Tombstone
Uncle Tommy
Uncle Tommy
Thomas Anthony Carroll
Born 1912 died 1940
Second son – born on 8 August 1912 to Angela Maria Morga and Charles Carroll
Uncle Tommy was spoken about a lot, he may have been Angela Maria’s favourite child or perhaps because he was only 28 when he died – a life cut short. We had always assumed that he was a WW2 casualty. In a family story known by everyone, she described an ‘out of body experience’ when she was seriously ill and Tommy was there in a uniform and talking to her. After this she became involved in her local spiritualist church but that’s a story for another time.
We know very little about Tommy’s early years, although a newspaper item from 1927 reports he was involved in an accident that resulted with him having ‘burns to his eyes’.
On the September 1939 registry he is listed as patient in Highgate Hospital. We sent for his death certificate and learnt that he died from TB at home in January 1940. An effective cure using streptomycin was not discovered until 1949. We have a little notebook that belonged to Angela Maria and on the front page she had written that Tommy was buried in Highgate Cemetery, London and the grave number. For my birthday treat in October, my mum and my daughter and I made the trip to find his grave and pay our respects.
Prior to the visit I was able to locate Tommy’s grave online and download the map for the location. Karl Marx – just one of the many famous residents – is buried very close by so we could use his tomb as a marker. Finding the actual location was easier said than done. We found it eventually, neglected, amongst the undergrowth. Mum had come prepared with some small garden tools in a bag, much to the amusement of my daughter – so we cleared some of the weeds and small trees from the gravesite to reveal beautiful headstone. On leaving, we left a candle burning.
We truly believe that my great grandmother never visited his grave. As an Italian living in England in 1940, there would have been severe travel restrictions on her movements and by that time she was raising the six young children she’d had with my great grandfather. If she did it would not have been until 1953 after my great grandfather had died – we have a feeling there was very little contact permitted between Angela Maria and her three sons from her marriage to Charles Carroll.
Our visit was much more emotional than we anticipated, there were some tears, but plenty of laughter especially about a birthday treat to a grave! We took time to reflect and importantly we took time to remember him.
Contact
findmyitaly@gmail.com
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