In May 2006 we travelled to Retford, north Nottinghamshire and met up with Juanita Lewis and her son Al Lewis. Juanita and Al had travelled from the USA on a weeks holiday in order to discover more of their family history. The day turned out to be full of surprises and the discovery of this headstone was one of them.

Juanita is researching the ALLEN line of her family so we spent some time visiting various locations Juanita and Al wished to see, with Al doing an exceptional job driving on the 'wrong side' of the road and negotiating the narrow lanes of north Nottinghamshire.

Our first visit was to the Church of Saint John the Baptist at Clarborough. Unfortunately as is the norm in these times the church was locked so we wandered about the graveyard, took some photographs and searched the headstones for clues.

On leaving Saint John's, and quite by accident, we came across the Church of Saint Peter at nearby Hayton. It appeared many of the headstones had been removed so we wandered in and amongst those that remained searching the legible headstones for family names. As usual many of the inscriptions, due to time and erosion, were now illegible so we were tremendously lucky to we find a headstone for Joseph ALLEN and Hannah ALLEN which was perfectly legible.

The inscription on the headstone reads:

It was only this evening while studying my photographs of the headstone in order to decipher the inscription that I noticed, and even then only after several readings, the difference in ages.

As yet I have not had the time to carry out further research into which line of the ALLEN families Joseph may originate. Indeed Juanita may be a good starting point in trying to answer this question.

Old Comments:

Gravestone Hayton Churchyard Nottinghamshire
Submitted by Neil Jacklin on Sat, 2010-01-02 12:03

Edgar, thank you so much for taking the time to leave a comment. Research shows there to be several ALLEN lines in and around the Clarborough, Nottinghamshire area. This information is very welcome and I will make Juanita aware of these facts, since she too is researching an ALLEN line from this area.

Gravestone Hayton Churchyard Nottinghamshire
Submitted by Edgar Allen on Fri, 2010-01-01 14:55

The Gravestone to which you refer is that of my late grandfather Joseph and grandmother Hannah Allen. You are indeed correct with regard to the differences in their ages and the same curiosity that led me to trace my family tree. My grandmother Hannah or as I found her real name Annie married my grandfather in 1912 in Lincoln. He was aged 60 and she was 20. Hannah was my grandfathers second wife and had been the housemaid to him and his first wife Anne when they lived in Sheffield. I have not been able to establish why, but after the death of his first wife my grandfather moved to Carr Road in Lincoln. When he married Hannah (Nee Annie Hodkin) she was already 7 months pregnant with my Aunt Emma and clearly the reason they married.

So far I have traced the male line of my family Allen back to 1720 in Sheffield where they were cutlers and file makers. I have not been able to trace any association to the Allen's that lived in the villages of Little Gringley and Clarborough.

Good wishes and good luck with your research.

Edgar Allen