Toys on a gravestone
By Judy Evans
@JudyEv (347492)
Rockingham, Australia
April 24, 2019 5:34am CST
Another interesting article appeared on our news page regarding a gravesite at the Hope Valley Cemetery in Adelaide, South Australia. The grave marks the burial place of Herbert Henry Dicker died on June 2, 1885, just after his second birthday.
Toys have begun appearing on the grave and no-one knows why. Well, actually they began appearing eight years ago with a new one being added roughly each month.
Herbert was born on April 16, 1883 to James Dicker and Mary Ann Bowhey. His death notice says he died ‘after two days’ illness. Five years later, the family moved to the north-west coast of Tasmania. They had ten other children who all survived to adulthood.
The grave with its headstone and iron railing shows that the family were affluent and little Herbert wasn’t just a ‘spare’ even after ten other children.
I wonder if this mystery will ever be solved?
The photo is of the gravestone of a little boy buried in Ravensthorpe, Western Australia.
32 people like this
25 responses
@JudyEv (347492)
• Rockingham, Australia
25 Apr 19
That's nice. Maybe it's just a random act of kindness by a stranger.
@FayeHazel (40243)
• United States
24 Apr 19
That's sad. I wonder why, after so many years, toys appear now. Well, at least that is nice - maybe it was a family member doing family history. Or maybe someone randomly saw it. It would be interesting to know
3 people like this
@FayeHazel (40243)
• United States
25 Apr 19
@JudyEv That is even more sweet if it is a stranger
1 person likes this
@JudyEv (347492)
• Rockingham, Australia
25 Apr 19
You do see it on the graves of children sometimes.
@wolfgirl569 (112414)
• Marion, Ohio
24 Apr 19
Maybe someone else who lost a child and had to move from where their child was buried.
2 people like this
@wolfgirl569 (112414)
• Marion, Ohio
25 Apr 19
@JudyEv It could make someone feel better. I dont go to my sons grave too much. But I do stop by the tree where he crashed at times.
1 person likes this
@MarymargII (12422)
• Toronto, Ontario
30 Apr 19
Probably the odd sympathetic tourist would drop something there in order to keep little Herbert 'occupied' in the afterlife!
1 person likes this
@MarymargII (12422)
• Toronto, Ontario
4 May 19
@JudyEv How about one sympathetic near neighbour.
1 person likes this
@garymarsh6 (23410)
• United Kingdom
29 Apr 19
@JudyEv Yes minor ailmets we would consider today. Still very sad but they must have been a family with means to afford such a posh grave!
1 person likes this
@JudyEv (347492)
• Rockingham, Australia
29 Apr 19
In our pioneer cemeteries there are sometimes three or four children buried side by side with very close dates. Sometimes it was because of diseases like diphtheria or similar.
@JESSY3236 (20284)
• United States
30 Apr 19
That's interesting. That's sweet gesture even if the mystery won't be solved. I love looking at old graves.
1 person likes this
@dgobucks226 (36179)
•
25 Apr 19
Interesting story and leaving toys on a child's grave may not be unusual. The Cemetery my parents are buried in has a toddler grave on site with various types of toys on it. I notice it every time I visit. What a coincidence!
1 person likes this
@JudyEv (347492)
• Rockingham, Australia
30 Apr 19
@dgobucks226 I hadn't thought of it in that way but it makes sense.
1 person likes this
@dgobucks226 (36179)
•
29 Apr 19
@JudyEv I figure it is a way to honor their memory. Adults receive flowers on their plots and small children toys. I find it a touching gesture.
1 person likes this
@arunima25 (89290)
• Bangalore, India
25 Apr 19
It will be an interesting mystery to resolve. Maybe someone placed a toy finding it a child's grave and few others may have followed it. But everyone will be curious to know the real story behind it.
1 person likes this
@florelway (23355)
• Cagayan De Oro, Philippines
24 Apr 19
Maybe somebody put it there. Some of my countrymen here put food on the grave of their loved ones departed, because they believe that the spirit can smell the food that they put.
1 person likes this
@florelway (23355)
• Cagayan De Oro, Philippines
25 Apr 19
@JudyEv I think some Chinese do it too.
1 person likes this
Sounds weird, but maybe someone leaves the toys on his grave.
@LovingMyBabies (85297)
• Valdosta, Georgia
24 Apr 19
Hmmm...I wonder who would be putting toys on the grave, either way it's sweet.
1 person likes this
@jobelbojel (36491)
• Philippines
25 Apr 19
This is interesting. And yeah maybe he is fond of toys and somebody puts it there to remember him .
1 person likes this
@JudyEv (347492)
• Rockingham, Australia
29 Apr 19
Yes, it seems someone wants the little boy to have toys.
@Hate2Iron (15727)
• Canada
24 Apr 19
What a story that would be to solve!! I wonder how many people have tried??
1 person likes this
@JudyEv (347492)
• Rockingham, Australia
25 Apr 19
There is a local historian who has researched the family tree quite a bit.
@RasmaSandra (82887)
• Daytona Beach, Florida
25 Apr 19
It could be that someone thinks the grave has now been forgotten. Perhaps a member of the family tree remembers.
1 person likes this
@andriaperry (118393)
• Anniston, Alabama
25 Apr 19
We decorate our graves, and more than once me and my sister would feel sorry for Marvin, he never had flowers, we would leave him flowers. Then out of no where on day Marvin had flowers and now he always does.
1 person likes this
@JudyEv (347492)
• Rockingham, Australia
29 Apr 19
Wow, how about that? That is really interesting. You must have jolted someone's conscience.
