The Roof Bosses of South Tawton

One of the more remarkable architectural features of many churches in Devon are the roof bosses. Carved of oak in the 14th and 15th centuries, they survived not only the widespread destruction of images during the English Reformation of the 16th century, but also the "restoration" of many churches by the Victorians in the 19th.

Two of the five North Devon churches which I have "adopted" as part of the Devon OPC project have good collections of roof bosses: St Peter's, Tawstock and St Mary's, Atherington. One of the more interesting collections, however, is found further south at St Andrews, South Tawton, on the northern edge of Dartmoor. During my recent trip to England I made a point to visit South Tawton.

The paired male and female heads at the top of the page represent idle talk or gossip. "Sinful speech" was a serious concern of the late medieval church , and complaints about gossip were a recurring feature of Middle English literature.

The foliate head or "green man" is found in many Devon churches. The carvings tend to be both beautiful and sinister. South Tawton has several including the one above. The symbolism of the foliate head is a topic of some debate. The green man is commonly thought to be a pagan symbol of fertility. Another interpretation, more in line with Christian teaching, is that the green man is a symbol of rebirth or resurrection.

The meaning of the three hares is uncertain. A modern myth is that the three hares are "Tinner's Rabbits" and represent an association with Dartmoor's medieval tinners. The South Tawton church guide states that the three hares represents the Trinity, although this is unlikely to be a medieval interpretation. Another theory associates the three hares with the Virgin Mary as hares were thought capable of virgin birth.

The hares may have have a negative connotation. The Middle English poem The Names of the Hare lists many disparaging names: the lurker in ditches, the filthy beast, the coward, the traitor, the friendless one, the one who makes you shudder, the covenant-breaker, the animal that all men scorn, the animal that no one dares name. It is also possible that the three hares represent the three  temptations of the flesh, the world, and the devil.

The horned headdress depicted in this roof boss was frequently condemned in religious tracts of the late medieval period because of its associations with the devil and with the sin of pride. A confessor's manual from the 15th century instructs the confessor to ask woman if they "go about wearing horns and looking outlandish, which is a category of pride."

 

This owl wearing a horned headdress is quite unique. In the late medieval period, screech owls in particular were used to represent sinners. The Alberdeen Bestiary, a early 13th century illuminated manuscript, describes the owl as:

...a filthy bird, because it fouls its nest with its droppings, as the sinner dishonours those with whom he lives, by the example of his evil ways.

The roof boss therefore likely represents the connection between sinners and one those are guilty of pride when they wear "extravagant, vainglorious, outlandish and inordinate apparel" on their heads.

 

Finally, we have this "charming" example of the late medieval woodcutter's craft. The figure appears to be a winged female demon displaying its genitalia, and most certainly represents the sin of lust. The figure is also similar in appearance to stone carvings known as sheela na gigs which typically depict a naked female pulling apart her vulva. Not surprisingly, postcards of this particular roof boss are not for sale inside the church.

Churchcrawling and Cheese

A selection of English cheeses

It sometimes seems that I spent my entire summer vacation visiting cemeteries and photographing gravestones. Of course this summer, quite a few of the gravestones were in England.

England was a somewhat unusual experience for me this time around. As usual, I was met by my brother who has lived in England for the past forty years. This time, however, I flew into Gatwick (south of London) instead of Exeter (southwest England). Instead of two weeks in Devon, we spent one week in North Devon and one week in the Cotswolds. And instead of the usual cool temperatures and frequent showers, it was clear skies and warm temperatures. Ironically, I had packed an umbrella but had forgotten to pack a hat.

 

North Devon

My focus in North Devon was once again on the five parishes for which I am the volunteer Online Parish Clerk. I finally was able to view the interiors of St Mary's, Atherington and St Mary's High Bickington. Both churches were closed for roof repairs the last time I was in England.
 

Rood screen and loft

at Atherington, Devon

Of the two churches, Atherington is the most interesting. While High Bickington has carved bench ends, Atherington has roof bosses, a rood screen and loft, effigies, brasses, mural monuments, ledger stones, old stained glass, as well as unusual crocketed bench-ends. Needless to say we spent a lot of time at Atherington, and not as much time at High Bickington. Tawstock, Yarnscombe, and St Giles in the Wood were also visited, as were a number of parishes further south. And of course there were also several trips to Barnstaple to visit the North Devon Record Office.

