Born in Shottle, Derbyshire, on 6th March 1858, Elizabeth worked as a cook at the Rectory in Dalbury, Derbyshire, before she married John Bowmer.

• Biography
• Memorial

The son of Isaac Statham Bowmer and his wife Mary (née Slater), John was born in Shottle, Derbyshire, and married Elizabeth Beardsley on 16th April 1884.

• Bowmer tree
• Biography

William was PC 175 of the Derbyshire Constabulary.

• Biography

Born on 14th May 1885 and baptised at St Lawrence’s Church, Shottle, on 7th June, George worked on his father’s farm after leaving school. On 24th January 1912, George married Clara Hall at St Peter’s Church, Belper. Clara was the daughter of an inn keeper, and by 1933, George was running the Nags Head pub in Belper, where he died on 27th June 1947. After her husband’s death, Clara continued to run the pub until her death on 25th January 1959. Both George and Clara were buried in Belper cemetery.

Isaac, known as Lawrence, was the sixth child of Isaac and Anne Turner Hudson. He was born in Shottle towards the end of 1890, baptised at Christ Church, Belper, on 22nd February 1891, and worked on his father’s farm after leaving school. Aged 14 in 1904, Lawrence attended the funeral of his brother William; in 1906 he was a witness to the marriage of his older sister Annie; and in 1912 he was a witness at the marriage of his older brother George.

Lawrence married Alice Langton on 26th August 1915 at St Clement’s Church, Horsley, and together they had five children from 1916 to 1929, all of whom lived to be adults.

The family lived at Hill Top Farm, Kilburn, where, on 29th January 1931, Lawrence died suddenly. He was about to get up in the morning when he was suddenly taken ill and died before the local doctor could get to the house. A well-known member of the farming community in Kilburn and Belper, Lawrence was buried at Duffield Cemetery on 2nd February 1931. He was 40 years old.

The second child and first son of Isaac Lawrence and Alice Beardsley, George was born in Alderwasley in 1917. After his father died in 1931, George managed Hill Top Farm at Openwoodgate, Belper, with his mother, where the family had moved to when he was a child. George died on 28th February 1950 aged 32. His funeral was held on the afternoon of Saturday 4th March at St Clement’s Church, Horsley, during which the hymns The strife is o’er and Abide with me were sung. He was interred in the family vault in Horsley Churchyard.

The eighth child of Isaac and Anne Turner Beardsley, Jack was born in Shottle in 1903. He was baptised at St Peter’s Church, Belper, on 21st May 1903 but died in June 1903 aged 3 weeks. He was buried at Duffield Cemetery on 11th June 1903.

John’s father John Beardsley left England for Australia around 1858, where he met and married Ann Forrest. Born on 22nd December 1884 at Rochester, Victoria, John Isaac was their seventh and last child. In 1907 he married Mary Florence Fitch and together they had five children, their last being Thelma Jean who died as an infant in 1917.

John was a farmer and the family were living at Koyuga South in Victoria when, on 20th April 1921, he shot himself through the head with a pea rifle. It was reported that John had been suffering from insomnia for some time, was in bad health, and had threatened to take his own life before. On the 20th April, he returned home ‘after having had a few drinks, taking with him a bottle of beer, which he drank. Later his wife was standing in the yard, and heard her husband call out “Well, goodbye,” and looking round saw him discharge a Winchester repeating riffle, which he held to his right temple. He fell down after firing the shot, and his wife rushed to his assistance.’ A local doctor was called and John was taken to Mutron Wheeler’s private hospital where an operation was performed, but he died at around 9 a.m. the following day. John was buried at Kyabram Cemetery, Lancaster; he was 36 years old. Thirteen years later, his wife Mary died at the age of 46.

The fifth and last child of William and Mary Ann Beardsley, Joseph was born on 28th October 1836 at Shottle and baptised on 17th April 1837 at the Primitive Methodist Church in Belper, Derbyshire. Joseph died aged 11 and was buried in the churchyard at St Alkmund’s Church, Duffield, on 31st October 1847.

Mary, the youngest child of William and Mary Ann Beardsley, was born in Shottle and baptised at Christ Church, Belper, on 1st May 1864. She worked as a general servant before marrying George Henry Morral in 1891. After their marriage they lived in Ilkeston, with George initially working as a coal miner, but by 1901 he was a Hay and Milk dealer, and by 1911 he was a general grocer, with Mary assisting in the business.

After her husband’s death in 1928, Mary moved to The Yews, Lane End, Belper, where she died on 21st June 1938. She was buried three days later at Duffield Cemetery on 24th June.

Mary wrote her last will and testament on 10th November 1933 in which she appointed her nephews Frank Leonard Beardsley and William Bowmer, together with Thomas Henry Sleath, as her Executors and Trustees. She bequeathed each of them £5 ‘(free of duty) as some acknowledgement for their trouble’. Mary directed that her household goods, furniture, chattels and effects be held on trust for the ‘free use and enjoyment’ of her brother George ‘during the term of his natural life’. Mary owned five houses on Baker Gate, Ilkeston: she bequeathed number 3 to William Bowmer; number 4 was bequeathed to his brother Isaac Bowmer; number 6 was bequeathed to his sister Olive; and number 7 was bequeathed to his sister Mary. Number 2 was bequeathed to Mary Morral’s niece Annie Sleath. Mary also directed that the remainder of her estate be converted into money and shared equally between these five beneficiaries plus six children of her brother Isaac, and the widow of her nephew Laurence Beardsley. On George's death, the items held in trust were to be sold and the proceeds shared equally between these 12 beneficiaries (George Beardsley died in 1944).

The daughter of George Bowmer and Mary Elizabeth Spencer, Annie was born on 29th June 1879 and baptised at Belper on 20th November. George and Mary Elizabeth never married: George married Hannah Sims in 1889, but it is not yet known what became of Mary Elizabeth (her parents emigrated to the US).

Annie married Thomas Henry Sleath at Babington Chapel, Derbyshire, towards the end of 1897, and the family settled in Ilkeston, with Thomas working as a milk seller.

Annie died on 6th June 1943 aged 63, and Thomas died on 4th November 1952 aged 75.