The Common Wealth Cemetery of Madras

"My thoughts are all with you, whether parted or together. Yours forever I remain" - an inscription from a grave in the Common Wealth Cemetery in Chennai reads.

Another inscription says -

Arise my friends dry up your tears
I must lie here till Christ appears
And when he does I hope to rise
Unto a Life that never dies

Yet another grave informs us that Simon Hyman had died from the bite of a water snake after 3.5 hours of illness in 1837 CE.

Then, we read about a rare incident. Harold Dickinson had been killed by a shark while bathing in Fort Beach in 1939.

Adela Florence Nicolson, who wrote English poems under the pseudo-name Laurence Hope, died at 39 in Chennai. Her husband, Malcolm Nicolson, died on 7th August 1904. She died within one month, on 4th October of the same year. Their graves are located in this cemetery.

With neatly aligned graves, this well-maintained Commonwealth War grave is in sharp contrast to St. Mary's graveyard. To reach this graveyard, one has to enter through St. Mary's. There is no other route as it is tucked away in the corner of the other cemetery.

The cemetery has two divisions, a smaller one and a bigger one. There are also a few graves in the land in between. Most of the graves are for the dead of the First World War, and most of them lost their lives at a very young age. The more significant division of the graveyard has a holy cross in the middle. It has a total of 122 graves. Very few graves look different in terms of size and design. There must be around 50-60 graves in the remaining area.

The list of a few tombs with the names of the dead along with other details, are given below:

1)  The only child of Humphreys - Died on 3rd Feb 1835
2)  Captain Thomas Henry Wade - Died on 6th March 1945
3) J. L. Hall - Died on 19th January 1945 - 37 years old
4) H. Bradburn - Died on 8th October 1945 - 53 years old
5) Thomas Rosster - Died in September 1935 - 25 years old
6) Captain Fredric Ronald Hartley - Died on 11th July 1936 - 49 years old
7) Cecilia Maud Mayes - Died on 20th May 1935 - 75 years old
8) Margery Jane - Died on 6th May 1935 - 31 years old
9) Albert John William
10) Captain Charles William Netscher Stewart - Died on 18th March 1934 - 52 years old
11) Simon Hyman - Died on 9th October 1837 - 27 years old
12) George By Water - Died on 15th May 1938 - 74 years old
13) Stanley Pickvance - Died on 28th December 1937
14) Ceorciana Everett - Died on 9th June 1938 - 76 years old
15) Harold Dickinson - Died on 26th February 1939
16) M.S. Hobart - Died on 19th July 1935
17) John Purdy
18) F.C. Young - Died on 23rd September 1942 - 34 years old
19) W.H. Dean - Died on 17th-18th September 1943 - 23 years old
20) R.M. Shepard - 20 years old
21) R.R. Stewart (Pilot, Royal Air Force) - Died on 11th October 1942 - 27 years old
22) V. Clarke - Died on 6th November 1942 - 28 years old
23) A.W. South - Died on 23rd November 1942 - 22 years old
24) H.H. Wrightman - Died on 20th December 1942 - 30 years old
25) W.L. Woodroff - Died on 26th January 1943 - 29 years old
26) H.B. Spencer - Died on 30th April 1943 - 28 years old
27) W.A.B. Maxwell - Deid on 7th September 1944
28) W.J. Rose - Died on 21st July 1944 - 32 years old
29) F.E. Caton - Died on 14th December 1942
30) W. Hogg - Died on 1st December 1942 - 32 years old
31) I.W. Mitchell - Died on 22nd October 1942 - 26 years old
32) K.B. Leaver (Pilot) - Died on 16th May 1944 - 21 years old
33) C.F. Gardiner - Died on 16th May 1944 - 23 years old
34) A.J. Goodward - Died on 29th May 1944 - 17 years old
35) L.S.C. Jackson - Died on 17th July 1944 - 30 years old
36) W.H. Powick - Died on 3rd June 1944 - 37 years old
37) W.J. Rose - Died on 21st July 1944 - 32 years old
38) H.R. Jones - Died on 24th September 1943 - 32 years old
39) G.F. Daniel - Died on 15th May 1944 - 26 years old
40) C.W. Davies - Died on 3rd May 1944 - 22 years old
41) J. Kay - Died on 1st May 1944 - 29 years old
42) R. Timms - Died on 13th April 1944 - 23 years old
43) D.W. Day - Died on 26th March 1944 - 28 years old
44) D.J. Thomas - Died on 23rd September 1942 - 26 years old
45) R.R. Stewart - 27 years old
46) W.A. Sillence - Died on 13th October 1942 - 27 years old
47) R.H. Worrall - Died on 11th October 1942 - 30 years old
48) D.L. Dunstan - Died on 17th September 1942 - 28 years old
49) R.F. Woodward - Died on 15th September 1942 - 26 years old
50) F. Poole - Died on 6th September 1942 - 22 years old
51) E. Round - Died on 5th September 1942 - 23 years old
52) E.A.C. Smart - Died on 18th August 1942 - 29 years old
53) Dawson Seaman - Died on 26th April 1906 - 68 years old
54) Samuel Ramsey
55) Nora Elizabeth - Died on 12th August 1902
56) J. Davidson - Died on 18th November 1945
57) A.G.R.E. Penton - Died on 28th December 1946 - 24 years old
58) C.H. Houghton - Died on 15th December 1946 - 46 years old
59) P.E. Turner - Died on 4th August 1945 - 23 years old
60) J. Lantei Acquah - Died on 17th July 1945
61) C. Elston - Died on 30th June 1945
62) Eric Eddolls Hodges - Died on 17th November 1946 - 32 years old
63) R.J. Reynolds - Died on 13th August 1946 - 34 years old
64) P.A. Tipping - Died on 23rd July 1946
65) W. Barker - Died on 16th May 1945
66) W.B. Broad - Died on 10th May 1945 - 26 years old
67) H.J. Longden - Died on 27th September 1944 - 34 years old
68) T.H. Shirt (Wireless Operator) - Died on 26th April 1945 - 22 years old
69) A. Duke - Died on 4th July 1942 - 34 years old
70) W. Vernon - Died on 3rd July 1942 - 25 years old
71) A. Allen - Died on 24th July 1942
72) E. Dellaway - Died on 18th July 1942 - 29 years old
73) Adela Florence 

Happy travelling.