ON THIS DAY… 18TH AUGUST
On the 18th August 1921, my great-grandmother, Florence Weaver (née Smale), passed away at her parents’ home, 22 Ford Street, Tavistock, at just 33 years of age. Her death, sudden and tragic, left behind a grieving family and a daughter who was not quite five years old.
AI Generated Memorial Image
A Life Touched by War and Loss
Florence was the daughter of William Henry Smale and Grace Smale (née Martin) and her life had already been marked by tragedy before her untimely death. Her husband, Henry James Weaver, had died during the First World War nine months after he and Florence had married. Serving in France, he was accidentally killed by a bomb at the base, just after leaving the trenches for a brief respite. Her baby was born ten days later – my grandmother, Phyllis Grace Weaver.
A Community Mourns
A newspaper report, published just after Florence died, described the sorrow felt in Tavistock at the loss of a woman who was “amiable…. well liked and greatly respected by all who knew her”. It also noted with particular sympathy the plight of “the little orphan child” and expressed condolences for Florence’s grieving parents and the rest of the family.
Illness and Sudden Decline
The same article recounts that Florence was out and about on the evening of Thursday 11th August 1921. The very next day, Friday 12th August, she fell ill, and within a week, on Thursday 18th August, she had passed away. That means her decline was frighteningly fast. Despite the care of Dr. C.C. Brodrick, who visited her and did all he could, she succumbed to meningitis in just six days. Her father, William Henry Smale, was present at her death and registered it the same day. Her burial took place two days later, on the 20th August.
Following her passing, the family extended their gratitude in the local paper for the sympathy and floral tributes they received during their time of “great bereavement”.
Newspaper Notice of Thanks from the Smale Family
Final Resting Place
Florence was buried in an unmarked grave in Tavistock New Cemetery, Plymouth Road, Tavistock, Devon. She rests in plot F114, alongside her mother who was buried in 1925, aged 68, and her father who was buried in 1944, aged 78. To locate their resting place, you can take the left path at the cemetery. Near the top, just before the right turn, you’ll see a large tree. The unmarked plot lies five or six graves in from the path between the names Ash and Kenworthy.
The Smale Plot with No Markers at Tavistock New Cemetery (click to enlarge)
Location of the Smale Plot between the Ash and Kenworthy Graves at Tavistock New Cemetery
(click to enlarge)
A Daughter’s Reflections
Many years later, my gran told me that when her mother was lying gravely ill in bed, she heard her daughter playing in the garden and asked her family to quieten the child. I know this saddened my gran, realising they were the last words she spoke of her, but I can only imagine how poorly Florence must have been at that moment.
Memorial Announcement
Another notice was placed in the local newspaper, perhaps on the anniversary of Florence’s passing. It reads:
IN MEMORIAM
WEAVER.-In loving memory of Florence, the beloved daughter of W. and G. Smale, and darling Mother of little Phyllis, who died August 18th, 1921.
Day by day we sadly miss her,
Words would fail our loss to tell.
But in Heaven we hope to meet her,
Happy there with Christ to dwell.22, Ford-street, Tavistock.
A Life Remembered
Though her life was tragically short, Florence’s story reflects both the personal cost of war and the devastation of sudden illness in an age before modern medicine. A beloved daughter, wife, and mother, she left behind a grieving family and a young child who grew up without her parents.
Today, more than a century later, her story is not forgotten.
