Finding Grose Graves at Kirk Christ, Rushen, Isle of Man

Locating the graves of Captain Matthew Grose (1819-1887) and his second wife Elizabeth nee Qualtrough/Luff (1835-1918) has been a challenge.

I am extremely grateful to the people who have helped.

Over the years, fellow researcher, Rob Cannell, has hunted throughout the graveyards at Kirk Chist Holy Trinity Church (Rushen Parish Church) several times. We concluded that Matthew and Elizabeth Grose were most likely buried in unmarked graves, or their headstones were now illegible.

Image of Kirk Christ Holy Trinity Church © (Posted with permission of image owner: Rob Cannell, Isle of Man)

Rob and I even discussed whether they were buried at Rushen at all, when certain records mentioned the place of death as ‘Arbory’.

Could they be at Arbory Parish Church and not Rushen? To confuse myself further, I realised that Arbory Parish Church and Kirk Christ were both in the sheading of Rushen!

A breakthrough!

When Rob found original images of the burial records we studied them closely for clues.

Matthew Grose, buried 14th October 1887

Courtesy of Manx National Heritage via FamilySearch

On the same page, (for other burials) the Vicar’s name was fairly easy to transcribe – a ‘Blundell Browne’ who was easily traced as the Vicar of Kirk Christ, Rushen from 1887-1893. So it was Rushen, not Arbory Church!

The Curate’s name was more difficult to transcribe, but eventually got it as D.M. Jenkyus. This was confirmed with some further online searching which showed there was a Curate at Rushen in 1886, called David Melbourne Jenkyus.

Then there was a code ‘K21‘ the margin. Could this refer to his burial plot?

Rushen Church has several churchyards.

• The Rushen Old Yard (Southside)
• The Rushen Old Yard (Northside)
• The 1899 Old Yard
• The 1899 Yard
• The Ashes Plots (in the 1899 Yard)
• The 1926 Yard
• The 1967 Yard

Initially, the dates and plots seemed to indicate that Matthew Grose would be in the Rushen Old Yard (Southside) where a row K appeared… but there was no plot 21!

Luckily, I spotted that ‘The 1899 Old Yard’ near the Vicarage garden was probably an extension from 1869.

I’d assumed it was from 1899 onwards, which would have been too late for Matthew Grose’s burial in 1887. However, if ‘The 1899 Old Yard‘  opened in 1869, his grave could be there. Also, a plot ‘K21’ was listed there. It was promising!

Found!

After contacting the very helpful Claire at Rushen (who organised a search), I received the superb photo below of Matthew Grose’s burial plot. Many thanks to Andy Knight for locating & photographing this.

Image of burial plot at Rushen Churchyard © (Posted with permission of image owner: Andy Knight, Isle of Man)

As we’d predicted, there isn’t a headstone or marker here for Matthew Grose junior (1819-1887). Claire advised that few survive – many stones were damaged or lost from this particular churchyard.

Perhaps he had a headstone in the past? Either way, the plot has been found so another mystery SOLVED!

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Elizabeth Grose, buried 19th June 1918

We undertook a similar investigation in the hunt for Elizabeth Grose’s headstone, using her burial record found online by Rob.

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Courtesy of Manx National Heritage via FamilySearch

The curate’s name was transcribed as W.R. Cannell. We discovered he was the Rev. William R. Cannell after finding his name online associated with the erection of the Lychgate at Kirk Christ in 1921.

Code 697 appears in the margin and again this was assumed to be the burial plot.

The maps of the churchyards at Kirk Christ indicated that plot 697 was likely to be in ‘The 1899 Yard’.

Claire and Andy did a great job of researching this – locating & photographing her exact plot too.

Image of burial plot at Rushen Churchyard © (Posted with permission of image owner: Andy Knight, Isle of Man)

No headstone or marker here for Elizabeth Grose (1835-1918) either, but another mystery SOLVED!

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In the next post we’ll look at some Grose graves at St Runius, Marown, Isle of Man where there is MOST DEFINITELY something special to see!

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‘Thanks’, Resources and Further Reading:

Many thanks to Rob, Claire and Andy for all your help with locating and photographing these plots.

• Rushen Churchyard Maps http://www.rushenparish.org.uk/content/pages/documents/1461321572.pdf

 

• History of Kirk Christ http://www.rushenparish.org.uk/about-our-churches/kirk-christ/

 

• Lychgate and tablets https://www.warmemorialsonline.org.uk/memorial/190482/