Asenath Dangar's gravestone, Stoke Damerel

Image: © Derek Harper Taken: 17 Jul 2008

This stone captivated me when I worked nearby for a few months in 2003, firstly because of the unusual name, and then because of the sad tale it tells. Asenath was the wife of Samuel Dangar. Her first son, also Samuel, died at the age of two in November 1859, by which time her second son had already died, aged 12 weeks. Asenath herself died the following summer, aged 29. (Addendum, Oct 2019: There is now an electronic record of this headstone at http://web.plymouth.gov.uk/web.plymouth.gov.uk/homepage/creativityandculture/archives/web.plymouth.gov.uk/web.plymouth.gov.uk/web.plymouth.gov.uk/archivescatalogue?record=0&cid=mrnxyyjkp4x2yzuhzcdfvl32&criteria=Asenath%20Dangar ) The stone forms part of a path around the churchyard of St Andrew and St Luke's church; all the gravestones have been laid out in this fashion, which makes for a sombre, if fascinating, series of walkways. However, it must mean that the information upon them will be erased more quickly. I had to push back the weeds at the edge of this stone a little to reveal the lettering more clearly.

Images are licensed for reuse under creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0