The monument you see above is in the Kensal Green cemetery in London. This is the grave of George Hill, who died in 1864. It has a lot of text carved into it, which was all about his job with the Colonial Civil Service in India. Apparently he was a highly-regarded employee, but rarely do you see much about one's occupation on a tombstone. Was this a case of a man who had no family? They are not mentioned on the monument, but he had plenty of family. George Hill had two wives and had sired 13 children, eight of whom survived to adulthood.
The tale of his first wife was tragic, and after her death, Hill married a woman half his age who had a child, although the circumstances of her first marriage were suspicious. The second marriage was salaciously eventful, and may be the reason all the room on his gravestone was taken up with the boasting of a successful career. Every life has a story, even if that person doesn't want it to be remembered. Read the real story behind the much-admired civil servant George Hill at The London Dead. -via Strange Company
