Edwardus Johannes (Edward John) Sage

Buried: 05/12/1905, aged 78
Plot no: 110129 | Section: K06 / C7

This grave of Edward Johannes Sage was in an unmapped area of Abney Park. When discovered, the plot was completely covered by soil and plants, and appeared to be a space. It was only verified by Abney Unearthed volunteers by using a thin rod pushed into the ground to determine the existence of a grave stone. After an hour of digging, the grey granite coped stone with an integral horizontal cross and text in Latin, was revealed.

Part of the epitaph reads :
Hic jacet Edwardus Johannes Sage
Paroeciae hujus multos per annos Incola:
Liberae bibliothecae Stoke Newingtonensi*
Illegible text is underneath – ending with the word ‘Benefactor‘

This partly translates to:
Here lies Edward John Sage
For many years a citizen of this parish

The partially revealed granite headstone.

Edward John Sage was born in 1827. He is listed in the 1881 census as living at 86 Albion Road, Stoke Newington and he was a 'water rent collector' by profession. At the time of his death in December 1905 he was listed as living at 64 Lordship Park. (By 1871 residences at Lordship Park were advertised as ‘suitable only for respectable families’.)

E. J. Sage was known as an amateur historian who recorded local birth and death records by hand, dating back to the early 18th century. He was a known collector of books and etchings, and donated many of these to the Stoke Newington Library of which he was a commissioner and benefactor. There is record of a painting of Edward Sage being hung in the Stoke Newington reference library, although this is no longer there.

The parish of Stoke Newington adopted the Libraries Acts in 1890, when the library commissioners agreed to make temporary use of the assembly rooms in Defore Road. The library on Church St was first opened in 1892.

Through his antiquarian research of the Stoke Newington area and his benefactory work he became an acquaintance of Charles Dickens, who penned him a letter on the 6th October 1850. This, amongst many other examples of his work, is part of the collection held at the Hackney Archives. The collection consists of poetry, historical notes, correspondence, cuttings and extracts from parish registers compiled in notebooks.

Image © Edward Sage. (source unknown)

One example of Sage’s record-keeping is that of ‘Baptisms from for the parish of St Mary from 1559 – 1769, marriage from 1560 – 1764 and burials.’ Another example to be found in the archives is ‘poetry and a letter to Edward Sage, recounting the legend of Peveril’s Tower, a copy of a Tale from Dover Castle, June 1868.’ Sage also wrote articles on Stoke Newington for the North London Guardian. These documents were donated to the Hackney Archives by the executors of Sage’s will in 1985.

A headstone of a similar design. The burial records show him as being buried alone.

Although the lineage of Edward Johannes Sage is still to be definitely confirmed, he was considered a respected local historian, a contributor to the parish of Stoke Newington and of the development the local libraries during their early inception.