The Friends of Teignmouth Cemetery are doing a tremendous job in clearing overgrown graves and making them more accessible. This helps relatives who are looking for ancestors. But it also keeps alive physical records of Teignmouth’s past as marked by the people buried there. Their stories can give new insights into local, national and even international history.
“Clearing overgrown graves” is not always as simple as it might seem. Yes there are many headstones to indicate graves but there is also quite a lot of open space in the cemetery.
This is an example of the surprises we occasionally find.
What looked like an open area of ground, perhaps an unmarked grave, turned out to be something very different – a family tombstone buried beneath 100 years or so of accumulated soil and vegetation. This was the Elliott family grave in plot K53. The photos below show its gradual reveal.
Next step – the research. Who were this long-lived family Elliott, all of whom lived through the entire Victorian period?
In Loving Memory, Sally T C Elliott, Born March 4th 1808, Died July 20th 1890
Jane Elliott, Born March 23rd 1823, Died July 21st 1918
James Collins Elliott, Fell asleep Dec 23rd 1922, Aged 92 years
Teignmouth Old Cemetery 
What an incredible period to live through, Jane – from Georgian times to almost the end of the Great War. Keep up the good work!
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Wow was not expecting this on my email. Sally Thomasin Chambers Elliott nee Collins was my 3rd Great Grand Aunt. Sister to my 3rd great grandfather John Collins. I did look for this grave years ago when i was on holiday down that way.I had a location but just thought there was no grave stone. So thank you. You quite literally have dug up some of my family history.
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Also just a link to other graves. There is another grave stone near by for a Robert Collins and family. He is another Brother of Sally. A Ships Master and Grandfather of Robert William Collins from the Teignmouth War memorial.
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Wow was not expecting this info today. Sally Thomasin Chambers Elliott nee Collins was my 3rd Great Grandaunt. Sister to John Collins My 3rd Great Grandfather. Also Robert Collins whos grave is near by is also Sally’s brother. Both he and John were Ships Masters and grandfather of Robert William Collins on the Teignmouth War Memorial. I Did look for this grave years ago when on holiday but just thought there was no head stone. So Thank you. You literally have dug up some of my missing family history.
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Thanks for that information. We are obviously hoping to write up a little more about the family history which is something we have done with a number of graves so far – stories on our web-site. So if you have anything you’d be willing to share – notes, photos etc – that would be brilliant
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I have quite alot on Ancestry so will have a look and let you know
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Thanks
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i do know that it looks like Sally went to London as a servant in Bloomsbury area of London. Her son James Collins Elliott then becomes a Gentleman at some point and they owned 3 Powderham Terrace , Teignmouth in later years. Bit of a rags to riches story.
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