Lynne About Loughborough

Monday, 12 October 2026

31 Days of Graves Day 12 Mistake

Spotting a mistake on an engraved headstone must be one of the most difficult things to do, as unless it’s an obvious spelling mistake, it might not be apparent that it’s a mistake. And, of course, spelling changes over time, so what might have been ‘correct’ last century, might not be today.

I have no personal connection with any of the memorials I have been looking at for this challenge, so I am not going to be aware if there is perhaps a mistake with birth or death dates, unless I delve into the history of the person commemorated, which I haven't always got time to do.

So, I decided to take a different approach …

Firstly, here’s an example of how spelling has changed over the years.

Here

lies the body of

Mary the Wife of

Joseph Brookes

of the Forrest Lane

She departed this Life

The 8th day of March

1746-7 Aged 32 Years.

Forrest Lane was most definitely once known as this, but it is now familiar to us as Forest Road. What I can’t quite explain is the hyphen in the year of Mary’s death – 1746-7. At first glance, one would think it’s to do with the change from the Julian to the Gregorian calendar, but that happened in 1752 (although the legislation to make the change was passed in 1750). It is more common, I believe, to use a forward slash to indicate a date falling around the time of the change, or a fraction, usually 1/2, a system that is referred to as double dating. Perhaps this memorial stone to Mary Brookes wasn’t made at the time of her death, but perhaps later, maybe when her husband, Joseph, died? Hmmmm, a bit of a puzzle.

Of course, it might be possible to prevent mistakes being made at the point at which the stone is being engraved. When the headstones were installed, they were standing upright, with a portion being buried in the soil, deep enough to anchor the structure. It was therefore ideal for the stonemason, or more likely the apprentice, to practice on the area which would be buried. Of course, since the re-arrangement of the headstones at the church of All Saints with Holy Trinity, some of these stones are now lying flat, and those practice engravings can now be seen. Here’s a couple of examples: in the first, the engraver seems to have practised the whole of the alphabet, while in the second example, only selected letters have been tried out.

Thank you for reading the blog! I have no doubt that I have made some spelling errors, or more likely missed out some words, trying to type too quickly!

Pop back tomorrow for more grave stories!

____________________________________

Posted by lynneaboutloughborough

With apologies for typos which are all mine!

_______________________________________________

Thank you for reading this blog.

Copyright:

Dyer, Lynne (2026). 31 Days of Graves Day 12 Mistake. Available from: https://lynneaboutloughborough.blogspot.com/2026/10/31-days-of-graves-day-12-mistake.html [Accessed 12 October 2026]

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Thank you for reading this blog.

Lynne

Sunday, 11 October 2026

31 Days of Graves Day 11 Interesting Epitaph

Numerous of the gravestones I looked at could fall into the category of bearing an interesting epitaph, so it was quite difficult to make a choice of what to include.

Below is the memorial to William Howard Rendall Gibbs, found in the old cemetery on Leicester Road. William’s parents, William John and Edith Elizabeth, nee Bromhead, were married at Emmanuel church on 27 April 1887. William was a coal and builder’s merchant, along with some of his brothers, who had their business on Station Street. The family lived at West Leigh, No.115 Ashby Road, a home with 10 rooms. Edith died in 1914, and William married again, to Gertrude, and he himself died in 1938, leaving quite a substantial sum of money. Sadly, their only child, William Howard Rendall Gibbs died in Bedford on 17th November 1905, aged 17.

Here’s the full inscription

To the

Precious memory of

Our only child

William Howard Rendell Gibbs

Born on Good Friday March 30th 1888

Passed into eternity Nov. 17th 1905

“Thine for ever may we be”

Also sacred to the memory of

Edith Elizabeth Gibbs

Beloved wife of

William John Gibbs

Born July 18th 1855 died July 21st 1914

“His banner over us is love”

In loving remembrance

William John Gibbs

May 26th 1859

August 21st 1938

Also Gertrude beloved 2nd wife of the above

Died November 9th 1952 aged 70 years

The following memorial to Marguerite (Rita) Williams, also in the old cemetery on Leicester Road, says:

In cherished memory of

Marguerite,

(Rita)

The loving wife of the

Rev. W. Charles William

Wesleyan Methodist Minister

Loughborough

Lifter higher

April 3rd 1900.

She was always pleasant.

She “was not. For God took” her.

Over in the churchyard at All Saints with Holy Trinity on Steeple Row is a memorial to Elizabeth, wife of Richard Nicklinson, and to Richard himself. Richard and Elizabeth Chapman were married at All Saints church on 18 June 1809.

