Thursday, February 01, 2007

Picture or Info Please


Once again, in doing research, I am looking for the year of Frances Alice Blogg Chesterton's birth.

I know it is chiseled into the gravestone in the graveyard in Beaconsfield, but from the pictures on-line, I can't see Frances's information, only Gilbert's. They are buried in the same grave with a mutual marker.

Several sites on-line list her as being born in 1875, and I was pretty sure I had it that she was born in 1869. So, I need to either see a picture of the gravestone, or have someone verify her birth year for me.

Thanks for your help.

8 comments:

  1. Photo-enhancing software on a different image than the one provided indicates that she was born in what appears to be June (28th?) of 1879, and died in December (possibly the 17th) of 1938. Further bulletins as I attempt to sharpen the image further.

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  2. June 28th is correct, but it can't be 1879. Could it be a 69 you see? She died on December 13th 1938, I do know that.

    Thanks. The birth year is either 69 or 75.

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  3. Nancy,
    I just looked in the most recent issue of GILBERT; the picture of the new gravestone for the Chestertons appears to show Frances' birthdate as June 28, 1869.

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  4. It could easily be a 69, yes. The only fragment that's really showing up clearly is a line like this: /

    Which could be a 7 or a 6, based on the distortion. I'll keep checking and get back to you.

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  5. Gilbert Magazine comes through again! :-D

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  6. There's a crystal clear photograph of the Eric Gill monument in the American edition of Ward's biography Gilbert Keith Chesterton. It's June 28, 1869 - December 12, 1938.
    ~ JP

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  7. So she was older than GKC then.

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  8. Yep, she was 5 years older, isn't that interesting?

    Thanks everyone! Mystery solved.

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