Sheffield Man - J G Graves

[Raymond_1955]

Please tell me that someone on here has heard of John George Graves?

I think its absolutely disgraceful and disrespectful,how a great man like himself,isnt honoured around Sheffield and made sure everyone knows who he is and what he did for us. (he isnt honoured,yet other people who have hardly done anything are!)

 

JG Graves was born in Lincolnshire in 1866,and moved to Sheffield when he was 14yrs old,and became an apprentice at a jewellers on Gibralter Street.

If you want to read more about him,then type in Google "JG Graves"

 

He was a very well respected,house-hold name in the time he was alive,everyone who was a resident in Sheffield will have known exactly who he was,and he was very well loved and respected.

There are still a lot of his items which he made still around today,including his cutlery and pocket watches

(sold on ebay frequently).

He died aged 79 in 1945 on the 18th July,and was cremated at City Road and his ashes put in the Sheffield Cathedral

(i should think so too!!)

 

Graves Park,and The Graves Art Gallery,are named after him.

There is however,a small plaque outside on the Central Library near the main entrance.

Not exactly dignified enough to honour such a wonderful man who loved this city so much.

Ive been in lots of places (Town Hall is one,and even the Graves Art Gallery) and mentioned his name to the people working there,and the response i get is "Whos he?"

[Plain Talker]

If you had searched on here, you would have seen that within the last few days, we have had a thread about JG Graves, and how his benefaction helped this city...

 

Mentioning Graves park, and I think *I* suggested that Millhouses park, too, was one of his bequests to this fine city.

 

So, no, he "ain't" forgot!

 

the "Who's he?" response from the staff at the TH might have been them thinking you were asking for a member of staff...?????

 

PT

[muddycoffee]

Please tell me that someone on here has heard of John George Graves?

I think its absolutely disgraceful and disrespectful,how a great man like himself,isnt honoured around Sheffield and made sure everyone knows who he is and what he did for us. (he isnt honoured,yet other people who have hardly done anything are!)

What are you talking about?

 

Everyone who is like myself and PT born and bred sheffielders knows about Alderman J G Graves. His name is part of the city.

 

Question is, do YOU know about Chantrey, Mongomery, Goodwin and the other famous people connected to the City of Sheffield. This city is a sum off all its parts and its people great and small. Sheffielders wanted to get away from naming modern fountains and monuments after former wealthy benefactors in the 1990s when people preferred that the old goodwin fountain's name wasn't transferred to the new fountain in the peace gardens.

[Arfer Mo]

Please tell me that someone on here has heard of John George Graves?

I think its absolutely disgraceful and disrespectful,how a great man like himself,isnt honoured around Sheffield and made sure everyone knows who he is and what he did for us. (he isnt honoured,yet other people who have hardly done anything are!)

 

JG Graves was born in Lincolnshire in 1866,and moved to Sheffield when he was 14yrs old,and became an apprentice at a jewellers on Gibralter Street.

If you want to read more about him,then type in Google "JG Graves"

 

He was a very well respected,house-hold name in the time he was alive,everyone who was a resident in Sheffield will have known exactly who he was,and he was very well loved and respected.

There are still a lot of his items which he made still around today,including his cutlery and pocket watches

(sold on ebay frequently).

He died aged 79 in 1945 on the 18th July,and was cremated at City Road and his ashes put in the Sheffield Cathedral

(i should think so too!!)

 

Graves Park,and The Graves Art Gallery,are named after him.

There is however,a small plaque outside on the Central Library near the main entrance.

Not exactly dignified enough to honour such a wonderful man who loved this city so much.

Ive been in lots of places (Town Hall is one,and even the Graves Art Gallery) and mentioned his name to the people working there,and the response i get is "Whos he?"

I can remember my father saying when I was a lad that he would have been knighted if it had not been for him having some sort of record.

[peterw]

I can remember my father saying when I was a lad that he would have been knighted if it had not been for him having some sort of record.

 

If we are talking about the mail-order magnate I mentioned on the last thread that the reason for him not getting a knighthood was that he delivered his goods through the Post Office, but fell out with them over their fees and got himself another carrier.

 

The Post Office was then owned by the Government who lost a lot of revenue when he pulled out. That’s why, despite his benevolence (which was only to get himself knighted) he never was knighted.

[TheRedWizard]

Many Sheffielders have heard of Graves, who was a very important figure in local history. Graves and men of status like him have gone down in history, remembered by the names of parks, plaques, buildings etc.

 

There are quite a few Sheffielders who were important and memorable in their own way, who have not been remembered in the way of Graves. I would suggest there is more popular awareness of the likes of Graves et al, than Samuel Holberry and a few others I can think of (although, not meaning to diminish the naming of the peace garden fountains).

[Raymond_1955]

Thanks for the replies,and im pleased to hear people know who he is.

The reason of me putting this up here,was because im sick of going around Sheffield and mentioning him appropriately,and them not have the foggiest who he is.

 

And on the mention of Samuel Holberry,i went to his grave the other day,and the man who lives in the General Cemetery took us to it,and said that hes written many a times to the Labour Party and Government etc about his grave,asking if they are willing to pay for it to get cleaned up,seen as his gravestone is tipping over. And they dont want to know..

 

What a shame

[Nigel Womersle]

Could J G Graves have been a member of the Graves family who lived at Bank House, Ecclesfield in the early 1900's, before the Dawson family moved in? The house became The Regency restaurant in 1969, then later hotel, and is now being demolished to make way for a complex of flats. What a terrible loss to Ecclesfield and its history. Whatever were the planning committee thinking of?

[KinJGGraves]

I have just begun to follow up on this branch of my family: prompted by my rapidly aging relatives. I am a Great-great grandson of J G Graves. He gave his daughter and a beautiful gold pocketwatch (J G Graves brand) to my Great grandfather. This watch is with my cousin and a second cousin Michael Kelly in New Zealand traced the family tree. I live in Canberra Australia.

[Albert T Smith]

At one time, just inside the main entrance to all our Recreational area's a small notice board gave information about who had purchased the area or donated it to Sheffield.

Are these small oblong boards still displayed? I believe that he also purchased Rowland Cote, Ravenstor and (Possibly) Hartington Youth Hostels

If they are can you take a digital photograph of one and post it all to see on a link?

 

The Conservative Party Alderman J.G.Graves introduced Mail Order, that enabled, I understand, items to be paid for weekly, instead of requiring a bank overdraft to do so. Because of this he got a bad name. I think that he actually introduced hire purchase to the vast majority of people who did not have, or could not have, a bank account to obtain a over draft. One must remember that this was before the second world war

 

After all, before the rise of the Labour Party, you could only do some things that rich people said that you could do. One was you could not do the same as them and have credit or live on someone else's money!!.