John Crellin Goldsmith - Lezayre Churchyard - Churchtown, Isle of Man - Broken Column Headstones on Waymarking.com

The broken column headstone at the grave of Lieutenant John Crellin Goldsmith R.N.R. is to be found in the Lezayre Churchyard in Churchtown.

At the base of the column overlooking the grave the memorial tablet has the following dedication:
“IN LOVING MEMORY OF
JOHN CRELLIN GOLDSMITH
LIEUT. R.N.R.
COMMANDER OF
H.M. GUN BOAT JACKDAW
DIED AT OLD CALABAR
JUNE 2ND 1901 AGED 29
”SHALL NOT THE JUDGE OF
ALL THE EARTH DO RIGHT”
The choice of a ‘broken column’ is entirely appropriate for this grave marker as the life of Lieutenant Goldsmith was tragically cut at the age of only 29.

The injustice of a life cut short is again reflected in the biblical quote at the of the epitaph which is from Genisis 18:25 of the King James version of the Bible. The full verse is shown below:
“That be far from thee to do after this
manner, to slay the righteous with the
wicked: and that the righteous should be as
the wicked, that be far from thee: Shall not
the Judge of all the earth do right?”
(visit link)

The memorial tablets at the base of the column are difficult to read due to the presence of lichens which have grown on the stonework of the grave marker.

News of John’s death was reported the Isle of Man Examiner newspaper printed on 22 June 1901 the notice is reproduced below:
“ RAMSEY
DEATH OF A MANX NAVAL OFFICER - News has reached Ramsey of the death of Capt. John Goldsmith, son of Mrs. W.H. Kneale of Regaby-Veg, Andreas. He was an assistant marine superintendent and acted as commander of the “Jackdaw.” On the 12th May last he was admitted into hospital at Old Calabar, Niger Coast Protectorate, and on the 17th a friend called to see him, but the unfortunate officer was too ill to be seen, and he passed away on June 2nd. He was 29 years of age, and was a sub-lieutenant in the Royal Navy.”
(visit link)

John died at Calabar which was the capital of the Niger Coast Protectorate as the time of his death. The Niger Coast Protectorate was a British Protectorate in the Oil Rivers area of present-day Nigeria. It was originally formed as the Oil Rivers Protectorate in 1884; which was confirmed at the Berlin Conference in the following year. It was renamed in 1893 and merged with the Royal Niger Company’s chartered territories in 1900 to form the Southern Nigeria Protectorate.
(visit link)

Sub-Lieutenant Goldsmith served in the Royal Naval Reserve (R.N.R) and his civilian job was as a marine superintendent.
(visit link)

A postcard showing the gunboat “Jackdaw” dating from 1906 can be found at the following link:
(visit link)

Headstone/Monument Text: Not listed Website with More Information: Not listed

Visit Instructions:
When visiting a waymark, please take an original picture of the headstone/monument (nothing should be placed on it). Logs that include photos representing any form of disrespectful behavior will be subject to deletion.

Recent Visits/Logs:

There are no logs for this waymark yet.