Postcard mystery is solved by collector
Funeral was for a long-serving editor of the Scarboro’ Gazette
A mystery surrounding an unusual postcard has been solved by Scarborough man Charles Braithwaite.
Mr Braithwaite, of Trinity Road, is an avid postcard collector and said the subject matter in this case – a funeral scene in Dean Road Cemetery – was very unusual. The card gave no indication of the date the picture was taken or the identity of the deceased.
Charles thought at first that due to the number of mourners and their attire, it could be someone of importance in the fishing community.
However, Charles used landmarks in the picture to work out that the coffin is immediately in front of a gravestone to the memory of a William Hague, who died on January 21 1898.
He found that Mr Hague had been editor of the Scarborough Gazette for 43 years. Funeral reports, which appeared in the Evening News and the Gazette, revealed that Mr Hague was liv- ing in the Leeds area at the time of his death, the coffin having been conveyed from Leeds by train on January 25.
The hearse left Scarborough Station “followed by six coaches” and the service took place “in the presence of a large and sympathetic crowd of mourners; the coffin covered with many beautiful wreaths.”
Charl e s s a i d : “By a l l ac - counts Mr Hague had been a highly esteemed local citizen.”