More about John Herring and family

Thanks to a very rapid response from the clerk to the cemetery, Ralph Warburton, AudlemOnline was able to respond to yesterday's query from Australia about an ancestor buried in Audlem cemetery with details of the plot and date of death.

The following message came back from our correspondent in Australia: "Thank you for your very quick reply. I looked in the area of the cemetery you mentioned, but there were only a few headstones there.

"I was surprised that the family had not erected a headstone, particularly as his eldest son was an Anglican minister – now in a parish in Victoria, Australia, having had two parishes in New Zealand – Upper Hutt' and' Lower Hutt (near Wellington). However, I may be doing them a disservice – perhaps it fell down, became vandalised etc.

"Hopefully I will be back in Audlem in July/August, 2014, so I will look for number 222. Yes, I thought that the eldest daughter would have been buried in St James' churchyard except that I would have thought that (a) it was full especially since it had been built in the 11th/12th century.

"Even though Audlem is a small village – there would still have been quite a lot of burials in the yard before Sarah's death and (b) there isn't a lot of room for burials in the present church grounds (yes, I looked around there too), especially the shopping side where there is that very steep hill.

"Did the church have another burial area nearby which is now a park or something else?

"John Herring had been a druggist (modern day pharmacist) in Audlem since approximately 1838. The daughter who died was born in Audlem but his elder son (born circa 1836) wasn't. All the other children (3) were born in Audlem.

"In the 1871 census he, John Herring, is described as a "gentleman – retired". Being an Aussie, whilst I have heard the term "yeoman" it is not a term I've seen used here. Did it indicate a certain "class" level? Thank you for any help you can give me."

If anybody has any more information on church burial pre the opening of Audlem Cemetery in 1874, or the use of 'yeoman' in the cemetery records to describe a 'gentleman – retired' or an ex-pharmacist, please let us know and we will send it to Australia.

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