Great, great grandfather, Thomas Burton

My great, great grandfather, Thomas Burton, was living in the community of Rowde in the county of Wiltshire, England, in 1901. In the 3rd quarter of 1902 he died, reportedly in the Devizes district. I searched the web to see how far the actual town of Devizes was from Rowde and discovered it was less than two miles away. Since I couldn't find a cemetery listed for Rowde, I assumed that he was probably buried in the Devizes cemetery. I found a web site for the cemetery on the web (you can see it here) and sent the cemetery clerk an email asking if Thomas Burton was buried there. The cemetery was opened in 1878, so it definitely was available in 1902. Here's a photo of the cemetery today.


The history of Devizes is quite interesting. I obtained the following information from the Devizes and District Twinning Association website:

The origins of Devizes are lost in time. It is traditionally believed to have been founded by Dunwallo, a pre-Roman British king. It would be surprising, in view of its commanding position on a hill and surrounding prehistoric sites, if it was not the site of fortified earthworks in prehistoric British times.

Excavations for Pans lane railway cutting in 1861 revealed plenty of Roman and Romano-British brica-brac. Roman finds have been recorded in the Southbroom area since 1699. Twenty bronze statuettes and Roman coins were found on the Green in 1714 and when Southbroom Junior School was built in 1960 a Romano-British cemetery was found with burials in lead and stone coffins. This leaves little doubt that a settlement existed to the east of the town in Roman times. After the Romans came the Saxons and Wiltshire became part of Wessex. Then came the Normans and firmer historic ground.

Click here for more information on Devizes.