Devon cream tea

No trip to Devon is complete without a Devon cream tea, but this time around I made my own. I also sampled and purchased a variety of local cheeses available at the West Country Cheese Company in Barnstaple, as well as a variety of Sheppy's ciders. July is also the perfect time to feast on English strawberries and raspberries.

 

The Cotswolds

  On the drive from North Devon to the Cotswolds we stopped in Bath, and also spent a hour or so in the "quaint" Cotswold village of Lower Slaughter. Incidentally, "Slaughter" has nothing to do with killing. It's derived from the Old English word slothre meaning "muddy place."

Gravestone at Duns Tew

Finally we headed to Lyneham, Oxford our base for the second week.

The focus now was tourism rather than family history. Still, we spent one day church crawling around Banbury trying to locate gravestones for some of our Lymath ancestors. We did find quite a few, but unfortunately are still no closer to solving the mystery of my great-great-grandfather George Lymath. I also learned that Cotswold stone makes for picturesque cottages but hard to read gravestones.

Tourist destinations included Blenheim Palace, Gloucester Cathedral, Christ Church Cathedral in Oxford, the Rollright Stones, Sudeley Castle, White Horse Hill and Chastleton House.

Then it was back to Gatwick for the return flight to Canada.

Cornelius Lambert (1758-1818)

Before

I recently had the opportunity to revisit Homer Cemetery near St Catharines, Ontario. I photographed this cemetery for CanadaGenWeb's Cemetery Project last summer, and wrote about its neglected state on this blog.

Not much has changed. The grass is mowed but continues to encroach on the many gravestones that lie flat on the ground. The trunks of two fallen trees continues to obscure several gravestones at the rear of the cemetery.

I spent a few minutes carefully clearing the grass and soil from a gravestone that I had neglected to clean last summer. Here is the result:

After

Little is known about Elizabeth (1767-1845), and not much more is known about her husband Cornelius Lambert (1758-1818). Cornelius was born in New Jersey and was a Loyalist during the American Revolution. He served with Butler's Rangers for six years during the Revolution, was promoted to Corporal, and was discharged in 1784. As a Loyalist he was granted Lots 144, 145 and 146 in Niagara Township. By 1787 he was married and had two children. In 1796 he petitioned the crown for additional land, stating that he had five sons, and consequently received 250 acres in Beverley Township. Elizabeth was likely the daughter of another Loyalist refugee family.

After the War of 1812, Cornelius made a claim for losses that occurred during the fighting. In the summer of 1813, Native allies of the British had taken two "fat hogs" and one "young ox" as well as a saddle, two bridles, and a pair of boots. In November of 1813, American troops took from Cornelius a horse and steer, as well as a quantity of oats, wheat, and hay. In his claim, Cornelius also noted that the traitor Joseph Willcocks had seized 17 1/2 pounds of beef. 

In his will, Cornelius split the Niagara property amongst his five sons. Cornelius is also frequently mentioned in the journals of Francis Goring, and his son Robert Lambert (1795-1873) married Francis's daughter Lucretia Caroline Goring (1799-1872).

A Burford Tragedy

Seven children of Daniel and Julia Ann Utter

Losing a child to illness was a common occurrence in nineteenth century Ontario. Losing seven in 16 days, however, was a tragedy beyond imagination. I discovered this tragedy while photographing gravestones in Northfield Cemetery for CanadaGenWeb's Cemetery Project.

Daniel Utter was a blacksmith who lived in Burford Township southwest of Brantford, Ontario. Daniel was born in 1832 in Trafalgar Township, Halton County, the son of Daniel Utter and Elizabeth Kinder. Daniel and his brother David (1818-1903) moved west to Burford in the early 1850s. In 1855, Daniel married Julia Ann Hainer (1838-1899), daughter of John Hainer (1795-1860) and Nancy Bowman (1808-1892).

Large families were common in nineteenth century Ontario, and Daniel and Julia Ann followed this trend. Their first child, John, was born in 1859. By the time of the 1871 the family had grown to six children with the addition of Anna (1862), Melissa (1864), Mary (1866), Charles (1869) and Rosy Bell (1871). William (1873) and Nancy followed (1875). But in 1877 tragedy struck. One of the children, most likely 11-year-old Mary, contracted diphtheria just before Christmas.

