CFHS code : PL400
Parish : St Paul
Inscription : In Loving Memory of ANN ROBINSON the beloved wife of JOHN ROBINSON d Nov 23 1893 aged 74 also BRUCE KEMBLE d March 3 1876 aged 87
Monument : Ground slab
Above information from Cambridge Family History Society Survey
Monument
This large ground slab – possibly a tomb that has sunk into the ground, is roughly 8 rows west of the central path in the parish of St Paul. The inscription of metal letters is still legible in places but moss has grown into the stone and to remove it is likely to damage the stone further. The north corner appears to have broken away. The grave register records 2 other people buried here.
Inscription
In Loving Memory of MARY ANN ROBINSON the beloved wife of JOHN ROBINSON who died Nov 23 1893 aged 74
Also BRUCE KEMBLE who died March 3 1876 aged 87
“Thou shalt come to thy ………………………….
Age like as …………………………..
In his se ………………………….
[probably Job 5.26 – Thou shalt come to thy grave in a full age, like as a shock of corn cometh in in his season.]
Relationships
Bruce Kemble (c.1789 – 3 March 1876)
Bruce was born in Dunmow, Essex and worked as a servant to William Brooks King from at least 1841 until William’s death in 1864. William lived at the Hennons, West Teignmouth, Devon and was ‘late one of Her Majesty’s justices of assizes in the island of Jamaica’. In 1850 White’s Devonshire Directory described the house as ‘about a mile to the north-west, over Haldon hill, is “The Hennons,” a large and handsome mansion, in the Elizabethan style, built by Rd. Eaton, Esq., but purchased by its present owner and occupant, Wm. B. King, Esq., in 1838. The lodge and stables are in the same style as the mansion, and the grounds command extensive and beautiful views of sea and land, and are laid out with great taste. In the dining room are some fine paintings by eminent artists, and in the drawing room is a richly carved mantel-piece, which is much admired.’
In 1871 Bruce was lodging with the Moyson Sisters in Teignmouth and was described as a ‘parish clerk’. Why he came to Cambridge is not known, but it is assumed he came to live/lodge with the Robinson family. He died at Norwich Street aged 87 years old and was buried at Mill Road Cemetery on 7 March.
Mary Ann Robinson (née Cheek) (1819 – 23 November 1893)
Mary was born in Hythe, Kent and was the daughter of Benjamin. She married John Robinson on 26 August 1846 at St. Andrew’s Church, Cambridge. John was a bootmaker and they lived at 8 East Road (1851) and 22 East Road (1861). In 1861 he was also running a grocer’s shop from East Road. The couple later moved to live at Norwich Street (1871/1881) and 4 All Saints’ Passage (1891). Mary died at home aged 74 years old.
John Robinson (c.1821 – 25 September 1904)
John was born in Potterspury, near Milton Keynes, Northamptonshire and was baptised there on 14 January 1821. He was the son of Thomas and Fanny Robnson and married Mary Cheek when he was 25 years old. After her death he married Mary (surname unknown) and they lived at 9 Park Street. In 1901 he was noted as being retired, and died at Addenbrooke’s Hospital aged 83 years old.
Mary Robinson (c.1839 – January 1919)
Little is known of Mary’s early life. She was born in Greenwich and after John’s death lived at 25 Priory Road where she ran a Lodging House (1911). She died at 31 Grafton Street aged 79 years old and was buried at Mill Road Cemetery on 10 January 1919.
Sources:
Ancestry
Newspaper archives
Parish burial records transcribed by CFHS
by Claire Martinsen
[If you have any information about these persons, please contact us at Friendsofmillroadcemetery@gmail.com]