Dundee’s Lost Tales – The Oval Memorial Mystery
It was once a proud memorial honouring a brave deed
This week focuses on a tale that has become really lost.
If Pam McFadden, Posselt Lauwrens, Neville Worthington and other history’boffins’ cannot shed light on it, who can?
You’ve already probably seen it but haven’t paid much attention to it.
It was once a proud memorial honouring a brave deed. Now the font memorial at the Oval is virtually derelict, faded and in need of some desperate love and care.
The font faces the cricket field and is just to the right of the Union Street entrance to the Oval. A faded inscription reads ‘Font erected in memory of Henry Hearn, December 17, 1933 and to commemorate the gallantry of his wife in saving a boy from drowning, well knowing that her husband had lost his life in the same endeavour.’
Sadly there is no water flowing from this font. The pipes are long gone.
But who was the boy who was saved from drowning? And where did it happen? At the Oval? Or elsewhere?
No one seems to know these details. Strangely enough, the incident was not even reported in the Courier of the time – Slack journalism! Was the event kept low key for a purpose?
There have been been of questions but precious few answers.
Can you shed light on a really lost tale?
