Memorial Title

J H Griffin

Summary

Derbyshire War Memorials: a description of a non-combat death in service war memorial to Joseph H Griffin comprising additional lettering on a family gravestone at Spital Cemetery, Chesterfield, Derbyshire.

Images

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Further images may be available on request.

Locations

Last known location:
Spital Cemetery
Hady Hill (A632)
Spital
Chesterfield
Derbyshire

Nearest postcode:
S41 0DZ

NGR:
SK 39005 70695 ±5m
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Location details:
Southwest of the chapel, between the southern boundary and the main path.

Type

Overall type: Addition to gravestone.

Overall condition: Fair. The inscription is legible.

Description:

Additional wording on a family gravestone. The memorial comprises a tall sandstone headstone with a semicircular arch top, a narrow incised border, an inscription incised in upright capital lettering and the mason's name incised in the bottom left corner. The headstone is accompanied by plain oblong sandstone kerbs, partly displaced.

Glossary

Components:

Component	Material	Height	Width	Depth	Condition
Headstone	Sandstone	1490	740	75	Fair
Kerbs	Sandstone	170	740	1940	Poor
Dimensions in millimetres ±5mm unless stated otherwise.

Inscription

In Loving Memory
OF
ANNIE
THE BELOVED WIFE OF
JOSEPH HENRY GRIFFIN
DIED AUGST. 24TH.1893,
AGED 66 YEARS.
ALSO
IN REMEMBRANCE OF
JOSEPH HENRY,
THE BELOVED SON OF THE ABOVE
LOST AT SEA IN H.M.S. ATALANTA,
FEBRY. 1880, AGED 20 YEARS.
ALSO THE ABOVE NAMED
JOSEPH HENRY GRIFFIN,
BORN FEBY. 9TH. 1831,
DIED DEC. 10TH. 1902.
HIS END WAS PEACE.

Conflicts and people named:
Conflict	Non-combat death in service	Totals
Action or event	Loss of HMS Atalanta (Feb 1880)
Number died	1	1
Number served and returned	0	0
Total names	1	1

J. MASON

Administration

Custodian: Presumed to be the Griffin family

Local authorities:
From 18th Century: Chesterfield Parish Council, Chesterfield Borough Council; Derbyshire County Council.
From 1974: Chesterfield Borough Council (unparished); Derbyshire County Council.

History and Conservation

21st February, 2020: The memorial was surveyed by Roy Branson and Alan Willmot. It was in fair condition.

References

Derbyshire Times; 24th April, 1880; p8 col7: a brief report on the overdue ship.

Comments

HMS Atalanta was a 26-gun frigate used as a training ship. She left Bermuda on 31st January, 1880 bound for Portsmouth but disappeared in early February and was presumed to have foundered in a storm, probably between 12th and 16th February. All hands were lost.

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