In memory of

The gravestone of Leonard Loveridge Parker in the churchyard of the parish church of Stewkley, Buckinghamshire. It’s believed his wife Lemontina Draper is commemorated on the reverse but that side is face down on the grass. Photo courtesy of Dianne Sutton.

The grave of Lementeni Smith (1841-1927; also known as ‘Clementina’), her husband Thomas Mullenger (1828-1892) and their daughter Pamela Sillers (1861-1937) at Layton Cemetery, Blackpool, Lancashire. These Smith Gypsies had their origins in East Anglia but migrated to Lancashire in the 1870s.

The grave of Keomi Gray (1841-1914) and her husband Charles Bonnett at Gorleston Cemetery, Norfolk.

The gravestone of Arthur Widdows and his wife Ellen Gray, better known as ‘Nellie Gray’ (1876-1957). The daughter of Keomi Gray and Charles Bonnett, Nellie was the subject of at least two fine portraits by Sir Alfred Munnings.

The graves of Kurlinda/Corlinda Lee (1831-1900), the wife of George Lazzy Smith (left), and of their son Ernest Smith (1870-1898) (right), in the Western Necropolis Cemetery, Glasgow, Scotland.

The gravestone of Ambrose Smith (Borrow’s ‘Jasper Petulengro’, born c1804, died 1878) and of his son Thomas Smith (c1837-1879). It stands in the kirkyard at Dunbar, Midlothian, Scotland.

The gravestone of Edward Boswell (1815-1892) and his wife Siari Draper (1822-1904), well known as the fortune-teller ‘Gipsy Sarah’, at Layton Cemetery, Blackpool, Lancashire.

The grave marker of Elvy Whitney (c1898-1972), the wife of Noah Whitney, that once stood in the churchyard at Hatfield Broad Oak, Essex. It’s been hand-made from a wooden table top and hand-painted, possibly by the son named on it, Noah William.

The gravestone of Angelina Smith (c1870-1889) and Frank Smith (c1883-1813), the daughter and son of Walter Smith and Matilda Gaskin. It stands in Gorleston Cemetery, Norfolk.

The memorial card of Delia Taylor (c1841-1911), the widow of James Draper.

The memorial card of Julia Robinson, nee Boswell (1850-1889), the daughter of Silvester Boswell and Florence Chilcott and the wife of Elias Robinson.

The twin graves of the Smith, Chilcott and Lee families in Flaybrick Cemetery, Birkenhead, Cheshire. Elizabeth Smith (1807-1883) and two of her grandsons, Charles Henry Smith (1864-1897; with mason’s mark) and Frederick Smith (1866-1880) are commemorated on one and Ruth Chilcott (1788-1866), Charles Chilcott (1827-1865) and Union Lee nee Chilcott (1814-1883) on the other.

The gravestone of Inverto Boswell (died 1774) at the parish church of Calne, Wiltshire. The tomb originally stood in the churchyard but has now been set into the outside wall of the church itself.

The grave of Juilia Robinson (nee Boswell) in Layton Cemetery, Blackpool. Juilia was the wife of Elias Robinson and the daughter of Silvester Boswell and Florence Chilcott. She was born in 1850 in Sefton, Lancashire, and died in Blackpool in 1889. Her memorial card is also in this Gallery.

The monument to the hop-pickers in the churchyard of St Mary’s church in Hadlow, Kent. It commemorates the lives of the 30 Romany Gypsies and Irish Travellers who drowned in the nearby River Medway in an accident on 20 October 1853, the so-called Hartlake Disaster. It’s believed that the monument represents an oast house, used for the drying of hops.

The grave of members of the Chilcott, Lee and Slender families in the churchyard in Kesgrave, Suffolk. It commemorates John Chilcott (1823-1851), his sister Rosabella Chilcott (1831-1857), his niece Repronia Lee (1847-1862) and a child called Noah Slender (1847-1851). Note the fine carving of a man holding the bridle of a horse, believed to represent horse-dealer John Chilcott.