The Hidden Necropolis

You may think the title of this article is a little dramatic, but the graveyard isn't visible from the road that passes it. ​ Eastgate Cemetery is north of Langworthgate, next to the bowls club.

Joseph Ruston

One of the first graves we came across was that of Joseph Ruston. Most people in Lincoln
would know the name Ruston, He became a partner in the Lincoln firm of Burton & Proctor, Burton didn't approve of the direction that the company was taking and soon left, from this was born Ruston Proctor & Co.

But it wasn't Mr Ruston who interested me. At the foot of the cross are two plaques, the one on the left was badly weathered and had some letters missing but, using software on my computer, I was able to decipher it:

​George Bennett married Marion Ruston in 1900. In the 1911 census they lived at North Place, Nettleham Road. They had four children the eldest, Robert Ruston Bennett, aged 9, was at Northdown Hill boarding school in Margate. Apart from four live-in servants they also had a Monthly Nurse, two nurses and an under nurse, all under the same roof. A monthly nurse would care for a mother and her baby, the youngest child was 4, so why so many nurses? Marion died in 1919 at age 53, so it may be her the nurses were caring for.

William Watkins and one of his sons are buried in the graveyard. William and his son, William Gregory, were architects in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. They produced some of the finest buildings in Lincoln and were particularly noted for using terracotta decoration on their buildings. W G Watkins designed St Giles Church using some of the stonework from St Peter at Arches church.

What is most remarkable about the Watkins' family is their longevity:
William Watkins, senior, died in 1926 aged 91
William's wife, Kate Deveraux died in 1931 aged 90
William Gregory died in 1959 aged 90
W.G.'s wife Alice Mabel died in 1968 aged 95

What was their secret?

Louis William Smith was born in Grimsby in 1869 in the 1911 census he listed his occupation as managing director of Clarkes Crank & Forge Ltd. He lived at Holly Grove, South Park.

In 1928 he entered Parliament as MP for Sheffield Hallam, he was knighted on 7th July 1938 and died in March 1939. At the time of his death he was chairman of Clarke's Crank and Forge Ltd.

In the graveyard, there are also monuments to Scorers, Trollopes and Sewells. Unfortunately, there are many gravestones that have been ravaged by the east wind.