Coffin: Remains of young woman to be returned from London after 90 years

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Kevin Bissett
THE CANADIAN PRESS

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FREDERICTON - The remains of a young Canadian woman whose coffin was left unclaimed in England for more than 90 years will finally be laid to rest this month at her family plot in New Brunswick.

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The Canadian Press

The headstone that bears the name of Gladys Winifred Fowler is shown at the community cemetery in Hammondvale in this recent photo.

The British government has granted permission to transport the body of Gladys Fowler, who was 18 when she died in London in 1917.

She was the daughter of then-New Brunswick MP George Fowler, at the time a lieutenant-colonel serving with the 13th Battalion Canadian Infantry during the final months of the First World War.

A death certificate lists her cause of death as a combination of heart disease and illness.

Barry Smith of the Friends of Kensal Green Cemetery, where Fowler's remains are located, traced her story after cemetery officials decided earlier this year to open a mysterious packing case that had been stored in catacombs for 92 years.

They discovered a coffin inside bearing a plaque with Fowler's name engraved.

Smith said the coffin was properly sealed and crated for transport back to Canada at the end of the war, but for some inexplicable reason that never happened.

"The sad and frustrating thing is we will probably never know why she wasn't taken home after the war," he said.

"Lots of fascinating information has been revealed, but not the answer to that question."

In Hammondvale, near Sussex, a modern headstone at the community cemetery lists the names of the members of the Fowler family, including Gladys.

Smith said Fowler's father died in 1924 and her mother died in 1936, while a brother named Eric died at the age of 30 in 1930.

The only sibling not named on the headstone is Cedric, who moved to the United States and died there. His body was donated to science.

Jane Morse, Cedric Fowler's daughter, came forward after details emerged of efforts to locate Gladys's relatives.

"My father talked very, very fondly of his sister and fairly frequently, so I feel as if I know her," Morse said Monday from her home in Geneseo, N.Y.

Morse said family members always thought Gladys was buried in New Brunswick, and her father never said that the remains had not been repatriated.

Efforts to repatriate Fowler's remains sparked interest from Canadian around the world.

Smith said people offered to donate money and services to ensure Fowler was finally laid to rest and not left among the 2,500 coffins stored in the dark and eerie London catacombs.

Smith said Air Canada has agreed to fly Fowler's remains from London to Halifax for free on Nov. 14, and the Wallace Funeral Home in Sussex will take care of other arrangements, including a burial scheduled the next day.

"It was in a time of dreadful inhumanity in the world that caused Gladys to be in London when she died and it has been a time of rewarding joy to see here 92 years later such generous humanity from people," Smith said.