Herbert Fitch (1849-1933)
Deeds not words: from printing to security policing.
The Fitch family’s imposing monument on the cemetery’s Central Avenue is a symbol of their success. Herbert Fitch established a respected printing business in the City of London. He was also a Master of the Worshipful Company of Stationers, one of the City’s traditional ‘livery companies’ of trade associations and guilds.
The mosaic Fitch crest shows three leopards and the family motto Facta non verba, Deeds not words. (Credit: Greywolf)
The classical Portland stone memorial, with green marble columns, houses six decorative stone tablets. These record the deaths of Herbert, his wife Jeannie, and their three sons.
The monument’s engraved tablets (Credit: Greywolf)
One of their sons, also called Herbert, was a member of the Special Branch. This is the arm of the police responsible for matters of national security and intelligence. His vivid memoirs record his experiences, including the time he hid in a pub cupboard in order to listen in on a secret meeting in London between Lenin, the Russian communist revolutionary, and his comrades.
Herbert T Fitch, Special Branch Officer (1877-1935) (Credit: Internet Archive / The Traitors Within (1933))
Further information
(Credit: Greywolf)
(Credit: ClipArtQueen)
