It's all in The Bones - Lecture 17th March
February 11, 2011
St. Bride’s Church in Fleet Street is one of London’s oldest sites of Christian worship. It is also the home of a unique “ossuary” or bone store, which houses the remains of 227 parishioners buried in the church between 1740 and 1852. On Thursday March 17th, at 6.30pm a special lecture held at the church will provide the public with a fascinating insight into the lives of these Londoners….
The speaker will be expert Jelena Bekvalac, Curator of Human Osteology at the Centre for Human Bioarchaeology, located at The Museum of London. Funded by The Wellcome Foundation, The Centre curates about 17,000 human skeletal remains covering 2,000 years of London’s history from the Roman period.
Jelena will take those attending this presentation on a journey into the world of residents of Fleet Street and its environs very different from its modern image. Ranging in age from a mere 9 days old to 90 years of age, we are able to identify these people from the past by their lead coffin plates and parish records. We therefore know not only who they were, but where they lived, when they were born, what they did for a living, when they died and how they died.
All of this provides modern medical researchers, students, researchers of forensic anthropology, and forensic scientists of all disciplines with a “snap-shot” of the lives and deaths of ordinary Londoners covering a period of over 100 years: apart from “decline”, these people died from a whole range of causes ranging from apoplexy to dropsy, from gout to decay of nature. Or even, as in the case of one John Lucas, from “Suddenly, by getting up in a hot night and refreshing himself at his chamber window”!
St. Bride’s, a beautiful Church designed by Sir Christopher Wren, is itself renowned as the Printers’ and Journalists’ Church and is well worth a visit in its own right. But this unique chance to delve into the ”up close and personal” history of its parishioners is an opportunity not to be missed.
Become acquainted with Samuel Holden, Governor of the Bank of England, John Blades, former Sheriff of London and Middlesex, William Rich, creator of the tiered wedding cake, and Samuel Richardson, the famous English novelist. Hear their stories of love, loss, sickness, health and mystery.
Admission to the lecture is £10 on the door at 6.30pm on March 17th at St. Bride’s Church in Fleet Street, London EC4Y 8AU. NUS/OAPs/Advance Bookings – £7, available through the church office on 020 7427 0133. Or book on-line at www.stbrides.com.
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