Cemetery in Danger

“Besides the pillar to the memory of Smollett, and many others worthy of attention, I particularly paused on the tomb-stone of a mother, who died in bringing into the world two infants, who are buried with her in the same grave. The figure of the mother recumbent, and of the two babes, appeared to me beautiful and affecting, although somewhat impaired by time, and exposure to the open air.”

(Robert Semple, Observations on a Journey through Spain and Italy…, 1807, II, 16-18)

The grave is that of Mary Champion (1692-1721), of a well known Cornish merchant family. She married Thomas Mitchell (1687-1730), merchant in Livorno, secretary of the East India Company and nephew of Gilbert Heathcote (1651-1732), Fellow of the Royal Society, Lord Mayor of London, and Governor of the Bank of England. She was an aunt of the poet Anthony Champion (1725-1801) and niece of Francis Arundel (1659-1712), merchant in Livorno and Bath.

I am quoting this from the website of our friend Matteo Giunti, who is fighting another battle just now to protect this and other graves in the Old English Cemetery. In December 2011 the trunk of a tree fell on a tomb, smashing the gravestone to pieces. With the heavy winds of the last days the trunk of another tree has fallen, endangering more ancient graves, but nobody seems to care.

I wish to clarify that the cemetery has been perfectly kept for some years now, by Matteo and other volunteers: they routinely clean it up from weeds and make it available for the occasional visits. They only need some help in out-of-the-ordinary situations, like this one.

See also: Old English Cemetery
External links: Old English Cemetery, Livorno (Wikipedia)
The Old English Cemetery of Livorno in Quotes (Leghorn Merchant Networks)
Facebook Group: Salviamo l'Antico Cimitero degli Inglesi di Livorno (Save the Old English Cemetery of Livorno)

Versione italiana