Operated by East Boldre Community Stores Limited.
Community Benefit Society, number 8481
DAVID KITCHER
BETSEY KITCHER
Reflectance Transformation Imagery
In Loving Memory of
DAVID KITCHER
THE BELOVED HUSBAND OF
BETSEY KITCHER
WHO DIED APRIL 30TH 1886
aged 53.
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BLESSED ARE THE DEAD WHICH DIE IN THE LORD
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FAREWELL, CONFLICTING HOPES AND FEARS
WHERE LIGHTS AND SHADES ALTERNATE DWELL
HOW BRIGHT THE UNCHANGING MORN APPEARS
FAREWELL, INCONSTANT WORLD, FAREWELL.
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ALSO OF THE ABOVE
BETSY KITCHER
WHO DIED MARCH 13TH 1915
AGED 79.
David Kitcher was born to Robert (an agricultural labourer) and Mary (nee Peckham) who lived in Ower when David was baptised in June 1832 at Fawley. He was the eldest of their children.
The 1841 census shows David (9) living in Beaulieu Rails with his parents and siblings Ellen (7), Charles (5) and Edward (2). The tithe map shows they occupied Keeps Cottage in Factory Lane. By 1851 David (18) and Charles (14) are working as agricultural labourers and have 4 more younger siblings - Ellen has left home and is a servant at Thorns Farm.
Elizabeth 'Betsy' Gregory was born to Edward and Charlotte (nee Baker) in 1837 and was baptised at Brockenhurst church by the Rev Shrubb. In 1841 her parents and their 5 children lived with her paternal grandfather in Furzey Lodge, her father and grandfather both working as agricultural labourers. By 1851 Elizabeth (14) was in service at Leygreen Farm.
David married Betsy on 16th September 1853 at Boldre Church and over the next 27 years they had 14 children. When Betsy's grandfather Edward Gregory died the following year, she inherited a half share in his cottage in Furzey Lodge. From 1861 they lived in Furzey Lodge Cottage, home to their growing family. David and Betsy were both baptised at the chapel in 1865.
David was buried at the chapel on 6th May 1886 by George Botright. After his death, Betsey worked as a charwoman with son Frank an agricultural labourer, daughter Elizabeth a domestic servant and Robert working as a cowboy to support the family. The 1901 and 1911 censuses show Betsy continued in Furzey Lodge with son Robert who worked as a domestic gardener.
Betsy left her share she owned in the cottage in Furzey Lodge to her son Jesse and the rest of her legacy was equally shared among her 14 children. There is no record of Betsy's burial other than this headstone as the surviving burial register only covers the period from 1837 - 1894. The epitaph includes the final verse of the hymn "Death of the Righteous" by Anna Letitia Barbauld.
3D photogrammetry model