Pages

February 20, 2014

Tweets From Beyond the Grave: Olive's Diary

"Olive Higgins was a 16-year-old English girl who began writing her diary as she set off to school in Paris in January 1914. Tragically, eight weeks later she died. Her last words echo here exactly a century on..." [Source: Tweets From Beyond the Grave - Olive's Diary]

To follow Olive's tweets see https://twitter.com/OlivesDiary1914 

Out of curiousity I had a brief look for Olive's family and found her grave. She is buried with other family members in Ladywell and Brockley Cemeteries in London England. You can see a photo of her gravestone on BillionGraves.com

The inscription on the stone reads
In Loving Memory of Victor Thomas beloved child of Thomas R. and Martha Higgins Aged 6 weeks 
Camelia Jones wife of the above aged 73 

Also Martha Emma wife of Thomas R. Higgins Aged ?? ?? of 

Olive Hilda daughter of above who died ?? school in Paris Aged ?6 [Lorine's note: the stone should read aged 16]

Elizabeth Vivian Higgins 

Thomas Richard Higgins Died at ?ourne?? Aged 88 years
The burial information allowed me to find Olive with her family in census records. In 1911 the family lived in Margate where her fatther owned a hotel

Olive's birth was recorded in the Parish registers of Deptford St. Mark in London. 


Further research indicates that Olive's parents were Thomas Richard Higgins son of Henry Jeremiah Higgins and Martha Emma Jones daughter of Samuel Jones. Thomas and Martha were married 17 Oct 1888 in Lewisham


Credits: The 1911 census, birth record and marriage record were all found on Ancestry.com

No comments:

Post a Comment