I discovered last night by consulting the Archer family tree that this is my great-great-grandparents’ grave. I photographed it near the door of Harlestone Church in Northamptonshire a couple of weeks ago. The family tree confirms the names, the place of death and the rough dates. The non-family shrub just clouds the issue.

William and Elizabeth (nee Benson) were the parents of Jane Archer, the 13th of 15 children. She married my great-grandfather Henry Lenton.  The grave also contains the remains of  Jane’s brother Henry and his wife Sarah (nee Child).  They had five children, of whom the oldest, John Henry, married Mary Child. Clearly the two families were close.

I saw the grave of another brother, William (fifth of 15; Henry was number three), at East Haddon. He was buried with his wife Mary Anne (nee York). The graveyard is unusual in that the area in front of the church has been grassed over, apart from a couple of old and indecipherable tombs, and the tombstones have been placed in rows behind the church. William and Mary had nine children.

William senior (my great-great grandfather) was the oldest of  eight children.  His father John Archer was born at Winwick in 1755. I visited one Winwick (near East Haddon), a tiny dead-end village which has picturesque houses and a stream running through the centre of it, alongside the lane. No trace of an Archer in the churchyard, but the graves were very weathered. I noticed after arriving home that there is another Winwick further to the east and still in Northamptonshire.

John died at East Haddon in 1837: I shall have another look for a grave next time I visit. His wife Martha (nee Davies) was born at Harlestone and probably died at East Haddon. The two villages are only a few miles apart.