Diphtheria is a high contagious and potentially fatal respiratory infection. Although it has been largely eradicated through routine immunization, it is still endemic in some parts of the world. Until the introduction of a vaccine in the 1920s, diphtheria was a common cause of child mortality in Canada and the United States.

Mary died first on December 24th. Melissa died on Christmas Day, followed by Annie, Charles and Nancy two days later. William died on the January 7th and Rose Bell succumbed the following day. The only child to survive was 18-year-old John, most likely because he working away from home at the time.

All seven children were buried in Northfield Cemetery in Burford Township. Daniel and Julia Ann eventually had three more children: Nancy (1880-1948), William (1882- ?) and Elroy (1886- ?). Daniel and Julia Ann remained in Burford Township for the rest of their lives and were buried with their children: Julia Ann in 1899 and Daniel in 1920. Their son John was buried at Northfield in 1928.

Mount Pleasant Cemetery

Gravestones at Mount Pleasant Cemetery,
Nichol, Wellington, Ontario

Mount Pleasant is a small rural non-denominational cemetery located in what was once Nichol Township north of Guelph, Ontario. The hundred or so gravestones form a large horseshoe around a open grassed area. Gravestones on the east and north sides of the cemetery are in good condition and record deaths as early as 1861 and as late as 2012.

Abraham J. Flewwelling
(1789-1849)

The same is not true for gravestones on the west side of the cemetery, especially in the southwest corner. Whether because of vandalism or age, many of these stones are broken or toppled, and no attempt has been made to repair them. When I photographed the cemetery for the Canada Genweb Cemetery Project, I discovered a large number of headstones, footstones and pieces of headstones stacked against trees, other gravestones, and the corner post of the cemetery. Despite this I managed to locate and photograph all but one of the gravestones transcribed by the Ontario Genealogical Society in 1988.
  

The cemetery was originally part of the property of Abraham Jewel Flewwelling. Flewwelling was the first settler in the area, having arrived in Nichol Township in 1827 with his wife, Martha Livermore, and seven children. Flewwelling was born in New Brunswick in 1789, the son of an United Empire Loyalist of Welsh descent. Six additional children were born after the family came to Upper Canada (Ontario). Flewwelling died in 1849. His burial place is marked by a simple rectangular marble gravestone.

  

Jane Gaball (1843-1873)

The earliest gravestone in this cemetery is that of Henry Metcalf, who died in 1844 at the age of 46 years, having emigrated to Upper Canada in 1833. Henry was born in Yorkshire, England, and had lived near Buffalo, New York for three years prior to coming to Nichol Township.

Many of the older gravestones bear motifs and epitaphs. The gravestone of Jane Watt (1843-1873), wife of John Gaball, displays a clenched hand with one finger pointing upwards, indicating the pathway to heaven. Jane was born in Scotland, and died three days after giving birth to her fourth child. Her epitaph reads:

In death's cold arms lies sleeping here
A tender parent, a companion dear:
In love she lived, in peace she died,
Her life was asked, but was denied.

Moffat United Cemetery

Moffat United Cemetery, Nassagaweya, Halton, Ontario

Moffat United Cemetery is a small graveyard located in Nassagaweya Township southeast of Guelph, Ontario.  The 59 stones record deaths as early as 1855 and as late as 1990. The cemetery was originally the graveyard for the Bethany Methodist Episcopal Church (later Moffat United), however, the church was converted into a private home many years ago.

George Allison (1809-1885)

Unlike many of the cemeteries that I have photographed for the Canada GenWeb Cemetery Project, Moffat is very well kept. No pruning of bushes, no cutting back of encroaching grass, and no cleaning was needed in order to photograph all the stones. While some of the stones are in several pieces, they were at one point been restored, most often through the use of metal frames. Inscriptions for the most part are still quite readable, and only two stones have disappeared since the 1976 Ontario Genealogical Society transcription.

The most common surname is the graveyard is Allison. George Allison (1809-1885) emigrated from Yorkshire and settled in Nassagawaya in 1831, on land he purchased from the Canada Company. In 1877 his son Jacob sold part of his property to the Methodist Episcopal Church, and a red-brick building was erected soon after. The graveyard, however, had existed for a number of years prior to this sale.

Sarah King (1824-1858)

The most visually interesting gravestone in the graveyard is that of Sarah, the wife of Charles King, who died in 1858 at the age of 34. Unfortunately, nothing is known about Sarah, since Charles King was no longer living in the area at the time of the 1861 Census.

