Maker's Mark

Mon, 09/22/2014 - 22:51

I recently noticed a post mentioning that C.W.Warren and Co had made gravestones and memorials.

This enlarged part of the picture was taken probably shortly after the death of my great grandmother Ching Ah Fung aka Ellen Olson in 1915 judging from the floral tributes and is close to her husband John Olson aka Jons Jacobsson in Happy Valley. He died in 1918.

The picture shows the right hand corner which bears the mark C.E.W.and Co HK.

Interestingly my great grandfather's grave - which seems to be of the same design - only bears a number which is either 5284 or 3284 - in this position. Therefore probably not a Warren product. That picture was taken in 1918 and also shows floral tributes.

Both these pictures are in my family's possession and are now nearly 100 years old.

Sean

Date picture taken
unknown
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Comments

During our recent visit to Hong Kong we, (my husband and I), made a tour of my relatives’ graves, (Warren and Olson), in the Colonial Cemetery, greatly speeded by Patricia Lim’s meticulous numbering of section and row, and by arrows provided by Christine Thomas marking their positions on the cemetery map. We were not particularly concerned with the masons’ imprints at the time. However the photographs that we took of my/our great-grandfather’s grave (1918), with that of his daughter Elizabeth Warnes just behind, do show the signature C.E.W & Co. on the left-hand side of the base pedestal if you magnify that area.

Graves of John Olson and his daughter Elizabeth

I believe the number on the right is 8284. The two graves are only one year apart and identical in design. Elizabeth’s (1917) is the more stained, but the signature is also just perceptible if you zoom in. The C.E.W. & Co. signatures are registered by Patricia Lim on both these graves, although not the more conspicuous one on Ellen’s. Please bear with me while I revise how to insert photos into a comment. Do I have to put them in a ‘gallery’ first? It would of course be interesting to compare the original family photograph.

David

I have uploaded my photo, labelled "Graves of John Olson & his daughter Elizabeth" without placing it in a gallery, as the "Place" "Hong Kong Cemetery" wasn't recognized. I can no longer insert it in my Comment as the "edit" feature has expired and there is no longer a camera icon visible. Might I call on your editorial expertise to insert it for me in my text after the words "magnify that area" please?

Jill