Tombstone Tuesday: Benjamin and Charlotte WREN

I mentioned Benjamin WREN of Framfield, Sussex yesterday, so what better reason to show you a picture of his gravestone, photographed back in May 2009 when I visited Framfield.

There is some writing around the top of the stone, which I can’t make out, but the main part of the inscription is very clear:

OF
BENJAMIN WREN,
WHO DEPARTED THIS LIFE
DECEMBER 21ST 1852
IN THE 50TH YEAR OF HIS AGE
ALSO OF
CHARLOTTE, HIS WIDOW.
WHO DEPARTED THIS LIFE
NOVEMBER 19TH 1882,
IN THE 83RD YEAR OF HER AGE.
IN THE MIDST OF LIFE WE ARE IN DEATH.

Why I fell in love with Lewes Cemetery

I was down at Lewes, East Sussex again today. Apart from a brief visit to the East Sussex Record Office I also wanted to visit Lewes Cemetery. I knew there had to be relations buried there, and wanted to get a feel for what the place was like and what would be involved in trying to locate them.

I had taken a peek at an aerial view of the cemetery on Google Maps and knew it was big, but I hadn’t quite appreciated how big it was until I actually got there.

It was obvious that I wouldn’t be able to check every gravestone in the time I had, so I just wandered around the cemetery scanning as many headstones as I could trying to pick out any family names. Obviously this wasn’t going to be very successful, but I did come up with a few GEERING gravestones including that of William and Emily GEERING, my 2x great grandparents.

Two GEERING graves at Lewes Cemetery

There were three things that really stood out for me about Lewes Cemetery, that made me fall in love with the place straight away. Firstly was the position, it is on a south facing slope (they should be growing grapes there) with fantastic views across to the South Downs to the east and west.

View of the South Downs from Lewes Cemetery

Secondly, there was the condition of the cemetery. It was immaculate, all credit to the Lewes District Council and their contractors, there was hardly a blade of grass out of place. I was expecting to find some areas overgrown and abandoned to nature, but no it was all well trimmed and very neat and tidy, so no scrambling through the undergrowth needed.

Thirdly, and this made me smile because it was totally unexpected. They have their own public toilets. In my limited experience of cemeteries I have never come across one with a toilet, admittedly most of my ancestors were buried in small rural cemeteries or churchyards so my experience of large town cemeteries is very limited. It was a shame I didn’t need to use the facilities at the time!

One of the memorials at Lewes Cemetery

Tombstone Tuesday: Thomas and Mary LEWRY

It occurred to me this morning as I mentally went over the previous night’s research that I probably had a photo of the gravestone for Thomas and Mary LEWRY, my 4x great grandparents.

On my Bank Holiday walk to Bolney, Sussex I had photographed as many LEWRY gravestones as I could find, along with the WALDERs and GASSONs. Sure enough there was a picture of the double headstone of Thomas and Mary in my collection.

Headstone of Thomas and Mary LEWRY, Bolney, Sussex

The inscription on the left reads:

IN
MEMORY OF
THOMAS LEWRY
WHO DEPARTED
THIS LIFE OCT 24TH
1855.
AGED 68 YEARS.

and on the right:

IN
MEMORY OF
MARY WIFE OF THOMAS LEWRY
WHO DEPARTED THIS LIFE
MAY 31ST 1870.
AGED 80 YEARS.