Alice Cron - Writer and Poetess

Grave no. RN 38476 Section J07

Alice was born to the Taylor family in Hackney in 1859. She was the first born of five siblings, the last being born in 1869.

In 1880, at the age of 21, Alice married a German national, James Philip Cron. He was a glove-maker, listed in the Kelly’s London Post Office Directory of 1880 as ‘Cron, Porter and Co. - Wick manufacturers and glove importers’. The business address was Basinghall St, EC, London – the address is noted on the headstone.

James Philip and Alice Cron are listed in the 1881 census as being in Hackney. At this time, there were 101 known ‘Cron’s’ in Britain. He may have changed his name from the Germanic spelling of ‘Kron’.

In 1891 they lived in Stoke Newington and by 1911 they lived in Stamford Hill. Their last known address was also in Hackney.

By the time of the second world war Hackney had one of the largest populations of German nationals in the UK, leading to the formation of the German Hospital in Dalston.

Many poets, both male and female, were borne of the horrors and sadness of the Great War. Some also alluded to triumph and bravery. Alice’s poem “The Call of Their King” was published on page 46 of the book “A hundred best poems of the European War, volume two, by Women Poets of the Empire”. This anthology was edited by Charles Forshaw and published by E. Stock in 1916.

Another published poem by Alice Cron is “The Flowering Month of May”. The name and date of publication is currently unknown.

As of yet, very little is known about Alice’s education, home life or working life but she is noted as being a ‘Writer and Poetess’ on her headstone. It is possible to assume she lived in Hackney for the whole of her life. The headstone also notes Alice as being a ‘Beloved Wife’.

Although the grave number already existed, Alice's details were missing from the burial database. Her date of death falls within the 1930’s - some of these years are those in which many of the burial records were lost. Alice's details were discovered on the headstone and recorded by the Abney Unearthed volunteers. They were then added to the Abney Unearthed database, which is being constantly updated where information is missing.

This headstone was made by the Elves family who were marble merchants and stonemasons based in Shoreditch.

This story acts as a reminder of how difficult people can be to research, and also shows how a grave that is in plain sight from the path can give clues into people’s lives once the details have been deciphered. Research will be continued to find more details of Alice’s life. At the time of discovering her grave, Abney Unearthed reached out to the website: Female war Poets and made them aware of her presence in Abney Park. She is now included on their pages.