Pam

[malcolm99]

Yes, that could well be the answer Pam.

One other thing that may have happened is that the Gordons commissioned Charles Steven Harris to travel to the place where the memorial was erected which may not have been in Dover or Folkestone.

[Peter Goodey]

Lady Gordon, widow of Charles Alexander Gordon was said to be "of the Esplanade, Dover" when she died on 8 Feb 1910 (source - The Times). This was probably in the parish of St James.

I can't spot an entry in the Probate Calendar.