Hello
I have a source that refers to a "monumental inscription at Oswestry Old Church" on the grave of Ann Samuel (d 1827) wife of William, a local stonemason.
Can anyone tell me which church/graveyard this might be, if the stone is likely to exist and/or if there might be a transcription somewhere?
Many thanks
Paul
Thanks Mike
"Transactions of the Shropshire Archaeological and Natural History Society", Page 151 (VOL. VI. 1883 ?) lists monumental inscriptions at Oswestry Old Church and one of these is:
"Ann wife of William Samuel, stonemason, d. Oct. 6, 1827"
The book is available via a Google Books search, I'm unsure about the exact date of the publication but I think it's 1883.
I also have copies of William's catalogues of stone items courtesy of Shropshire Archives. One imagines as a stonemason his wife's gravestone would have been made to last!
Best regards
Paul
Hello Paul
The SFHS were not previously aware of this page of information although we did know about some inscriptions on pages 363-364 of the same volume.
Unfortunately Google Books only allows a snippet view of this book so I can't look at the remainder of the page or the previous or following pages to help put it into some form of context. I will try to find a local copy of the text to determine how much information is available.
Bearing in mind that this gravestone would be nearly two hundred years old now it is very much a matter of luck whether it survives. Because the source on Google doesn't offer any clue as to the location of the stone within the churchyard it might want some serious searching to locate it.
It is most unlikely there will be any other transcript information beyond that which you have already found.
Mike
Mike
I was expecting to have to search (and be lucky!) to find the actual grave, my question was really about which church is referred to by 'Oswestry Old Church' so I could take a look when I visit the town.
Best regards
Paul
Hello Paul
The 'Old' church must be St Oswald's.
Another parish, Holy Trinity, was formed 2 Dec 1842, so this is after the burial of Ann SAMUEL in 1827.
Mike
There was the Old Chapel (which I believe is not the Kingswell Centre) near the Oswestry library. I am fairly certain I saw a MI booklet for that place in the library and there is also this:
Which I know the library has.
http://www.oswestrygenealogy.org.uk/
Would be a good place to ask, since those people have a lot to do with the library's genealogy holdings.
Thanks again both, more useful resources there! :)
Paul
Although this volume is only available in snippet view form at Google Books, the full text is available in various formats at archive.org
http://archive.org/details/transactionsshr00britgoog
It is interesting to note that even back then, the author remarked that his list was only "as complete a list as it is possible to make now that so many of the inscriptions are all but obliterated by age and bad usage."
The article runs from pages 133 to 182 and looks to be a valuable resource, particularly given that "age and bad usage" have doubtless obliterated many inscriptions since this transcription was made.
Steve
Hello Paul
Following on from Steve's posting above I have had a look at the transcript. Unfortunately there is no plan to indicate where each stone was situated but if you go to the end of the Oswestry entry it says:-
"The plan adopted in the foregoing list has been to take the inscriptions as they come, beginning with those adjoming the Vestry door - going all round the Church - and ending with those under the east window. The mottoes and verses on the tombstones we have not copied, except in a few instances."
Bearing in mind that the stone for the SAMUEL family is listed about 25% of the way through the transcript this can give you a very rough idea of which part of the churchyard to search in. It would probably be a good idea to print the SAMUEL page and the pages either side to see if you can locate the grave stone of anyone else in the transcript which in turn will help you to locate the area of the SAMUEL grave even if the stone does not survive.
Mike
Steve,
I actually looked at archive.org before I posted but I couldn't find the relevant text so assumed I'd found it on google books - thanks for finding it once more! :D
Mike,
Well spotted, that will be very helpful I'm sure. I hope to make the trip in the next few days, I'll post my success or otherwise back here.
Paul
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Hello Paul
Over the last thirty years or so the Shropshire FHS has recorded almost all the gravestones in Shropshire churchyards including some at Oswestry but as far as I can see these don't include your SAMUEL family.
The SFHS data includes some references from early gravestone transcripts from the 1700's and 1800's but again I can't see your family.
It would be interesting to know the source of your information just in case it is a source which has previously been missed.
Mike