The graves of
William and Elizabeth Baker were recorded in the W.I. book of 1981 but their headstones are now, sadly, broken and scattered.
William was born in 1793 in Wormleighton and Elizabeth (nee Mold) in Claydon in 1796. They were married on 25 October 1819 and both were able to sign their names in the register. They had moved to Stoneleigh by 1822 when their son Benjamin was born, and by 1835 they lived at Stareton Lodge; in the following two censuses they are recorded as living at Mary Lodge and East Lodge respectively. William is first documented as a labourer and then as a shepherd, and the wording on his tombstone is that he was a shepherd at Stoneleigh Abbey.
Elizabeth died in November 1861 and was buried at Stoneleigh on 28 November; her husband William died two years later and was buried alongside her on 20 October 1863.
Puzzlingly many of William's children are recorded as having been born to "William and Sarah" but there are no records of a marriage to Sarah. William's address and employment are consistent. Possibly Elizabeth was also known as Sarah? The erosion of stone on their tomb suggests several names but unfortunately they are no longer legible.
In 1981 it was still possible to read the quotation on the gravestone: "
In my Father's house are many mansions. Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord."
