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Hi Cliff,
Hope all is well with you?
My sister Donna sent me the image below from a friend in Wales.
I thought you might be interested?
Best regards,
Anthony
Hi Anthony,
It’s great to hear from you. Our family is well, thank you. I trust all is well at your end also.
The image that you sent from your sister solves one of my outstanding research questions, which I find very exciting and helpful. Please pass along my thanks to your sister.
I have never seen the image before but I have found a reference to it in a survey published in 1934 by the London Council and the London Survey Committee. To the best of my knowledge, the burial plaque is located in the All Hallows Barking Parish Church, which is located in the City of London. Apparently, the All Hallows Barking Parish Church is the oldest church in London dating back to 675.
The mystery now solved is that the inscription in the 1934 survey read “Near this place lyeth the Body of Samuel Gittens, M.D. and Samuel & Mary Gittens of Barbados who died Feb 5th 1777”. This inferred that Samuel and his parents were all buried at the All Hallows Barking Parish Church. This really didn’t make a lot of sense as I found information indicating that Samuel’s father had left a will dated 1731 and died shortly thereafter. However, when doing research that dates back to the early 1700’s nothing is always perfectly certain. I had suspected that the word “and” in the inscription should have said "the son of", but there was no proof of that until your image arrived. Mystery then solved!!
Thanks
Cliff |
