This is the gravestone to the Martin Family and is in Gwennap Churchyard, Cornwall. It is the story of the family on this stone that inspired my Dad to write his best novel, “Jeremy Visick”. You could click on the photo to make it bigger and to make it easier to read. I’ve put the text under the photo too. Do read it through – what a life for that family, for Ann who lost so many children and her husband – and, indeed for many families in Cornwall in the 1800s.
The Martin Gravestone
IN
LOVING MEMORY
OF
JOHN MARTIN
OF TING TANG IN THIS
PARISH WHO WAS KILLED
BY AN ACCIDENT IN WHEAL
PINK MINE 1ST MAY 1848
AGED 51 YEARS
ALSO OF ANN, WIFE OF
THE ABOVE DIED 16 DEC 1866
AGED 65 YEARS.
ALSO OF PETHERICK CROSSMAN
3RD SON OF THE ABOVE
WHO DIED 1ST JULY 1829
AGED 13 MONTHS
ALSO LAVENIA ANDREW 4TH
DAUGHTER OF THE ABOVE
WHO DIED 9TH NOVEMBER, 1843
AGED 14 MONTHS.
ALSO WILLIAM PETHERICK, 2ND
SON OF THE ABOVE WHO WAS
KILLED BY AN ACCIDENT IN
WHEAL JEWEL MINE 19 DEC 1844
AGED 18 YEARS.
CAPTAIN NICHOLAS ANDREW
THE 5TH SON. DIED 14 FEB 1872
FROM INJURIES RECEIVED IN THE
VARZIA MINES PORTUGAL AND
WAS THERE INTERRED. AGED 37 YEARS.
ALSO, JOHN ELDEST SON OF THE ABOVE
WHO DIED 5TH JUNE 1876.
AGED 51 YEARS.
EDWIN THOMAS, YOUNGEST SON,
WHO DIED 22ND JAN 1878
AGED 33 YEARS.
I’ve read the novel at least a dozen times as it was on the reading list for the children I was teaching. (It was studied at schools all over the country, not only at the school I was teaching at!) We used to study this gravestone and the pupils would write a diary from Ann’s point of view. Their empathy was wonderful and the diaries often quite heartbreaking.
For others in this challenge, click here
Joy Mortimer
June 2, 2020 at 7:34 am
This book never left me. I borrowed it from my school library, back in the eighties, in New Zealand, at the age of 11. Today I googled the title to see if it’s still in print because I still think of it at random times (and I discovered your blog). The book is kind of like my coming of age story. It hit me hard. I was so moved. I can only imagine how emotional it would have been for you seeing the stage performance! Wow! How wonderful for you (and your dad.)
mybeautfulthings
June 2, 2020 at 12:23 pm
That is so very lovely to hear. Thank you so much for taking the time to tell me what Dad’s story meant to you. It was very moving indeed to see Dad’s story brought to life on stage and to realise how many more were being touched by his tale of Jeremy and Matthew. Happy that you found my blog through searching for Jeremy too – that’s serendipity! 🙂
thewomenwhomademe
August 14, 2017 at 1:07 pm
Loved this book as a child, and re-read it this weekend – which is why a miner’s widow is now a feature of today’s women’s social history blog. I love that your father got the readers and the children to think about this history from a woman’s perspective.
mybeautfulthings
August 14, 2017 at 4:19 pm
Thank you very much for this. I shall pop over to read your blog. 🙂
Adi Thomas
July 26, 2015 at 10:04 pm
Hi, I met your Dad many years ago when I was attending a book fair at Richard Lander in Truro and he read an extract from Jeremy Visick for us. I was only no more than 10 or 11 at the time. One thing I always remember however is him telling a story of how he had been in Truro and spotted a man working on his roof and felt drawn to see what he was doing, as he got closer he realised that the man was actually Richard Lander stood on his column at the top of Lemon Street. The moral he drew was that perception can always be misleading and you should always investigate for yourself. It is something that I have always remembered and felt was important.
I still have my copy of Jeremy Visick and when my children are old enough will share it with them.
mybeautfulthings
July 27, 2015 at 5:26 am
How lovely to read this! Thank you for this lovely memory. Do you know the places mentioned in the book? I have long had fantasies about The Jeremy Visick Trail! Lovely to hear from you. 🙂
kerlund74
January 21, 2014 at 8:18 pm
That is what I call a family.
Photography Journal Blog
January 21, 2014 at 12:53 pm
This is a great take on the challenge.
mybeautfulthings
January 21, 2014 at 1:42 pm
Thanks. It had me stumped at first and then the day before I saw the amazing gravestone at Mylor and remembered this one…. 🙂
Photography Journal Blog
January 22, 2014 at 12:02 pm
Sometimes, it is great when the challenges have you stumped at first 🙂
mybeautfulthings
January 22, 2014 at 12:22 pm
I agree. The challenge always has me thinking for a few days. It’s rare that I can respond immediately. 🙂
babyjill7...Marilyn Griffin
January 20, 2014 at 9:55 pm
just lovely…the story of a family on a tombstone…the time and effort…
I imagine the children loved the thought that your father wrote the book they were reading…Excellent post!
mybeautfulthings
January 20, 2014 at 10:43 pm
They did! They loved it even more (and so did I ) when he came in to talk to them about the novel and to inspire them with their own writing!
Peri's Spice Ladle
January 20, 2014 at 8:53 pm
What an appropriate posting for the ‘family’ challenge. Your dad’s novel seems really interesting:)
btacoma
January 20, 2014 at 6:58 pm
I have been tracing my family history for many years and also my sister-in-law’s family. She has coal mining careers in her genealogy, both in England and in the USA. I looked at the book on Amazon an will order it today. Looking forward to reading more than just the first 6 pages.
mybeautfulthings
January 20, 2014 at 10:46 pm
So pleased you want to order the book! Do let me know how you enjoy it. We are able to visit many of the places mentioned in the novel as well as the Martin tombstone.
Thank you very much for calling in and taking the time to comment. 🙂
btacoma
January 25, 2014 at 6:08 pm
I was hoping to get it in a Kindle version, but Amazon only has paper. Have not ordered it yet but I will order it soon. Looking forward to reading this book.
Charly Makray-Rice
January 20, 2014 at 4:23 pm
Astounding and deeply moving. I’m in my third year of tracing my husband’s early British and colonial American genealogy so this record of a family is beautiful.Mining is such dangerous business.
mybeautfulthings
January 20, 2014 at 4:40 pm
Thank you so much for calling in and taking the time to comment. Family history is so fascinating isn’t it. I’ve made a start on ours but it is very time consuming and I get caught up with all my other activities!
Thanks for the follow too. 🙂
ladysighs
January 20, 2014 at 4:12 pm
How very interesting. It is so very true…….Everybody has a story. Our whole lives are stories and no one is exempt from sorrow. Some just get more than others.
Everybody has a story ……….. but not everybody can write a story! How proud you must be of your father!
mybeautfulthings
January 20, 2014 at 4:34 pm
Indeed I am! I have all 13 of his books on our shelves. I fact, there are 35 as Jeremy and others are in many translations. 🙂
Don
January 20, 2014 at 3:34 pm
How does one ever make sense of this?So deeply tragic. Your Dad’s novel around this sounds intriguing. It must have had a profound effect him to have written a novel about it.
mybeautfulthings
January 20, 2014 at 3:47 pm
I knew it would touch you. The novel is for teenagers but adults find it a very moving book too. It was the start of him writing 13 novels, mostly for children but a few for adults and all with an historical theme, several with tin mining at the heart of the tale.