Richard had been an apprentice to master grocer, John Toone, a few years earlier. By 1832 he owned a property on Mill Street (now Market Street) which was let out to Edward Chesterton. In 1835 Richard was listed in a trade directory as a brush maker, Secretary of the Permanent (subscription) Library on Baxter Gate, and an oil and colour man working on Baxter Gate. In 1841, Richard was a brush maker, and had a freehold property on Baxter Gate, again let out to Chesterton, although Richard was also conducting his business – as a brush maker, and a dry salter, from Baxter Gate, as well as being an insurance agent for the Manchester, based on High Street.

A couple of years before his death, Richard was a brush manufacturer, an oil and colour man, and an agent for Pelican Life and Manchester Fire Offices, his business still being based on Baxter Gate.

The full inscription reads:

In memory of

Elizabeth

Wife of

Richard Nicklinson

And daughter of

Samuel and Elizabeth Chapman

After a long and painful affliction

She died at peace with God

And all mankind

An humble following of her Saviour

On the 24th day of May 1850

Aged 603 years

Also of

Richard Nicklinson

Husband of the above

Who died March 21 1856

Aged 72 years

He was much respected by a nume

rous acquaintance both rich and

poor, the latter of whom he was a

sincere friend and helper.

Also sincerely mourned by

those to whom he had been

a friend and father.

The following memorial stone, also in the churchyard of All Saints, needs no explanation. It is hard to read due to weathering and the weather.

Transcription of the inscription

The

Lord gave and

the Lord hath

taken away;

Blessed be the

name of the

Lord

In memory of

HANNAH, wife of John TROTH,

who died in child-bed, July

25th 1826, Aged 30 years

A loving Wife, a Friend sincere,

Seven Babes with her lie Bury'd here;

A Christian faithfull just and true,

who liv'd and die'd with Heaven in view,

In Christ the Lord she put her trust,

Now Earth to Earth and Dust to Dust

But e'er she'd been a Wife seven years,

She was took from this Vale of Tears;

The seventh Infant ne'er was bom,

But caus'd her Death, and Friends to mourn,

But now she's Bless'd, among'st the just,

Earth to Earth and Dust to Dust.

Not all her Friends nor Doctor's art,

Could to her aid or help impart;

But when the Trumpet's hallow'd sound

Shall thro' Death's silent Vaults resound;

She'll rise! triumphant with the just

Awake to life - and quit the Dust

How lov'd how Valu'd once; avail'd thee not.

By whom respected, or by whome begot:

A heap of Dust alone remains of thee

is all thou art - and all ¬the proud shall be

This Stone was erected by her surviving

... ... ... solemn …

Finally, this memorial stone to John White was originally in the churchyard of the Wood gate Baptist Chapel, but now stands in the grounds of the Old Rectory. I haven’t researched John White of Cotes, so here is my photograph, and my transcription of his memorial:

Beneath

Are deposited the mortal remains of

John White of Cotes

Who during a period of more than

forty years was a regular mem

ber of the Christian Church as

sembling in the adjoining Chapel

his attachment to the Redeemer’s

cause was sincere and unabated

his zeal for its advancement was

manifested by personal assertion

and pecuniary sacrifices. In tend

ernes of conjugal and fraternal

affection and the punctual dis

charge of the relative and special

duties few have exceeded him.

The stroke by which he was sep

arated from his affectionate fam

ily, his brethren and a wide circle

of friends was awfully sudden

being summoned to an exchange

of worlds by an apoplectic seizure

under which on the 27th of

January 1825

The remainder of the inscription is beneath the soil, but I did find something on the internet which might be the completion of it:

“in the 62nd year of his age, after an affliction of a few hours only he sank late the arms of death.”

These are just some of the unique memorials to be found in our cemeteries.

____________________________________

Posted by lynneaboutloughborough

With apologies for typos which are all mine!

_______________________________________________

Thank you for reading this blog.

Copyright:

Dyer, Lynne (2026). 31 Days of Graves Day 11 Interesting Epitaph. Available from: https://lynneaboutloughborough.blogspot.com/2026/10/31-days-of-graves-day-11-interesting.html [Accessed 11 October 2026]

Take down policy:

External Links:

Blog archive and tags:

Searching the blog:

site: https://lynneaboutloughborough.blogspot.com/ “Radmoor House”

NOTE – the words you’re actually looking for must be in “” and the first of these must be preceded by a space

Thank you for reading this blog.

Lynne

Saturday, 10 October 2026

31 Days of Graves Day 10 Profession

This is a very tricky theme to deal with! I’ve interpreted ‘profession’ to mean occupation. We’ve already met an apothecary and a matmaker on Day 8, but which of these other professions to write about?? I’ve stuck to writing about only those people whose profession or occupation is noted on their memorial stone, tempting though it is to include other people I know about!

