LOCAL HISTORY

A visit to your local cemetery will open up a whole new chapter of history

Side by side with our past

If you want to learn about the history of an area, a look around the often fading headstones of an old cemetery will yield all sorts of results.

In Newport Pagnell, if you allow yourself a stroll around Ousebank cemetery, it is easy to be captured by the many gravestones, some fading with the passing of time, others being ‘devoured’ by the flora that slowly creeps its way over the final resting places of our long lost ancestors and fellow townspeople.

That quick stroll can easily turn into a decidedly longer, contemplative visit.

One fairly unostentatious, well preserved gravestone commemorates Robert Bason, who passed away on November 30, 1889 aged 78 years.

The inscription reads, ‘Who was for 38 years faithful Postman of this town.’

Robert would have been at the heart of the community he served almost four decades, when the town was much smaller and would have been decidedly close-knit.

With such a long period of service, he must have been privy to more than a few secrets, too!

By the time of the 1881 Census, Robert was recorded as having no occupation, being instead listed as a ‘Superannuated Letter Carrier,’ an old-fashioned term, effectively meaning that advancing age had seen him pensioned off.

A little search reveals that Robert was born in Weston Underwood, and his wife, Sarah, came from Stoke Goldington. She was four years younger than her husband, and working as a lacemaker.

Even less is known of Charles Wilford, at rest elsewhere in the graveyard, but the Census showed him as the head of his household and listed his occupation as ‘master plumber and painter.’

His wife, Elizabeth had no form of employment listed, and nor did his daughter Sarah, but son William was working as a painter too, a trade no doubt learned as an apprentice with his father.

A little stroll away, we visit the resting place of James Knight, who passed away in 1905, aged 63 years. He was spared the agony of seeing his son Leonard, who was a Corporal in WWI, ‘wounded at Armentieres,’ as recorded on the headstone.

The Battle of Armentieres was fought during October and November 1914, and Leonard succumbed the following June. He was 29 years old.

How tragic for James’ wife, Mary who survived her husband and son and who was in her 80s when she passed away in 1928 – she is buried with her husband and son in the same plot. Reunited again for nigh on a century now.

Records state that the family was large in number; it is thought Leonard was actually the second youngest of an estimated 13 children, although he is recorded as the youngest son on the plaque.

We do know that Leonard’s father worked as a master shoemaker, and that his mother was a shoe closer when they married in 1860. They lived in the High Street for a number of years before moving to St John Street.

In 1901, Leonard was a coach wheeler apprentice, and a decade later he was a wheelwright in the Royal Engineers in Chatham, before he was cut down at such a young age.

Arthur Charles Vickery was another casualty of war – killed in action on December 1, 1917 at France & Flanders.

Born in London, he was a resident of Newport Pagnell at the time of his death, living with his grandparents at Riverside.

Arthur was 26 when his life was taken. Tragically, he left a widow, Katy Mary who he had married just a year before his death.

One can imagine the whisperings and grief of a town united in sorrow for the loss of the young man, and of their thoughts for a young lady whose hopes and dreams were cruelly stolen so soon after the couple had pledged to spend their lives together.

Arthur is buried in Nord, but a memorial to this member 3rd battalion of the Coldstream Guards can be found in the cemetery, placed on the grave of his in-laws.

There are three Commonwealth War Graves from World War II here too.

Though there are many aged graves to take attention, a trip back to the 1950s (if only we were able to), would have revealed an altogether more historic vision; many gravestones were removed from the churchyard during a clearance in the mid1960s, and they have been laid in the floor of the nave inside the church itself.

At the time, the external area was becoming difficult to maintain. Many of the graves were aged - over a century old - and only a minority were still being tended by relatives.

A stroll around the church introduces you to glimpses of heartbreaking stories; like the Coles family who lost three children in just eighteen months; John died on September 17, 1814 aged three months, sister Sarah was eight months old when she departed this life on February 29, 1816, and their sister Mary Ann passed away on March 1, 1816, aged three years and two months.

There are some significant memorials on the site, including one for the Taylor family which was erected around 1900 and is Grade II listed. It is decidedly grand, and yet its positioning means that it is possible to walk the graveyard and not catch sight of it.

The Taylor family enjoyed a long history with the town, and were respected as chemists, for their mustard (Taylor’s Mustard was given them King’s seal of approval) and as mineral manufacturers.

On the other side of the cemetery, another large memorial – this one housed on the mound – is for the Bull family, a family of respected solicitors.

We grew up in Newport Pagnell and have long enjoyed this slice of tranquility a mere stones throw from the bustling town centre. And with every visit, we still discover something new.

If you really want to get close to the past, a trip to your local historic cemetery is the easiest way to roll back time, and recall those whose footsteps we follow in.

This grand-looking memorial belongs to the Taylor family, famous today for their mustard The gravetone of James Knight, his wife Mary and son Leonard who died of wounds received during the Battle of Armentieres.

A touching tribute to the the town's ‘postie’ of 38 years, Robert Bason

Naturally, many names associated with the cemetery are from prominent families locally; Cowley, Coales and Odell are among the familiar names on site.

While we don't know what kind of people they were, it is still possible to uncover the most random of facts about those buried here; George Heley passed away in 1872, but five years previously, an agreement had been struck that he would pay ‘Thomas Lawman one shilling p.a. for allowing soil from Heley’s water closet to pass into Lawman’s drain’! Additional info: buckinghamshireremembers.org.uk doverwarmemorialproject.co.uk

Milton Keynes Museum is one of the best interactive museums, a perfect outing for all ages, staffed by friendly volunteers, and highly recommended by visitors on TripAdvisor. This feature was written by Milton Keynes Museum. Find out more about forthcoming events and see our opening times at: miltonkeynesmuseum.org.uk