Arthur SPARKMAN

By his Grandson Jack Sparkman, 1997

Born during the year 1851 in the village of Binstead, Isle of Wight and christened in Holy Cross Church there by the Reverend P Hewett on 4th May 1851. He was the son of John and Mary Ann Sparkman. Mary Ann was the daughter of Powell and Sarah Diaper.

Little is known of my grandfather's early life or if my father told me, I have forgotten, but prior to 1861, the family appears to have moved to the town of Ryde, where it is likely that he completed his education before joining the Postal Services. After receiving his initial training - whether on the island or on the mainland is not known (because the Civil Service Commissioners advised me in 1953 that his file had been destroyed), he was appointed to the Portsmouth Post Office in 1872 as a sorting Clerk and Telegraphist.

By 1877 my grandfather was residing at No 58 Saint George's Square, Portsmouth and on the 24th April 1877, he was married to Emma Ann Levett (daughter of Edward and Emma Eliza Levett (nèe Hollins) in the Kent Street Baptist Chapel by the Reverend John W Genders. I was informed that this church was entirely destroyed during one of the German air raids on Portsmouth during World War II. They spent their honeymoon on the Isle of Wight but I do not know where. However he painted a picture of the cottage in which they stayed and this picture came into my father's possession after his mother's death but what has become of it I do not know, although I still have the frame.

In 1898 my grandfather was transferred to Farnham, Surrey, England as Postmaster, where he remained until 1911, when he retired and returned to Southsea, Portsmouth, England, and lived at No. 48 Chetwynd Road until his death in 1923.

During his life he was greatly interested in singing and in the art, and on his death the Portsmouth Evening News reported that " . . in his younger days he was well known in Portsmouth musical circles and, in addition to being an excellent soloist, was connected with the Philharmonic Society and Mr. Green's Choir."

In August 1923 my grandfather was taken ill suddenly and his death on the 29th following an operation in the Royal Hospital, Portsmouth for a burst appendix aggravated by the shock after receiving the cablegram from Canada bringing the sad news of the sudden death of his elder son at Saskatoon, where he was Chief Inspector in the Saskatchewan Provincial Police.

He was interred in Fabian's Plot, Row 20, Grave No. 1 in the Portsea Cemetery, St. Mary's Road, Kingston, Portsmouth, England on the lst September 1923 after a service in the Emmanuel Baptist Church conducted by the Reverend A Bowen and a Masonic Service. My grandfather was a member of the Portsmouth Temperance Lodge of Freemasons No. 2068.

My grandmother who, my father told me, was a very good pianist in her younger days remained at No. 48 Chetwynd Road, Southsea, Portsmouth for the remainder of her life. She died on the 3rd August 1925 and was interred on the 6th of that month in the same grave as my grandfather.