The following inscription from a gravestone at the Salisbury (London Road) Cemetery, Salisbury Wiltshire appeared in Volume VIII of Notes & Queries for Somerset and Dorset published in 1903. It is not known if the stone still survives or if it does is still in a readable condition.
In loving Memory
of
Selina Tompkins
Died Nov. 8. 1883
Aged 53 years
Also Agnes Muriel Conway
grandaughter of the above
Died June 18, 1884, aged 13 months
Also John Tompkins
Died at West Stafford, Dorset
Nov. 17, 1873. Aged 46 years
Blessed are the dead that die in the Lord.
Selina Bishop, the daughter of Henry Bishop and Sarah Keech married John Tompkins in 1848. He was the son of James Tompkins and Mary Cheney. Before the discovery of this inscription all we knew is that the family were at Godmanstone, Dorset in 1871 and that by 1881 Selina was a widow visiting her son James at Milford, Salisbury, Wiltshire.
The presence of a grandaughter on the same monument also lead to the discovery of the marriage of daughter Sarah Selina Tompkins to Edward Conway.
HelenColes said,
March 5, 2008 at 4:29 pm
This is so interesting!
Fascinating to see something that links to me.
My mothers maiden name is Bishop and she is a decendant of the Bishop family from Swyre. So far I have traced as far as 1735 Richard Bishop.
I would love to learn more.