CFHS code : AL145
Parish : St Andrew the Less
Inscription : Sacred to the Memory of ELIZABETH widow of [late] SAMUEL BROMLEY RN d July [25] [1856] aged [69]
Monument : Headstone
Above information from Cambridge Family History Society Survey
Lat Lon : 52.203542, 0.137992 – click here for location
Monument
The parish record was used to amend the inscription
Inscription
Sacred to the Memory of ELIZABETH widow of [late] SAMUEL BROMLEY RN died July [25] 1856 aged 69
Elizabeth Bromley (née Westrup) (9 June 1787 – 25 July 1856)
Elizabeth was born in Aldringham-cum-Thorpe (now Thorpeness) and baptised the following day at St. Andrew’s Church in the village. She was the daughter of John and Elizabeth (née Gorbold) Westrup and married Samuel Bromley (1776-1845) at the same church on 5 September 1808 when she was 21 years old.
Samuel was a Lieutenant in the Royal Navy and had enlisted as a sixteen year old. He was originally from London had been stationed at Aldebugh in ‘Sea Fencibles’(a force created to defend the costal fishing fleets from enemy attack by the French).He was probably stationed at the ‘Martello Tower’ which still stands silently guarding the estuary at Slaughden,a short walk from Aldebugh.Samuel had had a colourful career in the navy fighting at sea during the French Revolutionary Wars. He was 11 years senior to his bride, and was invalided out of the Navy on half pay in May 1812.
The couple had at least two children: Elizabeth (1814-1876) and John Westrup (1818-1881). John served in the Merchant Navy and died at sea. In 1841 Samuel and Elizabeth were living in Aldringham, and Samuel died there on 13 November 1845. After being widowed it appears that Elizabeth joined her daughter and moved to Cambridge. From 2 February 1846 she received a widow’s pension of £50 per annum
By 1851 Elizabeth was living at City Road with her daughter Elizabeth, son in law Robert Tabraham and four grandchildren. She was head of the household and working as a publican with brewer William Brooks and his wife also living with them at City Road. When she died aged 69 years old she was living at 23 Gold Sreet. A family bible passed down the generations records her death taking place at 11pm.
Sources:
Ancestry
Newspaper archives
by Claire Martinsen – many thanks to A.D.C the great great great grandson of Elizabeth for the additional family information.
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