CFHS code : AL168a
Parish : St Andrew the Less
Inscription : In Loving Memory of JOHN GLASSCOCK d Sept 29 1878 age 67 also SARAH his wife d Dec 23 1886 age 85
Monument : Headstone
Above information from Cambridge Family History Society Survey
Lat Lon : 52.203426, 0.137865 – click here for location
Monument
The headstone is located 2 rows east of the central path and roughly 7 plots north of the north path. It is is in an area that has now been left to grow wild and not easy to see.
Inscription
In Loving Memory of JOHN GLASSCOCK who died Sept 29 1878 age 67.
Ans of SARAH his wife who died Dec. 23rd 1886 age 85.
John Glasscock (8 September 1811 – 29 September 1878)
John was born in Bishops Stortford and baptised there at the Water Lane Independent Church on 3 December 1811. He was the son of John and Sarah Glasscock. He married Sarah Bennett at St Giles church, Cambridge on 14 June 1836. We know from an advert in the local paper that he was an agent for Eddington’s tarpaulings (sic) and rick – cloths as well as running the Pickeral Inn with Sarah. In 1841 they were living in King Street and John describes himself as a merchant. They had one daughter: Sarah (1838-1923). By 1851 John was described on the census as a coal merchant and high bailiff for Cambridgeshire. Their daughter Sarah attended a boarding school in St Andrew’s Street run by Mary Sutton . The family had moved to live at 1 Parkside by at least 1861 and John worked as the High Bailiff for Cambridgeshire for the rest of his life. His name appeared often in newspapers of the time in relation to the official bankruptcy notices he had to serve. He died aged 67 years old.
Sarah Glasscock (née Bennett) (1801 – 23 December 1886)
Sarah was born in Cambridge and was the daughter of John and Sarah (née Edwards). her father, a professional bass singer, came to Cambridge from Derbyshire to sing in the choir of King’s, John’s & Trinity colleges. When she was 15 the wife of her elder brother Robert died and she went to Sheffield to help look after his children. The youngest of these children was William Sterndale Bennett who later became a composer and conductor. On the death of her brother in 1819 his children came to live with their grandfather in Cambridge where presumably Sarah was able to help look after them.
Somewhat surprisingly we next find her as superintendent of the Pickeral Inn on Magdalene Street before her marriage to John Glasscock, after which they ran the inn together offering “good beds and excellent stables”. This information was from an advert that John placed in the Cambridge Chronicle on July 8th 1836.
After she was widowed Sarah continued to live at 1 Parkside and was there in 1881 with a companion and domestic servant. Throughout her life she remained in close contact with her nephew William and must have been very proud when he was knighted in 1871. She later moved to Park Villa, Parkside and died there aged 85 years old. Her daughter Sarah then lived in the house with her son Sterndale Burrows. Sterndale Burrows became a noted firm of solicitors.
Sources:
CFHS parish and census records
Ancestry
Family Search
Newspaper archives
The Life of William Sterndale Bennett by his son J R Bennett
by Claire Martinsen and Mary Naylor
[If you have any further information about this family, please contact us at Friendsofmillroadcemetery@gmail.com]