Nassagaweya Township was created in 1819, and is one of four historical townships in Halton County. The land for the township was purchased from the Mississauga First Nation, and its name is based on the Mississauga word meaning "river with two outlets."

A Peasant Girl Pick-Pocket

Ilfracombe, Devon in the 1890s

My great-great-grandmother Margaret Mock was born in Braunton, Devon in 1851. Margaret was the youngest of ten children born to James Mock (1804-1882)  and Catherine Thomas (1808- ?). It is not certain when Margaret's mother died. What is known is that by 1861, James was a widower living in Ilfracombe, Devon with his daughter Mary Ann, his son George (1849-1922), my great-great-grandmother Margaret, and Mary Ann's twin daughters, Caroline (1854-1908) and Selina (1854-1922).

Margaret eventually married a mariner, Joseph Snow Pittaway (1852-1927), and moved to Watchet, Somerset. Her story is not that unusual. What is somewhat unusual is the story of two of Margaret's sisters: Mary Ann and Elizabeth.

Mary Ann was born in Braunton in 1833. When she was twenty and unmarried, she became pregnant, and twin girls were born in January of 1854. Again, not all that unusual. However, starting in 1865, Mary Ann went on to have seven more illegitimate children.

In the 1871 Census, Mary Ann's occupation is listed as laundress, however, one cannot escape the conclusion that Mary Ann had become a prostitute. Ilfracombe was an important Bristol Channel port so demand for such services would have been significant. Poverty was certainly a factor as Mary Ann's father is listed as either a Greenwich pensioner or a labourer in census data.

Mary Ann and her children did eventually gain some respectability. When Mary Ann died in 1908, a death notice appeared in the North Devon Journal. Her son John Henry Mock (1866-1938) apprenticed as a plumber and according to his obituary in the North Devon Journal was "a familiar figure in Ilfracombe" and "well-known, especially among the older inhabitants of the town."

Mary Ann's sister Elizabeth Mock was born in Braunton in 1839 and was living there with her parents in 1851. In November 1856, however, Elizabeth was charged with picking pockets at the Barnstaple Market.

The North Devon Journal's account of Elizabeth's appearance before the Barnstaple Magistrates is quite lengthy. Elizabeth had been sent by her parents to Barnstaple to pawn some of her mother's dresses, as a consequence of "wages having not been paid for the last three weeks." Having received a half crown from the pawnbroker, Elizabeth then went to the market, picked the pocket of one woman, but was caught when she tried to pick the pocket of another.

The article describes in detail the fourteen stolen items recovered including a "pink lozenge" and "a piece of red sealing-wax. The stolen coin amount to 6¾ pence. Elizabeth herself is described as a "dextrous thief" and "a peasant girl pick-pocket." The author of the article adds, "From the dexterity show by the girl in the plundering art, it was conjectured that she much have been under instruction in that line at least." No evidence, however, was presented to support this opinion. Elizabeth was committed to trial, and at the next Quarter Sessions was sentenced to six weeks imprisonment.

Five years later Elizabeth was in trouble once again, this time for stealing a quantity of bacon. In October 1860, Elizabeth entered the Newport shop of George White and asked for a halfpenny worth of milk. While the shopkeeper's wife was occupied fetching the milk, Elizabeth concealed a 2¾ pound piece of bacon beneath her cape. The theft was discovered shortly after she left the shop, and the police arrested her a few hours later.

Elizabeth was "sentenced to imprisonment with hard labour for six calendar months," which she served in the Barnstaple Gaol.

After her release, Elizabeth joined her sister Mary Ann and her father in Ilfracombe.  Like her sister, Elizabeth may have turned to prostitution, as three illegitimate children were born to her over the next few years.

It should also be mentioned that Elizabeth's father James was himself known to the police. In 1849 he had been sentenced to one month imprisonment for larceny as a consequence for stealing "two ash boards."

Elizabeth died in Ilfracombe in 1887. She was 48.

Sources:

Exeter Flying Post, Thursday, 11 Jan 1849
North Devon Journal, Thursday, 29 Nov 1855
Western Times, Saturday, 19 Jan 1856
North Devon Journal, Thursday, 25 Oct 1860
North Devon Journal, Thursday, 10 Jan 1861