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'days Grave'?? Anyone Ever Heard Of........?

Nicholas

Nicholas

master brummie
I've just been having a general 'poke around' on a site listing Birmingham burial grounds and the like and came across a very brief reference to 'Days Grave' which - it is said - was 'marked by Hanson on corner of present Bath Row and Islington Row......' The date 1779 was given with the reference.

Over the years - frequently drawing on references mentioned on this cracking forum, of course - I have become aware of a few 'deviant burial spots' jotted around the general region and wonder if this might also be such a site? Sadly, despite a check over the net, I can't seem to find any further detail on the matter at all?

Has anyone else ever heard of the subject? Needless to say, I'd be most grateful if anyone can shed light on the topic......?

All the best.
 
Isn't this the Jewish Cemetery that was mentioned on this site a couple of months back, try the search engine.
 

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Thank you very much for the prompt replies...... I'd seen a reference to the Jewish site previously and also checked out maps / views of the region, etc, but couldn't get to grips with the seemingly singular and specific reference / name itself? Maybe the name is, of course, ambiguous at best, but I'm used to seeing such references as 'Jordans Grave', 'Kitty Jays Grave' and the like and possibly jumped to conclusions!? Chuckle!! As mentioned, I'm aware of a couple of suicide burials and the like in the general region and couldn't help but wonder (hope!) that this might be such a site, perhaps? Thank you again for the replies - much appreciated!
 
I think I understand a little better now, "Day's Grave" refers to the spot marked by Thomas Hanson on his 1779 map of Birmingham. All that is needed now is to find out who Day was and why he was buried at this junction of roads.
 
I have had quick bit research in things like History of Warwick ect ect ect and I have a had look a couple of maps but I cannot find any reference about the grave the the late 1700,s there were at least two Day family's

And of course there is/was the Day music hall (building still extant) in Park St opposite St Martins Church

Phil said:
I think I understand a little better now, "Day's Grave" refers to the spot marked by Thomas Hanson on his 1779 map of Birmingham. All that is needed now is to find out who Day was and why he was buried at this junction of roads.
Click to expand...
 
Thanks for the comments..... The mystery deepens, eh?

Does anyone have a copy of the 1779 map at all, to check precisely where the 'Grave' is marked, perhaps...... the size of the site indicated and whatnot? Again, I'm most probably taking the term too literally, perhaps, but....... fingers crossed!! Chuckle!!

All the best.
 
The 1778 Hanson map used to be accessible on the Mapseekers site. however , although you can access the site, On trying to get the maps you get an error message. I assume this is the map referred to. However on it there is no connection between Bath Row and Islington Row, as can be seen , so the mystery gets deeper.

hanson_map_1778_bath_row.jpg
 

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Mike

I got the information concerning the grave from a PDF document containing some research on the "Lesser Known Burial Grounds of Birmingham" by Dr R.J.Hetherington on the 1950's. All he says is "1779 This grave was marked by Hanson on corner of present Bath Row and Islington Row". I also have a copy of Thomas Hansons 1778 map and as you say it doesn't even show the junction. Another point is that Dr Hetherington dates the burial at 1779 which is soon after the map was published in 1778.
 
This is the only reference I could find to the matter Phil. It would be interesting to work out exactly when this junction would have been officially made, as - if it were indeed a deviant burial site - I'd have presumed the body would have already been there by the dates given...... or at least interred reasonably closely afterwards?
 
Nicholas,

The thing is who was Day, and why was he buried at the junction of the two roads or was he in fact buried at what was to later become the Jewish Betholom some 40 odd years later in 1823. There must have been some sort of marker for Hanson to note it on his map (supposedly). Anyway how can a death in supposedly 1779 be recorded on a map drawn in 1778?
 
Again, more questions than answers Phil!?!?! Chuckle!!

Given that this might be a form of deviant burial spot, perhaps - suicide or whatever - it has been interesting to note how quickly detail surrounding these things can sometimes be generally forgotten, while still able to have some basic presence within the region concerned. In some instances, sites appear to have been recorded as places of burial, etc, while the finer detail - precisely who, under what circumstances and so forth - seemingly forgotten within the space of a relatively short time......? If Hanson had indeed noted the site in his works (?) then could the spot have possibly been known for centuries (simply as 'Days Grave') prior to this, perhaps?

I'm just waiting for someone to ruin my day now and come up with a really mundane explanation for the name!! Laugh!!!

As always - I really appreciate all of the comments and pointers being generated....
 
When I read the first post I took the place of the grave to be where the junction of Bath Row and Islington Row is 'presently' and not where it was in 1779.
As Phill says the document was written in the 1950's then I would think the grave is where the corner of Bath Row and Islington Row was at that time.

I am not saying this is right - it is just how I read it.

Does it say the burial was in 1779 or that it was marked in 1779.
 
I wonder what Hanson map Hetherington refers to, the one that we seem to be using does not even show Islington Row. In fact the first time Islington Row appears on a map that I have a copy of is in 1795 by Charles Pye and there is no Day's grave marked on that either.
 

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Nicholas, Looking at that document it definitely reads as if the grave was first made in 1779.

Is it possible that Dr. R. J. Hetherington had access to documents in the archives that had once belonged to Hanson who had added further 'markings' or research notes to the map he had made in 1778?

Has anyone got a map from the 1950's which shows where the corner of Bath Row and Islington Row was?
It seems Dr. Hetherington researched the burial grounds in 1955 or after as 1955 is mentioned in the 'further information' column.

What a mystery this is!
 
"In The Midst of Life" by Joseph Mckenna says that Day's grave was on the Edgbaston side of the road at the junction of Bath Row and Islington Row, and is marked on John Snape's plan of the Parish for 1779. It also says there is no known legend relating to it.
I don't know who Day was or Snape!! I'm waiting with interest!!
rosie.
 
rosie said:
"In The Midst of Life" by Joseph Mckenna says that Day's grave was on the Edgbaston side of the road at the junction of Bath Row and Islington Row, and is marked on John Snape's plan of the Parish for 1779. It also says there is no known legend relating to it.
I don't know who Day was or Snape!! I'm waiting with interest!!
rosie.
Click to expand...

Re. the quote above concerning 'no known legend...' this also tends to make me think of some form of unofficial burial spot on or around that site, perhaps? As mentioned earlier, a lot of sites appear to be 'known' as such, but no one seems to have the foggiest as to who or why and so on(?) Outside Wolverhampton, for example - Near Bantock House - there is the (alleged roadside burial) 'Dead Lads Grave'...... widely accepted to be just that, but no one seems to know the first thing about its origins etc. Maybe the 1779 date is just the last known, 'official' or recorded reference to the place known / discovered by Dr Hetherington?

As always - thank you everyone.......
 
Jenny Uglow's Book "The Lunar society" mentions (p 321) that Maria Edgeworth stayed with Thomas Day and his wife in 1781. so he must have died after that
 
Are we sure that the Day in Days grave is that Thomas Day.
Also do we even know someone of the name Day is in there?
 
As I have said previously, how can an event in 1779 be recorded on a map drawn in 1778?
 
I reckon the date matter is probably a simple mistake from the Doctor Hetheringtons initial notes / indexing, perhaps Phil?
 
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