Category: Bishopstrow: People

A One-Armed Man’s Fear Of Premature Burial

Tuesday 21st November 1911

(First published in the Warminster Wylye Valley And District Recorder, No.3., December 2005)

Strange But True – A One-Armed Man’s Fear of Premature Burial

Bishopstrow House, on the eastern outskirts of Warminster, is now a luxury hotel, but was built in 1815 for William Temple, the lord of the manor of Boreham, as a grand residence for himself and his family.

During the latter years of the 19th century and the early years of the 20th, the house was let by the Temples to Captain Burchall Helme, who was fatally struck by a steam train while walking across the railway line, north of Bishopstrow House, in 1893. A regular guest of Captain Helme at Bishopstrow House in the late 1800s was Thomas Douglas Murray, of Iverplace, Iver, in Buckinghamshire. His wife was the sister of Captain Helme’s wife. Mr. Murray, who only had one arm, died on the 21st of November 1911, leaving £28,288 gross, £23,652 nett.

Murray was obviously worried about the possibility of premature burial, because he left some explicit instructions in his will.

“He directed that on his apparent death his body shall be kept in a well-warmed bed for 36 hours thereafter. His body shall then be placed in a coffin in a warm room with the windows partly opened, and watched for four days and nights or until definite signs of decomposition have set in. During this period the tests given in a pamphlet by Sir Benjamin Ward Richardson, The Signs And Proofs Of Death, shall be applied, and during this period a bell shall be attached to his wrist which can be easily audible within and without the room. When decomposition has set in, a surgeon shall completely sever the spinal cord high up in the body, and the coffin may then be lightly fastened but shall not be screwed down until the twelfth day after death. His remains shall then be cremated either on the downs near Stonehenge or the downs near Battlesbury Hill or Scratchbury Hill, Warminster, or if impracticable, then at Woking, the ashes to be scattered to the four winds of heaven.”

Rev. William Williams’ Name Is Included On A Plaque Inside The Church At Limpley Stoke

The name of William Williams, who was Rector of Bishopstrow 1795 – 1823, appears on a plaque inside the church at Limpley Stoke.

The plaque is in memory of Williams’ son-in-law Thomas Dike and Williams’ daughter Maria, and other members of the family.

The full wording on the plaque reads:

Sacred to the memory of Thomas Dike of this Parish who died Dec 3rd 1864, aged 70.
Also of Maria his widow, daughter of the Rev. William Williams, M.A. rector of Bishopstrow, Wilts who died April 22nd 1875 aged 67.
Also of George Thomas Dike, their Son who died Dec 21st 1905, aged 75.
Also of Martha Elizabeth widow of George Thomas Dike, and daughter of George Marsh, of Freshford, who died Nov 11th, 1908.

Petition Signed By Some 160 Inhabitants Of Bishopstrow And The Surrounding Area Protesting Against A Bill Introduced In The Commons To Disestablish The Church Of Wales, 1893

The Wiltshire And Swindon History Centre, at Cocklebury Road, Chippenham, Wiltshire, SN15 3QN, holds the following document(s):

Petition signed by some 160 inhabitants of Bishopstrow and the surrounding area protesting against a Bill introduced in the Commons to disestablish the Church of Wales. Annotated ‘not presented due to change of government’. 1893. Reference PR/Bishopstrow: St. Aldhelm/1705/6.

The Reredos At St. John’s Church, Boreham, Warminster

From The Warminster Herald, Saturday 20th June 1868:

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St. John’s Church. The Vicar authorised the completion of the central compartment of the Reredos lately erected at the Church. The subject is the Crucifixion, but the original design has been altered by the introduction of a group of figures. It is a worthy monument to the liberality of the donor, George Temple Esq., of Bishopstrow House.