When I visited Kingsbridge in Devon, I ventured into the churchyard of the Church of St Thomas a Becket, Dodbrooke to find the large tombstone erected in memory of twelve of my relatives.

It stands about two metres high and is described as a very large curbstone with plinth topped with cross over a vault with five levels. All four sides of the tombstone are inscribed and give the names of my 4x great-grandparents, William Toms and Susanna Darracott, and their close family. Just in front of it is a smaller stone for Susanna’s parents and sister.

The names, dates, and relationships inscribed on the memorial are valuable for my research. The twelve people remembered on the tombstone are:

• William Toms (1797-1853), a surgeon who lived and worked in Kingsbridge
• Susanna Toms nee Darracott (1802-1882), William’s wife
• Francis Philip (Frank) Toms (1830-1873), son of William and Susanna
• Samuel John Revell Toms (1845-1882), son of William and Susanna
• William Toms (1828-1829), son of William and Susanna
• William Bligh Toms (1832-1834), son of William and Susanna
• Mary Dora (Dora) Ingles nee Toms (1834-1905), daughter of William and Susanna
• John Chamberlayne Ingles (1826-1917), husband of Dora
• Dora Blanche Darracott Ingles (1864-1944), daughter of Dora and John
• Henry Toms (1836-1917), son of William and Susanna
• Emily Anne Frances Toms nee Kershaw (1844-1931), Henry’s wife
• William Scott (1784-1802), Susanna’s half-brother

This isn’t the only memorial for Francis Philip (Frank) Toms, who is my 3x great-grandfather. He immigrated to New South Wales where he lived and worked for about twenty years. While the tombstone at St Thomas a Becket, Dodbrooke is his English family’s memorial to him, in Australia the Bombala cemetery commemorates both Frank and his wife Margaret Dennett who were buried there in 1873 and 1917, respectively.