Islington and St Pancras Cemetery played host to an unusual ceremony last week as a collection of American Civil War historians turned out to pay tribute to a Brit who fought in the Union army before retiring to Kentish Town.
George Denham was buried in the cemetery in East Finchley in 1912, but many of his descendants had no idea what had happened to the great-great-grandfather who was the subject of a fanciful family rumour.
Over the last 15 years, Gina Costin has been investigating just how true the family story about his service in the US is and, having managed to confirm a tale both thrilling and sad, last summer she and her mother were finally able to locate George's grave.
He lived in Malden Road in Kentish Town.
A ceremony on Friday was attended by the mayor of Camden Cllr Sabrina Francis along with civil war historians including the Highgate Society's Michael Hammerson, while a representative from the US army performed the traditional Taps bugle call in George's memory.
He served in the US Navy – and then the US Army – from 1856, seeing action in battles including the siege of Chattanooga.
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