From: PAT PENGELLY
Sent: 20 November 2011 15:54
To: Jon Matthews
Subject: Re: Friends of Northwood Cemetery

Hi Jon Thanks for the newsletter. Its all very impressive. Please pass on our Best Wishes for Christmas to you and the Team at Northwood.

John and Pat

Date: 20 October 2011

Hello Barry

Thank you so much for your prompt reply and for the information we needed to find the grave of Raymond, also for taking
the time to mark the grave for us to make it easier to find.  We will be visiting over the weekend and look forward to finding his place of rest.

Kind regards

Mrs S P

.................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

Hello Barry

I was visiting a cousin yesterday and he was researching your site for members of his Family,  I can remember when as a young child my Grandfather telling me of a Son (Raymond) that had died aged 11 months.  My Mother was born three years after Raymond died and she was never shown where his grave was situated but knew that it was in Northwood Cemetery. After entering his name into the search we now have the location and will visit the grave in the next few days.  I would like to take this opportunity to thank you and your colleagues for all your hard work in putting the site together.

My Best Regards

Mrs SP

Date: Wed, 30 March 2011

Hi Barry

Thank you so much for sending me that information!

I'm planning to visit the Island soon, thanks to you and the Friends of
Northwood Cemetery, my mum and I will now be able to visit my brother's
grave which, until I discovered your marvellous web site, we thought
had been undocumented.

Best wishes Steve D

Dear Barry

I'd like to compliment you and your colleagues on the excellent work you've undertaken on establishing the Northwood cemetery website. It has been a great help in tracking down the final resting place of many of my ancestors.

Best regards
Stephen Denham

18/01/2011

Dear Stephen
I have amended the information for your brother and sister's online records. Would you like me to add your fathers 'occupation' to their records and 'where died'? It is usual to have these, but on many records it is missing. I also wonder if you know of the forename that they were to give your brother?

It would be nice to have this on record for completeness Many thanks once again for contacting me..........there really are many errors on 'other' existing records............and we strive to make ours the most accurate available.
Barry Sowerby
FoNC

I did enjoy the archivist's contribution to the recent FoNC newsletter.......most interesting......In fact I enjoyed the whole issue.

Cheers,  Judy Australia

30/11/2010

G'day Jon

My thanks to you, the hard-working committee and volunteers for the Open Day that you organised last Sun 12 Sept. I t was very much appreciated by Mrs Tomlinson and myself. I hadn't been in the Chapel since my Dad had his funeral service in there in December 1965! I  felt that the engineers had done an excellent civil engineering job on the other building and felt that the cost incurred represented excellent VFM.

Well done and thank you very much for making it a memorable day at Northwood Cemetery.

Cheers.

Many thanks to Mr John Green for solving no less than 10 of the Archivist Asks queries recently.

Much appreciated

Barry

Sent: 18th July 2010

I recently visited Northwood cemetery, having been away on holiday and would just like to say the work being done by yourself and others is amazing.What a difference,and what hard work a lot of people must have put in.

Mary Silk.

Dear Mary  Many thanks for your kind words. Much of the 'physical' work in the cemetery is carried out by a few regular volunteers including some of the Trustees. I myself prefer to slave away over a hot PC, but your recocgnition of the voluntary hours put in is much appreciated by us all.

Barry Sowerby Archivist FoNC

I visited the website to obtain records of two people so that my
cousin from Yorkshire could visit while she was on the Island. Just wanted
to say how informative your records are and very helpful. Well Done. It is
an excellent website. All the Best from Joan

From: Elizabeth Bail
Sent: 22 December 2009 10:29
To: jon@friendsofnorthwoodcemetery.org.uk
Subject:

Dear Jon

I would just like to thank you and all committee members and volunteers for the great job they have done to Northwood Cemetery and also your web site.

I visited the Isle of Wight last week and the transformation of the cemetery from last years visit is very noticeable. I have at last found my grandparents grave and my uncles both of which are unmarked. Its the first time any of my family have seen their graves probably since their burials.  I would like to ask you if it is possible to erect a simple cross on each grave, do we need permission and also do we need to pay a fee? The other question I would like to ask, my mother-in-law recently died do we need permission to put her ashes onto her mothers grave?

Thank you again for all the help and information the Friends provide.

with kind regards for Christmas and the New Year

Liz Bail

From: Jan Toms
Sent: 06 November 2009 08:04
To: Jon Matthews
Subject: Re: Friends of Northwood Cemetery - Newsletter 7

Dear Jon,

Another fascinating and thoroughly enjoyable newsletter!  I really enjoy the biographies of the interred and the wildlife/nature news.

Look forward to the next one,

From: Lynn Vardakis

Date: October 13, 2009 12:53:04 AM EDT

To: barry@friendofnorthwoodcemetery.org.uk

Subject: accolades and a question!

Hi from across the seas~~and Good Morning!!

I just had to write to THANK you for this REALLY clear and helpful site...I got a couple of questions answered and, as someone else noted in the comments section, it's really terrific to be able to access this info w/o roadblocks when you can't get there easily yourself!!

