Alderman Albert Ernest Marlow JP was Northampton’s youngest mayor in 1904 at the age of 33. He was also one of the founding members of the Rotary Club of Northampton in the summer of 1921 and its first President.
Thanks to research into the history of the club in 2013 by former Northampton Rotarian, Roger Morris, he identified the location of A E Marlow’s forgotten grave at Dallington Cemetery in Duston, Northampton.
According to Roger’s research, A E Marlow died in London on July 11th, 1922, aged just 51-years-old. He had been at the club’s lunch the day before, having just completed his term as Northampton Rotary’s first club President.
His grave memorial headstone and kerbs are constructed in polished granite which also has later inscriptions commemorating his wife, Katie, who died in 1964 at Mortlake, Surrey, his two children, Kenneth and Albert who died within one year of birth, and a daughter Phyllis who died at the age of 37 in 1936. It is believed he had seven children in total.
When representatives of Northampton Rotary first inspected the grave in June 2013 it was in a sorry, neglected state.”
Within the kerbs a later horizontal stone memorial had been added commemorating AE Marlow’s eldest son, Lieutenant Stanley Marlow who died at the age of 21 years in 1917, “leading his men into action at Gaza, Palestine”. He is buried in the English Cemetery.
When representatives of Northampton Rotary first inspected the grave in June 2013 it was in a sorry, neglected state. A tree had been allowed to grow within the grave causing the granite kerbs to be dislodged and it was overgrown with weeds.
That prompted the club to investigate refurbishing the grave by removing the tree roots and repairing the concrete base.
A E Marlow died in London on July 11th, 1922, aged just 51-years-old. He had been at the club’s lunch the day before, having just completed his term as Northampton Rotary’s first club President.”
The project was kick-started in Spring last year, working with Les Finn from Towcester, who is a monumental mason.
He not only took apart and rebuilt the grave, but added a polished granite plaque explaining A E Marlow’s connection to the Rotary Club of Northampton and acknowledging the centenary renovation works.
Alderman Albert Ernest Marlow’s grave before the renovation.
The club worked closely with the Marlow family now based in Canada to advise and obtain an agreement. Despite being hampered by Covid restrictions, the grave renovation was completed recently.
Alderman Albert Ernest Marlow’s grave after the renovation was complete
