Headstone Inscription

[genjen]

Please can someone confirm my reading of this - that Sarah Bushby, wife of Christopher of Sedbusk, died May 17th 1837 and that she was aged seventy-five years.

Then, can anyone make an educated guess as to what the missing bit says "What ?? separation hath God made betwixt us"

And finally, does this wording imply to you, as it does to me, that Christopher is still alive?

I know without any shadow of doubt that Christopher belongs somewhere in my ancestry, albeit in an indirect way but I am really struggling to place him!

Thanks, Jen 

[ShaunJ]

Christopher Bushby, widower, married widow Mary Blythe in Sedbusk on 30 September 1837. This presumably is the couple in Sedbusk in the 1841 and 1851 censuses.  If it's the same Christopher as the one on the headstone, it would suggest a 15 year age difference between him and Sarah.

[emeltom]

Christopher Bushby married Sarah Hasty in Hardraw 16 May 1807.

Christopher Bushby was buried 4 April 1859 at Hardraw aged 81. Residence given as Sedbusk

Jun 1859 Askrigg 9d 315 aged 81

[genjen]

Christopher Bushby, widower, married widow Mary Blythe in Sedbusk on 30 September 1837. This presumably is the couple in Sedbusk in the 1841 and 1851 censuses.  If it's the same Christopher as the one on the headstone, it would suggest a 15 year age difference between him and Sarah.

Thank you. I did wonder if this could be him but the age difference between him and Sarah put me off, though having said that, I have lots of friends who have much bigger age gaps in their relationships!

[genjen]

Christopher Bushby married Sarah Hasty in Hardraw 16 May 1807.

Christopher Bushby was buried 4 April 1859 at Hardraw aged 81. Residence given as Sedbusk

Jun 1859 Askrigg 9d 315 aged 81

I hunted high and low for Bushby gravestones in Hardraw churchyard, a couple of weeks ago but the one I posted was the only one to be found!

This is all beginning to make sense now, so all I have to do is work out how Christopher fits into my family.

[emeltom]

Christopher Bushby baptised 6 April 1778 in Hardraw, parents Arthur Bushby and Mary Johnson who married in Hardraw 21 January 1867

[genjen]

Christopher Bushby baptised 6 April 1778 in Hardraw, parents Arthur Bushby and Mary Johnson who married in Hardraw 21 January 1867

According to my FTM calculator, this makes him my first cousin, six times removed. His father, Arthur, was the brother of my 5 x great-grandfather, also named Christopher.