March 2012 Competition win

[helachau]

March 2012 found me the winner of a competition for "amusing MIs." I found a possible in the Manchester Evening News, 29 Apr 1881 and I was reminded of it yesterday when looking up some detail in one of the prizes I'd received. Spotted in Hughenden Churchyard the verse read (nothing else) -

"Here lies John Guy beneath this sod,
Who loved his friends and feared his God.
Also Mary, his wife."

The actual vote saw Mutley and I tying with 7 votes each but my initially kicking myself for showing the Corinthian spirit and not voting for myself was quickly replaced with the thought that Mutley would certainly have acted in the same vein. The result went to independent adjudication and the rest is history. So, I decided to revisit the quote to find out more about John Guy - and up popped the Bristol Mercury, 10 July 1837 (not on line in 2012)-

"DEATH OF AN ECCENTRIC - At Primrose Cottage, High Wycombe on the 24th ult, Mr John Guy,aged 64. His remains were interred in a brick grave in Hughenden churchyard on Tuesday last. On a marble tablet on the lid of the coffin, is the following inscription

"Here without nail or shroud doth lie,
Uncovered by a pall - John Guy.
Born May 17 1773, Died May 24 1837"

On his gravestone the following lines are engraved

"To the memory of John Guy, late of Icomb, in the County of Gloucester
In coffin made without a nail,
Without a shroud his limbs to hide,
For what can pomp or show avail
Or velvet pall to swell his pride;
Here lies John Guy beneath this sod,
Who loved his friends and feared his God."

Horror of horrors, no mention of "Also Mary, his wife." Immediate reaction- had I won under false pretences? Was the 1881 newspaper item some sort of spoof? Was I going to have to fess up after all these years to being a cheat? But sudden thought - did John predecease Mary? I have never searched so desperately for a burial/death registration/newspaper report - something, anything that would vindicate me and found -

FMP burials (transcripts only)
Mary Guy, 6 Sep 1849, age 76, place St Michael and All Angels, Hughenden
John Guy, 30 May 1837, age 64, place St Michael and All Angels, Hughenden

which looks a good "fit" for my being able to rest easy.

There's a lovely description of John's preperatios/plans for his funeral which earns him his "eccentric" and I fancy the simple addition of "And Mary his wife" to his MI in later years was done with an element of tongue in cheek.

regards

[Pam Downes]

I used to love the competitions.
Though I was checking the competition sub-forum, and couldn't believe a couple of the competitions. I think my brain cells must have seized up since those days because they seem really difficult.
https://www.british-genealogy.com/fo...ot-so-newbies)
https://www.british-genealogy.com/fo...f-Aussie-in-it
https://www.british-genealogy.com/fo...-British-Isles!!
https://www.british-genealogy.com/fo...-Treasure-Hunt
https://www.british-genealogy.com/fo...-around-the-UK!

My mind nowadays is more suited to geoffers' competition.
https://www.british-genealogy.com/fo...le-competition
geoffers was one of the original Mods, and was a mine of information about Norfolk in particular and almost everything else in general.
I can't remember how many posts he made before he sadly had to 'retire', but I have a feeling that it was about 15,000.
At my present rate of posting (1.33 posts per day) I should hit the magic 10K on Tuesday 15 May 2025, having taken four times longer than geoffers. I'll probably get to 15,000 in 2035.

Slightly off-topic, the only other people I can think of with high posts postings are Peter Goodey with 16,792, and Christina with 10,703 (at the time of writing). Once again, apologies to anyone else who's achieved the 10K, and who I haven't acknowledged.