In the churchyard of All Saints with Holy Trinity as well as William Green the butcher, we also have the Newberry dynasty of butchers. Thomas Harriman was a carpenter, and Joseph Blunt a draper. Thomas Cresswell was a hatter, and James Mitchell an ironmonger and cutler. There is also Alpheus Buck, the plumber, Thomas Stanley the postmaster, and the Wells family of innkeepers. Naturally, there are clergy, like William James Whitaker, but also John Smith, servant to the Rev. James Bickham.

So far, I have only found one midwife commemorated amongst the stones – Catherine Mottershaw, née Foreman, who married William Mottershaw in about 1859. Let’s take a closer look at the memorial stone inscription:

Sacred to the memory of

CATHARINE FOREMAN

Midwife

late Wife of

Willm MOTTERSHAW

she departed this Life

September 11th 1784;

Aged 48 Years

Meanwhile, over in the Leicester Road old cemetery, we find bellfounders (members of the Taylor family) and members of the clergy in the Rev. David Dewar of Holy Trinity church. Former mayors, councillors, and JPs are also well-represented with memorials to Thomas Mayo (known as the grand old man of Loughborough) who was mayor 9 times; George Hill, and Hilda Dormer, the first woman mayor of Loughborough, in 1947-1948 (pictured below). John Sparrow was a journalist who died at the young age of 27 in 1886. There are also a few memorials to head teachers, including James Upton (whose school was attended by Ion Livingston Gimson whom we met on Day 2), and William Hollinshead, head teacher of Rosebery School, who died from injuries sustained when falling from a ladder at the school.

Thank you for coming along on this journey of discovery with me!

____________________________________

Posted by lynneaboutloughborough

With apologies for typos which are all mine!

_______________________________________________

Thank you for reading this blog.

Copyright:

Dyer, Lynne (2026). 31 Days of Graves Day 10 Profession. Available from: https://lynneaboutloughborough.blogspot.com/2026/10/31-days-of-graves-day-10-profession.html [Accessed 10 October 2026]

Take down policy:

External Links:

Blog archive and tags:

Searching the blog:

site: https://lynneaboutloughborough.blogspot.com/ “Radmoor House”

NOTE – the words you’re actually looking for must be in “” and the first of these must be preceded by a space

Thank you for reading this blog.

Lynne

Friday, 9 October 2026

31 Days of Graves Day 9 Mysterious

So, here I am, wondering what exactly the definition of mysterious might be!! Hopefully, open to interpretation, and hopefully, I’ve found something that fits the bill. But, most certainly not my first offering …

You might be able to tell from the photograph, that this Swithland slate gravestone in the churchyard of All Saints with Holy Trinity, is quite a lot smaller than the ones which surround it. In hindsight, my research rucksack should have included a tape measure. There is nothing mysterious about this memorial: on its small face it contains much information, other than the cause of the poor little boy’s death.

Here lieth the Body of

THEOPHILUS, Son of

Theops & Eliz: HENSHAW

He died Sept 28th 1745 Aged

2 Years 2 Months & 10 Days

My dearest friends do not lament

Since Death shook ¬his Alarms

Twas but the Voice my Saviour sent

To Call me to his Arms

The other headstone I’d like to share with you is found in the same cemetery, but is standing upright, resting on the grassy bank, facing Steeple Row. When I say upright, at first glance it seems to be so, but actually it’s the wrong way upright! By which I mean it’s standing in a portrait position, but should be in a landscape position. Its position and the weathering makes the inscription unreadable.

This is clearly a headstone that was never meant to be stand upright. It’s more likely it is from the sides of a more elaborate structure, perhaps a brick tomb, or similar, and probably had matching stones either adjacent or on the other tomb faces. We might see something similar when we get to Day 29 of this challenge. In the meantime, here’s the photograph

The above memorial stone lies fairly close to another one, which might be significant. This particular stone is also upright, and stands almost opposite the door to the church. It is clearly only part of the memorial, as it is much larger than the ones which surround it. The inscription reads:

In this vault

are interred the remains of

Henry Whatton Esq.

My personal opinion is that the above two stones are part of the same vault. My question is, are they both slate (the first one doesn't look like it, so I need to go back and check in the churchyard), and if they are slate, and were attached to a stone or brick vault, would the nature of Swithland slate (difficlut to slice cleanly, which often leaves the backs very rough, with chisel markes) make them difficult to attach, or are they Welsh slate - or maybe they are too early for such? Something to research for another day!!

____________________________________

Posted by lynneaboutloughborough

With apologies for typos which are all mine!

_______________________________________________

Thank you for reading this blog.

