Last November I wrote about Robert Rose who was known as the “Bard of Colour” in 1840′s Manchester.

I have had some fantastic news. A group of people are documenting the headstones at the Manchester General Cemetery at Harpurhey. You can visit their website here.

Following my research into Robert Rose, in March I wrote to the group to see if they could tell me whereabouts in the Cemetery I could find Robert Rose’s grave and hopefully his headstone.

Unfortunately the news wasn’t good: there didn’t seem to be a headstone for that grave number and it looked as if there was just rubble under the surface soil. It seemed the headstone might have been vandalised over the years and ended up amongst piles of broken stones or even as part of a wall around the grounds.

However the Project added some details about Robert Rose to the list of notable burials on its website.

However, this week they contacted me to say the grave and headstone had been found and I have been lucky enough to see the stone. It seems it was one that lay flat all along and was hidden a bit more deeply than they thought. Here’s my sketch of it after a six inch layer of soil was removed temporarily on May 13, 2012.

I wonder how long it is since anyone saw it? The Cemetery buildings were demolished in 1959.

It’s a simple, attractive design, in great condition, and this is the inscription:

In Memory of

ROBERT ROSE,
the Bard of Colour,
who departed this Life
June 19th, 1849, Aged 45 Years.

I’d rather have my tomb bedew’d at eve,
With the lone orphans or the good man’s tear,
Who softly stole at twilight there to grieve,
And sobb’d aloud… THE FRIEND OF MAN RESTS HERE!
I’d rather have this quiet humble fame
Than hollow echo of an empty name.

Having read the various descriptions of the funeral and headstone, it really brings the history to life when you see the monument itself in the present day. We’re so lucky this has survived when so many have been lost.

The headstone has been covered over again to keep it safe and well-preserved. Meanwhile my research into Mr Rose continues.

You may struggle to identify this location at first glance because it looks so different. Certainly I got a big surprise last Sunday as I turned the corner from behind the Central Library.
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Wealthy black gentleman was a poet who lived in Salford.

IF Mr. Robert Rose, who calls himself “the bard of colour,” would have taken repeated hints, we should not now have had occasion to request him plainly, as we now do, to cease writing to us, or to any member of our establishment. We have no intention of noticing his book, and do not desire any communication with him.

The Manchester Guardian, 30 September 1840, Notice to Correspondents (a column in which they respond to letters from readers)

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Following my recent interview with Julia Grant, she suggested that perhaps I could organise a public discussion about the future of the August Bank Holiday event (which has been known as Manchester Pride since 2004) and the gay village.

This was arranged with the help of other members of the Facebook group Facts About Manchester Pride and was called: “Pull Your Fingers Out and Claim It Back” — a reference to something that Julia said in the interview.

The discussion took place on Thursday 25 August 2011 at the Hotel International on London Road, opposite Piccadilly Station.

The first half was about past and present. A chance for people to ask follow-up questions about the interview, or anything they’d ever wanted to ask Julia Grant. The second was about the future. What changes we would like to see and how to achieve those.

You can watch the whole thing here. It’s in four parts, with a total running time of 128 minutes.