In an attempt to provide a logical structure to arranging and accessing the stories of the people buried within the walls of Jesmond Old Cemetery, I have decided to categorise individuals in a rather broad way, namely by their occupation, profession or whatever ‘event’ they are known or famous for. In doing so, I openly acknowledge that individuals are defined by much more than their job, career or deeds and deserve to also be remembered for being a Father, Wife, Son, Daughter, Brother, Sister, Cousin, a great friend or good person. So, in attempting to address this, in chronicling their lives within their designated category, I have also tried to include relevant information and insight in relation to the ‘whole’ person and their lives outside their occupation, profession or event.
Additionally, in choosing how to categorise the many people featured here, I have to admit that it is a somewhat inexact science and almost impossible (and a bit rude…) to reduce a person’s contribution over a lifetime to a single defining category. As Aristotle said (kind of!!), “The whole is greater than the sum of its parts”…….. but, the ‘parts’ of the lives I have chosen to define them as will, hopefully, make sense to those visiting this website. Just to note, finally, that the category I have allocated to each individual is not ‘set in stone’ and I may well amend and update, dependent on my own changes of mind and external feedback!!