Copyright:

Dyer, Lynne (2026). 31 Days of Graves Day 9 Mysterious. Available from: https://lynneaboutloughborough.blogspot.com/2026/10/31-days-of-graves-day-9-mysterious.html [Accessed 9 October 2026]

Take down policy:

External Links:

Blog archive and tags:

Searching the blog:

site: https://lynneaboutloughborough.blogspot.com/ “Radmoor House”

NOTE – the words you’re actually looking for must be in “” and the first of these must be preceded by a space

Thank you for reading this blog.

Lynne

Thursday, 8 October 2026

31 Days of Graves Day 8 1700-1799

Until now, most of the headstones we’ve looked at have been found in the old part of the Leicester Road cemetery. This opened in 1856, at a time when other burial grounds represented a health hazard, and when they were reaching capacity. One advantage of the new cemetery was that people from all denominations could be buried in the same cemetery, albeit in separate areas, where previously other places of worship, like non-conformist chapels would have had their own burial ground.

So, it’s unlikely we’ll find any headstones dating back to the 1700s in the Leicester Road cemetery. The ones presented here are all in the churchyard of All Saints with Holy Trinity, the parish church.

Thomas Towers was an apothecary, married to Grace Burnett. Thomas was born in 1693, and Grace in 1687, and the couple married on 29 October 1726 in the parish of St Martins in Stamford (currently in Lincs.). They had two children, Burnett born in 1727, who died at the age of 19 in 1746, and Margaret (dates unknown). Thomas was a master apothecary, and in 1729 had two apprentices, being Septimus Jolley of Wigston, and John Guttridge of Loughborough. Thomas died in 1773, Grace in 1752.

Here’s the transcription of the Swithland slate gravestone:

In memory

Of Thomas Towers Apothecary

And Grace his wife

He died the 18th of Nov 1773 Aged 80

She died the 30th of Sep 1752 Aged 45

Also in memory

Of Burnett & Margaret their children

Burnett died the 9th of Jan 1746

Aged 19 years

Sadly, the inscription relating to Margaret is beneath the soil.

Another Swithland slate gravestone, with its details appearing in a circular shape, is the memorial to Jane Webster, wife of Joseph, who died in 1727. Each of the top corners is adorned with an engraved angel, very similar to a Belvoir Angel. Here’s the transcription:

Here lyeth

The body of Jane

The wife of Joseph Webster

Who departed this life Septembr

The 22d. Anno Dom 1727

Aged 45

The remainder of the inscription is below the soil level.

The headstones in the parish churchyard were re-arranged in the 1960s, so some are standing upright in clusters, some are laying upright around the perimeter of the graveyard and the raised grassy areas, while others are laid out flat on the ground, forming a pathway. The next headstone is one of the latter. It reads:

Here

lieth interr'd the body

of Mr. Daniel Farmer who

departed this life on the 13th day

of January A.D. 1734 in the 80th

year of his age

Like the memorial to Jane Webster, this stone has two Belvoir Angel-like engravings.

The memorial to John Dod and his with Ann is divided into two. Looking at the left-hand side, we find the details relating to John, and on the right-hand side, the details relating to Ann. The couple died 10 years apart.

Here

lieth the body of

John Dod

He departed this life

the 15th Day of Feb

1764

Aged 62 Years

Here Also

lieth the body of

Ann his wife

She departed this life

the 4th day of Apr

1774

Aged 66 years

William Robinson and his wife Elizabeth, who both lived into their 80s, are also commemorated in this churchyard. Often, the occupation of the deceased was mentioned on the memorial stone, and in this case we learn that William was a matmaker.

Here lies the body

of William Robinson

Mat-maker, who departed

this life August the 18^th

1779 aged 83 year

Allso of Elizabeth

his wife, She died

Jan the 6th 1798

aged 80 years

Thank you for reading about today's gravestones. Pop back tomorrow for stones on a different theme.

____________________________________

Posted by lynneaboutloughborough

With apologies for typos which are all mine!

_______________________________________________

Thank you for reading this blog.

Copyright:

Dyer, Lynne (2026). 31 Days of Graves Day 8 1700-1799. Available from: https://lynneaboutloughborough.blogspot.com/2026/10/31-days-of-graves-day-8-1700-1799.html [Accessed 8 October 2026]

Take down policy:

External Links:

Blog archive and tags:

Searching the blog:

site: https://lynneaboutloughborough.blogspot.com/ “Radmoor House”

NOTE – the words you’re actually looking for must be in “” and the first of these must be preceded by a space

Thank you for reading this blog.

Lynne

Lynne About Loughborough

Pages

Monday, 12 October 2026

31 Days of Graves Day 12 Mistake

Sunday, 11 October 2026

31 Days of Graves Day 11 Interesting Epitaph

Saturday, 10 October 2026

31 Days of Graves Day 10 Profession

Friday, 9 October 2026

31 Days of Graves Day 9 Mysterious

Thursday, 8 October 2026

31 Days of Graves Day 8 1700-1799

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