Life story retold by Katie Amos and Yota Dimitriadi
Alexander LOCQUE, also Alexandre LOUQUE or LOUGUE.
Thanks to his burial record we know his dates are 1871 to 1913. He was buried at London Road on 12th April 1913, with his address given as 7 Christchurch Road, Reading. At the time of his death Alexandre was living with his sister, Sophie PASCAL at that address. Sophie was a 42 year old widow, a Professor of Language, born in France. Sadly, her husband, Paul PASCAL, had died in 1907 of an accidental overdose.
Alexandre was described as ‘of independent means’. Beyond that however, little more is known. He does appear though on the 1911 census in the Isle of Wight as a visitor at Pyrland on Madeira Road in Ventnor. At this time he is age 40, single, was born in France and is shown as a French Government pensioner. He may even have come over to the UK to support her after Paul’s death, so how sad for her to lose him just a few years later. He does not currently appear in any other online searches.
He seems that he was chronically ill with TB (pulmonary tuberculosis), and had a sudden collapse (syncope), likely because his body was too weak or his heart/lungs failed. It must have been hard for Sophie to look after her brother at home while also working at a school. Maybe Alexandre hid his condition from her for a while. TB was contagious and Sophie may have had employment concerns.
Alexandre is buried in the same grave as Paul. The grave inscription is in French:
“Nous n’avons point ici-bas de Cite permanente mais nous cherchons celle qui est a veris. Heb XVIII.14”
[“We have no permanent city here below, but we seek the one that is to come.” — Hebrews 13:14].
Division 19, Row B, Plot 7