"in memory"on gravestone

[Geoff-E]

I suppose it's possible that the local churchyard was closed for burials by 1855 and this was a way of being "with" her close family after she was buried elsewhere i.e. in the cemetery.

[Shropshire Lass]

It was a self-supporting lady, single and left a will.

But she had a father, two sisters and two brothers. And what about the friend?

It's possible that her friend was her partner - wouldn't have been the done thing in those days to be more specific than 'friend'.

[ThrelfallYorky]

... especially if the friend was female too, which may not have meant a "partner" in the sense of today. I knew two or three sets of very upright elderly spinster ex-teachers who lived with another elderly, upright speinster ex-teachers, who would probably have been horrified at the thought that a "friend" they shared a home with meant anything more than actually that.