CFHS code: PL559
Parish: St Paul
Inscription : cross 1 STTLMO CATHARINE wife of GEORGE KETT b 9th Aug 1834 d 4th Aug 1907, GEORGE KETT JP born at Wymondham June 4th 1836 died at Cambridge May 6th 1914, MAUD MARY KETT b 11.8.1868 d 19.1.1952,
cross 2 (fallen): ILMO / CATHARINE SARAH / wife of REGINALD JOHN ROBERTS MB / born at Cambridge August 23rd 1863 / died at Lowestoft April 9th 1894 / eldest daughter of GEORGE and CATHARINE KETT / also of / Cadet GERALD KETT ROBERTS RN / their younger son who died at the / Royal Naval College, Dartmouth / 31st March 1909 aged 15
Monument : Double grave with Celtic Cross x 2/Kerb stones
Above information from Cambridge Family History Society Survey
Lat Lon : 52.202401, 0.13599786 – click here for location
Monuments 1& 2
Both monuments are located on the west wall in the parish area of St Paul in an area that is often covered in bramble.
1 Has the cross intact and monument 2 has lost it’s cross but from the pieces on the ground it looks as if they were a matching pair. The inscriptions on M1 is beautifully carved on the east plinth but now partially buried. Some of the metal letters on M2 are damaged.
Inscriptions
Monument 1
east face
Sacred to the Loved Memory of CATHERINE wife of George Kett
Born 9th August 1844 Died 4th Augt 1907
GEORGE KETT JP born at Wymondham
June 4th 1836 died at Cambridge May 6th 1914
MAUD MARY KETT born 11.8.1868 died 19.1.1952
Monument 2
east face
In Loving Memory of CATHERINE SARAH
wife of Reginald John Roberts MB
born at Cambridge August 23rd 1863 died at Lowestoft April 9th 1894
eldest daughter of George and Catherine Kett
“Until the day Dawns”
north face
And Jesus called a little child unto him
REGINALD GEORGE HASELWOOD ROBERTS their elder son who died Dec 11th 1897 aged 5 1/2 years
south face
Also of Cadet Gerald Kett ROBERTS RN their younger son who died at the Royal Naval College Dartmouth
Treasured Memories of youth 31st March 1909 aged 15
Catherine Kett née August (1834 – 1907)
Born into the farming family of Robert and Catherine August in Wicklewood Norfolk. She married George Kett on December 15th 1859. They had at least 6 children -George R (1860), Edmund (1862), Catherine Sarah (1864), Alice C (1865), Frederick W (1867), Maud Mary (1868)
George Kett (1836 – 1914)
Born in Wymondham Norfolk to George and Sarah Kett (PL572). The family moved to Cambridge c1848 where his father worked as a “carver at the Cambridge Carving Works”. Later to become Rattee & Kett. George junior was also working there by the 1851 census. At this time the family were living at 3 Petersfield. They later moved to a house built by George in Brooklands Avenue. They named it Wymonham House.
George was mayor of Cambridge 3 times between 1891 1nd 1902.
Maud Mary Kett (1868 – 1952)
Maud was the youngest child of George and Catherine Kett.
Catherine Roberts née Kett (1863 – 1894)
Third child of George and Catherine Kett of Wymondham House, Brooklands Avenue. Her father George was a builder and contractor and her grandfather George Kett was part of the Cambridge architectural masonry company Rattee & Kett. (see also Elizabeth Evans Mary and George Robert Kett and Frederick James, George, Sarah and Susannah Elizabeth Kett family graves, which are listed monuments).
Catherine married Reginald Roberts at St Pauls Church Hills Road Cambridge on August 1st 1889. There was a detailed account of the wedding in the Cambridge Independent Press in which we learn that they spent their honeymoon in Scotland. Reginald was a 27 year old physician from Lowestoft. His father Reginald Jolliffe Roberts was master of Holt grammar school. There were eleven witnesses recorded at the wedding. In 1891 they were living in Regent Road, Lowestoft. They had two sons Reginald (b 1892) and Gerald (b 1894). It appears that Catherine died at or shortly after the birth of Gerald. She was 30 years old. Her husband married again in 1896 in Jersey, possibly to Catherine’s sister Alice.
Reginald George Haselwood Roberts (1892 – 1897)
Reginald’s birth & death were registered in Mutford
Gerald Kett Roberts (1/4/1894 – 31/3/1909)
Gerald’s birth was registered in Mutford
The announcement of his death in the local paper states that he died on the eve of his 15th birthday
By Mary Naylor
Photos of the family sent to us by Simon Bull
Sources
Family Search
CFHS transcripts of parish records
British Newspaper Archive
If you have any further information, please contact us at Friendsofmillroadcemetery@gmail.com]