FFHS-NEWS 'THE LOST MEMORIALS OF LOOSE'

Wed May 19 20:33:03 CEST 2010

We have received the following information from the Kent Archaeological
Society:

STORIES OF 'THE LOST MEMORIALS OF LOOSE' ARE NOW ON THE INTERNET

Records of hundreds of people who lived in Loose, near Maidstone, and
adjacent parishes over a period of many centuries are now featured on the
Kent Archaeological Society's website,  <http://www.kentarchaeology.org.uk/>
www.kentarchaeology.org.uk. 

The records, in the form of 340 memorial inscriptions ('MIs') on
gravestones, tablets, tombs and monuments at All Saints' parish church and
Loose Cemetery, were transcribed by Roger Thornburgh, president of the Loose
Area History Society (LAHS) and other members who started work on the
project more than 20 years ago. 

Some of the inscriptions they noted in the 1980s are now illegible, making
the transcriptions an invaluable resource for family historians. 

Furthermore, when the floor of All Saints' was taken up in 2003 during
building work, Roger took the opportunity to record the inscriptions on
gravestones that had previously been hidden. Now that the floor has been
reinstated, only two of these are still visible. 

The earliest recorded Loose MI is for a member of the Lamb family who died
in 1590.

Said Ted Connell, who runs the KAS website: 'The real value of MIs is that
not only do they tell us about people who are buried in our graveyards, they
often provide details of people who once lived in the parish but were buried
abroad - sometimes at sea.

'Although visiting churches and cemeteries to compile MIs is a project that
many family and local historians enjoy, there is nothing they can do about
inscriptions that have been destroyed or eroded over time. But gravestones
are only the "tip of the iceberg" of all the burials in a churchyard. Many
graves were marked with wooden rails that lasted only last a few
generations. Stone gravestones often weather badly and become illegible. And
of course many of the people buried were from poor families who could not
afford a gravestone. 

'Church registers, often dating back to the late 16th century, should
provide a comprehensive list of burials in our churchyards, but we often
find that MIs recorded by our project cannot be cross-referenced to the
church's burial registers - presumably because the sexton or vicar failed to
record them'.

Roger Thornburgh has in some cases cross-referenced deaths recorded on the
Loose MIs with entries in the burial registers The LAHS holds copies of All
Saints' baptism, marriage and burial registers, dating from 1559 to 1843. 

Among the many fascinating details in the Loose MIs are various occupations
of parishioners and their relatives in days gone by. Among them are an
alehouse keeper (Robert Wilkins); a barrister (William Post); two butchers
(Edward Froud and John Mead); a carpenter (John Coomber); a clerk (William
Muddle); a draper (Thomas Pearne); a farmer (Michael Golding), a fuller
(Walter Jones); a husbandman (Thomas Robinson); a maltster (James Castreet);
a merchant (Richard Beale); a miller (Robert Wilson); a music seller (Thomas
Pearne, related to the draper); five papermakers (Thomas French, Henry
French, William Hunt, William Harris and John Farley); three tanners (Thomas
Fisher, William Peene and William Wilkins) and two victuallers (John Farley
and Joseph Silk).

To view the MIs visit  <http://www.kentarchaeology.org.uk/>
www.kentarchaeology.org.uk and from the Home Page navigate to Research and
then to the 'Churchyards MIs' list in 'Library & Visual Records'.

Roger Lewry

FFHS Archives Liaison

archives.liaison at ffhs.org.uk

The Federation of Family History Societies is a Company Limited by Guarantee

Company Number 2930189 (England & Wales) - Registered Charity Number 1038721

Registered Office: Artillery House, 15 Byrom Street, Manchester, England M3
4PF

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