Tag Archives: gravestone

The Genealogical Society of South Africa

Grave stone and flowers
I thought I'd post another photo of this gravestone, belonging to Henry and Ivy Hodgson - not because I know them, but rather because while I was looking at this photo, noticing the light reflecting off the lens, I realised I could make out the name on the headstone.

I wondered who Mr and Mrs Hodgson were and thought I'd use Google to see if I could find out. When searching for their names, the first hit on Google was to the Genealogical Society's website, and a photo of this exact headstone. Isn't it nice that people actually take the time to walk around graveyards, taking photos of the headstones, and then spend the hours afterwards uploading and tagging the photos?

However permanent we think headstones are, they're not necessarily as permanent as we may hope, and it's really nice that sites like this archive the memories, making them both more permanent and easily accessible.

Dove and the snail

Dove and the snail
If you never caught the first post in the series of photos taken at Stellenbosch cemetery – click here to see what the photos are all about.

I only spotted the large snail towards the bottom left of the photo after taking a few photos of this headstone. The question is, can you spot all three snails?

The leaning gravestone

A concrete cross
If you never caught the first post in the series of photos taken at Stellenbosch cemetery – click here to see what the photos are all about.

Most of the gravestones in this graveyard have started leaning over a little due to soil erosion and the natural movement of earth. These are in stark contrast to the photos I've seen of the impeccably neat and well-maintained US defense force cemeteries.

Isn't that a sad sight?

Le Roux

Le Roux's Gravestone
If you never caught the first post in the series of cemetery photos – click here to see what the series is all about.

This is a different perspective on the same grave as the one shown in my previous photo. Looking at how this one has deteriorated over the years, I wonder what this, and similar graves, will look like in 100 years from now. Will they be completely run down? Who will restore them?