This is another of the photos found in the trunk of photos from my grandpa’s house. We thought it was a little weird to have a photo of a gravestone in one’s stash of pictures, but given the circumstances, it makes sense. I have enough data to confirm that this marker is from St. Michael’s at Lawhitton, Cornwall, UK (map). The stone lists these people:
Mary Jane (Harris) Battin, wife of George Battin, born in about 1834, died 12 July 1884, aged 50 years.
William Henry Battin, son of George and Mary Jane, born 7 Oct 1860, died 11 Mar 1879, aged 18 years.
Dinah Battin, daughter of George and Mary Jane, born 9 Mar 1867, died 28 Nov 1884, aged 17 years.
The birth dates and other information was found via the Cornwall OPC database (links to the burial data are included above) which has church records for all of Cornwall. REALLY helpful. We have documentation showing that Jessie (Battin) Powis (sister of Dinah and William Henry and my great-great grandmother) took a trip back to England from Pennsylvania after the birth of her first son (Alfred Herbert Powis) to visit her sisters and father. I’m going to guess that this photo was taken around that time (January 1896), and she brought it back with her to her home in Pennsylvania, USA. It’s on a hard cardboard backing similar to a Carte-de-Visite, but there’s no marking indicating who the photographer is or when/where it was taken. I’m still amazed at the amount of genealogical data that’s now available online, and the individuals who care enough to spend the time, transcribe records, and make them available to the public for free.
UPDATE – 16 May 2012
A kind user on flickr pointed me to a wikimedia photo that shows a more current photo of the grave stone, and even shows George’s gravestone next to the original from the photo! SO NEAT!