I've been trying to find out more about the unusual memorial stone that was spotted under the trees near the wall in Sudbury churchyard. I showed Paul's photo of it on my last post - I turned it monochrome to make it clearer.
I had the idea to try ancestry and put in the name of Vernon, which was the name of the owners of Sudbury Hall. I added the date 1709 and was taken to a reference to Dorothea Vernon who died in 1709. This gave me access to the pages of the parish register for that date. There were no references to any children. I looked either side of 1709 and found several in both 1708 and 1710, assuming that 'son of' would indicate a child. I took down all the names but had no hope of joining the dots.
This morning I was browsing face book, as you do, and a page came up for the Church Memorial Society. I wondered if I could follow the group and see if I could find out more. I clicked on the page and I couldn't believe the first thing on their page was the very memorial from Sudbury! What a coincidence.
The person who had added the details had, unlike us, looked at the back of the stone - all the details were there. We must go back sometime to take a photo as there is a carving on the back as well as the inscription which reads:-
'Here lyeth the body of Henry Whitaker who departed this life on ye 21st day of October 1708 aged 25 years'
So, not a child but a young man.
Armed with his name and age I again went to Ancestry and there was a whole family tree. Lots of information which looked well researched. I know you have to be careful with ancestry and check all details.
Henry Whittaker married Elizabeth Wooley at Sudbury church in 1703, they lived in nearby Draycott-in-the-Clay and had three daughters Ann born 1704 and Catherine and Elizabeth born 1706, such young children to leave behind. There was a will in which he left instructions for the education of his daughters and for each of them to receive the sum of £60 at the age of fourteen. In the will Henry is described as a Yeoman definition of which is 'a free man who owned and farmed a small plot of land, ranking just below the gentry'
All for now.
What an interesting post Rosie - thanks so much for doing all that research and finding out so much. It is so fascinating. So it wasn't the grave of a young child after all - sorry if I misled you. I am so glad you were able to find out more about it and the person who died.
ReplyDeleteThank you Caroline, I really enjoyed myself finding the information, something to get my teeth into. You didn't mislead me at all, in fact sent me of on a mission to find out who the monument represented. I just feel a bit daft that we didn't check the back of the stone (I'll blame the heat of the day:) ) hopefully we will go back and take photos of the other side. Thank you again:)
DeleteThat's fascinating and what a coincidence indeed. I do like it when a mystery is solved!
ReplyDeleteThere is a grave of a young woman outside a church a few miles from here. I haven't been there for some years, but I think it is late 18th/early 19th C. There is a very loving inscription from her family, but what is intriguing is that the gravestone is topped with carved books. I have never seen that before, let alone on the grave of a young from that time. After seeing it I wondered if she was just a bookworm or if she had a debilitating illness/disability and reading was one of her few pleasures. I will have to see if I can find it again. You've inspired me!
Thank you Tracy, I do like to solve a mystery. The grave of the young woman sounds interesting. Perhaps she was an avid reader or perhaps a writer. If she died quite young perhaps as you say, she spent lots of time with books, oh yes, do try to find out more about her:)
DeleteI would never have thought to look on the reverse of a headstone for information. Well done to the person at the Church Memorial Society. Glad that you have been able to find more information about this young man and his family, Rosie.
ReplyDeleteThank you Beverley, it was good to find out more about the memorial stone and the person it commemorated:)
DeleteFantastic, well done. That's so interesting as well as being a puzzle solved. Sometimes the Internet actually creates lots of research shortcuts and sometimes it gives us all a headache! 😊
ReplyDeleteThank you CK, good to solve the mystery, to very vaguely quote Longfellow's work, re the internet - when it's good it's very, very good but when it's bad it's awful:)
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