Female mortality

A Gravestone epitaph

“Sixty-three years our hoyman sail’d merrily round,
Fourty-four liv’d parishioner where he’s aground,
Five wife’s bear him thirty-three children Enough;
Land another as honest before he gets off.”

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  • Helen – the gravestone is for James Matthews, who died in 1733. It can be found on the south side of the church between the path from the lychgate and the path from the Hoy and Helmet. The bad news is that the epitaph is now so weathered as to be illegible. It refers to a time when the marshy areas bordering the Thames were subject to the ague (malaria), which took a heavy toll of lives, particularly women and children. Mark

    By Mark Thres (06/06/2011)
  • Whereabouts is the gravestone?

    By Helen (10/05/2011)

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