At first, it was just the simple but creative framing of this headstone at Mornington Cemetery on Port Phillip Bay which attracted me.
But then I noticed that there was no birth date for Sydney Crabb.
There was no mention that Jan. 1st 1928 was a date of death.
Perhaps that explains the words beneath the date:
Still living
Still loving
Still ours
Trove revealed that Sydney George Branstone Crabb was a Lieutenant Commander in the Royal Navy.
Rootsweb revealed that he was born in 1884 and was one of 6 children born to Charles and Maria Crabb in England.
He married Gertrude in England.
They married on 3rd December 1914 in Dover.
(On the marriage certificate, Sydney's father Charles George is listed as retired from the Royal Navy.)
They had two sons.
One was Gordon John Branstone Crabb C.B.E. D.S.C.
He was born in 1917 in London but came to Australia in 1920.
(That means Sydney came to Australia in 1920.)
He attended Melbourne Grammar.
During World War II, he served on the HMAS Napier as a lieutenant.
In May 1941, this Australian destroyer was one of several ships which played a major role in the evacuation of Australian troops from Crete.
In 1973, Gordon was listed with the navy as Rear Admiral.
He was on the naval board as Chief of Naval Supply and Works.
More incredible details of his service record till he died in 2001 are HERE!
The other son, Charles MacVean Branstone Crabb, competed in the 1933 Head of the River for Melbourne Grammar.
I can't seem to find more on his life.
It seems that "all-things-water" are in the blood of this family.
I ache for tall ships
The lonely seas and the sky
Sea fever is mine
- with apologies to John Masefield
The framing of the grave seems old, but the headstone seems far more new.
Is there another story here?
Linking to:
Taphophile Tragics
