MARY'S BIT or THE MAYERS OF MUGGLESWICK
In my early teens the grammar school I attended arranged for groups of
girls chaperoned by a teacher to spend a weekend at its camp, housed
in the former school building in Muggleswick, a hamlet in County
Durham.
Having travelled by coach from Newcastle we were set down amid bleak,
wind-swept moorland, dominated by knee-high ferns but with few trees.
Continuing the journey on foot we marched through what was an alien
landscape for us city girls. I have since learned that in 1890
Muggleswick consisted of three farms and a few cottages. In our time
it was not much bigger.
Our first night of camping indoors began with our teacher combining
every tin of soup we'd brought into a dish I can only describe as
having an unusual appearance and memorable flavour, each of us having
brought a supply of tinned food and necessaries in haversacks lent by
the school. A particularly vivid memory of that weekend is that it was
the first time I'd seen farm animals on the hoof.
During our visit we wandered about the moor but always stayed within
sight of our base. In retrospect it was a pity because had I ventured
further afield I would have visited the settlement's Church of All
Saints.
I have found there's always something interesting to be seen in even
the smallest church but in this case it was outside the building. When
recently describing this trip to Eric I googled Muggleswick for photos
to show him. To my amazement there is a Mayer family grave in the
churchyard. Of course, at the time I had no idea how significant the
name would become for me in later years. It's true Eric's ancestral
tree is rooted in Germany, but it's not too wild to speculate this
family residing a small semi-isolated settlement could well be
connected to his branch even if at some distance. So I put on my
research hat and dived into the murky depths of Google.
Now a Grade II monument included in the National Heritage's register,
the only decoration on the Mayer headstone is a swag-framed cherub
head with wings. It is an early work by John Graham Lough who was also
responsible for the George Stephenson memorial near the Central
Railway Station in Newcastle -- yes, in case you're wondering, it is
the very memorial mentioned in Ruined Stones.
The headstone tells a sad story in commemorating several children born
to John and Ann Mayer, who died in 1852 and 1860 respectively. Most of
their children died young, at ages ranging from Matthew at seven weeks
to William at 26 years old. None of his siblings reached their teens
although Thomas would have been 13 had he lived to see his next
birthday.
By enlarging this image of their somewhat weathered headstone it's
possible to glean the names of these children and their ages when they
died: Jane (2), John (9 months), a second John (7), and Matthew, noted
above. Their father John's death at 47 is given, followed by another
Jane (11). The monumental mason ran out of room when chiselling her
age so it is squeezed in above her line, appearing on the far right of
the headstone. I don't think the family would have been too pleased
about that. The final line commemorates William, mentioned earlier.
https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1240626
Subscribers will doubtless have noticed the surname of the parents of
these children is given as the variant spelling of Mayor. Later it
changed. The evidence: Ann died at 84. A self-described "affectionate
tribute" to her dated 1889 appears on the back of the headstone
courtesy of her ironfounder grandson, another William Mayer, who
refers to his grandmother as Ann Mayer. William was also responsible
for the bronze railing around the family grave. Constructed of
interlinked hollow squares, it's weathered to an attractive greenish
colour. I especially liked the hourglass mounted on the railing along
the foot of the plot.
It appears grandson William died at 74. He is buried next to his
relatives under his own tombstone, featuring some decorative elements
but mostly plain. The foot of the stone informs visitors it was
erected by his children Thomas, William, John, Elizabeth, and Ann.
That sums up all I know about the Mayers of Muggleswick at this point
but when there's more time I intend to look further into the matter.
AND FINALLY
Stone the crows! Have we have reached the end of this issue already?
Like the black bird, time flies and so must we. Before we flap away,
we'll remind subscribers that the next issue of Orphan Scrivener will
wing its way to their in-boxes on April 15th.
See you then!
Mary R and Eric
who invite you to visit their home page, to be found hanging out on
the virtual washing line that is the Web at
https://reed-mayer-mysteries.blogspot.com/ There you'll discover the
usual suspects including more personal essays on a wide variety of
topics, a bibliography of our novels and short stories, and libraries
of links to free e-texts of classic mysteries and tales of the
supernatural, not to mention a couple of our short stories of the
latter ilk. There's also the Orphan Scrivener archive, so don't say
you weren't warned! Meantime, just for the heck of it, we'll also
mention our names on the social site formerly known as Twitter are
@marymaywrite and @groggytales. Drop in any time!
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