Tuesday 17 July 2012

Taphophile Treasure Trove!


These three grave stones were propped up outside the porch of All Saints Church in Kirby Underdale, just waiting for a visiting Taphophile! One hundred years separates the stones, the oldest (1766) is on the left and the inscription reads:

Here 
lies the body of 
William Dobinson
Late of Hunckleby who
Departed this Life the 17th Day of
March 1766 aged 76 years
He was an Indulgent Husband 
and a Kinde father

 The middle stone is for a woman, although in keeping with the times her husband's name is writ larger, even though he does not appear to be buried here!

Waiting for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ 
Here sleeps Isabella wife of
Rev. Thos H. Barton
who died April 11th 1866
Aged 37 years
Jesus. Master have mercy on us
Luke 17.13
 
The stone on the right is in bad repair and difficult to read but appears to say
In
Memory of
John Gra-es
late of Hanging Grimstone
who died 22nd April 1816
Aged 84 years
There remaineth therefore A rest
to the people of God
  
The stone on the left says something about the departed. The fashion changes from the 18th century to the 19th where a religious text is deemed more suitable than personal attributes.
I like the look of the middle stone the best but the wording on the oldest appeals the most. As someone fortunate enough to have had a kind father I could relate to the sentiment behind this memorial nearly 250 years later. 

Taking part in Taphophile Tragics

7 comments:

  1. maybe if the Rev Thos Barton was of this parish, that might explain why his name is bigger?

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  2. Not really sure why but I tend to look more closely at the headstone of those who died before their time if that makes sense.

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  3. I agree with Paul. I have that tendency, too.

    What a gift to have them laid out waiting for you. Yoohoo... over here. Look at us! Look at us!

    I would have thought it more usual to have a kind husband, yet an indulgent father, rather than the way chiselled. But that might be just a 20th century take. I would hate to have an indulgent husband. Quite condescending, really.

    What I really like is Hanging Grimshaw. Talk amongst yourselves a tick, whilst I check with Mr Google to see if HG still exists.

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    1. Hanging Grimstone used to be a fairly large village in the Middle Ages Julie, dwindling to a few farms in the 19thC and now just a single farm judging by my OS map..

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  4. i think its funny only the upper part of the stone is used. why!
    i prefer to look at such old stones, rather than current ones... not necessarily from people who died young.

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  5. John is John Graves born in Bossall Yorkshire in 1732. He married Catherine Edwards and they had ten children together. I wonder how those stones came to be propped up against the poarch and where they were before.

    Great post.

    Beneath Thy Feet & Herding Cats

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    Replies
    1. Thanks for the added info Nicola. I wasn't too surprised to see the stone for the Rev Barton's wife so near the church as that is usual for local vicars family, no idea why the other two were there though.

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