THIS STONE
WAS ERECTED
BY THE INHABITANTS
OF THE PARISH
TO THE MEMORY OF JOHN BRANFORD
WHO DIED MAY 16TH 1844
IN HIS 99TH YEAR.

John Branford’s gravestone is one of the first you see when entering St Catherine’s Churchyard, Ringshall. John’s final resting place is located under the shade of a tree, beneath a stone erected by the inhabitants of Ringshall parish in Suffolk “to the memory of John Branford who died May 16th 1844 in his 99th year”. He sounded like he had a tale or two to tell and I wanted to know more.

There was a brief mention of his passing in one of the local papers, but no other information was given:

On Saturday last, at the advanced age of 99, Mr. John Bramford, of Ringshall.
(The Suffolk Chronicle; or Weekly General Advertiser & County Express. 25 May 1844, p3, c2)

John, who was more commonly recorded with the surname Bramford, can be seen on the 1841 census at Ringshall in the household of Ann Ramsey. Frustratingly, the 1841 census gives no relationship information but since people living in the same house often had family connections, researching the Ramseys was my best bet.

The Ramseys were recorded as neighbours of the Squirrel family at ‘Red House’. Redhouse Farm was a 19th century farmstead located between Ringshall and Wattisham (and north of Great Bricett), across the road from Ten Wood. It has been totally demolished and is now a part of Wattisham Airfield (Redhouse Farm location on modern map). Few residences in the area were named in the 1841 census so it is unclear how close the Ramsey family were to Red House, but their household entry was immediately after.

The baptismal records indicated that the children on the census were Ann’s and their father’s name was Robert Ramsey. Interestingly, the births of her eldest children were recorded at the nearby Wattisham Baptist Chapel but from 1824 they were baptised into the Church of England at St Catherine’s, Ringshall  (The last recorded at Wattisham Baptist Chapel was Mark on 22 March 1820). Luckily, the eldest child Robert (born about 1815) was with his mother on the 1841 census and I was able to locate an 1815 marriage between Robert Ramsey and Ann BRAMFORD. Aha! First evidence of a family connection.

Ann’s baptism at Wattisham in 1793 seemed to indicate her parents were the John Bramford and Anne Green who married at Wattisham in 1790. Could this mean John was her father? He would have been nearly 50 at the time, which wouldn’t rule him out, but a younger father seemed more likely. Perhaps Ann’s father was the son of our John and she was his granddaughter?

I thought this must have been the case when I came across the death/burial record of another John Bramford, son of John Bramford, at Wattisham in 1812. However, an estimated birth year of 1783 was given in the record which made him far too young to be Ann’s father, and this guy’s mother was ‘Mary Figg Bramford’ not Anne Green. The 1775 marriage record for this couple at Wattisham showed her maiden name was actually Mary Pegg. Our John would have been about 20 in 1775 – a common age to marry.

John had three children with Mary and then the baptismal records stopped in 1785. I was unable to find a death/burial record for Mary but in 1790 “widower” John Bramford married Anne Green and went on to have six more children – one being the Ann Bramford who married Robert Ramsey.

So, the Ann Ramsey John was living with at the time of the 1841 census was his daughter after all. It turns out, less than a year after that census night, Ann died and was buried in the same churchyard.

John had outlived two wives, at least four of his children, and some grandchildren. He had lived through the reign of four monarchs, the publication of the first English dictionary, the American war of independence, the Napoleonic wars, the abolition of slavery, and the launch of the first public passenger train. 

And I would never have known anything about him, if the good inhabitants of Ringshall parish hadn’t erected that stone.

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There are also three other memorial plaques naming another four members of the family, but again, only one of those people were buried there. In fact, of the six people memorialised on this grave, only two were actually buried in Plot 126B; Agnes and her son (also named Alexander Ritchie). So where is Alexander?

It turns out, Alexander is not far away at all – he’s actually buried in the grave opposite.

When Alexander died suddenly of a heart attack in 1896, only a few years after emigrating to New Zealand from Scotland, his young family were left in ‘very poor circumstances’. [See the post Inquests and Articles for more information.] The burial register indicates that the Congregational Church and/or their minister, Reverend William M Grant, took pity on the family and allowed Alexander to be buried ‘in the ground belonging to the church’ (Block UO. Plot 2):

433.
BUCHAN Alexander Ritchie – Blk UO Plot 2 Class 1
Died 2 Dec 1896, aged 34 years, of failure of the heart, a fisherman. Resident of Mansford Town. Born Peterhead. Last came from Peterhead Scotland. Lived 3 years in province.
Buried with written consent of the Rev Wm M Grant Congregational Church, in the ground belonging to the Church.

(Transcript of Burial Register, Port Chalmers New Cemetery, Dunedin, Otago, New Zealand (1881-1929), p34)

A year later, another man, Robert Jones, who presumably also died in poor circumstances, was buried in the same plot. This time the order was signed by Mr Robert Bauchop – who according to his own obituary, was a senior deacon of the church:

467.
JONES Robert – Blk UO Plot 2 Class 1
Died 17 Dec 1897, aged 77 years, of general decay, a bricklayer. Resident of George Street Port Chalmers. Born Holywell Flintshire Wales England. Last came from Melbourne Victoria. Lived 7 years in province.
Applicant: Robert Bauchop.
Buried in the Congregational Church ground – order signed by Mr Robt Bauchop.

(Transcript of Burial Register, Port Chalmers New Cemetery, Dunedin, Otago, New Zealand (1881-1929), p37)

In 1935, the Reverend Grant who buried Alexander all those years ago, was also interred in Plot 2. Over the years that followed, other members of the Grant family were also buried there before the plot was finally sealed. Interestingly, it seems Rev. Grant’s infant child was actually the first to be buried in the plot – 15 years before Alexander. Reverend Grant’s obituary mentions that he and his family had gone to Australia for a time (the time when Robert Jones was buried) before returning to his congregation in Port Chalmers.

3. Plan: U.O. plot 2 – W.M. Grant. William.
Stone: William Mugford Grant for 27 years Minister of Port Chalmers Congregational Church, born 5 October 1851 died 12 February
Emily wife of Rev. W.M.Grant born 8 March 1849 died 30 November 1924. Also William their son born Orange, N.S.W. died Port Chalmers 1882. Also their son Reginald James born 1881 died 1941. And their daughter Elsie Mary Grant born 1883 died 1961.
Site: Plot sealed.

(Headstone Transcripts, Port Chalmers New Cemetery, p17)

By the time, Agnes died in 1939, the family had the means to buy the plot in which she is buried – directly across from the one in which her husband Alexander had lain for 45 years.

The other Buchan names recorded at plot 162B:

• (son) Alexander Ritchie Buchan (junior), 1890-1944, plot 126B
• (his wife) Elizabeth P. Buchan (nee Hendra), 1893-1968, Block NL. Plot 9
• (son) James Buchan, 1892-1948, cremated
• (his wife) Doris Agnes Buchan (nee Lewis), 1894-1984, cremated

Details and other images can be found on the Dunedin City Council website – Cemeteries search

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