CFHS code : AS99
Parish : All Saints
Inscription : In Loving Memory of ELIAS BLAND d March 12 1895 aged 68 and also ELIZABETH his wife d Dec 23 1921 aged 69
Monument : Headstone/Kerb stones
Above information from Cambridge Family History Society Survey
Lat Lon : 52.203536, 0.13687186 – click here for location
Monument
Located in the north west corner of the cemetery, in the parish area of All Saints. 4 rows from the west wall and about 7 plots from the north walll. This area of dense undergrowth was cleared in 2023 as part of the cemetery management plan. The stone has suffered from the growth of ivy but the inscription is still clear.
Inscription
In Loving Memory of – arched over a carved cross
ELIAS BLAND died March 12 1895 aged 68 years
And also
ELIZABETH his wife died Dec. 23. 1921. Aged 69 years
Elias Bland (d 1895)
Elias was born in Trumpington to a farmer also named Elias. He married Isabella Hunt on January 3rd 1855 at the church of St Andrew the Less on Newmarket Road, Cambridge. They lived in 1 Bridge Street and 1 Jesus Lane, Cambridge and Elias worked as a draper. The couple had at least nine children: Margaret Elizabeth (1855-1939), Isabella (1857-1933), Charles Cooke Swinton (1859-1934), Kate (1860-1923), Thomas George Sidney (1862-1929), John Graves (1864-1937), Archibald Robert (1866-1936), Edith (1869-1962) and Ernest Elias (1871-1892).
In 1873 Elias appeared in front of the Cambridge courts accused with ‘being the owner of a house in which a chimney accidentally caught fire on 27th February’. After his explanation to the court the charge was withdrawn. From at least 1858 onwards he was an over-seer (church elder) at All Saint’s Church.
Isabella died in 1874 and is buried in the parish of St Andrew the Less. Elias married Elizabeth Low on 19 August 1885 at St Mary the Less. The couple had one daughter together: Elsie Dorothy (1887-1958). He died in in the family home at 1 Bridge Street, Cambridge in 1895 at the age of 68.
Elizabeth Bland (née Low) (1852 – 23 December 1921)
Elizabeth was born in Cambridge and was the daughter of James and Emma Low. Her father was a schoolmaster and she lived at 16 New Square. In 1881 she was living at home and working as a milliner. She married widower Elias Bland when she was c.33 years old. After his death she ran the drapery business and lived with her daughter/stepchildren.
In 1911 Elizabeth was living at Jesus Lane with step daughters Isabella and Edith and was working as a draper. She died in Cambridge aged 69 years old.
Sources:
CFHS parish transcripts
Ancestry
Newspaper archives
by Mary Naylor and Claire Martinsen
[If you have any information about this family, please contact us at Friendsofmillroadcemetery@gmail.com]