John Camden was born in Calcutta (now Kolkata), India in about 1750. He was a ‘man of colour’ although we don’t know precisely what his ethnicity was. He travelled the world with the British Army and served in seven Regiments over a period of 43 years. He saw action and sustained wounds ‘in the head and both arms’ fighting against the Spanish in Menorca and was discharged on a pension in 1803 as he was ‘worn out’. He spent his retirement years in Chelsea, living near to the Royal Hospital. You can read this and more in John Ellis’s article:
https://www.historycalroots.com/john-camden-of-chelsea-c-1750-1824/
John identified John Camden’s last resting place as plot 63, row 51 in the North-east quarter of the churchyard at St Luke’s church, Chelsea. John and I agreed that, although it was unlikely I would find a stone marking his grave, the plot should at least be there.
It wasn’t.
It is evident that the North-east quarter of the churchyard has been redeveloped and is now a public park with a 5-a-side football court and kiddies playground. The stones have been moved and preserved but do not appear to be in any particular order and are illegible anyway. Of course, John Camden may not have had a stone as it is unlikely he would have been able to afford one but, as a parishioner, there must be a reasonable chance that he attended services in the magnificent interior and that people who knew him prayed for his recovery after the unfortunate accident that John reports in his article.