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Burial without a headstone/ Wesleyan?

Stokkie

Stokkie

master brummie
We have found an associate of Joseph Sturge (who was himself Quaker), George Hancock b. 1820 d.13 Jan 1894. He was superintendent of Stoke Prior Reformatory from 1852 -1873. The Bromsgrove Advertiser reports his funeral at St Michael and All Angels, Stoke Prior. 'The remains of the deceased were interred in Stoke Prior Churchyard.'
There was also a memorial service at Stoke Works Wesleyan Chapel. George Hancock was a noted Temperance Speaker in Worces. Glocs. Birmingham and Manchester.

There is no gravestone that we can find in the churchyard. Does this suggest that his religious views precluded a visible memorial? He seems to have been a man of means, farming locally. But he once saved 12 shillings walking to preach in Gloucester rather than get the coach and donating the money to the church he preached in. I would welcome comments and advice. Could 'interred' mean that he was buried in the churchyard without a memorial?
Stokkie/Derek
 
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pjmburns said:
As far as I know "interred " just means buried. Unless he left specific instructions it would be up to the family left behind whether a headstone was erected or not.
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Thanks Janice, I'm wondering if he left instructions that there should be no headstone? I don't know enough about non-conformism to know if that might be usual. Derek
 
There seems to have been some hold up with the will. Probate wasn't granted until 1898. Roger Holloway was George's nephew. A newspaper article indcates that one of the trustees of the will was nvolved in a bankruptcy case. Not sure if this contributed to the delay or not.
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pjmburns said:
There seems to have been some hold up with the will. Probate wasn't granted until 1898. Roger Holloway was George's nephew. A newspaper article indcates that one of the trustees of the will was nvolved in a bankruptcy case. Not sure if this contributed to the delay or not.
View attachment 178562
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Interesting about the trustee. I'd wondered about the delay. Thanks Janice.
 
St Michael and All Saints appears to be an active church. There will be church wardens who will have access to burial records, there may be someone who has mapped these burials and know if plots have been recycled.
 
devonjim said:
St Michael and All Saints appears to be an active church. There will be church wardens who will have access to burial records, there may be someone who has mapped these burials and know if plots have been recycled.
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Hi Jim, St Michael and All Angels is an ancient burial ground, we are attempting to tell 'The Story in the Stones', but while I have access to various plans the burial register does not record grave locations. There has been no recycling of plots in the last century. Some stones are illegible because of acid rain, Stoke Works was heavily industrialised, but had there been a gravestone then it shouldn't have been old enough to deteriorate. Thanks for your response.
Derek/Stokkie
 
Could it be that the relatives of George Hancock could not afford a headstone [or too mean to buy one], and by the time they received money from his estate the memory of him had passed
 
johnny082 said:
Could it be that the relatives of George Hancock could not afford a headstone [or too mean to buy one], and by the time they received money from his estate the memory of him had passed
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It certainly could be, Johnny. Hancock saved 12 shillings to walk to Gloucester before giving a sermon, a distance of about 36 miles. So it could be his wish that money wasn't spent.
Stokkie/Derek
 
June 1898 David Henry Fawkes, a trustee jointly under the will of George Hancock with Roger Holloway, nephew to GH.
He had been advised by a solicitor not to prove the will. Mr Hancock was overdrawn at the bank and he was security for him.

Worcester Chronicle.
 
Pedrocut said:
June 1898 David Henry Fawkes, a trustee jointly under the will of George Hancock with Roger Holloway, nephew to GH.
He had been advised by a solicitor not to prove the will. Mr Hancock was overdrawn at the bank and he was security for him.

Worcester Chronicle.
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So basically, Hancock had no money. The bank would have presumably taken its debt out of his estate. Odd that Fawkes can be a trustee as well as security for the overdraft. Thanks to everyone who commented and especially to readers of the Worcester Chronicle. Derek/ Stokkie
 
Stokkie said:
Thanks Janice, I'm wondering if he left instructions that there should be no headstone? I don't know enough about non-conformism to know if that might be usual. Derek
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If not a headstone, there is usually a simple marker indicating and internment or burial. Given the vintage it might take some looking for.
 
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