CFHS code : AS182
Parish : All Saints
Inscription : WILLIAM JAMES COPE the dearly beloved child of JAMES and EMMA COPE b Dec 8 1857 d Feb 2 1865 two lines illegible also of JAMES COPE father of the above d April 26 1872 aged 56 and of MARY SALT [beloved wife of] JAMES COPE d -7 1874 aged 83 also of MARY E A COPE d ———- EMMA MAYNARD COPE d April 3 1897 aged 71
Monument : Headstone
Above information amended from Cambridge Family History Society Survey
Monument
Three rows west of the central path and three monuments south of the north path. Under a large tree.
Inscription
As the inscription is so badly eroded the parish records were used to complete it.
WILLIAM JAMES COPE the dearly beloved child of JAMES and EMMA COPE born Dec 8th 1857 died Feb 2nd 1865
two lines illegible
Also of JAMES COPE father of the above who died April 26 1872 aged 56 years
And of MARY SALT […… of] JAMES COPE died -7 1874 aged 82
Also of MARY E. A. COPE d — 1889 years
EMMA MAYNARD COPE d April 3 1897 aged 71 years
Relationship: Husband and wife, two children and husband’s mother (presumed)
William James Cope (1857- 2 February 1865)
William died at 10 Park Street, Cambridge, aged 7 after was was described in newspapers as ‘a short but severe illness’.
James Cope (c.1816 – April 26 1872)
James was born in Caverswall, Staffordshire and was employed as a college servant in Cambridge. The 1871 census tells us he was deaf. In 1851 James was living at 1 Belvoir Place, Cambridge and working as butler to widower John Blunt, a Cambridge professor, He married Emma Choules on 25 September 1856 at Christ Church, Upper Team in Cheadle, Staffordshire. On the marriage record he is documented as being a gentleman’s servant, although from 1861 onwards he is recorded as working as a college servant.
The couple had at least three children: William (1857-1865), Ralph John (1859-1928), and Mary Elizabeth Ann (1862-1889). The family lived in John Street, Cambridge where the boys were born before moving to Park Street for the birth of Mary. James died at the family home in Park Street.
Mary Salt (c 1792-1874)
It is likely that Mary was James’ mother. A Mary Cope married a Thomas Salt in 1834 in Cheadle.
Mary Elizabeth Ann Cope (c.1862-1889)
Mary was the daughter of James and Emma Cope and was baptised at All Saint’s Church on 9 February 1862. After her father died she moved with her mother and brother Ralph to live at 11 Regent Street. In 1881 Emma Cope was running a lodging house from the address and Mary was noted as working as a milliner.
Mary died at 28 Park Street, Cambridge at the age of 27. She was buried on April 3rd so may have died in March or April.
Emma Maynard Cope (née Choules) (c 1826-1897)
Emma was born in Oxford and was the daughter of college servant Joshua and his wife Elizabeth (née Wilkins). She was baptised at St Aldgate Church, Oxford on 10 January 1827. Aged 24 (1851) Emma was living at 92 & 93 High Street, Oxford and working as a general servant for banker John Parsons and his wife Eliza.
After she was widowed she ran a lodging house from 11 Regent Street (1881) and then from 9 Park Street (1891) and lived with her son Ralph. Emma died in Norwich Street, Cambridge at the age of 71.
Sources:
Ancestry
Newspaper archives
by Mary Naylor and Claire Martinsen
[If you have any further information about this family, please contact us at Friendsofmillroadcemetery@gmail.com]