< Back to MIs at Baschurch All Saints (1) / More Monumental Inscriptions
Walk about 25 metres along the path running west from the main entrance to Baschurch All Saints and on your right, just before a small group of trees, you will see a cluster of grave markers dominated by a large upright tomb chest. Examine them and you will find engraved upon them the names of various members of the Atcherley family who were buried here in the 1800s and late 1700s.
The upright tomb chest is dedicated to members of the family headed by William Atcherley, who was baptised at All Saints on 18 Aug 1778, a nephew of the Sarah Atcherley whose gravestone lies nearby. His MI, on the south-facing side of the monument, reads:
SACRED
to the memory of
WILLIAM ATCHERLEY,
SHREWSBURY
Fourth Son of Thomas and
Hannah Atcherley,
of Stanwardine in the
Fields who died Octr 15th
1850, Aged 72 Years.
Despite the clearly inscribed date of death above, contemporary reports of William’s death in the Morning Chronicle (London) and in the Gentleman’s Magazine recorded the date of his passing as the 16th.
The MI on north-facing side of the monument (the upper part of which is shown above) records the death of William’s wife and one of the couple’s daughters:
SACRED
to the Memory of
MARY
Wife of WILL ATCHERLEY
of SHREWSBURY
and Daughter of
THO and MARY CURETON
of Hordley
in this County
She died Octr 4th 1810
in the 30th year
of her Age.
HANNAH
their Infant Daughter
died Feby 24th 1811
aged 7 Months;
and was buried
in the same Grave
with her Mother.
James Ch 4 V 14
James Chapter 4, Verse 14: “Yet you do not know what your life will be like tomorrow. You are just a vapor that appears for a little while and then vanishes away.” Hannah Atcherley would have been born around July 1810, but I have not found a record of her baptism. Nor have I found one for Hannah’s sister Mary Cureton Atcherley. The ages given for the latter on census returns and on her death in 1883 suggest that she may have been Hannah’s twin.
The MI on the east-facing side of the tomb chest is dedicated to one of William and Mary Atcherley’s sons:
SACRED
to the Memory of
WILLIAM
Son of William and Mary
ATCHERLEY
of Shrewsbury Died Feby 19th
1830 Aged 23 years
Although William was said to be 23 years old, as he was born (according to the record of his baptism at Shrewsbury St Chad) on 13 Dec 1805 he was actually 24 years of age when he passed away.
Close to the upright chest tomb, right next to the path leading from the church, is the grave of William and Mary’s daughter Bell. Bell Atcherley, who was born 27 May 1802 at Mardol in Shrewsbury, married Benjamin Jones in that town on 7 Aug 1823. Benjamin was buried at Shrewsbury St Chad on 15 Nov 1834, having died aged 41. Bell lived for another 39 years. The MI on her gravestone reads:
Sacred to the memory of
BELL
relict of the late Benjamin Jones
of Shrewsbury,
who died April 6th 1873 aged 70 years.
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