Tuesday 28 August 2012

Thomas Bony - Newtown Linford

This is one of my favourite headstones. It has writing on both sides and seems to have been added to on at least two occasions. As yet, I can't decipher all of it.

First inscription:

Hear : Lyeth : The Body
of : Thomas : Boney : Son
To : John : Boney : Who
Departed This Life
July 1683  

The second inscription follows on below with a slightly different letter spacing, indicating it was added some time afterwards:

And Ione (Jone?)
Bony His Wife
Who Dyed March 1696




The third inscription in a different lettering again occupies the very top of the stone, above a crudely cut horizontal line:

HICKIA set

Then squeezed in on the right hand side at the top:

JOHN : BONY
AND : HIS : 5 : WIES


A lower case letter 'e' sits just below the enigmatic word 'WIES'. Is this really John Bony and his five wives? Did someone called Hickia bury (set) John and his extended family there under the ground? I would love to know.

It wasn't until I walked away from this fascinating headstone that I noticed yet another inscription on the other side. Once again, this is in two different hands, presumably added at two different times:


First part:
As i Am so shallt Thou Bee
Pre Pare Thy self To follow mee
 
Second part:
 
Blessed . are . the . Dead . Wich . die . in . the
LorD . that . they . mae . rest . from . their
labers And Their . works . follo . Them
 
rev 14 verr 13

This is a quotation from the Revelation of St John the Divine, chapter 14 verse 13. I can't find this exact wording but the passage is clear enough. It would be interesting to know what translation they would have had access to at that time.

And finally, there is an illustration: a face and an arrow pointing to the ground.

4 comments:

  1. I too am fascinated by this gravestone. I happened to be walking around the graveyard a few months ago, just passing time when I came across it. Out of all the gravestones in that graveyard that day this headstone has stuck in my mind, I would love to know if there is any history known by anyone as to the family tree or the families history. Fascinating.

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  2. I too would love to know more. I'm hoping someone might read this and offer more information.

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  3. I write a blog about gravestones so I did some research. The words you identify as Hickia Set are actually Hic Jacet (engravers were notoriously bad spellers). This is a Latin phrase meaning Here Lies. I couldn't find any data on John and his 5 wives - probably before meaningful records were kept. May I have permission to use your photograph? I will link back to your post. You can view my blog at http://memorialdrinkingfountains.wordpress.com

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    Replies
    1. Hi there. Many thanks for that information. I'm delighted to learn this information.

      Yes, please do use any of the photographs from this site.

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