A photo of my 5x great auntie

[Tom Tom]

This is a tale of how I found a photograph of my five times great auntie, Susan Thompson (formerly Epton).

Susan was born 1807 and died in 1895. She married John Thompson at some point.

Anyway, to cut a long story short I decided to go grave hunting in Lincolnshire, mainly to Saltfleetby and Louth, but I visited other places that I knew relatives had moved to.

I pulled up outside the church in Somersby and was in two minds whether to get out and look around or not, but I decided to. I had to climb up quite a steep slippy grass verge to get to the cemetery (hadn't realised there was a path around the corner) and it was raining quite heavily.

The graves were all worn away and I was having no luck so decided to go back to the car. For some reason I hadn't thought about going into the church. Perhaps because it was only the place Susan had lived and she hadn't married or been christened in this church.

However, I thought I would pop my head in and shelter from the rain for a couple of minutes before the mad dash to the car. I went into the church and a section had been turned into a display about Lord Tennyson.

This jogged my memory that on one of the census returnes Susan gave her occupation as "Formerly Nurse to Alfred Lord Tennyson".

As I am looking up at the display but what should I see?

The following photograph:



The photo had the following caption;
Susan Thompson nee Epton, the children's nurse when a young woman

Also on the board was the following passage:

At the end of 1883, to the delight of his friends, Alfred accepted a Barony, becoming Baron Tennyson of Aldworth and Freshwater. He had declined the honour three times previously , and was criticised when he finally accepted. Some felt he should have remained the "Poet of the People" and this must have hurt him deeply. However, he received hundreds of letters congratulating him, and one that really pleased him came from the elderly, now almost blind lady, Susan Thompson.


So there you have it. I was pleased with my find and it brought this name to life in my mind.

[Jill]

What a wonderful find Tom - the sort we all dream of.

[Langley Vale Sue]

What a fantastic find Tom.

Your Aunt Susan must have been guiding you that day and didn't want you to to go without saying Hello first!

Tom my oh ,my what a brilliant find ;;;just goes to show how things turn up in funny places ;;;and yes Susan must have been adamant that you found her that day ;;;

[Tom Tom]

Thanks everyone.

Unfortunately I couldn't find her gravestone in the next door parish, but it may be that she didn't even have a gravestone.

She didn't have any children and only had one sister (who I am descended from) so there are not really many people to remember her.

[anne fraser]

What a lovely find and what a helpful census entry. This is the sort of thing which makes family history worthwhile.

[Rosie Knees]

what a wonderful story Tom. Sent shivers down my spine.

Wonderful! Thank you so much for sharing that with us

[Val in Oz]

A find like that makes family history worthwhile. Well done Tom, and thankyou for sharing the story. What an amazing photo........do tell though - did you jump up and down with glee, or maybe give a loud "whoopee".......do a war dance.......you must have had some reaction. I'd have felt like turning cartwheels or something - right there on the Church porch...

[Tom Tom]

Thanks everyone!

I was honestly speechless. I just stared at it and pointed. I don't think my Grandparents (who had come with me for a day out) quite understood what the excitement was all about!