Wymondham – Wymondham Abbey (Thomas Betts)

This gravestone caught my eye as it probably doesn’t have long left, the back is heavily eroded and there’s now a hole at the top.

Surprisingly, the front of the gravestone is still partly readable. I think it’s the Thomas Betts who died on 28 June 1861 and was buried here on 4 July 1861. The probate records suggest that he didn’t die a wealthy man, with only minimal assets. Assuming this is the correct Thomas Betts, which I think is, he lived on Damgate Street with his family and so he would have looked out onto Wymondham Abbey.

The 1861 census was taken a few months before he died, when he lived with his wife Mary Ann and his children, Thomas, Sarah Ann, Harriet and Rosa. He worked as a carrier in the town, as did his son of the same name. Betts sadly died at the age of 43. At least, for the moment, his gravestone remains readable and in the churchyard of the beautiful Wymondham Abbey.