Bristol Loses Another 30 Trees

Hebron Burial Ground in Bedminster Desecrated By Owner

Bristol has once again suffered major loss of wooded area at the command of a foreign owner. This time the owner is Pietro Mario Sansone who is believed not to reside in the UK.
The Hebron Burial Ground is already a designated conservation area and has not been maintained by the owner. There had been some complaints regarding leaves blocking gutters and blocking of light. This may have provided some excuse for the ensuing destruction.
Presumably no impact analysis had been done regarding the effect on both wildlife and social amenity. There are reports that the burial ground was home to bats and hedgehogs.
Only last year, the owner cut down 3 trees without planning permission before being prevented from doing further damage by Bristol Council.

Princess Caraboo

The burial ground most famously is the final resting place of a cobbler's daughter, Mary Baker (née Wilcocks)(1791-1865), from Witheridge, Devon. Mary Wilcocks then a 26 year-old servant girl in 1817, fooled people into thinking she was 'Princess Caraboo' of Javasu. She spoke an invented language and eventually claimed she had been kidnapped by pirates, and had escaped by diving into the Severn Estuary before swimming to shore, just south of Bristol.
When her story was eventually exposed as an invention, the Worrall family, who had been her hosts, arranged for her to leave for Philadelphia and she departed June 28, 1817. In the USA, she briefly continued her role, but lost contact with the Worralls after couple of months.
In 1821, she had returned to Britain but her act was no longer very successful. She briefly traveled to France and Spain in her guise but soon returned to England and re-married. In September 1828, she was living in Bedminster with the name Mary Burgess and gave birth to a daughter the next year. In 1839, she was selling leeches to the Bristol Infirmary Hospital. She died on January 4, 1865 ,aged 75,and was buried the Hebron Road Burial Ground, Bedminster, Bristol in an unmarked grave.
In 1994 Disney released a full-length feature film about her life.

Edward Bird (1722 - 1819) painted this portrait of her in 1817


Please visit these blogs for further info:

• Friends of Hebron Burial Ground
• Blue plaque for Princess Caraboo