My ancestor is Thomas Blake, buried Oct 1862 in plot 6...I'm wondering how many people can be buried in one plot? I've figured out that Robert and Louisa (Blake) White are buried there as is Sarah Blake, widow of WILLIAM Blake , shipbuilder. Actually, I'm looking for Sarah Blake, widow of THOMAS Blake...so not this other one( and born earlier)...I'm wondering if the cemetery opened up in the mid 1850's, or earlier? I'm trying to find Sarah's date of death as she wasn't enumerated in the censuses of 1841 or 1851 so I figured she must have died before then. Assuming she died before the cemetery was in existence, could her body have been moved to Northwood?...and fhe genealogical puzzle goes on!

Off hand, do you know if there are copies of any IOW newspapers during the period of 1820-1850?? And any ship's manifests? I'm asking this because I have a written journal from Nov 1851 of a voyage which references a stop in the IOW..I've always wondered whether the account was fiction or non-fiction. Since I have access to the New York Times archives (1851-present day) I went back and looked..and lo, there it was..in Apr 1852 .Ship Frances from Antwerp via Cowes, 47 days etc..gales etc. So, very exciting to see that entry! Now I'm trying to figure out which of my Heller relatives wrote this story, One of them, Edward Heller married Julia Blake, an IOW girl in 1856....

Warm regards,
Lynn Vardakis

From: PHILIP GLADWIN

To: 'Baz Sowerby'

Sent: Friday, September 18, 2009 7:22 PM

Subject: RE: Correction to a record at the Northwood cemetery.

Hello Barry,

Thank you very much for sending me the original.  I think you made a good job of transcribing the details from the original to the web page.  I think the error was also in the original.

Why can't every cemetery up and down the Land have a web site as good as yours?  My wife is researching her family in Bristol and the cemetery there wants to charge maybe 25 Great British Pounds for a look up on ONE grave!

Kind regards,

Philip

From: PHILIP GLADWIN

To: 'Baz Sowerby'

Sent: Monday, September 14, 2009 9:37 AM

Subject: RE: HERBERT RICKMAN

Good morning Barry,

Thank you so much for making time to photograph the Rickman gravestone.  Yes, I am related to them.  The Samuel Rickman who appears on the gravestone was my Great-Great Grandfather.

I have bean researching the Isle of Wight connection to my family for the last few months or so.  I have paid a visit to the Records Office at Cowes and found the staff to be very helpful.  The web site at Northwood cemetery is excellent; I think every cemetery up and down the Country should use Northwood as a model.  Northwood is so far ahead of every other cemetery!

Thank you for your insights into the family.

To answer the question you posed on the Northwood cemetery website I'm sorry I can't help with Edward's address, but if I come across it in my research I'll email you and let you know.

Once again thank you.

Kind regards,

Philip Gladwin

From: David Shenton

To: Baz Sowerby

Sent: Friday, September 11, 2009 10:20 AM

Subject: RE: ELLEN AUSTIN ENQUIRY


Hi Barry

Many thanks for you efforts and photos, I would not have asked you had I known the circumstances!  I had assumed that as your records show what was inscribed on the grave it had been noted down in the last few years. Please let me know how to I can donate to your organisation for your trouble.

Thank you once again   David

From: BRIAN TAYLOR

Sent: 16 August 2009 17:35

To: Jon Matthews

Subject: Re: Friends of Northwood Cemetery - August Newsletter

Jon,

Many thanks for the electronic copy of the August News Letter. It makes very interesting reading.I must again say thanks for the courtesy you extended to my self and my wife (Pauline) when you met us at the Cemetery in late July with the intention of trying to identify some graves attributed to the Pimm Families.As you know we took some photo's of headstones etc. which will be useful when the family tree gets developed.The genealogy investigations are a bit slow at the moment as the fine weather and long days mean other things take higher priority (Garden, Golf Course, Caravan, & Days Out).Once again I say thank you very much, and when we get to the Island again we will try to look you up to see the progress on the restoration.

Brian J Taylor  

From: Sandy (Canada)

To: Barry@friendsofnorthwoodcemetery.org.uk

Sent: Sunday, August 09, 2009 2:32 PM

Subject: Re: look up request

Hi Barry,   

I can't thank you enough for the beautiful photos and information.  He also had an enfant son buried not too far away from him.  John's marriage cert. says he was 26 in 1889, so I think the birth year should be 1863.  Maybe that 39 years on the stone is actually a 35.  He died so young, not sure but I think it was an accident at his work location. There may have been a write up about it in the local newspaper. John's father (also a John) was a Trumpet-major in the Royal Horse Artillery. He was born in Edinburgh Scotland and his wife is an unknown to me right now.  John Anderson Sr. is very hard to find anything on. (so far)    Do you think his death cert. might mention his Mother's name?   I am working on getting a few details confirmed, and when I do I will sent it to you to go along with his record there.  Gone but not forgotten.   Thanks again Barry,  those pictures are very valuable to me.  

Kind regards, Sandy

From: Pat Hamilton

Sent: 08 August 2009 12:27

To: Jon Matthews

Subject: Re: Friends of Northwood Cemetery - August Newsletter Hello

Jon Yes, an interesting read,  and clear and easy to read. I admire all that you and your friends are doing for this project: wish I lived near enough to join in.

