Tombstone Tuesday - Iorwerth ROBERTS & Siblings

When I first started looking at my ROBERTS ancestors my dad told me that one of his Grand Uncles was re-interred at St. Margarets Rhewl Mostyn Cemetery, Denbighshire so on a nice afternoon we took a drive.


We found the grave of his Grand Uncle but we also came across this hand made gravestone

In Memory

Four Children

who died at birth

Also

Iorwerth

Who died aged 1 day old

 Dear Children

 Edward and Louisa Roberts

6 Prior Street Ruthin

Neither my dad or I are fluent Welsh speakers so we had to get some help deciphering it and the translation is above.


Much later on I found a cousin via Ancestry. Her side of the family had kept in touch with Edward and she gave me the following information:

"During the 1920's they lost five infants. All were stillborn with the exception of Iowerth who lived for one day. Edwards sister, Lizzie recalled that Edward carried the bodies of his babies across the fields from Ruthin to Rhewl chapel graveyard where he buried them. He went to Blaenau Festiniog - the paternal home of Louise and carried a small slab of slate on which he carved the memorial to his lost children. The stone became their tombstone and was placed in Rhewl Chapel cemetery. They had no other children."


It is indeed a very sad tale, but thanks to my cousin this story has been told to a new generation and so the children are remembered. It is my hope that by including their story here, they will always be remembered.