William Hurlstone

William (Yeates) Hurlstone (7 January 1876 – 30 May 1906) was an English composer who studied piano and composition at the Royal College of Music, after gaining a scholarship. His piano professors were Algernon Ashton and Edward Dannreuther. His composition teacher, Sir Charles Villiers Stanford, considered Hurlstone, among the many brilliant students whom he taught, to have been the most talented. In 1906, Hurlstone returned to the college as Professor of Counterpoint, but died later that year of bronchial asthma. He is buried in Croydon Cemetery with members of his family, though the monumental cross that surmounted the grave has been destroyed. The monumental cross that is in situ over William's grave was designed as a broken cross to signify that William had died before reaching his peak.(T. Hurlstone)