Regards Pat

From: Ian Tilbury

To: Barry@friendsofnorthwoodcemetery.org.uk

Sent: Sunday, July 12, 2009 11:15 AM

Subject: Northwood Cemetery

Hi Barry, Just happened to come across the website - really interesting and a great project, hats off to all involved. I hope you can point me in the right direction in finding the whereabouts of my Grandfather's grave.  From the records it is plot XX, grave number XXXX.  It would be great to visit the grave, make sure it is fairly tidy, then take Dad to see where his Father is buried.  He used to visit the grave with his Mother, as his Dad died when he was a toddler - but he can't recall where the grave is located.  Dont know if there is a map available showing locations? Hope you are keeping well, may see you at the Newtown hide again soon!

regards, Ian Tilbury

From: Martyn Mullins

To: Barry@friendsofnorthwoodcemetery.org.uk

Sent: Sunday, June 07, 2009 2:00 PM

Subject: Burial at Northwood Cemetery info

Dear Barry, On searching through to research my family of Whitticom, I found details of my Grandfather's burial. Percy Thomas Whitticom buried 19/4/1947 Plot 35 Grave 10358. You asked for confirmation of the address which is indeed Westhorne 1a Arctic Road Cowes. Thank you for all the work done in compiling these records, it looks like it will be a very useful addition to aid my family history research.

Regards, Mary Mullins NEWPORT IW.

From: Tony Westmore

To: Barry@friendsofnorthwoodcemetery.org.uk

Sent: Tuesday, June 02, 2009 8:43 PM

Subject: Cowes Cemetery

Dear Barry

I had cause to visit the Cowes Library recently - my first visit for several years. Having had a look around, I noticed the display by the Cemetery Heritage group, and began reading about several of the tombstones and their significance to the town. Some were of once notable citizens of the town whilst another concerned a tragic event that occurred, which brought back memories from the past to me. I spent quite a while reading through the notes which both created interest and triggered events of the past. Well done to the group of volounteers who have worked so hard to preserve this important feature of the town, which holds so many stories within its grounds.

Kind Regards

From: Mrs. J. S. Futcher xxxxxx@xxxxxxx.xxx

To: barry@friendsofnorthwoodcemetery.org.uk

Sent: Thursday, May 07, 2009 8:27 PM

Subject: Northwood cem. graves

Hello from Minnesota, USA,

All you folks on the Isle of Wight are providing a wonderful resource of records on the internet for those of us who can no longer travel overseas to do the research ourselves.  Thank you!

Mrs. J. S. Futcher Minnesota, USA

From: Ann Long

To: Barry@friendsofnorthwoodcemetery.org.uk

Sent: Sunday, May 03, 2009 12:31 PM Subject: Burial records

Hi Barry, Just a quick few words of appreciation for the excellent burial records site that you have produced.  I am constructing a database for a one-name study for Long on the Island and the details you have included will greatly assist both me and any other members of the IOWFHS who contact me for help. As an active member of the Hampshire Gen Soc I know how much effort goes into producing records for others to use - congratulations to you all !!!

Ann Long, Portsmouth

Team, an unsolicited testimonial sent to the worldwide "Rootsweb" forum which is set up for all those interested in family history on the Isle of Wight.

Well done and thank you Angela!

Jon

-----Original Message-----
From: Angela McMurtry [mailto:xxxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxx.com]
Sent: 07 April 2009 08:49
To: isle-of-wight@rootsweb.com
Subject: [IoW] FRIENDS OF NORTHWOOD CEMETERY

Hi Everyone,

Twelve months has now passed since the establishment of "Friends of Northwood Cemetery".

If you haven't seen their website yet it's

http://www.friendsofnorthwoodcemetery.org.uk/

Take a look and see what the group are up to this year.

Hats off to all those involved in the project.

Angela

One word: Brilliant!

Jon

From: Gordon Childs Sent: 31 March 2009 10:13 To: Jon Matthews Subject: Re: Friends of Northwood Cemetery

Dear Jon

I am a regular visitor to the website and must congratulate those involved for making such a useful facility available, and I am very impressed by the speed in which the database is being completed.  I can also report that the information presented was helpful to me in locationg the grave of an uncle when I visited the Cemetery for the first time last year.  Please keep up the good work!

Best regards,

Gordon Childs

From: Judy Obst To: 'Baz Sowerby' Sent: Sunday, March 22, 2009 4:53 AM Subject: RE: me again

Cowes Library Exhibition;

I was pretty impressed with what I could see of the exhibition for FoNC you have on display...   I do hope lots of people take the time to have a good look at it and that  there is a lot of interest generated in the cemy from it..  In just 12 months the group has really put the cause 'out there' - You have all achieved a great deal in such a short time and should be congratulated for that.....  I still say the FoNC website would have to be one of the best I access as it  is ever changing and always so beautifully presented with current info and  photos etc - that is why I look at it a lot - always something new there.  Some websites get so stale and are never updated.

Cheers Judy, from Australia