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Riley Graves (National Trust Site), Eyam The protective stone wall, with prominent National Trust and Information signs encloses Memorials marking the graves of John HANCOCK with 2 sons and 4 daughters who died of the Plague in August 1666. The Inscriptions on the Memorials read as follows:- Sacred to the memory of the Hancock family victims of the Plague. August 3rd - 10th 1666. (Each inscription is on a separate tombstone) John HANCOCK IVN   BVR AVG 3D 1666 Elizabeth HANCOCKE   BVR AVG 3RD 1666 William HANCOCKE   BVR AVG 7H 1666 Oner HANCOCKE   BVR AVG 7H 1666 Alice HANCOCKE   BVR AVG 9H 1666 Ann HANCOCKE   BVR AVG 10H 1666 On a table tomb: HERE LIEH BVRIED {T}HE / BODY OF IOHN HANCOCK / SEN WHO DIED AVG 7H / 1666 REMEMBER MAN / AS THOV GOST BY / AS THOV ART NOW / EVEN SO WAS I / AS I DOE NOW / SO MVST {T}HOV LYE / REMEMBER MAN / THAT {T}HOV SHALT DIE. It is understood the father's tomb marks his actual grave;[1] but the other stones were collected from their respective sites and assembled in the enclosure by Thomas BIRDS, an Eyam antiquary. BIRDS lived in Eyam Dale House and died in 1828.[2] At a later date the inscriptions were cut more deeply at the expense and instigation of Sir Henry Burford HANCOCK, who at the time was Governor General of Gibraltar.[3] It is not known at this time whether Sir Henry was a direct descendant. And before anyone asks - if apparently they all died - how there could have been descendants... the mother of the family, Elizabeth, apparently survived, or at least her burial is not recorded in the parish register. The legend is that a few days after burying the last of her family, she left the village to go to live in Sheffield with a surviving son, who had been previously bound as an apprentice in Alsop-Fields, Sheffield. Joseph Hancock, who in 1750 discovered (or "recovered") 'Sheffield Plate', or the art of plating goods, is reported by Wood[4] to have been a descendant of this son. Wood also says it was this son who erected the tomb and stones originally. Incidentally 'Oner' [Honor?] was a girl, according to both her baptism and burial records - not a boy, as suggested by Wood,[4] when writing of Elizabeth burying 'John, her husband, and two sons, William and Oner'. The Eyam Parish Register records:- "Onar, daughter of John & Elizabeth Hancock" baptised 26 April 1661. (Commentary provided by Rosemary Lockie) References [1] Daniel, Clarence - The Story of Eyam Plague with a Guide to the Village, 1977, 1983 & 1985. [2] Wood, William - The History and Antiquities of Eyam - The Church. [3] Sir Henry's visit to the Graves is mentioned in Kelly's Directory of 1895 as having taken place in 1890. [4] Wood, William - The History and Antiquities of Eyam - Traditions of The Plague.

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Image contributed by Rosemary Lockie on June 1985.

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[Created 20 Dec 2002. Last updated 16 Oct 2007 - 12:17 by Rosemary Lockie]