Cemeteries and graveyards, full of love, betrayal, tragic deaths, murder, and suicide. What will you find?

Tuesday 10 September 2013

Taphophile Tragics - The John who became a Jane - Jane Neighbour



Monument to Jane Neighbour, All Saints Churchyard, Boyne Hill. Maidenhead, Berkshire, England.


"John Neighbour who died Sept 2nd 1898 aged 54 years."


I had to admit that this particular grave stone had me stumped, until I discovered I was researching the wrong person.  This is not the gravestone of John Neighbour, but his wife Jane.  The top portion of the gravestone with her dedication is missing.

Jane Neighbour was born Jane Willis in Hambledon, Berkshire (now Hampshire) in 1844.  I have been unable to locate Jane before her marriage to John H Neighbour, a gardener, in Henley in 1862.  In 1863 their first son Joseph is born in Henley, a second son Walter is born in 1867 in Aldershot, Hampshire, followed by a third son Henry in 1870.

In 1871 John and Jane are living in Aldershot, Hampshire along with their sons, Joseph, Walter and Henry and Ann, John's widowed mother.

On the 1881 Census, John and Jane can be found living in Boyne Hill Lane, Maidenhead, Berkshire, with their two sons and John's elderly mother, Ann Neighbour.  At that time Jane's occupation is listed as a laundress.

In 1884 a daughter, Lucy was born in Maidenhead, Berkshire, followed by a sister Emily in 1886.

1891 not only sees the family moved to Bridge street in Maidenhead, but an occupation change for John, who is now the licenced victullar of the Albion Inn.  However young Henry seems to have followed in his father's previous occupation as he is now listed as a gardener.

Sadly on 2nd September 1898, Jane passed away.

In 1900 John married Harriet Brown in Maidenhead Berkshire.  They continued to run the Albion Inn together, where they can be found on the 1901 Census.  Sadly after nine years of marriage, Harriet passes away, leaving the now twice widowed John alone.

On the 1911 Census, John is listed as a retired publican lodging at 21 Bell Street in Maidenhead Berkshire.  John Neighbour passes away in 1913 in Maidenhead.


Taphophile Tragics
Tombstone Tuesday






2 comments:

  1. Interesting! It's always frustrating when a portion of a stone has fallen off -- especially when the part that's off is face down.

    Glad you were able to find information on these people!

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  2. This post lead me towards a chase on the term victullar (sometimes spelled victualler) and wondered what the difference was between a victuller and an innkeep. since victuals relates to food, I thought that this was related to food at an inn (though I was not aware of pubs not selling food) I took it for an archaic term, but the city of Boston still uses a 'Common Victuallers License' for all restaurants.
    Not quite as pertinent to the Neighbours, but interesting none the less. I wonder if he thought this might be a good 'retirement' source of income and passed his gardening job on to his son.

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