Back to my homeland (part 5)

Days 1-4
Days 5-8
Day 9 - Crowland
Day 9 - Croyland Abbey

Day 9 (continued)

It was quite a day for the Cherringtons, but time was short so we pressed on to Thorney Abbey. We don't have any direct ancestral links to Thorney Abbey but there are connections to Thomas Sutton (1829-1906) and a possible connection to the Cherringtons in a roundabout way.

There were two families in which we were interested.  Baley and Buckworth.  James Usill Baley (son of Susanna Usill Baley and Richard Cherrington Baley)married Elizabeth Sutton, daughter of Thomas Sutton; Frances (Fanny) Buckworth (daughter of Rowland and Mary Buckworth) was the wife of Thomas Sutton (our g-g-grandfather's brother).

Both these marriages took place at Thorney Abbey, so it was reasonable to assume that we would find those surnames in the graveyard, also.

 Sometime ago I found the photograph above here. All due credit and full acknowledgment is given to the photographer for capturing this memorial before its inevitable collapse.  When we arrived, all that was standing was the obelisk, which itself is unmarked, so without this older photograph we would never have known whose burial site it was.

The inscription as recorded on the Churchmouse website is as follows:

East side:

 IN MEMORY OF RICHARD WILLIAM 

THE BELOVED SON OF 

RICHARD CHERRINGTON AND MARY BALEY. 

WHO DIED APRIL 27TH 1885 

IN THE 37TH YEAR OF HIS AGE.

West side:

SACRED TO THE MEMORY 

OF MARY 

THE AFFECTIONATE WIFE 

OF RICHARD CHERRINGTON BALEY. 

WHO DEPARTED THIS LIFE 

MARCH 29TH 1849,

IN THE 36TH YEAR OF HER AGE.

North side:

IN AFFECTIONATE REMEMBRANCE OF 

RICHARD CHERRINGTON BALEY 

WHO DIED MAY 29TH 1888 

IN HIS 76TH YEAR.

South side:-

IN LOVING MEMORY OF 

SUSANNA USILL 

THE SECOND WIFE OF 

RICHARD CHERRINGTON BALEY

WHO DIED SEPT. 26TH 1903 

IN THE 86TH YEAR OF HER AGE.
PEACE, PERFECT PEACE

I'm still working on finding out Richard's Cherrington connection.  If, as I suspect, he was a cousin of our own Elizabeth Cherrington, then his son, James, was a distant cousin of his wife's.

The stones are hard to read, having weathered over two hundred years.

However I was gratified to find the burial place of Thomas Sutton's in-laws, the Buckworths.  Unfortunately the shadow of the trees  made it a bit difficult to read or to photograph clearly.

Here is another member of the Buckworth family.

Inside the abbey it was interesting to find this memorial (not one of ours) on the church floor.

More views of Thorney Abbey.

Yes.  It's a boot-scraper.

Away from the Abbey, I took pleasure in seeing this old round house. I love quirky buildings (so why I live in a rectangular box, I don't know) and this is one of many buildings that caught my eye as we travelled.  Interestingly, across the road was this new house.

I like the way "they" have started building new houses less like identical characterless boxes.  New homes in England are nowadays often more in keeping with their surroundings - at least in historical towns like this one.  (I'm not talking about housing estates and frame houses.) You will notice that to give this house the appearance of being older than it is, it has what look like bricked-in windows.  In 1792, owners of houses with 7-9 windows had to pay a tax of 2/- (two shillings), and those with10-19 windows would pay a tax of 4/- so some people avoided the extra tax by bricking in some of their windows. Many 18th century houses can still be seen with bricked in windows, but this one is a brand-new fake.

Next time we head south, to Sussex.